Emmy Award-winning media personality Maria Papadakis, Philly.com contributor, and Raw Artists TV host, and Brendan Kent, associate business manager at Kent & Kent, were married in a beautiful wedding ceremony on Saturday afternoon at St. George Greek Orthodox Church Cathedral in Philadelphia. The bride is the daughter of renowned Drexel University President and CEO Constantine “Taki” Papadakis, who passed away in 2009, and Eliana Papadakis; the groom is the son of Lawrence J. Kent, partner at Kent & Kent, and Mary Kent. Maria's dress was a unique Monique Lhuillier, with a white-lace beaded corset and a silk organza skirt co-designed by Mark Ingram. Her cathedral-length veil, specially designed by Peter Langer in Italy, complements the wedding dress's intricate beading. The bride wore Vera Wang three-inch stilettos that she wore when she danced at her first father-daughter dance a decade ago as a debutante at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf Astoria when she was 17.

I was honored to be one of the groomsmen, but conflicted as I wasn't allowed to carry my camera during the ceremony. Although I didn't take the church shot (that was taken by my partner Mike Toub), the rest of the photos are mine. Below: My fellow groomsmen as we get ready at the Hyatt at the Bellevue before the ceremony (from left to right): Brendan Kent, Grigorios Papadourakis, Thomas Macie, Bradley Moatz, Peter Kent, Anthony Vaganos (partially blocked), Patrick Fay, Andrew Rosenthal and Spiros Skilros.

The newlyweds met through a chance encounter when Maria's mother, Eliana Papadakis, was attending a Greek wedding in Ithaca, New York in the summer of 2010. Customary at Greek weddings. Brendan Kent noticed Eliana sitting alone at the dinner table and decided to ask her to dance with him. He made an impression on Eliana, and she decided to play matchmaker by introducing the couple at a mutual friend's post-wedding reception.

After the wedding ceremony, we headed over to the Academy of Music. The historic venue was transformed, with a giant ballroom floor extending over the theater seats for a total of 4,700 square feet. The famous chandelier in the opulent opera house was lowered so the more than 550 guests could get a closer view.

While the guests enjoyed the fabulous Jose Garces-catered cocktail party on the second floor of the Academy, with (I heard) the most delicious lamb chops, the bridal party posed for Marie Labbancz Photography, who took the official photograph for the Kent wedding. Then it was backstage for us, as the guests found their seats. Below: Spiros Skilros, Andrew Rosenthal, Brendan Kent (partially hidden) Maria Papadakis, Katie Kent, Sarena Snider, Rachel Moore and Harley Benson. Missing bridesmaids included Ashley Vanett, Christine Hanhausen, and Kayla Engle. The flower girl was Konstantina Karloutsos, and the ring bearer was Alexander Karloutsos.

The bride and groom dance to their first song together as man and wife, “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific,bridesmaid dresses 2012 as performed by CTO Entertainment's Eddie Bruce and his band. South Pacific was the first musical Brendan and Maria saw together on the stage at the Academy of Music. Pretty amazing.

Below: Anthony Vaganos, koumbaros, and Chrysa Tsakopoulos, koumbara. The koumbaro(a) assists in the wedding ceremony. They are required to be a member in good standing with a Greek Orthodox Church. Here they both give congratulatory toasts to the newlyweds. Makeup and hair of the bridesmaids was done by two women Maria met doing her monthly Raw Artist gig at G Lounge: Mari Nunex did hair, and Wendie Hetherington did the makeup.

Although many guests were local, some came from as far away as L.A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, Panama, Greece, Japan and Germany.

One of the people Maria and Brendan thanked in their remarks of the evening was Anne Ewers, president and CEO of Kimmel Center, who was immensely helpful in the securing the legendary music hall for their wedding. With Anne is her husband Fred Hagen.

Below: Wedding planner Karen Homer (right), president and CEO at HKH Innovations, with mother-of-the-bride Eliana Papadakis. This was the first wedding ever held in the auditorium of the Academy of Music. Karen knows a thing or two about putting on a production of this magnitude as she's been involved in the Academy Ball Gala, as well as the opening of the Barnes Foundation earlier this year. Brian Kappra, Evantine Design, created a beautiful atmosphere with gorgeous centerpieces with fragrant, sweet-smelling flowers, including red roses, which are a favorite of Maria's. The whole evening was right on par with the most beautiful wedding that Maria always dreamed of having.

Below: David Dubbeldam and Ellen Berman Lee. Ellen told me the Academy and the bride were “breathtakingly beautiful,” and she was so glad to be included in celebrating the marriage. Another breathtaking moment was when two singers of the Opera Company of Philadelphia performed excerpts from La Boheme and West Side Story from the balcony for the guests.cheap demetrios wedding dresses made in china

Below: Kristyn Aldrich, Focused Studios Video Production, WMMR's Marisa Magnatta, and Katie English. Katie has her own PR company and tells me to watch the news on Tuesday as her client, The Philly Pops, have a big announcement coming.

Below: Larry and Mary Kent were beaming with pride all evening. The night before, they hosted a wonderful rehearsal dinner at the Rose Garden for the entire wedding party, friends and family that could have been a small wedding itself, complete with lessons on how to dance a few of the Greek steps we would need for the wedding reception. I am still savoring the delicious lemon-roasted lobster and risotto, as well as the miso-marinated grouper by executive chef Richard Hebben.