I have no words to express how happy this couple makes me. Getting to know them has been an absolute joy. Everything about this wedding was gorgeous, especially the Bride. Aleksandra thank you for being such a great little model Bride…and Donovan you are just a class act. I will never forget that you dragged an entire table into the Bridal suite to make sure that the vendors had something to eat. Thank you for everything, I hope you enjoy your photos as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Hair/Makeup: Elena Denning Hair & Makeup
Shoes: Prada
Dress: Eve of Milady purchased at Eva’s Bridal International
Gentlemen take note, a sweet love letter the day of the wedding is something that Brides will treasure forever!
Hair piece, veil, garter belts: Sandra’s Designs
Clutch: Kim Ortiz from CloeNoel
I love how the flower tattoos match the ones on her dress.
The Bride made these brooch bouquets, how awesome are they?
Church: Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
The happy couple let me choose the photo spots, so the limo driver just drove around and when I saw a cool location we stopped. It was bliss, I love winging it sometimes….however, please keep in mind that this requires time and trust. I had both 🙂
How is this for the coolest idea ever? Lapel pins for the groom and groomsmen instead of flowers, in the wedding colors of course. The Bride found them on Etsy and at thrift stores.
Yep, he is The Bomb.
Venue: Room 1520
Flowers: Pistil & Vine
OMG, I’m dying over these photos…am I allowed to be in love with my own photos? Doesn’t matter, I am!
Aleksandra, your husband is a hottie…but you knew that already 😉
In the Bridal suite. I took this photo then I died from happiness.
Cake: Alliance Bakery
So, there’s an interesting story behind this…
From the Bride…
‘Hair/Makeup: Elena Denning Hair & Makeup I can’t say enough about Elena. She was incredibly kind and patient. I was really impressed with the different brands of high-end cosmetics she had available. She also had tons of photos to reference for inspiration. I’m so grateful to have met her.
I fell in love with my dress before I even put it on! I originally had tried on a similar dress from the same collection at Kleinfeld’s in New York, but didn’t get that special feeling. I went online to see what else the line had to offer and once I laid my eyes on it, I had to have it. I was lucky enough to get the only dress in Illinois… it was destiny 🙂
We saw 5 other venues before walking into Room1520. We knew it was for us before the tour was even over! It was urban and it was elegant. We couldn’t have asked for more. June helped us coordinate our event and was an absolute delight to work with! The entire staff was extremely accommodating and willing to go above and beyond to make our day special!
The service and professionalism at Formally Modern was unparalleled. Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly and the options are endless. The staff is knowledgable and very aware of new trends and styles. My husband purchased his suit there and got it for a great price! We compared prices to other stores and Formally Modern had the best price by far! Although the groomsmen rented their suits, they were perfectly tailored and each of them looked so debonair!
We are still receiving compliments about how great the food was at our wedding and we owe it all to Chris and his team! Chris made everything easy… from the tasting, to choosing linens, and even the floor plan. Chris is brilliant and such a pleasure to be around. He helped us formulate a menu that would please both my Serbian and American guests, while still keeping it modern.
The live cigar rollers were a perfect addition to our wedding! Live entertainment and custom cigars with labels made for a unique party favor!
Shan and Matt are two truly talented artists! They were so accommodating and easy to work with! They truly made us feel like their top priority and fulfilled every one of our wants and needs!
Band: Sumadija Serbian Band
Advice for Brides to be: KEEP SMILING!! Because they’re filming… and photographing… and watching your every move! LOL! But in all seriousness… smile because you know that you have done everything in your power to make your day perfect. Things will go wrong… it’s inevitable. Smile because it’s your wedding day and if all else fails, you’re still getting married to your best friend!
“Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power” -Benjamin Disraeli
Advice for future Grooms from my husband: Always listen to your wife because she’s always right and you’ll always be wrong 😉
Favorite memory: We have so many wonderful memories it’s hard to choose just one. The first would have to be our first dance as husband and wife. Aside from the symbolism of this dance, I think this was the first and only moment of the entire day that my husband and I got to be alone. Even though we were being watched by our family and friends, for those couple of minutes time slowed down and it was just the two of us.
Secondly, we loved watching our families unite. Especially during the traditional Serbian dance. It was heart warming to see everyone embrace the culture and have a blast together!
Favorite purchase: If you ask my husband he will say my engagement ring. It’s what sealed the deal and got us where we are today! Since I had nothing to do with that, aside from the blatant hints and requests 🙂 My favorite purchase or purchases would have to be the hundreds of brooches collected for our bouquets. Most of the brooches were provided by my mother-in-law. The memories we created going through bidding wars on eBay are priceless. Many of the brooches were also provided by friends and family at my Bridal Shower, so my bouquet holds a lot of meaning. Although it was a painstaking process it was worth every minute and I could never have done it without my mother-in-law, my husband, and his God Mother.
Final thoughts: Of all the vendors, photography was of utmost importance. Choosing Hilda of Angel Eyes Photography was the best decision we made and we can’t express our gratitude enough! Hilda is unbelievable! Undoubtedly talented and one of the best people we met throughout this entire wedding experience. She knew just how to make us laugh and feel comfortable so that we could let our love radiate. She also knew how to tame our wild bridal party to ensure we were on schedule and got in all the right shots. Hilda and Carol made a great team. It’s easy to see why they are loved by so many!’
More photos on Facebook 🙂
