Cescaphe Event Group’s Joe Volpe pivoted from being a determined entrepreneur who just wanted to orchestrate gorgeous weddings in 2004, to a thriving wedding mogul with a desire to significantly expand his company by the start of 2010. Volpe was literally a man on a mission, planning and executing dream weddings for 250 to 300 brides and grooms per year at Cescaphe Ballroom and Tendenza, the venues he owns and operates in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood, as well as the Atrium at Curtis Center near Independence Mall.

When Peter Breslow met Joe Volpe in the fall of 2010, Breslow understood that Volpe wanted to grow, but he also knew he needed to take some time to understand the existing culture of the company, to learn how the business functioned, and to gain a comprehensive understanding of how Cescaphe Event Group sold itself. Breslow recognized immediately that this was no small PR job. This was a major branding and public relations campaign that would take some time to develop.

By January 2011, Breslow and Volpe decided the business needed to begin branding itself to stand apart from the very competitive and crowded regional wedding business. “We needed to craft a statement that defined us as what we are,” said Volpe. “We needed to boil down who we are into one sentence.” After some research, which included an intense market analysis, Peter Breslow presented a statement that would begin to appear on all company collateral materials immediately. This statement defines the company as what it is: “Philadelphia’s Premier Wedding Brand”.

The moment Breslow introduced the positioning statement he went from being a participant on the Cescaphe Event Group marketing team to the team leader, and as he likes to say, “the protector of the brand,” as a result of this process. Rather seamlessly, Breslow began directing Cescaphe Event Group’s marketing and public relations, while Joe Volpe concentrated on adding venues and hiring key personnel while maintaining the company’s impeccable standards. Volpe and his team loved the brand positioning, so Breslow got to work on building the brand up from there. “The positioning statement defines what we are,” said Breslow. “It’s the foundation of the house. Once we got the foundation built we needed to get to work building the brand up from there.”

By the fall of 2011, Cescaphe Event Group opened Vie at 600 North Broad Street, the company’s fourth venue and one of the largest wedding and event spaces in Philadelphia, after hosting a thousand of the city’s movers-and-shakers at Philadelphia magazine’s “Best of Philly” party in the unfinished facility in July. “That was one incredible way to launch a new space,” said Volpe. “We changed our paradigm and proved that we are the best in our business in one night”. “It was our coming out party,” said Breslow. It was the beginning of a long-term relationship with Philadelphia magazine, which has proven to be a mutually beneficial partnership.

After “Best of Philly”, Breslow and Volpe increased Cescaphe Event Group’s presence in Philadelphia magazine and Philadelphia Wedding magazine (both owned by Metrocorp Inc.), and established a partnership which showcases wedding trends that the company initiates by producing videos that celebrate the trends and airing them on both companies’ websites.

In January of 2013, Cescaphe Event Group took possession of Philadelphia’s legendary Down Town Club, which was founded in 1897 and is located throughout the 11th and 12th floors of the historic Public Ledger Building at 150 S. Independence Mall West. Volpe renovated the space in the first quarter of 2013 and began orchestrating weddings in the company’s fifth venue during the spring of 2013.

Today, Cescaphe Event Group is arguably one of the most progressive wedding brands in the U.S., producing extraordinary weddings for over six hundred brides and grooms annually. Under Breslow’s direction, Cescaphe Event Group has carefully introduced a new social media initiative, which involves inspiring the more than 100,000 visitors to the company’s venues to post messages and images onto social media while attending celebrations that the company orchestrates.

Joe Volpe has no plans for slowing down, as he continues to explore developing additional wedding spaces in and around Philadelphia while pursuing expansion regionally. Look for more Cescaphe Event Group new venue announcements as well as horizontal company growth and significant strategic alliances that validate the fact that the company is, in fact, Philadelphia’s Premier Wedding Brand.