Summer Styles for Maternity Brides 2012

Planning a wedding and selecting a dress can be hard for any bride, but particularly a maternity bride.  Consider these lovely fashions for keeping things simple, casual and cool for summer maternity brides in 2012.

Spring Wedding at Chicago Cut Steakhouse

Joy and Frank celebrated their spring wedding along the Chicago River at Chicago Cut Steakhouse.  Everyone was not only excited and emotional for thier marriage, but also that the happy couple were expecting the birth of their child. Joy was about 7 months pregnant and was an absolutely beautiful maternity bride.  Congratulations to this new family!

Wedding photography by Wedding Creativo Photography ©

Something Blue Shoes for Summer 2012 Weddings

Wearing blue shoes for your "something blue" is a great idea that has been around for several years, and a cool trend we think will never go out of style.  Here are lovely blue shoe designs in light blue hues for summer 2012 weddings.

Father's Day 2012: candid wedding moments with dad

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday! For a sentimental gift idea, we think framing a sweet candid moment with dad from your wedding day is a gift any father would love.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Chicago Wedding at St Michael and Gioco

Congratulations to Viktoria and Tom! These newlyweds come to us originally from Germany, with groom Tom now based here and his bride Viktoria commuting between Chicago and Berlin for her work.  Their family members flew in for the weekend to celebrate this beautiful May wedding in Chicago.  The couple got ready at theWit Hotel, with wedding ceremony at St. Michaels in Old Town, followed by dinner reception at Gioco restaurant. 

We had fun taking this couple around for portraits in one of our favorite classic cars, Joe Spinazzola's 1955 Cadillac "Dazy."  You can hook up with this sweet ride through Classic Wedding Car.

Photos © Wedding Creativo Photography

Wedding Idea: white gloves for flower girls

If there is a special young girl (or girls) you are planning to have perform flower girl duties, we think a great way to notch up the cuteness factor is having them wear white gloves.  For girls who are at that age when they like to play dress-up, this might be something they get excited about too.  Make getting dressed for the wedding into a game of make-believe for young kids, and perhaps they will be more likely to be cooperative. 

While adding white gloves will for sure add cuteness, we cannot guarantee it will inspire spontaneous moments in the great way that only kids can do, but they will certainly be dressed the part.  This this little bundle of adorableness sure was, as she dropped all of her flowers at the end of the aisle.  A magic moment indeed.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Mens casual formals for summer 2012

We hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend.  It was a hot weekend in Chicago, and certainly officially time to break out the summer outfits.  Guys, we're talking to you this time.  For summer weddings, especially afternoon affairs, we suggest linens, light fabrics and light colors instead of traditional dark and heavy suits.  If the wedding your attending is not strictly formal, try these numbers, and add a little flair to your casual-formal style.

Mens Casual Formal - canvas & linen by weddingcreativo on polyvore.com

Custom Thank You cards with bicycle theme

Newlyweds Michelle and Mathew asked us to create custom photo "Thank You" cards to send to their guests after the wedding.  We were excited to incorporate their spring blush and purple colors and bicycle wedding theme. As a full-service photography studio, we offer custom designed cards and save-the-dates, which can also be included in a package or ordered separately from wedding photography. 

We were thrilled to also be a recipient in their wedding thank-yous too!

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Happy Mothers Day 2012

Happy Mothers Day! Congratulations to our newest mother Tabitha (and papa Matthew), who had their first child born this spring, a baby girl named Adaline Rose.  Tabitha is a dancer, so we loved making these dance-inspired portraits during her maternity portrait session.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Creative Spotlight : Spiaggia Chef Tony Mantuano

Tony Mantuano is an internationally acclaimed executive chef/partner of several restaurants, including Terzo Piano at The Modern Wing of the Art Institute, and Spiaggia, which has the distinction of being Chicago's only four-star Italian restaurant.  

The Kenosha, Wisconsin native was awarded the 2005 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Midwest, and was one of the champions on the Bravo television series, "Top Chef Masters."  Mantuano specializes in Italian cuisine, and was even presented with the keys to the city of San Martino, Italy in recognition for serving authentic Italian cuisine in America. Spiaggia is also a favorite restaurant of President Barak Obama, who celebrated his election win there in 2008.

Spiaggia also has private events, and one of our recent newlyweds Rebecca and Christopher celebrated their wedding reception with a wonderful dinner by Chef Mantuano and Spaggia's impeccable staff. 

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Courthouse Wedding at The Chicago Cultural Center

Did you know that many "courthouse" weddings in Chicago actually take place in one of the city's most treasured architectural landmark buildings?  On select Saturday mornings judges from the Marriage Court of Cook County perform weddings at The Chicago Cultural Center.  Couples need to register in advance for their date and time.

This is exactly what newlyweds Carly and Mat did when they got married on a lovely sunny Saturday morning with a few guests in attendance. We also enjoyed strolling around Millennium Park for their wedding portraits.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

For those planning a stylish courthouse wedding we made this inspiration board.

Mother and Bride framed prints for Mothers Day

Mother's Day is almost here! We suggest framing a special moment between mom and daughter as a lovely gift idea.  Candid and emotional moments are a nice complement to any home or office, and can add some variety to wall displays that may have more traditional posed portraits.  Mix it up with some spontaneous moments and formal portraits!

Wedding Creativo offers a wide selection of frames with our Creativo Couture services, including custom framing like the samples shown below.

By the way, congratulations to several of the brides shown here who are now new moms!

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Creativo Loft small wedding venue in Chicago

Over the winter we moved our photo studio to a larger 3000 s.f. private loft space in our building.  We are super excited about this expansion, and have started accepting bookings for small weddings, civil unions, private parties, corporate events and other intimate gatherings. 

We're calling our new space Creativo Loft, and recently did a little photo shoot for our website www.creativoloft.com.

Here are a few pictues from a recent photo shoot for our new space, including a few extras featuring some of our in-house decor items.

Fun socks for grooms

Offbeat fun socks for groomsmen have been a pretty popular wedding trend for a few years running. 

Here are some ideas for finding the best socks to express your personality:

argyle socks for groomsmen

striped socks for groomsmen

light colors and patterns socks for groomsmen

vibrant colors and patterns socks for groommen

socks for whimsical grooms

socks for quirky grooms

socks for tough guys

There are several niche shops that carry a variety of unique socks:

boldsocks.com

joyofsocks.com

sockdreams.com

socksmith.com

Second Marriage at Gibsons Steakhouse Oak Brook

Gwen and Chris were both lucky in love for a second time and held an early spring wedding surrounded by their closest friends and family.  Each have children, pre-teen and teen-age, who all stood up in the wedding party.  The bridesmaids wore adorable pink dresses with fabric floral accents, and for the flower girl, a white ballerina style dress.  White dresses for young girls have become quite popular in the last year since the British Royal wedding. The bride wore a lovely modern sheath gown accented with black sinch belt.  Pink and purple hues were found throughout the details, with white lily bouquets and purple ruffle orchids in the decor. The ceremony was held at St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton, followed by an intimate reception dinner at Gibsons Steakhouse in Oak Brook.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Creativo visits Chicago Botanic Garden antiques show

This is one of our favorite antique shows that we go to see each year.  The 2012 Chicago Botanic Garden Antiques and Garden Fair is going on this weekend through Sunday, April 22.  We strolled through on Friday afternoon, with smartphone camera in-hand, and spotted some lovely things for weddings and antique decor.  Here are some of our favorite finds:

Wedding Trend : modern lace wedding gowns

Delicate details of a modern lace wedding gown can create an elegant soft look with a timeless appeal. Over the last week or so top designers have been showing their latest bridal designs, and many are featuring modern lace gowns in their 2013 spring collections. See some of our favorite modern lace gowns we pinned on Pinterest.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Wedding Idea : post ceremony serenade

While guests are waiting for you to make your big exit after the ceremony you can have musicians performing to the gathering crowd.  They can get your family and friends "warmed up" for a serenaded send-off.  If your family has specific cultural music, such as mariachi, bagpipes, polka, or other traditional folk music, this might also be a great way to incorporate your family heritage in a unique way.

© Wedding Creativo Photography

Grooms Wedding Day Survival Kit

At nearly every wedding there are essential emergency items that always come in handy.  While brides tend to have bridesmaids or someone with a handy kit, unfortunately the guys don't seem to have this organized as often.  We could make lists for everyone in the wedding party (and maybe we will), but we though we would make this handy cheat sheet for the guys.  In our two decades of experience, we find that all of these items are always useful to have on hand.

1.  There never seems to be enough safety pins in the world on the wedding day.  Guys, bring a handful.

2.  It seems grooms do not get enough sleep (or are maybe up too late celebrating with with the guys) the night before the wedding.  This can be trouble for a lot of reasons, but mostly can make a guy grumpy or have headaches on the wedding day.  Carry - AND DRINK - a small bottle of water and your favorite head-ache remedy throughout the day to alleviate physical ailments that might put you in a bad mood.

3.  Buttons always fall off at the worst times.  For lost buttons and other sewing emergencies, pack extra buttons along with a small sewing kit with needles and mini scissors.  Just bring the thread colors you need -- some that match the color of your shirt and some that match the color of your suit.

4.  This is so unbelievably common -- guys often forget or have some other problem with socks.  Bring a few extra pairs for the forgetful ones.  Also, if appropriate, bring a change of socks and shoes for the reception.  If the women will be throwing off their heels for flip flops before hitting the dance floor after dinner, the guys should be able to wear comfy shoes too.  Check with the bride on this to see if it will be cool.  If nothing else, pack a pair in the trunk for the ride home.

5.  You'll likely be talking to far more people on your wedding day than a usual day.  Carrying a small pack of mints in your pocket helps.  Chomping on gum is bad, especially for pictures.  You'll regret the strange faces chewing gum causes when you look at your pictures later.

6.  With all of the heightened emotions, running around, and socializing that takes place on your wedding day, it is easy to run out of energy and get hungry.  Couples often don't have time to eat a meal until late in the evening at the reception, so it is a good idea to keep a couple healthy snack bars handy to curb hunger pangs, headaches, bad moods, and foggy brain function.  Nuts, energy bars, and fiber-filled apples are best.  Less nutritious snacks like chips, candy bars or muffins are not as helpful to stave off hunger for longer periods of time, but if nothing else is around, they will do.

7.  You'll likely see the girls going around with tote-bags, but grooms may feel more comfortable with a travel kit or mini luggage bag.  Fill it with travel-size deodorant, tooth-brush, floss, mouth wash, comb, razors, and any of your other favorite toiletries.  Along with your other wedding day essentials, you'll be sure to survive the typical kinds of emergencies that grooms face.

Sneak Peek : Congratulations Michelle and Mathew

Michelle and Mathew's wedding at The James Hotel David Burke's Primehouse was a lovely intimate gathering. Peruvian wedding customs were incorporated into the ceremony (officiated by the wonderful Anita Vaughan) to symbolize how the couple first met at Machu Picchu. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

© Wedding Creativo Photography