10 Great Chicago Wedding Blogs 2012

With thousands of wedding blogs around the world there is literally limitless inspiration and information for wedding planning.  For the Chicago area, we are fortunate to have so many creative and knowledgeable wedding professionals who also have fantastic blogs.  We find the advice and tips found on event professionals blogs to be more realistic, filled with a lot more original ideas, and frankly, far more diverse than what we see on the nationally-known wedding blogs. 

10 of our favorite Chicago wedding blogs and posts in 2012           (listed randomly)

1. Wedding Creativo Blog (okay yes, we are biased, ha ha) - of course as photographers, we feature lots of pretty pictures, but also practical tips and insights based on our real weddings from two decades of experience. One of our most popular posts: Make Your Own New Wedding Traditions

2. Entertaining Company Blog - this is a great catering and event design company, and owner Wendy Pashman is an amazing writer to boot. This blog shares a wide variety of ideas and inspiration for weddings and parties of all sorts. Recommended reading: How to Cocktail Like a Marchesa

3. Alice Padrul Journal - Couture wedding dress designer Alice Padrul shows her stunningly beautiful gowns in action featuring videos and photos of real brides on their wedding day, and occasionally she gives us a peek behind the curtain into her dress making workshop in Chicago.  Recommended reading: The Making of a Gown

4. Sarah Drake Design Blog - Sarah Drake is a professional creative designer on several fronts, and has expanded her creative work beyond weddings and paperies, but she is a greatly admired wedding invitation designer in Chicago.  We enjoy reading about what inspires her work, and also regular features of her behind the scenes working on the delicate details of her designs. Recommended reading: September = Wedding Production

5. Fleur Chicago Blog - Kellie Marie, owner of Fleur, is hands down one of the most talented florists in Chicago, and her blog regularly inspires with photos of her beautiful work, boutique floral shop, and her personal notes and insights.  Recommended reading: Don't Sweat It

6. Sine Qua Non Special Events Blog - event planner Beth Bernstein leads the team at SQN with lots of practical planning advice, and her blog also shows her talents as a taste maker with posts that are always on top of the latest trends.  Recommended reading: Beauty and the Brooch (Bouquet)

7. Stitely Entertainment Blog - Jeff Stitely and crew are tops among wedding musicians in Chicago, and their blog often has some surprising and clever sources of inspiration for wedding music.  Recommended reading: Perpetuum Mobile - Music Inspired by Food Poisoning

8. Anita Weds Blog - Anita Vaughan is a kind and thoughtful person, which is why she is a much loved wedding officiant in Chicago.  As a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant she shares a lot of diverse weddings on her blog, and we always enjoy reading how she works with couples to help them add personal touches and special meaning into their ceremonies.  Recommended reading:  Adding a Little Spice to a Ceremony

9. Everything But The Dress - This blog belongs to the ladies of The Left Bank, where brides find dazzling wedding jewelry in Chicago.  It is always fun to see their latest arrivals and trunk shows, and we also enjoy seeing their real brides' bling, as well general wedding style tips and trends.  Recommended reading: Magnificent Cuffs Inspired by the 2012 Oscar Awards

10. The Haberdash Blog - For fashion and lifestyle tips for the guys, this blog by the Chicago men's clothing boutique Haberdash is an excellent resource.  This is not specifically for grooms, but these curators of fashion for well-dressed men can also inspire great ideas for grooms looking to express their own style beyond the standard black tux. Recommended reading: Classic Essentials The Overcoat

Wedding Photo of the Week: Staying Cool at Summer Weddings

It's summertime in the city, which means fun in the sun for the most part, but on a wedding day soaring temperatures can be miserable for folks in formals.  For our featured photo this week we look back to Candice and Robert's wedding when the bridal party was lucky to run into an ice-cream vendor along the lakeshore.  He offered some sweet relief to the near 100 degree heat and high humidity.  Everyone in the bridal party got a cool treat.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

As we head into summer wedding months, here are our top 5 tips for staying cool at hot summer weddings:

1. Stay hydrated:  the top way for everyone to stay cool is to drink water.  Especially for outdoor weddings it is important to have plenty of cold water for guests throughout the entire time.  You could get creative by using old-fashioned picnic coolers placed around various areas with water bottles on ice.  Be sure to have a recycling bin for those empty bottles!

2. Wear cool fabrics:  consider light fabrics made of natural fibers for your formal wear.  Looser fitting clothing will help.  We love seersucker suits and dresses...we'll be saying more about that later this week!

3. Humans sweat:  there is no way around this, unless you are my partner Giorgio.  He is the only human I know that never sweats.  For everyone else, guys can carry a handkerchief in their back pocket and gals can keep blotting tissue papers in their purses.  Lower maintenance lighter makeup is best for the hottest days.  It is also a good idea to bring a few travel size deodorant sticks for women and men in an all-purpose "wedding day survival" bag.  Trying to fight what naturally happens during summer will always be a losing battle, so it is best to just plan for the inevitable.

4. Block the sun:  wearing sunscreen is a must, especially if you'll be outdoors for long periods of time.  A bad sunburn is not something anyone should experience on a wedding day.  Parasol umbrellas can be a stylish way for the bridal party to keep cool and also fun for pictures.  And, if we learned anything from William and Kate's royal wedding, hats can also be a fashionable way to keep the sun at bay.

5. Think of winter and go slow:  if it is going to be extremely hot, over 90 degrees, we will generally recommend couples take it easy and avoid being out in the sun too long during portrait time.  Extreme heat is just as bad as a thunderstorm when it comes to portraits.  As much as the bridal party will try to be good sports, no one likes having their portrait taken when they are hot, sweaty and exhausted in the heat.  For our couples with summer weddings we'll suggest cool - literally - indoor alternatives if the heat is going to be dangerously high during portrait time.  When we are outside in higher temperatures, we try to keep it as painless as possible, and remind folks to keep thinking about frosty the snowman and how much we all love Chicago winters, and that in just a few months the ice and snow will return.

Happy summer!