WEDDING SERVICES - VENUE - PHOTOGRAPHY - ELOPEMENTS - ALBUMS
Style icon and Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn continues to be a source of inspiration nearly 20 years after she passed away. Here is a round-up of wedding gowns with elements of Audrey Hepburn style.
Hepburn's classic Hubert de Givenchy black dress, next to a recent wedding gown design, J. Crew's Anouk Gown.
Adding a touch of vintage flair to your wedding style can be as easy as finding a great pair of gloves. The long white gloves worn by bride Victoria added an element of 1940s or 50s glamour.
Unfortunately, we all have known the loss of loved ones throughout our lives. The absence of a loved one on your wedding can cause significant heartache, but many of our brides have come up with wonderful ways to symbolize the presence of loved-ones in their hearts and minds on their wedding day.
Keep a grandparent in mind by wearing a picture locket necklace, or carrying an inherited heirloom with your bouquet as you walk down the aisle down the aisle.
Framed portraits on display from your ancestor's wedding day are a lovely way to incorporate their memory on your special day. Vintage looking frames add a nice touch of nostalgia. It is interesting for guests and relatives to see the wedding fashions in your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents era, and also see how you resemble them today.
One of the most moving tributes we've seen was a bride keeping her mother close to her heart by wearing her mother's wedding ring on a necklace.
Finally, for loved-ones lost to illness, a contribution to a foundation in lieu of guest favors can be a loving way to pay tribute to a departed close friend or relative who would otherwise be an important part of your wedding day.
While many couples may be well versed in classical and opera music, we know there are plenty of folks who might be familiar with the melodies, but might not know the titles. For a quick reference, we present a few favorite classical and opera songs for wedding ceremonies.
PRELUDE (while guests are arriving)
and PROCESSIONAL (bridal party and bride entrance)
"Air on a G String" - Bach
"Canon in D" - Pachelbel
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" - Bach
"Clair de Lune" - Debussy
"The Prince of Denmark's March" - Jeremiah Clarke
MID-CEREMONY (prayers, after readings, musical interlude, etc.)
"Panis Angelicus" (Bread of Angels) - traditional Gregorian Chant
"Ave Maria" - Bach version
"Ave Maria" - Schubert version
"Arabesque" - Debussy
"O Mio Babbino Caro" - Puccini
RECESSIONAL (the bridal party exit)
"Ode to Joy" - Beethoven
"Spring" from Four Seasons - Vivaldi
"Watermusic / Wasermusik" alla hornpipe - Händel
"Wedding March" from Midsummer Night's Dream - Mendelssohn
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
Inspired by Pantone's Spring 2012 color report, we assembled this color wheel with ideas for 2012 spring weddings. Here are the details (clockwise, starting from upper left):
PALE LILAC:
dress – ModCloth Here and Wow Dress
sunglasses – Topshop Lilac Chunky Cats Eye Sunglasses
clutch purse – Mar Y Sol Maybelle Crochet Raffia Rose Clutch
CANVASS BEIGE:
little book - Pinhole Press 8-photo Accordion Brag Book
nail polish - Forever 21 Love & Beauty Blush Nail Polish
shoe - Charlotte Russe Blossom Accent Canvas Pump
TANGERINE ORANGE:
clutch - Tiffany & Co. Holly Laurel Clutch
dress - Milly Dress with Cap Sleeve
flower - Calendula
MARGARITA GREEN:
dress - Kay Unger Floral Print Sheath Dress
dinner and cocktail glasses - Nirvana Glassware
GOLDEN YELLOW:
scarf - Forzieri Blooming Roses Printed Silk Square Scarf
shoe - Miz Mooz Yona Wedge Sandal
flower - Clivia
Browsing through recent runway shows, we noticed a few trends emerging in dress designs for 2012 brides:
1. Corset bodice wedding gowns
Designer Monique Lhuiller has at least a dozen corset style dresses in her spring and fall 2012 collections. Other designers including Romona Keveza, Lazaro and Claire Pettibone also have corset gowns in their collections.
Monique Lhuiller gown from moniquelhuillier.com
2. Cap-shoulder wedding gowns
One of our absolute favorite gowns we've seen lately (check it out here) has beautiful cap sleeves and is by Chicago designer Alice Padrul. She has a few similar styles in her beautiful collection. We've also seen the cap-sleeves and other similar covered shoulder designs in collections by Nicole Miller and Marchesa.
Marchesa cap-shoulder marchesa.com
3. Early Hollywood glamour wedding dresses
Several of the latest vintage style gowns seem to be inspired by classic 1920s and 1930s Hollywood glamour, with shimmering silver and gold fabrics and details. Designers that primarily incorporate these looks into their collections include Johanna Johnson, Jenny Packham, Ines DiSanto and Atelier Aimée.
Atelier Aimée gown, Juliet and Romeo Collection, www.aimee.it
4. Antique shabby vintage wedding dresses
We noticed several country music stars wearing shabby chic vintage style dresses this year at the Grammy awards, and likewise have also spotted similar trends in wedding dresses. We regularly see these types of vintage styles on BHLDN.com and Freepeople.com, but designer Clair Pettibone has had fantastic vintage gowns go down the runway for 2012 and prior seasons that absolutely take our breath away.
Clair Pettibone vintage gown, clairepettibone.com
5. Plunging V necklines and backs wedding gowns
Designers Badgely Mishchka seemed to showcase all of these trends in their most recent runway shows, but most prominently their designs featured dropped V necklines and backs, which we also noticed in a some other collections including Anne Bowen, Caroline Castigliano, and Jim Hjelm.
I think professional image editors (including us) must have a bit of OCD. It takes a lot of patience and focus to get the results we find satisfactory, especially on more challenging images. Competent and consistent image editing/processing is one way really good photographers set themselves apart from the pack. Finding a photographer that is equally talented at processing as they are at shooting is well worth the investment that hiring an experienced professional typically costs.
If high quality wedding (and portrait) photography is a priority for you, and something you're able to make as one of your top wedding expenses (around 10-15% of total budget), this is one wedding cost that most couples do not regret later when they receive outstanding wedding pictures that they cherish for generations.
Overall, Wedding Creativo aims for images to have a polished look, without being over-processed or gimmicky, especially for portraits. Our goal is for images to NOT appear re-touched, but rather look more natural. We think the pictures below show a good example of processing work we did for a wedding day portrait. We took this on a gray rainy day in front of the legendary Wrigley Field, which unfortunately had tons of paper, garbage and cigarette litter all around. (If Chicago had some kind of sidewalk cleaning crew, our jobs would be so much easier, ha ha.)
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Courtney and Matt celebrated an elegant November wedding at St. Michael's Church and the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel. The couple's classic city style was punctuated with formal black-tie fashions and warm fall colors.
The historic Knickerbocker Hotel set the scene with timeless golden decor, gourmet cuisine and their legendary lit dance floor. Sarah's Pastries and Candies created a wonderfully detailed cake and Pollen's autumnal arrangements made for eye-catching table centerpieces, while the fantastic Orchestra 33 kept the dance floor swinging.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
When it comes to envisioning the wedding morning, and all of the elaborate preparations that will go on, we imagine most brides would like their special day to start in a beautiful and relaxing environment. For many that may be their own home, but for others there may be a search involved when it comes to finding the optimal location to get ready.
Trump Hotel
From a photography perspective, we're experts on what makes locations more appealing than others, and we think the best hotel rooms have all or most of the following features:
1. BIG windows. Rooms with grand floor to ceiling windows are optimal, but rooms with many big windows are good too.
2. Good natural light. This inherently comes with big window room, but a room with any windows is better than no windows. Natural light is best for checking your makeup for color and tone accuracy, and most desirable for those fresh face close-up portraits. For the best natural light request a room with north or south facing windows, or optimally a corner suite with windows along two walls.
Dana Hotel
3. White, cream or very lightly warm colored walls. In general light or pastel tones of beige and ambers are best for skin tones. Dark walls in brown, blue or purple are okay, but make rooms very dark. Above all, avoid green painted walls. We love the color light green as much as the next person, especially for wedding colors. However, green walls, especially darker hues, make everyone look sick.
4. Suites or a larger room. If you can swing it, or can get a great deal, try to get the largest room or suite you can afford, especially if you plan on having your bridal party get ready in the same room. No one enjoys getting ready in cramped quarters. Having a comfortable space definitely helps reduce stress.
Sax Hotel
5. Creature comforts. Often hotels are very good at making brides feel like queens for a day by including pampering perks. But even if they do, it is a good idea to bring extra treats if you are planning to have a roomful of ladies getting ready. Champaign, white grape juice, water, fruit, as well as some sweet and salty snacks, or whatever you fancy, is good to have around in order to keep your blood sugar stable and stress levels down.
Sofitel Water Tower
With these criteria in mind, here are some hotels in or near downtown Chicago that offer brides and grooms ultimate spaces for getting ready, and of course also for your wedding night stay. They all have rooms that meet our optimal conditions for lighting and decor for great "getting ready" spaces, and are listed in random order:
Waldorf Astoria Chicago (formally Elysian Chicago)
'Tis the season for engagements, so we thought we would help out by taking a look at some unique rings we've seen recently. Regarding the actual proposal, we really have only one note of advice: don't do it in a super public way (e.g. not center court of NBA basketball game, or any other way where 1000 people are looking at your potential spouse to say "yes.") If you're both ready, there is no bad way to propose, but it should really be a meaningful deeply personal experience, not a public fiasco, err....show. We realize there is this notion where some might think declaring your intentions to the world is a grand gesture, but if you really think about it, your sweetheart only cares that YOU want to get married, and what onlookers think is not important.
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We always encourage couples to express themselves with creative details for their wedding, and sometimes this can even include their mode of transportation. We're a big fan of classic cars, and in Chicago we're fortunate to have a few cool companies that offer couples unique vintage vehicles to get around on their wedding day. Several companies that have classic cars in their fleet are on our recommended page, under transportation.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Lots of family was on hand to help out this loving and fun couple pull off a great wedding celebration. The autumn day started off with a bit of a bump in the road with inclement weather causing the outdoor ceremony to be moved to the reception hall. The Irish American Heritage Center came through with flying colors with the last minute change, and all of the guests made it there okay with all of the family pulling out phones to call all 200 guests!
The bride Beth was a great sport, and maintained her good spirits, and we were glad to see everyone not let the weather sour their fun plans. Beth was calm and relaxed while getting her makeup done while her father and other relatives made their way through the phone list.
We were impressed with this as we knew coming in that this wedding would likely be an extraordinarily emotional day. Sadly, Beth's mother had passed away, which of course made for a few bittersweet moments, but her loving relatives were wonderfully supportive and jovial throughout the day. Beth also thought of a great way to keep her mother close to her heart by wearing her mother's ring on a necklace.
Beth and Justin had natural and simple style overall, with a touch of vintage flair for their wedding fashions. The bride's jewelry, accessories, and goddess wedding dress from Kasia's Bridal, as well as the groom's dapper fedora hat and charcoal jacket-less suit perfectly represented their fun and creative personalities.
Beth and her father shared a sweet moment on the porch before heading off to the ceremony. Everyone made it there on time, the venue had a separate room made ready for their last minute change of plans, and the bride and groom were married by officiant Pierre Poinsette without a hitch.
During the receiving line and cocktails guests enjoyed bowls of popcorn, and then Nostalgic Catering served fun pub style grub including mini burgers and liquor shots for toasting the couple during the reception. Family friend Courtney baked classic homemade bundt cakes, nutrolls and ginger snap cookies for dessert.
After dinner the bride and groom serenaded their guests with a Glen Hansard song, then everyone danced the night away with the always awesome Okyne Medialab. They also showed a great slideshow with pictures from the couple's childhood and dating years, which ran the gamut of emotions as family and guests all watched on together. Slideshows always work best like this when incorporated in the reception as a shared experience for all, instead of having it off to the side in another room for guests to watch individually.
As photographers, we always have a close eye on the work of hair and makeup professionals, and we would like to spotlight the lovely looks of some of our recent brides, made possible with the help of their talented stylists.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Bride Nadia: hair and makeup by Heather Rae from Art + Science Salon
Bride Marissa: makeup by Elisa Vekkos, hair by Montage Salon
Bride Vicky: hair by Samara Toby, makeup by Krystyn from Bridal Beauty Chicago
Bride Megan: hair and makeup by Holly Kasprisin / Chicago Bridal Hair and Makeup
Bride Kallie: hair by Lauren Brashears from ONE Salon & Spa, makeup by Valerie Ward from Mario Tricoci Salon
Bride Kate: hair and makeup by Beauty on Call
Ruffles have been a part of weddings and formal fashions for generations. However, we've been noticing ruffles incorporated in interesting new ways with our bride's wedding fashions and themes, and of course they are a mainstay for children's dresses.
Here are some recent ruffled wedding fashions we've recently come across.
 Notte by Marchesa ruffle neck halter gown |
 Allen Schwartz vintage cascading ruffle gown |
 Notte by Marchesa strapless ruffle dress |
 J. Crew Starling short ruffle dress |
 Adam pastel peach ruffle tank dress |
 Lipsy frilled hem chiffon smock dress |
 Armand Basi short blue ruffled dress |
The city of Chicago played an important role in Michelle and Steve's courtship, so they wanted the city to have a significant role on their wedding day, especially with their portraits. We helped them plan an extended schedule with sufficient time at several of their favorite locations and city backdrops.
From the skyline, to the zoo, to Steve's beloved Wrigley field, and even the porch steps of their Wrigleyville home, we had a whirlwind tour around Chicago. For any couples interested in this kind of "city safari" for their wedding day, keep in mind that for sure you need to see each other before the ceremony to have enough time necessary for the extensive traveling. For this many locations you'll need to dedicate a significant amount of time, at least a few hours of your wedding day schedule, for going around to multiple locations and then time to take portraits and walk around at those locations, especially if the bridal party is also coming along on a trolley or party bus. Another option is to have a lengthy multi-location session on another date following your wedding. We're always thrilled to do creative portraits with our couples at amazing locations, and we always help plan and schedule that part of the day for an organized and optimally relaxing and fun experience.
Michelle and Steve had a modern style autumn wedding, with black and hot pink colors. The cake had an elaborate fondant ruffle design to match the cute flower girls dresses. The ceremony was held at the beautiful St. Andrew Catholic Church with a chic evening reception at W Chicago Lakeshore hotel where the guests were surrounded with views of the city skyline and Lake Michigan.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
Attention wedding shoppers...be sure to bring loads of fun on your big day!
© Wedding Creativo Photography
With all of the months (often well over a year) of hard work involved with planning your wedding, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the process and forget that this whole thing is about having a special celebration with your sweetheart and all of your favorite people in the world.
We always tell couples, no matter what, just have fun. Marissa and Alex were great at espousing this attitude. Drenching thunderstorms rolled through right at the time we were scheduled to head out to the park for their bridal party and family portraits. While we waited out the storm (and on the way to plan B), the couple decided to make a stop at a store for some quick refreshments. Let's just say we all got swept away with having way more fun than anyone should have in a supermarket. But, the bottom line, they didn't let the storms ruin their wedding day fun.
Expect the unexpected, and often when we improvise off of the planned schedule it can be one of the most memorable parts of the day.
We recently enjoyed photographing Vicky and David's vintage style summer wedding, which included lovely cream and yellow colors, and fashions with an overall organic and natural feeling.
Lately we've been seeing more cotton and natural fibers in wedding fashions. Here we share a few of these lovely finds of vintage prairie, pioneer, farm, and old-time country inspired styles for wedding dresses that we think Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of Little House on the Prairie) would pray for.
 Free People vintage lace prairie dress |
 Chloé Linen and cotton maxi dress |
 Cynthia Vincent tiered cami maxi dress |
 Richard Nicoll Jersey Maxi Dress |
Holiday weekends are typically the busiest times for many wedding industry folks, and Labor Day weekend is always big. We salute all of the hard working professionals in the wedding and hospitality service industries that make life's celebrations great.
© Wedding Creativo Photography
The staff at the Knickerbocker rehearse their customary Champaign toast entrance before guests enter the dining room.
So, perhaps you would like your wedding album cover to match the kick-butt snakeskin and rhinestones heels you wore on your wedding day? Not a problem for Wedding Creativo. For these design coordinates, we are featuring snakeskin, python and silver. And not a moment too soon, as this season's fashions seem to be flowing with snake-inspired styles. For this coordinated pair of custom designed albums, our main inspiration was bride Steffanie's shoes and jewelry. The large flush mount album cover is leather treated to look like silvery snake skin and the cute clutch book is shiny silver leather.
