Addy is one lucky woman. Carol (my assistant) and I were nearly sobbing when Griffin read his vows to her. OMG! It was like a movie, but better because it was real!! It was such a joy to witness two people so obviously in love 🙂
Keara from XEX Salon in Chicago did the Bride’s hair, I’ve never seen such a unique hairdo!
How gorgeous is this? Love all the different shades of purple. Addy’s friend Melissa made the bouquet.
Jasmine Bridal Gown purchased at Eva’s Bridal on Harlem in Chicago.
Custom sash made the seamstress.
Wendi from Curious Beauty did the Bride’s make up.
Shoes by Kate Spade “Gracious”
I love my beautiful City!
Looking great Addy, work that light girl 😉
The groom’s suit was from Nordstroms.
Isn’t he so handsome? He’s also super sweet and incredibly romantic. Griffin and the best man took the subway to Millennium Park, how fun is that?
Their choice for a first look was in front of the ‘Bean’ (Cloud Gate) at Millennium Park Chicago.
Showing off the dress 🙂
Love!
Favorite 1!
A quick stop at Carnivale for a pre-wedding cocktail and some photos 🙂
The ceremony and the reception took place at The Vault @ Vivo Restaurant, Chicago. Here’s a Bride who got to walk up the isle!
BEST. Groom. Vows. EVER!!!!
First dance.
Favorite 2!!! LOVE-LOVE-LOVE-LOVE-LOVE-LOVE-LOVE!!!! Did I mention how much I love this photo? LOVE!!!!!
From the Bride & Groom…
“Restaurant -The Vault @ Vivo Restaurant, Chicago. This restaurant was spot on for what we were looking for. We wanted a no mess, no fuss, no worry kind of venue. The best parts about “The Vault” was the ambiance and the food. The Gnocchi was amazing and it was something they don’t generally do for catering but they did it for us because they really strived to accommodate all of our requests. (Although Vivo was perfect, we would maybe have had a slightly bigger place with a little bit bigger dance floor.)
Dress- I had quite some apprehensions about my dress. It is a Jasmine Bridal gown and I had some alterations made so it would be more my style. I knew from the get-go I wanted a flowing, easy to wear dress and I for some reason HAD to have my purple sash. It took until just a week before the wedding to finalize the details. I bought the dress at Eva’s Bridal on Harlem and had the alterations done privately. My seamstress made the sash for me!
My shoes: I think they are amazing. The are the Kate Spade “Gracious” heels in purple. It took me months to find the shoes and then one day, in San Francisco, after shopping all day with my friend Melissa and nearly giving up on the perfect purple shoes, I went into a “Crossroads” store and BAM! On a shelf, still in the box, pretty much never worn Kate Spade purple shoes. SOLD! To one happy happy bride-to-be!
Tux- Amawzin’ suit is more like it! Griffin and I decided that buying a nice suit he could wear again was a better deal specially since we really didn’t see the need for a tux! We bought it at Nordstroms. Everything from top to bottom was purchased and tailored there. A word of caution: If you go there, make sure you buy your suit from someone who works in the suits department….otherwise pick up after alterations is tricky.
Flowers: Thank you Melissa Appel Spooner, my best friend for making me the most awesomest ever bouquet and all other arrangements. I didn’t have a vendor on this one, we had family :). Melissa flew in from Kansas city with her “mobile flower shop” in a suitcase and as soon as she picked up the flowers she had pre-purchased.
In place of cake we had cupcakes from “More” in several flavors, giant “Carol’s Cookies”, which to this day people are still talking about, and then we brought out mini Ben & Jerry’s and Hagendaz ice cream cups.
Hair/Make-up: My hair (and my sisters and mom) was done on location by Keara from XEX Salon. She not only added in a last minute person, she also agreed to completely change my hair from what we had originally done during the trial. Keara is professional, friendly and excellent!
Wendi, from Curious Beauty, did my make-up. I chose to do air-brush make up and I am so glad I did! She was also professional, friendly and her work is amazing!
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Now about our photographers: We thought we had found one. Then we just didn’t have a good vibe specially after reading the contract. Then we talked to two others who just didn’t really care about us. They were down to business before they even greeted us. But then I found Hilda. Hilda met us one evening at her office and never even really want to know about the wedding at first. She wanted to know us, who we are and how we happened. It was refreshing, easy going, fun and a couple of hours later we got around to looking at her work. It was SO easy to make this decision. We knew we wanted Hilda to photograph our wedding. We met with her about a month before the wedding to finalize details. She welcomed out idea of going to “Cloud Gate” at night, even bringing in a new nifty light to make the pictures even more amazing. Hilda kept me centered when there were a few too many people around me, she made me comfortable and it was a “ask and you shall receive” situation. Mints? got it, scissors? she had it, help for my mom to understand how my dress closed up? Yup, she did that too! Carol and Hilda arrived early, started taking pictures right away and they made sure we were having a good time. Thank you Hilda for my plate full of food 🙂
The pictures you two take are amazing and they truly capture our night! Both of us agree that we hit the jackpot with Angel Eyes Photography!
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I’m putting vendors aside on this one. Hilda, you win the wedding purchase when it comes to vendors!
We had a few favorites: My pendant/necklace, Griffin’s wedding day watch and lastly, our custom “Munny” cake toppers that we commissioned a French Couple to make for us. We have a collection of Munnys and Dunnys and Griffin, again with his brilliant ideas, found this couple to make us custom 4″ Munnys. They will be displayed at home now, alongside our collection!
Our favorite wedding memory : Once Griffin was done saying his vows to me, I just wanted to kiss and hug him. We were in our own world, didn’t care that we still had to wait for an exchange of rings.
Addy: once we were declared husband and wife, we kissed, turned to the guests and I remember just jumping up and down in excitement!
Griffin: Having a drink together and just chatting together right before the ceremony at Carnivale.”
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