Lake Shore Country Club wedding in Glencoe, IL | Lake Michigan wedding ceremony photos | Jessica & Kevin

Planning a wedding can be fun and sometimes stressful…but planning one from out of state is definitely not easy! This happy couple pulled it off beautifully, with the help of their friends and family.  They looked so happy the entire day,  just glowing every time they looked at each other!! Their first dance was just jaw droppingly gorgeous and executed flawlessly!  Below are some highlights from Lake Shore Country Club  in Glencoe, IL 

Dress by Maggie Sottero

 

Flowers: Flowerlife

Photo by Carol

First look

 

Ceremony time!

Photo by Eric

Carol’s view…

My view…

Photo by Carol

Photo by Carol

I love how happy they are 🙂

Flowers: Flowerlife

Cocktail hour..

Cake by The Bent Fork Bakery | Photo by Eric

You guys, there was Bread Pudding for desert, at a wedding…freaking heaven!!

From the Bride…

‘Venue: Lake Shore Country Club, Glencoe, IL. Outstanding experience working with them throughout the entire process of wedding planning. 

Dress: I Do Bridal, Seattle, WA. I loved my experience finding a dress at I Do Bridal in Seattle. They had such an amazing, high quality selection for my taste, style, and budget, and always made me feel comfortable without being pushy.

DJ: Style Matters, Chicago, IL

Photographer: Angel Eyes Photography/ Hilda Burke. Outstanding experience working with Hilda, who was responsive, communicative, and supportive throughout the entire process. I knew after our first in-person meeting that she would be perfect for us. Her photos not only capture and document the moment, but are incredibly artistic and unique in their own right. She made us feel comfortable from the start, and we also really valued her experience and ability to advise us on key details in the wedding.

Flowers: Flowerlife, Ananda, Chicago, IL. Loved working with Ananda, who was easygoing and accepting of the fact that I strove from tasteful, simple, and elegant. Her ability to nail exactly what I described was incredible. She was also more than happy to give great advice around other aspects of the wedding, including helping me pick a color for my bridesmaid dresses, tablecloth fabric & color, and giving me the words to the lack of color scheme/theme for my wedding. All while keeping to my desired budget without trying to upsell.

Cake: The Bent Fork Bakery, Highwood, IL. We had a simply adorned three layer cake made, which each layer being a different flavor (Carrot, Pistachio, and Lemon), which was really wonderful.

Bridesmaid dresses – Azazie (online). I specified a length and color and had my bridesmaids find whichever style of dress they liked the most. They had no problems and the dresses looked great!

String Quartet: Midwest Young Artists, Chicago, IL. We used them for the ceremony and cocktail hour. 

Hair: Danny Lovett, stylist at J Terri Ross in Glencoe, IL. 

Videographer: Vanilla Video, Chicago, IL. Quality video that captured all the key moments. Videographer was discrete and didn’t draw any attention to himself, which is what we wanted. Great value for the price; no frills documentation, exactly what we were looking for.

Favorite wedding purchase: the wedding dress. 

Favorite wedding memory: the recessional – walking back down the aisle, hand in hand with my husband, with the lovely string quartet music wafting in the background and thinking, “Did this just happen? Are we already married?” while seeing all of our friends and family gathered together in one place. This was truly the most special moment.

Funny moment: my little brother’s toast at my wedding – who knew he could be such a comedian?

 

Society has a lot of expectations around what a wedding and a bride should look like and do. Try not to let these expectations get to you too much and stay grounded in what’s most important to you. 

While we did not hire a wedding planner or coordinator, as we were lucky enough to have our families willing and able to help us plan the wedding, it was key to assemble a strong, supportive team – our families, vendors, my partner, and my bridesmaids – who helped turn our vision into reality. It was especially great that our families were supportive of some of our decisions to deviate from certain traditions. I’m especially thankful for my husband for pulling equal weight in planning this wedding, and strongly advise couples to contribute as equally as possible. I’m incredibly thankful that all of my friends and family were easygoing and not so demanding themselves, which helped make the process as smooth as possible.’