WEDDING SERVICES - VENUE - PHOTOGRAPHY - ELOPEMENTS - ALBUMS
While the mini party following the ceremony on the trolley with the bridal party is always a fun, we also like when the limo ride to the reception is just for the newlyweds. It is really romantic, and nice to have some alone time before celebrating the night away with family and friends.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Marla and Greg were inspired by the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh for their traditional Chicago wedding. The swirling night hues of purple and blues with twinkling yellow stars seen in the famous paintings, "Starry Night" and "Starry Night Over The Rhone" were incorporated into a varieity of details for this wedding. From the bouquet flowers to the blue and yellow tea lights hanging from the manzanita branches around the reception, the theme gave everyone the sense that they were in a real life version of the paintings, which the couple had on display as guetst entered their reception held at the Hyatt Regency Woodfield.
There was also a promenent Spanish influence, as the bride's ruffled dress, lace veil and traditional Spanish ceremony at St. Ignatius church reflected her family heritage. The happy couple live across the street from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, so we also went to some of their favorite spots around the park for portraits before heading to their lovely reception.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Essentials for the wedding day survival bag: bandages. Without fail every wedding needs them. If you do love shoe fashions, regardless of the pain, check out our post from earlier this week on 2011 wedding shoe trends.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
We have long admired the wedding dresses of Alice Padrul Bridal Couture. Alice has been designing high fashion for decades, and exclusively creating couture wedding gowns since 2004. Giorgio and I started to see her beautiful gowns in wedding magazines several years ago, and were excited to find out that Alice's boutique studio is located nearby us in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. One of our brides recently wore a beautiful gown designed by Alice, and then we had the fortunate opportunity to visit Alice and her husband Gene at their boutique studio. We loved seeing all of her fabulous dresses and accessories, which are all made at her studio with Alice overseeing every last detail. We were also thrilled to learn that Alice imports her organza silk from Italy, and that she loves Giorgio's native country just as much as we do.
© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo
As we are now past the half way mark for 2011 wedding season (Labor Day is right around the corner!!!), we thought it would be a good time to take a look at wedding shoe trends we've been seeing lately.
Top three colors with a bullet:
1. Black
2. Creams or nudes
3. Vibrant colors, the ever popular blue, but also reds and pinks
Top three details or styles of shoes:
1. Things that bling (did we mention our favorite color is shiny), rhinestones and other gems on the toe vamp or that cover the full shoe, as well as decorative silver, copper or gold toned shoe materials
2. Pearls or studs of some sort on the front vamp or that cover the full shoe. Also we're still seeing the material flower details on the vamps that we started to notice last summer...glad to see those are still popular. Similarly, we're now seeing more ruffle details over the toes as well.
3. Flats! Yes, ladies, sandals, flats and ballerina style slip-ons are making a big move this summer. We're especially seeing this look with brides that are taller (or would be taller in high heels) than their grooms.
Here's the roundup highlighting the biggest trends we have been seeing in our recent weddings:
And, for the reception or after-party:
Hot designer styles:
Congratulations to newlyweds Vicky and David. Here is a sneak peek from their vintage style Chicago wedding.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
The great state of Michigan has a lot to offer for destination weddings, especially for the "outdoorsy" types. The eastern shores of Lake Michigan are chock full of sleepy bed and breakfast towns that are great for relaxing, fun and romantic weekends for wedding couples and their guests.
There are dozens of wine vineyards stretching up the coast of western Michigan, with a large concentration in the north around the Traverse City area. Nature and water recreation areas are found not only along Lake Michigan, but also other smaller clusters of lakes throughout the state. Farms and farmer's markets are also in great abundance throughout the state, and many farms and barns offer couples unique spaces to host their wedding ceremonies and receptions. From our standpoint as folks who live in Chicago, our favorite thing about Michigan state is that it is on Eastern time. This means the summer light lasts longer at the end of the time zone, with twilight even going past 10:00 pm the further north you are, especially around the solstice. Also, Lake Michigan is quite a sight to behold as the sun goes down on the opposite side of what we are used to seeing in Chicago. Overall, we love the rustic and warm Midwestern feel and the eclectic Americana flavor found throughout the state. We think Michigan is a fantastic place for couples to consider for destination weddings.
Here are some recent favorites when we've been fortunate to join Chicago area couples for their destination weddings in Michigan.
Kate + Chad's wedding: Leland, Michigan
Click here to see more from Chad and Kate's wedding.
Becky and Fuad's wedding: St. Joseph Michigan
Click here to see more from Becky and Fuad's wedding.
Chris and Melinda: Three Oaks, Michigan
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.
When you hear about destination weddings, typically the Caribbean or far away exotic place might come to mind. However, the Midwest is chock full of exotic locations that could be considered for destination weddings a little closer to home. For exotic AND offbeat, you can't go wrong with the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin. Jason and Nicole had a fun and festive summer wedding at this family-friendly venue.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Congratulations to Kate and Chad who are celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary today!
These Indiana and Virginia natives are creative folks and world travelers. In fact, they were living in South Korea when they first contacted us and planned their entire wedding from the other side of the world. So what destination did they choose for their wedding? Leland, Michigan of course. ;-) It was a great destination wedding, which we featured Wedding Creativo Blog a while ago, and it is also a featured gallery on our main portfolio site weddingcreativo.co.
All this week we'll be talking about destination weddings near and far, so stay tuned!
So, what exactly makes a great bridesmaid?
We take a fun look at typical bridesmaids duties in the form of a hypothetical job listing. Brides can be equal-opportunity "employers," so we just want to point out that both men and women can qualify for this position these days.
JOB TITLE: Bridal Attendant
COMPANY: Bride & Groom Inc.
REPORTS TO: Bride-to-Be
POSITIONS: Up to 10 openings available
PAY: I.O.U.
JOB DESCRIPTION: Assist the bride on the wedding day with any specific assigned tasks, along with practical and emotional support. Attend and possibly help organize wedding day and ancillary wedding events and details.
IDEAL CANDIDATES: Positive, cheerful and supportive attitude, problem solver, detail oriented, organized and works well with a diverse group. Does not complain, even during formal wedding portraits in hot or cold weather. ;-)
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND JOB FUNCTIONS:
1. Able to handle heavy lifting (emotional or otherwise).
2. Comes to work prepared and organized with "wedding day survival" bag. Bonus points if bag matches shoes or other accessories.
3. Gets along well with others and is a team player.
4. Has strong command of tools used for wedding preparations and general problem solving.
5. Maintains a tidy workspace free of dust and lint.
6. Good with fastening microscopic jewelry clasps.
7. Has nimble fingers.
8. Helps bride get into dress without getting stuck, falling, or messing up hair and makeup.
9. Knows what "bustle" means, and can figure out how those gosh darn thingies work.
10. Experience in shoe retail is a plus.
11. Assist fellow team members as needed.
12. Set a good example for junior team members and trainees.
13. Excellent conflict resolution skills are a major plus. Confrontations should be avoided on the wedding day, especially with any company board members, such as the mother of the bride. If any conflicts arise they should be handled calmly and discretely, and preferably addressed at another time either prior to or after the wedding date.
14. Having a keen eye for details is essential.
15. Ability to break out into spontaneous comedy or stress relief exercises will be required of all successful candidates for this position.
16. The candidate with the best dress "floofing" skills will quickly be promoted to Head Floofer. This person is responsible for maintaining high quality "floofiness" of the wedding dress throughout the day, especially during the wedding ceremony.
17. Candidates with M.D. degrees, "Masters of Doting," are highly desired.
18. Those who are interested in being considered for the Maid of Honor position must be willing to take on a central role as a team leader, and should also have the ability to give a reception toast that evokes reactions of both laughter and tears, no more than 30 second apart, or optimally, at the same time.
19. Past experience as a cheerleader is helpful, but having great enthusiasm and a supportive attitude is really what matters most.
20. Finally, having specialized party and entertainment skills is not required, but they can certainly be a big advantage.
We dedicate this humorous post in honor of Lucille Ball's 100th Birthday today...and salute all women with a funny bone who help keep us all in good spirits. For more serious tips on how to choose your bridesmaids, and a guide for how to include them in your plans once you have them selected, check out this helpful article on The Dessy Group website.
Thanks to everyone who responded to our giveaway of the Bridesmaids Invitation Cards, courtesy of Rifle Paper Co. We had a lot of responses and here is what you all had to say in response to our poll questions:
60% are having a smaller bridal party with their closest friends/family
30% are having a large traditional bridal party with family/friends from a wider social circle
10% are just having a Maid of Honor and Best Man
The majority of brides who answered our survey (totally unscientific by the way, it is just for fun) are choosing their sister as the Maid of Honor. There were a few choosing their best friends, but we didn't ask if they have sisters or not. Some have not decided yet, and were having a tough time not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings.
Tomorrow we'll wrap up our "Bridesmaids Week" with a fun post that might help with the decision. However, it seems sisters are the ones most brides are calling on for help. It was nice to read about the bonds that sisters have for one another. Here are a few of our favorite answers to the question about choosing the Maid of Honor:
"My sister is 3 years younger than me and pretty much since we even knew what a wedding was when we were younger she knew she would be my maid-of-honor. My 3 lifelong best friends will be included as my bridesmaids. As much as I would have loved to have all of my closest friends in my wedding I needed to think of our budget and only have a small wedding party." -- Danielle, getting married in November 2012
"My little sister will be my maid of honor, because she's my sister! I would feel terrible not having her in a special role. Plus, she'll give a great speech! That said, my best friend will be the "matron" of honor and she'll be in charge of more of the organizational details. That's what she loves to do and she's great at it, so it's a good way to include her. Plus, my sister lives across the country and my best friend lives 10 mins from me, so it makes sense to have someone "on site" to help with a lot of the details. Plus last summer I was the officiant for my best friend's wedding...so she owes me one ;)" -- a different Danielle, getting married in August 2012
"My sister is my MOH. Honestly there is no one else I would have picked. She is my only sister and it would be incomplete to not have her up there with me." -- Roseann, getting married in May 2012
So, out of all of the entries we randomly chose two winners....and they are:
Rebecca W., who is getting married in June 2012
Karen P., who is getting married in August 2012
Both are having their sister as their Maid or Matron of Honor. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for participating. We'll do something like this again soon, so stay tuned. ;-)
We're focusing on bridesmaids this week, and when it comes to dresses and fashion colors, inspiration from fruits can bring a great splash of color to any summer wedding. Here are some examples of the vibrant hues we have been seeing recently.
We recently spotted these cute "Will you be my Bridesmaid?" cards and they got us thinking. The first thing we thought was that these cards are adorable. They are from a creative husband and wife, Anna and Nathan, along with their team of talented folks who make hand-pained illustrations and whimsical designs for stationery at Rifle Paper Co. The peachy-pink ranunculus flowers illustrated on these cards should be a sure-fire way to get any friend or relative excited about being included in your bridal party.
Then, we though about the process each couple goes though when choosing their bridal party, and that sometimes the decision may be complicated.
We would love to hear what you think about when selecting your bridal party members. We are also excited about giving away a pack (8-count) of these beautiful cards, courtesy of Rifle Paper Co., to two lucky (and random) winners.
To enter in our Awesomeness Giveaway drawing for this week, please fill out this form by midnight, Thursday August 4th. We'll announce the winners on Friday.
UPDATE: THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THIS GIVEAWAY, THE ENTRY FORM IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS!
We always try and keep the portrait portions of the wedding day as painless and stress-free as possible. But some days, especially hot summer days, it can be a challenge for bridal parties to muster up the energy and enthusiasm during the portrait time.
It is never a good idea to be overly ambitious in the limited time frame we have for portraits on any wedding day, but especially not when when temperatures are soaring and bridal party patience can be limited. With a good and realistic game plan in place, we are able to do plenty of creative as well as traditional portraits at a relaxed pace and also keep stress levels down. We work with each couple well in advance of the wedding to come up with specific ideas, but also tips specific to the time of the year. For example, for summer weddings, it is also a good idea to have plenty of water and a few salty snacks available on the trolley (or other transportation) to help replenish folks after the portraits are finished. The best transportation companies always provide water and other drinks, but it doesn't hurt to grab a few extra bottles, some salty nuts or other snacks, and even a roll of paper towels to throw in for good measure.
Every time a bell rings a bride is happy with her bouquet and flowers by event florists Natalie Willett and Dan Mitchell at Zuzu's Petals. We have enjoyed their work for quite a while and wanted to spotlight the lovely job they recently did for a wedding we photographed in June for bride and groom Megan and Luke. We love peonies, so we especially enjoyed the Zuzu's Petals floral work for this wedding. We'll have a full feature about this beautiful day coming soon.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Chicago weddings that take place on Lake Michigan cruise ships can inspire fun nautical themes for summer weddings.
Ships docked at Navy Pier, Spirit of Chicago, Mystic Blue and Odyssey, are operated by Entertainment Cruises. The weddings we have experienced on them have been fun and unique, and when the Navy Pier fireworks go off, the view is always spectacular from the lake.
Chicago River wedding cruises are also fantastic. Wedding rentals are available by Chicago's First Lady, which docks along the Chicago River Walk and offers river and lakefront charters. The river cruise route, with up-close views of the city's spectacular architecture, gives your wedding reception an amazing backdrop.
With Chicago wedding cruises as our featured location inspiration today, there are many ideas and fashions that everyone could have fun with for nautical, marina, lakeside, navy, or sailor related themes.
Here is a collection of nautical wedding items we found on etsy.com:
Here are a variety of nautical, marina, sailor and seaside styles by a variety of designers.
Nautical bridal fashions:
 J.Crew Indie |
 Diane von Furstenberg Leron Wrap Dress |
 Betsy & Adam Split Sleeve Dress |
 BCBGMAXAZRIA Seashell Belted Silk Column Gown |
Nautical wedding fashions:
 Milly Sail Away Dress |
 Dahlia Anchor Print Chiffon Tea Dress |
 Ralph Lauren Polina Off-Shoulder |
 Laken long tank dress with belt navy |
 Laken long tank dress with belt |
 Anthropologie Gull Wing Dress |
 Yumi Sailor Dress |
 Marc Jacobs Delfine Sailor Dress |
 Badgley Mischka Platinum, black and white silk stripe detail |
 White House |
 Isabella Tonchi |
 Diane von Furstenberg Evadine Wavy-Knit Wrap |
Finding unique and creative perspectives is what Wedding Creativo Photography is all about. Moments like this aren't going to be on any "shot list" that magazines suggest brides send to their photographers.
The thing about "shot lists" is that they originated during a time when digital photography didn't exist. Back in the day, when photographers only shot with traditional film, there was a very limited number of exposures available to cover the entire day. Generally about 250-350 pictures used to be the norm. Shot lists were requested by the photographer so s/he would know the couple's preferences and priorities, but not because photographers didn't know the specific moments to anticipate throughout the wedding day.
Today some wedding magazines and blogs still have articles that seem to imply that if brides don't provide photographers with a shot list that they will be clueless and miss all of your important moments. Thinking this through, especially when couples hire more experienced photographers, it seems a bit silly. We don't go to the dentist with a list of which teeth we would like to have routine cleaning, and for the most part, the shot lists that the magazines and blogs write about are usually the most routine parts of a wedding day that any photographer, with even a few years of experience, will have captured dozens or even hundreds of times.
What is helpful is to just communicate with your photographer about general and specific ideas and preferences that you have. While the logistics of most wedding days are pretty similar from one to the next, what is different is how each couple prefers to have the day covered. You might not even know yet if you want a more stylized approach or less-intrusive approach, how much time to dedicate to portraits, or when and where you would like to have them take place. In one way, couples may find it helpful to review a traditional shot list while planning to have a better idea of what photographrers generally look for thorouhout the day, but experienced photographers will also help guide couples along the way with any specifics.
Each photographer has their own way to work with couples. Here at Wedding Creativo, we even have a special detailed questionnaire that we use to help with the communication process. But even just discussing creative ideas and preferences during the planning phase will be a lot more beneficial to do with your photographer rather than giving him/her a check list of typical wedding day moments like "the kiss" or "the cake cutting." For the more creative moments, you can rely on the skills and creative talents of your photographer, who is ideally someone you should feel comfortable exchanging ideas with. Overall, as with all aspects of wedding planning, communication is key.
Kyle and Steffanie recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary, (congratulations you two!) and to commemorate the special day, Kyle contacted us about a month in advance about making a special print for his lovely wife.
Instead of a traditional wedding day portrait he picked out a small special moment that meant a lot to Steffanie. You see, while she was getting ready on her wedding morning, this cute monarch butterfly landed on the window right in front of her. It sat there for a few minutes giving her a big smile while she was getting her hair and makeup done. It was a magic moment for her, and thankfully the little guy stayed on the window long enough for us to catch him grinning.
The best part about this story is that Steffanie contacted us a few weeks later wanting to order this same picture! We had to come up with an elaborate rouse to try and stall her to not spoil Kyle's surprise, which I knew was going to be disappointing at the time, but that soon enough her husband was going to get lots of kisses on their anniversary and that she would understand what the deal was. We all had a great laugh, and most of all, it was great to see how these newlyweds were so in tune with each other's heartstrings.
It is always wonderful when something unexpected happens to make a wedding day all the more special, and these little surprise moments are sometimes the things that people remember most about their day. It is a great idea to have something like this as a unique way to look back on the wedding, and makes for a fantastic anniversary gift!
Kate and Christopher planned a wedding that perfectly balanced Italian family traditions and a love for Latin culture.
The day started with the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready in a suite at the Blackstone Hotel. This place has a great history in Chicago, going back to 1910. While the renovations made in recent years under Marriott's ownership were well done, we always thought it was cool that the Presidential Suite once had a hidden passageway behind the fireplace for secret escapes. That was turned into closet space after 2007, but we like to imagine that it is still there.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Makeup can be the one area in particular where brides can underestimate scheduling, but having reliable professionals, such as the great folks at Beauty on Call, will have everyone looking lovely and ready to head out of the door on time.
The hotel suite decor complimented Kate's choice of vibrant colors of orange and yellow. They were incorporated into her bouquets as well as floral and reception decor, which were by event designer and wedding coordinator Barbara Medina of Just Say Yes Events.
The groom wore a Devni Michaels tux and bow tie and gifted his bride with her wedding day jewlery, and also had the wedding rings made by private designer Galo Zapata. Very impressive Christopher! For the womens wedding fashions, the ever popular JCrew gowns were worn by the bridesmaids, and the bride found her perfect dress, a stunning Mikaella gown, at Wedding Bells in Barrington.
Groom Christopher agreed to break with family tradition a bit, so the couple could have a spectacular "first see" moment and plenty of time to go around to a few different locations for portraits before the ceremony. Here at Wedding Creativo Photography we suggest this as optimal for most couples who can let go of the tradition of not seeing each other until they meet at the alter. In our non-scientific observances over the past two decades, we can safely say that skipping this tradition has NOT brought bad luck to couples. Rather, it generally makes the day feel much more relaxed and reduces stress levels when you can avoid having to squeeze in all of your portraits in between the ceremony and reception. We've mentioned this on the blog before, but think it is a point worth repeating.
Kate and co. kept cool with an ice cream cone in Grant Park while waiting for family members to gather at Buckingham Fountain. That's right, there is time for ice cream when we can do portraits before the ceremony!
The ceremony was held at Our Lady of Pompeii Shrine, the perfect place for a traditional Italian style wedding. In many small towns in Italy, it is a long-held custom to begin the wedding day with the betrothed and their families walking from their respective homes, through the village, to meet together at doors of the church. Kate and Christopher incorporated this tradition by having their families walk from opposite sides of the street and meet at the steps of the church, along with 140 family and friends who waited for their arrival on the church steps. Let's just say the Italians were doing "meet-ups" for weddings long before the internet even existed. And of course, with our photography studio having an Italian-born owner, we love this tradition.
For the reception, it was a "family style" affair with rustic Mexican cuisine and atmosphere at Zapatista in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. Kate and Christopher also shared an important cause that is close to their hearts with their family and friends by making a charitable donation in lieu of wedding favors to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
