I will be forever grateful to my friend Dana who recommended me to this gorgeous and fun couple!! The entire day was absolute perfection. The weather was great, the Band fun, the Bride flawless, the wedding party cooperative, the Groom handsome, the kids were adorable….overall just one of the most fun weddings with the kindest people. Booke and Jake I hope you love the photos….and Dana, I owe you lunch with drinks 😉
Dress – Madison James
Getting ready photos at The Palmer House Hilton
Flowers – Ashland Addison Floral
Hair and Make up by Beauteluxe
Shoes – Badgley Mischka
Photos of the men by Carol.
When you pop the Champagne cork and it nails the photographer right in the lens, hilarity ensues 😀 😀 😀
Windy City Limousine
Venue – 19 East
Officiant – Pastor Rich Rubietta
Flowers – Ashland Addison Floral
Caterer – Food for Thought
Cake – Sweet Mandy B’s (AMAZING!)
Band – Matt Stedman & Ring of Music
Stan’s Donuts
From the Bride…
‘Venue – 19 East (I would recommend it for ALL brides! Such a versatile venue, you can literally do anything you want to transform the space, and the venue reps are just so amazing!)
Caterer – Food for Thought (the best Catering company out there – food was amazing, staff was so genuinely sweet and took such great care of us, and Kendall was amazing to work with)
Dress – Madison James, purchased in Atlanta (I loved it, but word of advice for future brides, if you plan to wear a ball gown style dress, bring a dress to change into! It gets hot when you’re getting down on the dance floor!)
Band – Matt Stedman & Ring of Music (THEY WERE INCREDIBLE! Had everyone dancing all night long! Matt is a gem to work with and the whole band is so talented. They also handled day-of coordination)
I think you and I (and everyone else in the bridal party) would agree the funniest moment was when Jake opened the champagne bottle and it hit your camera lens. THANK GOD IT DID NOT BREAK!! Turned out for an amazing picture though 🙂
My favorite part of the entire day was when we were driving around on the coach bus and our best man (shout out to you, Abid) played “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers on Spotify. Every single person in the car was signing along together and it was so awesome and reminded me of the bus scene from the movie Almost Famous (which is one of my favorite movies ever!) This song will forever be so special to me.
My favorite wedding related gift was a Star Sapphire ring my sister gave me the day before our wedding, to wear as my something “blue”. My Grandfather who passed away 10 years ago gave my mom a Star Sapphire ring when he was overseas in the Navy, and my mom let me wear it and I lost it. The ring was so special to me and I was devastated because there are not too many heirlooms from my Grandfather. My sister and I had a special moment and she gave me the ring (along with a ton of other hilarious gifts that all had puns on them – ie. socks, and it wrote “in case you get cold feet!” and an apple “because Jake is the apple of my eye). The ring was almost an exact replica of my Grandfather’s and I couldn’t stop crying!
The one advice I have for couples is to LIVE. IN. THE. MOMENT. I know it sounds so cliche – but seriously, don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t spend a second of your wedding day sad or stressed. It is truly the best day of your life and it FLIES BY and you really don’t want to waste a single second of it not over-the-moon happy. Something is bound to go wrong, but that is what your vendors are for. Also, I would recommend to all brides to use Angel Eyes as your photographer – because not only is Hilda a total doll, she keeps the entire group laughing and the mood light :)’
