Makray Memorial Golf Club outdoor wedding ceremony | Chicago photographer | Lori & Bret

The moment this couple told me that they had a Beauty & The Beast theme for their wedding, I’ve been looking forward to it, and I was so excited to see the final result. (Scroll down to see the reception photos). I love it when couples do fun things to represent them and their personalities. And to make this wedding even more unique, they decided to have a Crème brûlée instead of cake. SO GOOD!!!!

From the first look to the reception everything took place at Makray Memorial Golf Club.

The glass alternative to a unity candle or sand ceremony, Unity in Glass.

Who says you have to get a cake for your wedding? This couple went with
Crème brûlée !! Soooo delicious!!

From the Bride…

‘Venue:  Makray Memorial Golf Club  (Barrington):  This was a great venue!  We received lots of compliments on the food (We went with the steak and salmon choices) and the ladies that you work with are very detailed oriented.  They make sure everything is how you imagine it would be on your wedding day and are very accommodating if you want something specific.  

Florist:  Twisted Stem  (Crystal Lake): My bouquet was heavy, but  beyond gorgeous.   They did a great job on all the flowers; highly recommended!

Limo: W-Limo – (Arlington Heights) – After researching many different limo places, we went with W-Limo.  They were on time, professional and vehicles were clean. 

Bakery for Crème brûlée :  Ambrosia Euro American Patisserie (Barrington) – We had this crazy idea to have Crème brûlée at our wedding instead of cake.  One of our traditions when we go out to eat is to have this for dessert with a glass of port.  We struck out a few times finding someone that would be able to make the dessert for our wedding but once we met Debby at Ambrosia, she was on board immediately.  She is one of the nicest people to work with and makes the world’s best Crème brûlée !   The ‘cake’ turned out Absolutely Amazing!    

Hair: Fleur De Lis Salon (Barrington) – They came out to us at the hotel we were getting ready at.  They were on time and did a great job on everyone’s hair.  

Makeup: Bomber Betty (Barrington) – Jessica makes her own make up and does a great job.  She also comes to you on the day of the wedding and is a lot of fun to work with. 

Advice for future couples:  Do a first look! This helped us out a lot on our wedding day.  It took so much pressure off of both of us, and made the rest of the day go smoothly.  Also, plan your honeymoon at least a week after your wedding.  You will be exhausted right afterwards, so wait a week or 2 or 3+, before heading on vacation.  You will have a chance to organize the aftermath of everything wedding related and enjoy more of your time on your honeymoon.  

A lot went into the making of our Crème brûlée masterpiece.  Ambrosia made the Crème brûlée the chef at Makray topped them off with whipped cream and fruit before serving, and Twisted Stem put the vines around the cupcake stand and provided roses for decoration.  It all turned out better than I could have imagined! 

Something I would change:  I think the only thing I might change would be the timing of the reception.  The reason I hardly got to eat was because I was paying so much attention to the speeches which went right into the dances. Once the reception starts, I would do the first dance right away and get the speeches done after that.  Then, in theory, there would be more time to enjoy the dinner that you pay so much for 🙂  

Favorite wedding related purchase was probably our unity glass.   We bought colored glass to mix together during our ceremony (like sand) from a place called “Unity In Glass”.  Afterwards we sent the combined glass back to the company that blows it into a glass sculpture and it turned out amazing.  

Favorite wedding memory: This was probably with my sister.  She was nervous about her speech so she took me a side and said her speech just to me in the bridal suite beforehand.  She got the tears going then and it didn’t stop the tears from falling during her actual speech.  It was special moment between us that I won’t forget.