CEREMONY

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

1:30-2:00p

LOVE Park

1501 John F Kennedy Blvd

Philadelphia, PA 19102

Additional Details

Public Transportation

Directions on how to get to LOVE Park using public transportation (SEPTA subway, bus, or regional rail) are found here. In order to travel on SEPTA, you must have a "Key Card," which is swiped at entrance gates, and which can be obtained at certain kiosks around the city. More information on SEPTA Key Cards is found here.

SEPTA's "Philadelphia Visitor" website is found here. There is a "day pass" for visitors, known as an "Independence Pass" ($13.00/day per person), that can be purchased for a SEPTA Key Card. Details on the Independence Pass are found here.

Parking with SpotHero

Summertime traffic in Center City (i.e., "downtown Philadelphia") can be, well, atrocious. Consider significantly padding your travel time!

If you are driving, we recommend booking convenient and affordable parking in advance through SpotHero, the nation's leading parking reservations app. To reserve your parking spot, visit the LOVE Park SpotHero parking page to book a spot with rates up to 50% off the drive-up cost.

Parking in Nearby Lots

Summertime traffic in Center City (i.e., "downtown Philadelphia") can be, well, atrocious. Consider significantly padding your travel time! A map with detailed descriptions of pay parking lots near LOVE Park can be found here.

Rideshare Services

Both Lyft and Uber are highly efficient and accessible for traveling around the Philadelphia region (including the suburbs). We recommend using either of these services to travel to and from our post-wedding celebrations. A few tips:

• Set the "pin" for your location on the app, so that drivers can see your preferred, precise pickup location.

• Check the license plate before getting into a rideshare car, tell the driver your name as soon as you open the door, and consider wearing masks (many of the drivers are wearing masks, even though it is no longer required).

These will be strictly enforced, so please keep them in mind!

LOVE PARK, ITSELF

• Free-standing decorations and flowers attached to any structure in LOVE Park are not allowed. Red carpets and runners (either paper or fabric) are not allowed. At the same time, if anyone knows Ryan Seacrest, he would be welcome to attend and review all of our fashion choices.

• Per city regulations, alcohol and smoking are not allowed in any of our local parks. Confusingly, however, both are encouraged if the park has been designated as a location for one of Philadelphia's famous pop-up beer gardens. (Philadelphians are well-known for their regulatory consistency.)

PROCESSION THROWABLES

• Soap bubbles are allowed (oh, how fun!)

• Flower petals, rice, confetti, rocks, batteries, and other comestible or non-comestible items are NOT allowed!

THE CEREMONY

• The ceremony is brief, about 10 minutes long

• It will be held, outdoors, rain or shine--as noted above

  • Come prepared to handle excessive heat or UV rays and possible summer downpours

  • Other environmental concerns include spotted lanternflies (they are harmless to humans, but Josh thinks they are like a plague of locusts and that you might want to bring a baseball bat to swat them away), wind, tumbleweed storms, and tire-fire smoke (this happens more often than you'd think!)

  • We therefore recommend attire that is--first and foremost--comfortable. This could include smart-casual, business casual, or even Frank-Constanza-Resort-Ware attire. Just no Casual Friday outfits, a la Dunder Mifflin. And no Puffy Shirts.

COVID-19 RELATED POLICIES

The current policies for COVID-19 mitigation in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania can be found here. These policies may change, and we will do our best to update guests on this website and, specifically, using the notification banner that may appear at the top.

Andrea and Josh are strong advocates for sound public-health policy, and we support our guests in doing whatever they feel necessary for their own safety and comfort. We recommend, for instance, wearing masks in Uber/Lyft cars and on public transit or while in enclosed, indoor spaces (or shops) for any significant period of time (and frequent hand-washing). Vaccines and boosters are required for those attending the family dinner on Friday, August 17th.

Masks are certainly not required in outdoor settings, like that of the ceremony and cocktail reception. Let us know if you have any questions!

Fast Facts

• Andrea worked for the City of Philadelphia, directly across the street from LOVE Park

• One of our first dates was a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, visible from LOVE Park at the other end of the JFK Boulevard

• The Robert Indiana sculpture at LOVE Park has a duplicate on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). We both attended the Graduate School of Education at Penn. Incidentally, UPenn has another love-themed piece of artwork/architecture on its property.

• During the winter holiday season, we typically attend the Christmas Village in Philadelphia--a German-style Christmas market--that is located at LOVE Park. (And we got engaged in front of Der Alten Oper Frankfurt in Germany.)

• We love the art in Philadelphia and especially the public art. In addition to Indiana's sculpture, LOVE Park is set among a trail of sculptures by three generations of Calders along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway: at the southeast end, atop City Hall, is Milne’s monumental statue "William Penn" (c. 1886–94); at the midpoint is "Swann Memorial Fountain" (1924) by Stirling; and at the northwest end is Calder’s monumental mobile "The Ghost" (1964), hanging in the main hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

  • Other noteworthy art installations near to LOVE Park include the Rodin Museum and the impressionist galleries at the Barnes Foundation.

  • Read more about Philadelphia's other famous sculptures, here, a number of which are also in close proximity to LOVE Park.

Other Facts about LOVE Park

• The "official" name of LOVE Park is actually "John F. Kennedy Plaza." The park takes its nickname from the Robert Indiana sculpture that has been located there since 1976, installed as part of the country's bicentennial celebration.

  • The history of the LOVE sculpture, itself, and its relationship to Philadelphia is complex and fascinating; see more: here and here and here and here!

  • Robert Indiana was born "Robert Clark" but renamed himself after the state in which he was born. He lived in New York City and later relocated to the Island of Vinalhaven, Maine (Josh's home state).

• At the age of 92, Edmund Bacon (the father of actor Kevin Bacon) rode a skateboard in LOVE Park to protest the city's then-ban on skateboarding in the park. It had become a world-famous skate park, because of the hundreds of stone tiles, laid out uninterrupted on the ground. See Mr. Bacon skateboarding and petitioning his government for a redress of grievances, here!

• Edmund Bacon, and son Kevin, are beloved figures in Philadelphia.

  • The elder Bacon was an urban planner, architect, educator, and author. While serving as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission from 1949 to 1970, he conceived of and shaped LOVE Park (i.e., JFK Plaza), Olde City, and many other elements of the city--so much so that he is sometimes described as "The Father of Modern Philadelphia."

  • The younger, famous for both his roles and an eponymous drinking game, is sometimes seen playing guitar on summer days in Rittenhouse Square.

• From LOVE Park, you can see the tower of City Hall. City Hall is the largest municipal building in the U.S., and the tower is the tallest free-mason structure in the world. Until 1987, by an established custom, no erected building was allowed to surpass the height of the Calder's "William Penn" sculpture at the top.

  • Learn about the "Curse of Billy Penn," here and here. The Philadelphia Phillies broke the curse in 2008, at a game that Josh attended, after an ironworker restored a likeness of William Penn to his rightful spot atop Philadelphia.

  • We are both Phillies' fans (and Josh has coerced Andrea into supporting the Red Sox, as well). We once had partial-season tickets to baseball games at Citizens' Bank Park (a Christmas gift from Andrea to Josh).

  • City Hall Tower used to wear the jersey of the Philadelphia Flyers, draped there by helicopters, whenever the "Broad Street Bullies" played in the Stanley Cup Finals.