Michigan Shores Club Christmas winter wedding | St. Josephs Catholic Church | Colleen & Joe

This wedding was so stunning, I can’t even begin to describe it. Colleen wanted a beautiful winter wedding with dreamy snow and a Christmas theme, instead she got a beautiful winter wedding with 50 degrees and sunshine. This is Chicago…the weather does what it wants 😉

I was so happy that the couple chose to do a first look, we would have had none of the gorgeous outdoor photos without it!

DJ- Mike Gerth Entertainment

From the couple…

Venue- Michigan Shores Club– Gorgeous Venue that had the perfect theme for our Christmas winter wedding, even without the snow. The rustic look of the ballroom was exactly what we wanted. The also made the cake which was exactly as we wanted.  The first thing my husband and I could agree on for the wedding was Funfetti!!!!!! And it did not disappoint. 

Dress- Wvidon by Carla & Kenneth, 1st dress I tried on. Carla was fabulous to work with and my dress fit perfectly. 

Hair- Pam from Charles Joseph Salon.  Friend of the family, has done my updos for every event since 8th grade dinner dance. She is the best!! My hair and bridesmaids hair was perfect. 

Invitations, Seating Table board- Celine from White Rabbit invitations. She custom designed the snowflake on our innovation and board which was also used for our Gobo design. Such a talented woman.

Flowers- Romance in Blooms, Kathleen is seriously sooo talented. I wanted very simple wintery (is that a word?) white looking flowers with touches of gold, green, and blue.  She did an excellent job. All the flowers were beautiful from the center pieces down to the grooms flowers. She also helped make cost effective decisions and let me know what was in season and what would be more expensive to help with budget.

Makeup- Melanie Larson – making the bridesmaids, my mom and myself beautiful as she always does. 

DJ- Mike Gerth Entertainment. Mike played all the songs we wanted and was able to keep the dance floor full. Also made our gobo design, a snowflake, the only snow we saw that day! 

Church- St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Fr. Mayall was the priest from my grammar school, has known my family for many many years. It was a beautiful church to get married in. 

1. My favorite wedding related purchase was buying the flower collars for my fur babies. They could not be involved in the wedding but I still was able to get some great photos with them getting ready. 
I also enjoyed designing Joeys wedding ring, as it was a custom design that he asked for so I was able to play around with that. 

2.  From the groom: would not have changed anything about the day, cannot image a more perfect wedding. Most enjoyable for him was the cocktail hour. Take advantage of the mingling during that time. After sitting down for dinner it is harder to talk with everyone especially once the dancing starts. 

3. I would not have done anything differently either, everything was exactly as I imaged. I cried walking into that ballroom to see all the beautiful things that we had created. It might be difficult but If you can I suggest planning your wedding yourself, it is a challenge but so fulfilling at the end to see what you accomplished! Such a great feeling. 

4. A funny moment I remember is my cousin and his wife starting a fake jump rope and everyone jumping in and out, also my sister trying to dirty dancing lift one of my other bridesmaids. 
We also remember a moment when Joey and I were cutting the cake and it was getting stuck on the ribbon and he said something like come on Coll and I made this face and said through my teeth, stop yelling at me!! It was a typical interaction for us and  soooo funny. Cake tasted delicious once we finally got it cut!! 

5. I stressed out a lot about being late for things which honestly you are the bride and groom, they have to wait for you. In the end it was nothing to worry about, we had great people by our sides helping and a kick ass photographs to keep us prompt. 

6. Advice we would give is Slow down and enjoy the small moments. We could not believe how fast the whole day went, it was over in the blink of an eye. It was a magical 50 degree day that we were blessed to have had, as much as I wanted snow it was perfect and exactly what we could have hoped for. 
I also recommend a first look, it took a lot of the pressure off and with a January wedding we had time to take pictures before the ceremony before it got dark so had some great outdoor photos to remember. ‘