How One Philly Couple Pulled off a Surprise Wedding at a Coffee Shop

Photos by Kelly Giarrocco

Think a big wedding with months of pre-planning might not be for you? Chloe Terres and Jimmy Bereolos felt the same way. After getting engaged in May, they originally planned to marry in the spring of 2018. Instead, with the help of Clover Event Co., they turned their July engagement party at Fishtown’s La Colombe coffee shop into a surprise wedding. See photos from the day by Kelly Giarrocco and find out how they pulled it all off below. 

Chloe, executive assistant to the president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum, met Jimmy, a partner at Kintext Consulting, at Johnny Brenda’s (she was third-wheeling a friend’s date; he was there for a work dinner). On their first date, they hit up Graffiti Pier before dinner at Nick’s Old Original Roast Beef, then walked the boardwalk at Penn’s Landing. Three years later, Chloe’s mother, step-father, and sister came over to celebrate Mother’s Day. On their way out the door to dinner at Front Street Cafe, Jimmy said, “Wait, there’s something I have to do,” dropped to one knee, and proposed.

The couple originally planned to marry in the spring of next year, but something felt off.

“While planning our ‘big wedding’ we were not excited,” says Chloe. “It didn’t feel like us. We even entertained the idea of eloping. We had been planning an engagement party for July 29th, and three weeks before I asked Jimmy what he thought of getting surprise married instead. He loved the idea. All of our closest friends and family would already be there so it was the perfect set up.”

Chloe and Jimmy told their bridal parties about the change in plans the day of. Chloe asked her bridesmaids to meet her at Joe’s Coffee in Rittenhouse, where she gave them each a necklace, then lead them to Richard Nicholas Salon to get their hair and makeup done. Jimmy told his groomsmen over lunch at Front Street Cafe.

Clover Event Co.’s Caitlin Maloney clued attendees in to the surprise with two custom-made signs placed at the front of the space. The Devon & Pinkett team turned the shop’s signature barrel wall into a ceremony backdrop with greenery and flowers, and there wasn’t a dry eye in sight as one close friend of the couple sang Chloe down the aisle and another officiated their vow exchange. There was no dancing, but after dinner, the celebration continued where it all began: at Johnny Brenda’s. Chloe and Jimmy are planning to honeymoon in Greece next spring during the time they’d originally reserved for their wedding.

VENDORS

Photography: Kelly Giarrocco | Venue: La Colombe Fishtown | Event Coordination: Clover Event Co. | Cake: Cake Life | Florals: Devon & Pinkett | Bride’s Gown: Reformation | Hair: Richard Nicholas Hair Studio | Makeup: Shimmer and Spice | Groom’s Attire: Calvin Klein, Men’s Wearhouse | Day-of Hotel: W.M. Mulherin’s Sons Hotel

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