More, More and More Album Options

With our album binderies continually offering new cover options every year, it is literally impossible to adequately describe the hundreds of combinations and materials available to make our couples' custom-designed albums and parent albums.  There are so many new cover options including metallic, printed and textured leathers, shimmery textiles, brocade silks, color or black and white image printed metal, image-covered acrylic, formica and even glass!  And more new materials are scheduled to be added in 2010. 

Also, we are now able to offer "premium" parent clone albums with both our Flush Mount and Italian Book Bound albums.  The parent clone sizes are 8x12 (or 8x8 square) EXACT copies of the main wedding album - meaning the same premium covers, layout, and binding style - are available for all of our premium albums.   Parent books are a new option all together for our Flush Mount line, and an updated offering for our Italian Book Bound line.

Overall, this means more choices for our couples to have a beautiful one-of-a-kind heirloom album, with better quality matching parents' albums.

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

This is a Flush Mount album with split cover wth a metallic-textured leather back and spine, with the front featuring black and white printed metal - yes the image is printed right on the metal, and it is hard to see online, but the image highlights show a matted shimmer of metal for a stunning effect.  You can even see reflection in the metallic leather! I don't know how our bindery makes leather look like a cracked mirror, but they are geniuses and we love them.

This is the acrylic image cover in our Italian Book Bound line.  The back and spine are black leather, with a printed image incased in glossy acryllic on the front.  Here you see the 9.5x13 main album and 8x12 parent clone - both with the same premium cover.

Here is a colored solid leather option in the Italian Book Bound line, again matching parent clones with same premium covers as main album.  The bride matched the cover to her "something blue" shoes.

To see more album covers, please visit the "Galleries" section and click "albums" on our website www.weddingcreativo.com.

Congratulations Laura and Mike

On a bright sunny winter day (how lucky! Chicago has so few this time of year), Mike and Laura had an early afternoon ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton.  Afterwards we took the "El" train to their reception at Quartino Ristorante where everyone enjoyed the wedding cupcakes.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

 

Trendspotting: hand-drawn road maps

Trendspotting: adorable hand drawn road maps in invitations such as the ones made by Carrot and Stick Press

( from Carrot and Stick Press website)

Congratulations Christina and Clay

Christina and Clay's late autumn wedding was a candle-lit soiree held at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield in Schaumburg.  The couple incorporated creative lighting, lots of music and lush vibrant colors, which represented their lives working in the music and entertainment industry.  It appears talent runs deep in the family, as one of the bride's young relatives is probably the best Michael Jackson impersonator ever!

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Farms, Barns and Winery Weddings

We've been asked a few times lately about rural places for weddings such as barns, farms and vineyards. They can be lovely alternatives to traditional venues and you might even consider making near-destination weddings down-state or to neighbor states for a fun getaway weekend for your guests. They also generally make for a relaxed day, especially when ceremony and reception are both held at the venue and guests need not travel to any additional locations in these usually unfamiliar countryside areas.

Here are suggestions in the region closest to Chicago area:

Lynfred Winery (Roselle, IL)
http://www.lynfredwinery.com/priv.html

Whyte Horse Winery (Monticello, IN)
http://www.whytehorsewinery.com/winery/winery.php

County Line Orchard (Hobart, IN)
http://www.countylineorchard.com/weddings/staging/events.html

Hoosier Grove Barn (Streamwood, IL)
http://www.hoosiergrovebarn.com/

Vehe Barn (Deer Park, IL)
http://www.village.deer-park.il.us/Vehe_Barn_Rental.htm

Danada House - horse stables (Wheaton, IL)
http://www.danadahouse.com/

Millcreek and Blue Dress Barns (Southwest Michigan)
http://www.millcreekbarn.com/aboutus.html

There are a lot more vineyards that have weddings in areas throughout the region in southern IL & IN and northern MI, so if you are open to having a near-destination wedding these would be good to look into as well.

Chateau Pomije (Guilford, IN)
http://www.cpwinery.com/weddings.html

Chateau de Pique (Seymour, IN)
http://www.chateaudepique.com//index.htm

Spirit Knob Winery (Ursa, IL)
http://www.spiritknob.com/events.html

Ravissant Winery (Belleville, IL)
http://www.ravissantwinery.com/banquet.htm

Gill's Pier Vineyard & Winery (Leelanau Peninsula, MI)
http://www.gillspier.com/banquet-room.htm

Black Star Winery and Farms (Suttons Bay/Leelanau, MI)
http://www.blackstarfarms.com/events/

Michigan's lakeshore and Traverse City area is loaded with wineries - certainly make for a great weekend getaways for newlyweds too!


© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo Photography

Congratulations Jeff and Rachel

As a couple of the LDS faith, Jeff and Rachel began their photography coverage after the ceremony.   They live in Utah, but had their wedding here in Chicago, the home of the bride's family.   Having lots of pictures around downtown Chicago was a must for the out-of-town bridal party, and even on this chilly day, there was plenty to see around Millennium Park. We even got a few shots on the ice-skating rink before being chased off by the security guards.  The bride's mother is a commerical stylist, and is starting to branch off into event floral design.  She made all of the wonderful floral arrangements and table centerpieces on display througout the reception at the Wyndham in Glenview.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Wedding Creativo - Social Butterfly: Dec 13 - 19

This week on our Facebook-Tweets:

- Great finds on great deals - sales, shows, specials and tips for wedding planning savings
- Tips on upcoming trunk shows this weekend for gowns and jewelery - we're talking Swarvosky Crystal people!
- Ideas for honeymoons in Greece and Italy with links to travel deals
- Punches are making a comeback - get a link for 11 recipes for punches that will knock your guests out
- Link to an online tool for fitness training
- Feature about a cool location for winter engagement sessions
- News about Wedding Creativo and lots more!

Follow Wedding Creativo Photography on facebook for regular updates! Or get the same messages from Wedding Creativo on Twitter if that's how you roll.

Wedding Creativo's Top 5 favorite wedding trends from 2009

Here are five of our favorite trends from 2009....and hope to see them continue in 2010! We are lucky to have such fashion forward brides!

All images © Wedding Creativo Photography / Giorgio Ventola Inc.

#1 - Birdcage Veil


#2 - Pashmina Wraps


#3 - Peacock Theme


#4 - Something Blue Shoes


#5 - Intimate/Rustic/Vintage Venues

Congratulations Caryn and Jason

Red and gray were the colors of the day for Caryn and Jason's outdoor fall wedding at the Loyola Park lakeshore.  Caryn enhanced the fall colors by having her mother "import" autumn leaves from the trees of her parent's Michigan home, which were used to make the isle for the ceremony processional.  The bride's burgundy pashmina and the groom's matching burgundy ascot and grey suit were fabulous tones for a crisp autumn wedding day.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Congratulations Holly and Mark

Holly and Mark exchanged vows and also a bit of their American and Danish cultures at their fall wedding along the Chicago River at Flatwater, which has one of THE best views of the skyline and classic iron bridges.  The lucky couple left for Denmark shortly after their wedding.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Congratulations Renee and Jason

Renee and Jason had a fun small gathering at Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro for their crisp autumn wedding.  The bride wore a lovely vintage gown as she and the groom walked arm and arm together down the isle to start their ceremony.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc./Wedding Creativo

Create your own Wedding Web Site

We have been accepted as an affiliate of Wedsite.com. They have really cool layouts and features to create your own wedding website. Email us to request a coupon code for 20% savings on your Wedsite.

Congratulations Lisa and Neil

Lisa and Neil incorporated their convictions as vegans into their wedding. We loved the matchstick seeds, soil and cute ceramic pot that they gave out as gifts to the guests!

Images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Congratulations Natalie and Michael

Natalie and Michael were the sweetest couple - and I have to say she send us the best thank you note ever! "You guys are NOT wedding photographers, and I mean that in the nicest way possible." - we understand what you mean Natalie. We do our best to be helpful beyond photography and work well with all the vendors at the wedding, we were glad to do that for Natalie, and all of our couples.

They had two lovely locations, with the ceremony at Assumption Church, and reception at Chicago Mart Plaza with it's amazing city views on the 15th floor over the Chicago River! The exceptional staff there is one of the most friendly and competent crews we've experienced.

Images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Congratulations Dana and Caleb

Wisconsin couple Dana and Caleb had a beautiful summer garden wedding wedding with an intimate gathering of family and friends at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

Images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Stephanie and Nick's Wedding

Fall colors were in full bloom for Stephanie and Nick's September wedding.  Locations included the Drake Hotel and Cité at the top of Lake Point Tower.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc.

Great venues for small weddings in Chicago

I've started a new list on Yelp for some of our recent favorite places for smaller weddings. Click here to check it out.

List of great venues for small weddings around Chicago

New Sample Albums - YAY!

Holy macaroni! We love our new sample albums that arrived this week. Here is a look at our new Flush Mount sample with insanely rockin' cover! Yes, it's leather. Yes it looks like snake skin. And yes, it even looks a little like glass or a cracked mirror and you can see your reflection in it...kind of. This is just one sample of literally hundreds of unique cover options that we have, and our bindery is always adding new materials to their already vast options of leathers, silks, canvas, metal, even glass. We love making absolutely one-of-a-kind albums for our couples and can't wait to show this at our next meeting!

Not Your Mother

Le Birdcage

We absolutely adore the revival of the birdcage hat, which is a great modern-vintage swap for the traditional veil, plus it can qualify for your "something old"....even if it isn't. There are tons of hand-crafted ones available on Etsy.

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides - Madeline

© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides Kerrie

Katherine Heigl's birdcage veil

Congratulations Madeline and Kyle

Madeline and Kyle gave their family and guests a wonderful way to kick off the holiday weekend with a fun-filled Thursday night wedding at A New Leaf. And we love Madeline's birdcage hat!

ALL IMAGES © GIORGIO VENTOLA INC. / WEDDING CREATIVO