Brookfield Zoo wedding ceremony and reception | Lindsy & Frank

When I first met Lindsy and Frank it was about 30 days before their wedding. WHAT? Yes you read that right. They had a photographer lined up (a big name studio), but the studio ended up cancelling on them. I felt horrible that they had to deal with this so close to the wedding…but I was super happy that they ended up hiring me.  Loved photographing this happy couple, their wedding was at Brookfield Zoo, so much fun!!

Shoes: Badgley Mischka.

Dress & Jewelry: Dress by Essense of Australia. Both the jewelry and the Dress were purchased at Diana’s Bridal in Skokie.

Photo by Cheryl.

Photo by Cheryl.

Venue: Brookfield Zoo

After the first look, we had plenty of time for fun photos, I recommend this to all couples who have their ceremony and reception back-to-back.

Venue: Brookfield Zoo

Officiant : Jeannie Walton

Cocktail hour…

Flowers: Betty’s Flowers and Gifts in Brookfield.

 Cake: Cannoli cake with buttercream frosting from Lezza Bakery

 

From the couple…

‘Venue: Brookfield Zoo, ceremony at Roosevelt Fountain, cocktails at Underwater Bears Pavilion, reception in the Discovery Center.
Venue organizer: Carly (She’s amazing) went above and beyond what a venue planner should have. She made everything so simple and        stress free.
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Food: Catered by Brookfield Zoo. The food was really good. I was originally worried about food coming from the zoo but it definitely exceeded my expectations.
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Shoes: Badgley Mischka. I love sparkle and these were the only thing I could find with that much bling!!!!!
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Hair and makeup: One Salon and Spa in Oak Brook (right next to Le Meridian). I loved this place. They were so accommodating and friendly.
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Hotel: Le Meridien in Oak Brook – The hotel is beautiful, however for the price the service and amenities were lacking.
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Cake: Cannoli cake with buttercream frosting from Lezza Bakery. Amazing!!! My husband is Sicilian and his family is from Sicily and they said it was the best Cannoli cake they have had in the states.
 
Dress & Jewelry: Dress was a moscato pink ballgown by Essense of Australia. Both the jewelry and the Dress were purchased at Diana’s Bridal in Skokie. Everyone at Diana’s bridal is amazing, however they have very limited time once you buy the dress to alter it. I had to take off work on 2 occasions for my alterations. Also my dress was a corset top and half way through the day one of the rods in the dress poked through the dress and impaled my hip. I would think after paying several thousand for the dress it wouldn’t have done that.
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Tux: Men’s Wearhouse  The tuxes looked great and everyone was able to pickup on time. I loved that one person could drop all of the tuxs off after the wedding.
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Flowers: Betty’s Flowers and Gifts in Brookfield. She made a trial bouquet and center piece for me to see what everything would look like.
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Invitations: DBY events and invitations. Beautiful quality. Kasey was such a huge party of planning our wedding. When we met with her, there were just so many things she recommended that we wouldn’t have even thought of on our own.
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Limo: Windy City Limo. Very reliable and professional
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Favorite purchase:
Bride: purchasing my husbands ring. I searched for months before I found his diamond band
Groom: Purchasing all of our wedding parties gifts
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Favorite wedding memory:
Bride: Getting to see the polar bears play in the water
Groom: Being able to see everything we planned come together at the end of the day
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Something you wish you would have done differently:
Bride and Groom: never having a wedding. The stress put on us for planning this wasn’t worth it. 
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Advice…If you can make it through planning a large wedding, you two are going to be just fine!’
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