Local Love: Jennifer and Chad

June 9, 2023

ashleysaraphotography_jen_chad_wedding (1693 of 1750).webp

Disco balls, dancing shoes and defying traditions—Jennifer and Chad Ulrich have a zest for life, and they wanted their big day to reflect that.

“We love getting dressed up and elegance in general, but we also love to party,” Jennifer says. “What better way to take our formal wedding and still incorporate the fact that you are here to dance until your feet hurt than mixing elegance with disco balls?”

The couple says they’ve always considered themselves “nontraditional,” so, naturally, they had to go beyond the typical “copy and paste” wedding.

This means having their best friends be “flower women'' in the ceremony, inviting the family of the bride on the dance floor in place of a solo parent dance and walking down the aisle together.

“When deciding upon our union, we knew that we were going into it together, which is exactly why we decided to walk down the aisle together,” Jennifer says. “This was a symbol of us starting this next chapter of our lives as one. It was truly beautiful.”

Their authenticity shined through the details and décor as well. Glistening disco balls, dangling greenery and dainty market string lights hung from a white tent at Historic Shady Lane, a York venue with an intimate greenhouse.

For food, choices like Thai Noodle Boxes and Chicken and Waffles were inspired by their love of travel and adventure. And relating to adventure—the couple has a lifelong plan for future ones.

“In 2024, we are heading to our furthest destination yet—Australia! We had five amazing people travel all the way from Australia for our wedding, so now we are returning the favor,” Jennifer says.

Aside from traveling, the couple also enjoys trying new restaurants, spending time with their dogs and making memories with family and friends. And they’ve been doing so for almost a decade.

“We met in college; we started our relationship arguing over how a camera works, and from that argument, we became best friends,” Jennifer says. “After about two years of friendship, we finally decided to give in to our feelings for each other and have been together ever since.”

She says being able to finally say “I do” after dating for so long felt amazing, and their nonconventional day was everything they had envisioned.

“To have the wedding finally arrive felt like such a big party with so much love surrounding us,” she says. “We wanted to make it the wedding of our dreams after all those years of talking about it. Why would we not go all out?”

1 of 7