Suzy and Mario St. Hyacinth Basilica Chicago wedding | Victoria’s Rosemont reception-
Suzy has been waiting for this blog post for four, almost five years if I remember correctly. She was a guest at one of the weddings I’ve photographed early in my career, and she has been following my work even before she met her now husband Mario. She e-mailed me as soon as she was engaged, it was almost two years before the wedding.
Suzy from the bottom of my heart I thank you. Thank you for all the years you’ve been reading this blog, for your kind comments, for getting to know me even before we met. For being my biggest fan. I hope you enjoy your wedding photos, as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Flowers : Cattleya Bridal & Floral Design
Dress from Miss Pamela’s Plus Size Bridal Salon.
Gorgeous detail…Dress by Bonny
Makeup by Krissy Vanderwoude.
Beautiful!
The ceremony was at St. Hyacinth Basilica in Chicago.
A quick stop to say hi to Roxie 🙂
A little nap on the way to the reception.
They braved the weather, such troopers!
Love this!!
Love this one too!
At the Hotel (Holiday Inn express) where the reception took place…I noticed that the lights in the lobby were casting a cool shadow, I asked them hold hands to complete the heart pattern. If you listen carefully you’ll hear Suzy squealing over this photo, I just know it 😉 Favorite!!!
Mario looking happy and handsome 🙂
Venue: Victoria’s Rosemont, amazing food, great location, very affordable!
From the Bride…
‘The Dress was by Bonny and was bought at the AMAZING Miss Pamela’s Plus Size Bridal Salon. (www.misspamelasplus.com Rochester, IN). I thought as a plus size bride, I was only going to be able to go to one store and get my dress…a dress that wasn’t going to be unique. I found a dress that everyone was raving about and I still get compliments on.
Shoes: Black & Baby Blue Pumas (my wedding colors)…I’m serious too…even down the aisle. HATE heels & everyone got such a smile at me turning my nose up to the idea I HAD to wear heels.
Venue: Victoria’s Rosemont….BEST FOOD & SERVICE EVER!!!! I can’t rave about this place enough…I went to so many tastings (they do one a month) and the night of our wedding the food was better than any of the tastings we went to (I planned 2 years out so I went to a lot lol). The service was impeccable, I wanted for NOTHING. Pricing was SO reasonable & it was awesome that it’s on top of a Holiday Inn express, so you had the hotel right there…paid banquet hall prices but didn’t have a banquet hall feel.
Flowers : Cattleya Bridal & Floral Design : Juliet Tan was so sweet, her patience & determination to give me the blue flowers for my wedding that I wanted is something that I will always be grateful to her for. Juliet was able to put together the most beautiful but simple floral arrangements that didn’t break the bank & everyone was taking pictures of because of how pretty they were.
Makeup: Krissy Vanderwoude (www.krissyv.com) her work speaks for itself. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the air brushing (seriously a MUST HAVE) Put it this way, it was only supposed to be myself and 2 other bridesmaids, but I think she ended up doing 7 people (not including me) as once they saw one person done EVERYONE wanted Krissy to do their makeup (even some of my guest at the hotel that morning)
Wedding Coordinator: Jen & Katie at The Smitten Bride (www.thesmittenbride.com) were my life savers. I’m crying right now writing this, because I will NEVER EVER be able to express the love & appreciation I have for Jen (the owner). She kept my head together & was my rock throughout the whole process. I didn’t even know till she had already made other arrangements that my Limo company had bailed on us & I was stuck without any way to get to the church or back. But Jen took care of everything with my father and I only knew once a trolley company (again thanks Victoria’s for the Trolley) had been hired.
Favorite wedding related purchase…Hands down my photographer Hilda @ Angel Eyes Photography. To be truthful, I was so sad because I didn’t think I could hire her. I had spent 5 years looking at all these BEAUTIFUL brides, obsessing over the amazing photography & just wanted so badly to be that bride & groom that I envied every time I saw a blog post. I couldn’t find ANY other photographers & kept saying no to any suggested. So finally I told my coordinator Jen, I am rearranging my ENTIRE wedding budget to revolve around Angel Eyes Photography. Hilda was there to be my shield when I needed “space”, she was there to make me laugh when I found out about the Limo, Hilda makes sure the bride & groom get EXACTLY what they want on their day. Hilda you are amazing and I had the wedding of my dreams in part because you were there :- ) xoxoxoxo
Favorite wedding memory… Turning that corner to walk down the aisle…at that moment all worries, all stress went away. I thought I was going to be my usual emotional/crying self, but I was SO happy I couldn’t. I’ve never felt such pure joy in my life…I was a princess getting married in a “princess church” walking down to marry my prince.
Advice for Brides-to-be…Whatever happens, happens the day of…at the end of the day it is about marrying the man or woman that you love….the person you will spend the rest of your life with. Everything else is secondary and doesn’t matter.”
