WEDDING SERVICES - VENUE - PHOTOGRAPHY - ELOPEMENTS - ALBUMS
Are you planning a spring wedding in the Chicago area? If so, you can enjoy portrait backdrops of spring flowering trees including several varieties Crabapple, Cherry Blossom, Lilac, Magnolia, and several others in our region. Planning a date around peak tree blooming is tricky, since nature doesn't follow our human calendar, but generally the first couple weekends in May are a pretty safe bet.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Mary and Matt were married on a September afternoon at Assumption Catholic Church, with reception at The University Club of Chicago. Giorgio and I enjoyed celebrating with this fun couple and their friendly families. They all have a wonderful sense of humor and love to sing and dance. Mary and Matt really threw a great party at their wedding!
The peachy colors with red accents were a nice color pallet for an early September wedding transitioning from summer to autumn. The bride's Vera Wang gown and Stewart Weitzman shoes gave the wedding style a classic foundation. However, some modern-vintage pieces added personal touches, especially the heirloom veil, which had been worn for three generations in the bride's family. Contemporary understated styles from Anthropologie and J.Crew adorned the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
A fantastic team of professionals helped this couple create a warmly welcoming and fun-loving wedding day: ceremony officiant Msgr. Jerry Ward, Windy City Trolley, Simply Flowers, Publicide invitations, Little King wedding rings, and reception catering and cake by the University Club of Chicago.
Photography © Wedding Creativo Photography
Alicia and Nate had a beautiful day for their September wedding at St. James Chapel and Gibsons Steakhouse in downtown Chicago. We started with preparations and the couple's "first look" at Sofitel, followed by portraits along Lake Michigan before heading to their intimate ceremony and reception. We loved her pastel pink sash and flowing satin gown, and exquisitely delicate bridal bouquet by Zuzu's Petals.
Alison and Tyler have a moment alone before their private garden wedding in St. Charles, Illinois. A special moment captured on black and white 35mm film.
Alicia and Nate share a very laid back moment, splendor in the grass, on their summer wedding day in Chicago.
Congratulations to Ari and Simon! The newlyweds tied the knot over the weekend at St. James and Union League Club. They traveled all the way from Australia (along with over 40 of the groom's family and friends) to have the wedding near the bride's family in Chicago. We'll feature more of this wedding in the future, but for now here are some highlights.
Congratulations Joe & Lena who were married at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago this spring. These highlights feature their modern and elegant spring wedding with purple, lavender and silver hues. This couple also found our list of professional recommendations helpful during planning, so we had the pleasure of working with several of our favorite event pros at this wedding too, including Zuzu's Petals florist, Luscious Layers bakery, Windy City Limos, Sonia Roselli Makeup, Something 2 Dance 2 DJ, Rev. Marian Hale, and preparations at the Blackstone Hotel.
Joe & Lena also included our Polaroid camera services to add to their intimate and fun reception. We brought some cute glitter heart sunglasses to compliment the bride's glamourous style, and also silly star-shaped glasses for their evening under the stars at the planetarium. Everyone had a great time on the dance floor with our "pazzi" props, using our instant cameras all around the reception, and making a fun keepsake album for the happy newlyweds.
Photography © Wedding Creativo Photography
Happy Mothers Day! Be sure to take time off from wedding planning to give mom a fist-bump today. We are too!
Michelle and Mathew are a very sweet couple that met while traveling in one of the most awe-inspiring places in the world. With Machu Picchu in Peru as the setting, who would not fall in love? So, this couple incorporated some Peruvian wedding traditions into their special day.
We started out by taking advantage of the blooming trees for some romantic spring wedding portraits. Then, at The James Hotel the ceremony was performed by officiant Anita Vaughan, who shared the tale of their lives and love story. Afterwards, an intimate gathering of family and friends dined at the hotel's restaurant David Burke's Primehouse. At the dinner table we were charmed by with the bicycle theme place cards, Vosges chocolate gifts, and incredibly detailed Machu Picchu wedding cake designed by TipsyCake.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
After the wedding, inspired by the reception bicycle detail and their purple-pink wedding colors, we designed this "Thank You" card for the newlyweds.
When a wedding is the first one for any family it is usually extra emotional. Moms are often just as nervous as their daughters. You might even see dad shed some tears. These families were indeed filled with butterflies and excitement for the bride and groom on their special day. It was adorable to see Jamie's father so expressive with emotion, and it is always wonderful to see parents so involved and attentive on the wedding day.
Jamie and David held their wedding at Saint Cajetan Church and reception at Harold Washington Library. Natural beauty was abound with lovely greens and vintage details to set the tone for their grand celebration.
The bride wore a spectacular Lazaro gown and statement heels from Stuart Weitzman. The reception had a wonderful balance of elegance with rustic vintage accents. A few items were made by the bride, or special collected pieces including the cute Mr. and Mrs. chair signs.
What we always remember most at all weddings are the unique spontaneous moments, and at this one...they were filled with songs. Read on below to see how Jamie and David's wedding day was at times like a real-life musical with many people spontaneously breaking out into song.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Jamie and David invited former American Idol contestant Chris Medina to their wedding and he sang at their ceremony!
As it turned out a lot of people (and a bird) were inspired to sing for Jamie and David. They enjoyed not one but two spontanous group serenades in the park while we were out taking portraits. 
Finally, the happy couple were treated to one more surprise song at the reception, this time by their bridal party!
Featured event professionals: Steuber Florist, Naples Bakery, Tone Productions DJ, Exquisite Limousine, Formally Modern Tuxedo, Bella Bianca Bridal, Wedding Creativo Photography.
Cat and Matt's wedding is a fantastic example of traditional day that used slight touches of vintage elements and unique details.
The bride collected lots of buttons to incorporate on her bouquet, programs, and reception gift boxes. It was a creative touch, and absolutely gave their wedding a unique button theme without going overboard with buttons. They were used on a few key DIY projects that the bride and her friends were able to manage, and was executed perfectly as a memorable theme.
Cat's classic diamonds and pearls jewelry, and authentic heirloom pieces also created a vintage feel. A flower pin handed down from her grandmother was used in the bouquet, as well as borrowed family handkerchief. The bride wore a lovely pastel peachy cream and floral detailed Maggie Sottero gown, with bridesmaids wearing short black dresses punched with candy apple red shoes and vibrant red, pink and peach bouquets.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
The ceremony took place at Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton, Illinois. Our favorite moments included the young flower girl handing out daisies to guests sitting on the end of the aisle, and the baby ring bearer towed in a red wagon by his big brother. So cute!
Any time we are near Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, it is one of our favorite locations for wedding portraits. It is of course a lush garden park in warmer months, but is also beautiful during cooler times of year. On this visit we were lucky enough to spot a robust turkey roaming the grounds!
For this larger reception, Abbington Distinctive Banquets in Glen Ellyn provided guests with a classic elegant setting, and as always at this venue, the service and cuisine were lovely. The venue also provided event services including the cake, sweet table, decor and flowers. The button theme was delicately showcased with in reception details with the escort cards and guest gift boxes placed on the tables.
A wonderful moment at the reception was the toast given by the best man. He still had this piece of paper given to him by the groom years ago when they were kids. It was an "I.O.U." for a favor owed to him by the groom. Note to any best men out there....if you have some kind of sentimental relic from your past with the groom, borrow this idea. There was not a dry eye in the house.
Toast and Jam DJ Natalie opened the dancing portion of the evening with Cat and Matt's first dance to "Stand By Me," father and daughter song "You Are My Sunshine," and mother and son song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
Congratulations to Rebecca and Christopher! They were married over the weekend at Spiaggia with wonderful work by Scarlet Petal florist, Sonia Roselli hair and makeup (Sana & Korena), Flour Bakery, and Toast & Jam DJs. Of course since sparkly is our favorite color, we loved the bride's Kate Spade shoes! We'll feature more from this wedding in the future.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
As we look at some destination weddings this week, it is worth mentioning that several of our couples have had two weddings, one away and one back home. Some just have a second reception back home if many family and friends were unable to attend a destination wedding. In the case of Gabrielle and Chad, they live in Hawaii near the groom's family, but the bride's family lives here in Chicago. It didn't work out for them to have everyone in the same place, so they decided to have two small weddings in both locations, Chicago and Hawaii.
The cool thing about having two weddings, is that you can have two different styles for each one, as Gabe and Chad did. For the Chicago wedding with the bride's Italian family, it was a 1950's theme, with the ceremony at the small chapel at Northwestern University, where the bride's mother also was married decades before. The reception was an intimate family dinner a Chicago neighborhood Italian restaurant.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
WEDDING #1: CHICAGO WEDDING
WEDDING #2: HAWAII WEDDING
For the Hawaii wedding, it was a vibrantly colorful and more casual affair on the beach near the bride and groom's home in Honolulu. The groom's family, native Hawaiian Kona coffee farmers, helped with the decorations and details.
And the day after, it was an afternoon of surf and sun for the newlyweds.
This bridal portrait always reminds me (Sarah) of one of my favorite artists, Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). His paintings and artwork used in early advertising during the Art Nouveau period are iconic.
Bride Nichole also loves Art Nouveau, and it was apparent with her home decor and wedding style. This portrait on her staircase is a classic favorite.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Kate's enthusiastic laugh and Brian's southern gentleman charm is what we will always remember most about this fun-loving couple. Kate runs the big city marathons...she's done Boston and Chicago multiple times. Brian is an equally enthusiastic athlete and his work involves extensive traveling, so he has also enjoyed running in cities around the world. We recently enjoyed photographing their destination wedding in Cooperstown, and we posted a sneak peak from their wedding day last week.
However, we never got around to posting their wonderful engagement session, so we want to feature that today, along with the Save The Date card we made featuring several favorites from their lifestyle engagement session. Kate and Brian's humorous personalities and shared interest in running is captured in this collection.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
We had a great time last month at Corrinne and Jeremy's wedding. For our featured photo this week we share one of our favorite moments from their day as they practiced their first dance. More pictures from thier wedding will be featured soon, and we'll be back to regular blog posts next week...we've been busy bees and have lots of fun weddings and inspiring ideas to share soon.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
The landmark Chicago Cultural Center is where Lauren and Jonah held their summer evening wedding and reception. It was a cocktail style affair with diverse international cuisine, ice-cream sandwich treats, and formal ballroom dancing, with the bride's brother even giving guests impromptu dance lessions!
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are to have a public lakeshore in Chicago. It is no wonder why it is such a popular location for portraits, but we were extra lucky to run into these guys "taking the plunge" into Lake Michigan, which was a nice visual metaphor for Wendy and Neil's engagement portrait session.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
How could anyone turn down a marriage proposal while sharing ice-cream? Well, that's exactly how clever groom Aaron sweet-talked his bride Melissa when he popped the question at Jeni's, one of their favorite ice-cream shops near the groom's family home in Columbus, Ohio. He actually had the shop put a sign in the ice-cream cooler window with a special "flavor" to hopefully catch his sweetheart's attention with a proposal written in the description! The couple used this moment as inspiration for their wedding theme and table cards, which were all named after many famous ice-cream shops that they have visited.
Morning preparations and "first-see" were at the InterContinental hotel on Michigan Ave. The early afternoon wedding was held in the outdoor courtyard at Galleria Marchetti, with reception under the adjoining pavilion. The wedding was administered by Rabbi Bruce Elder as Moeller Music performed the ceremonial score.
The couple's dog was all smiles as he trotted down the isle to start the processional. The bridesmaids dresses by Alfred Sung provided a purple punch of color before Melissa made her grand entrance in a Mauel Mota Pronovias gown. Brittany from Robert Jeffery Salon gave the bride a breezy summer look with a stunning hairpin to pull back the brides lovely locks, and compliment her contemporary laid back summer style.
At the reception the guests were treated to ice-cream sundaes and cupcakes by Lucious Layers, sweet floral arrangements by Mille Fiori, and lively music from Style Matters dj Spencer.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Inspired Finds:
Angry Ice Cream Cufflinks
Congratulations to Nyran and Pablo who had a beautiful winter wedding with the entire day's festivities taking place at the historic Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel. Che Sguardo Makeup and Segovia Hair Salon had everyone looking smashing, Ashland-Addison made the floral arrangements, Sarah's Pastries created the beautiful cake, Don Cagen Orchestra kept the dance floor crowded, and Camille Victoria Weddings kept everything running smoothly. Nyran's beautiful dress is by Chicago couture designer Alice Padrul.
All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo
