St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Park Ridge | The Grove in Glenview Redfield Estate wedding photos | Brigette & Cole
When this sweet couple planned their beautiful outdoor spring wedding, I’ll bet the last thing on their mind was snow….a lot of snow! That’s Chicago weather for you…you get 55 degrees in January and 5 inches of snow in the spring time. But since I only work with the most awesome couples ever, they just rolled with it. Even when it was coming down super heavy, the Bride said yes to more outdoor photos…girl you’re a rock-star, and I love you both!!
OH! I almost forgot to mention, that one of the table names was Westley and Buttercup, witch is from one of my all time favorite movies the Princess Bride!!
Also, the Bride had the most amazing custom wedding gown designed by her friend Francesca! So gorgeous!
By the time we got to the Redfield Estate at the Grove it was already coming down pretty hard!
So happy I finally got a wedding photo with the famous turtle!!
From the couple….
“Venue: The Grove – Everything about the Grove was amazing. Working with Carol was a dream, and the snow made the entire night feel like a fairy tale.
Dress: Franzesca Mayer – Franzi’s a college friend and fraternity sister. I knew years ago that I wanted her to make my dress if she was willing, and she was as excited as I was. It’s absolutely more perfect than I could ever have imagined.
Tux: GQ Formalwear – Cole: I originally wanted to buy a suit rather than rent, but ended up winning the Fab Five prize at GQ which got me a free rental with a free suit to keep after, and discounts for all the guys’ and dad’s tux rentals. I ultimately couldn’t have been happier with the tuxes we got. They were tailored to fit everyone properly, which was a huge plus, and having the suit to keep afterward was a huge plus. It’s the perfect place to get a tux or suit rental!
Brigette: And he looked so hot!
Cake: Oak Mill Bakery – Everything about the cake: price, flavor, experience…was perfect. We started out knowing we wanted to have lemon and raspberry, and the flavor at Oak Mill was delicious. It still tasted delicious days later!
Caterer: Cork – The food was incredible. Sam was so great to work with, and we felt comfortable with her knowledge and experience. What a great thing, too, because when the weather went “Chicago” first thing in the morning, Sam didn’t even text us. When we got to the Grove, she had arranged everything inside, and it was perfect.
DJ: Two Pro DJs (Mike) – Mike was our first and basically only choice. He ran with our rather eclectic music tastes and kept everything moving just right. He was even able to roll with the sudden plan change and tweak our “entrance” to make it work. I got to dance my feet off all night
Officiant/Ceremony: St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Park Ridge – Brigette: This is my home church. It was always where I wanted to be married, and it was better than I could ever have imagined.
Transportation: W-Limo – What a great experience! We got to the Grove a little bit earlier than planned, but the driver was absolutely willing to hang out in the parking lot while we took some pictures, so that we could hop in and warm up. She even offered to drive us across the lot!
DIY Projects:
Flowers – Brigette: I crocheted for over a year making the flowers for my bouquet and the bridesmaid bouquets. I couldn’t find a pattern that fit what I imagined, so I Frankenstein’d a few different patterns together. It took a lot of math and a lot of mental mapping out, along with almost constant crocheting, but they looked so wonderful. A week or two before, Cole’s mom asked about godmothers, and I ended up putting together some last minute corsages and boutonnieres. I attached an anniversary gift from Cole, a wood cutting of the stars on the night we started dating. I will probably not crochet again for….a while.
Gift Boxes – Cole: We had a fun mix of gifts that we got everyone in our party, so I knew I wanted to present them in a fun and memorable way. We are huge Harry Potter fans, so we knew we wanted to incorporate Hogwarts Houses into the wedding. We got the ladies earrings, and the guys cufflinks. I also designed custom ties for the guys using Knotty Tie. I first started looking at wood boxes that I could finish in a fun way, but couldn’t find anything that had dimensions that worked. That’s when I decided to make the boxes myself. I got some carving chisels and some wood to mess around with and just starting trying things out. After a lot of trial and error, I managed to fake finger joints in a way that made the boxes and fenagled the lids and dividers that were necessary for the guys boxes to have the ties and cufflinks. I got a wood burner to burn designs and initials to personalize each box. I used basswood, which is a very light color, so I then decided to stain the boxes to make them look a bit fancier. I also made earring boxes for our moms and tie boxes for our dads.
- Stemless flutes for asking party: We invited all of our in-town wedding party over for a Mardi Gras dinner and engraved stemless flutes as an asking gift. It was low-key enough for us, but it still made it feel special.
- Ring Box – Cole: In the process of making the gift boxes, I decided to add another box to be our ring box. We were originally going to get a book box, but we couldn’t decide on the right book and kept putting it off. I fully had the crafting bug, so I just decided to add another box, especially since I was starting to get better at it! I chose some different designs and our initials to fully personalize it and made sure there were slots for all of our rings.
- Groom Gift for Bride – Cole: This project was actually the impetus behind my getting the wood burner in the first place! I knew that I wanted to make something for Brigette, and something to display seemed perfect. We sang in choir together in college, and both had a fondness for Eric Whitacre’s music. We knew he wrote a setting of “This Marriage” by Rumi, which is a poem we both love and strive to keep as a model for our relationship. We chose to incorporate the setting into our ceremony, but I wanted to make it something even more specific to us. I got a live edge wood panel and burned the poem text onto it, with our date and initials and the same rose design I included on the ring box.
Favorite wedding purchase: Brigette – Antique books for our centerpieces. It took a few antique mall shopping trips, but discovering all the books was such a fun adventure. Cole – Brigette’s engagement ring. That’s what got this whole ball rolling, after all.
Favorite wedding memory: Brigette – Finally standing together at the top of the aisle. It’s been 9 years in the making, and I’m still surprised sometimes that it’s all done. Cole – Seeing Brigette walk down the aisle.
Funny moments: The whole day was amazing. There aren’t a lot of specific funny moments that we can remember, but we were just surrounded by love and fun all day.
Something to be different: Brigette – I wish I had been a bit more present during the ceremony. I got a little bit in my head and worried a bit about the music and if people were bored. I would have enjoyed it more if I had shut that worry voice down. Cole – I wish I had taken more “mental pictures.” I was almost too blown away by everything to really fully internalize it
Unnecessary stress: Having the video stream wig out right before the ceremony caused a ton of worry. We should have realized that almost everyone has a phone with video capabilities and that we could figure out a way to make it work.
Advice: Work as a team. You’re marrying the person you’re marrying for a reason (or a number of them). Trust those reasons and do things together. We worked as a team on almost everything, and it really helped lighten the load and keep us both sane.
Additional thoughts: To Hilda and Carol: We can’t thank you enough for how you made our day feel. You are a huge part of what made it so magical, especially with the weather being crazy. Everything we’ve seen so far has already blown us away, and we can’t wait to see all of the magic that you captured.”
