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Real Weddings:

Jaimie and Daniel’s wedding at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

featuring Studio This Is

Creative couple, Jaimie and Daniel (she’s a theater producer and he’s a film producer), were married at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Befitting the couple, the celebration planned by Christine Janda provides drama abound. The moody florals and black and metallic reception details were were designed and created by HMR Designs with calligraphy by LBrown Design & Paperie and an artful cake by Alliance Bakery. Studio This Is made great use of all the art and graphic backdropsto create fabulous portraits of the couple and all the details of their day.

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Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!

My grandparents were founding members of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, so I always knew that was where we would get married. I didn’t want a gown that felt bridal in any way, so looked high and low for something easy, effortless, elegant, timeless, and unique. I fell in love with  the entire Valentini line at a trunk show at Dimitra’s Bridal. It was important to me that I feel like myself, so I had my good friend Azeeza design the most incredible jumpsuit for dancing.

What were some touches added to make the wedding personal? 

I’m a theatre producer and my husband is a film producer, so it was really important to us that we created a different world for each portion of the wedding with a seamless flow. Daniel walked down the aisle to the Top Gun anthem, and I walked down to Janis Joplin’s Piece of my Heart. We wanted the dinner tent to feel like the coolest pop-up fine dining experience in an unexpected way. The chef did an amazing job with a tasting menu to truly make the dinner an experience, not just a meal. Having lived in several different cities, my friends and family are spread far and wide. Walking down the aisle and seeing all of the people I consider my chosen family in one place, and the man I now call my husband waiting for me under the chuppah, provided me with so much warmth and love. There was a certain ease to the entire day which made it that much more enjoyable for all!

Tell us how you met and became engaged.

Daniel’s brother was the chair of the board of a nonprofit I used to work for! We’d been friends for years before we started dating. Daniel plays ice hockey, and I was a competitive figure skater as a child, so we were both really excited to see I, TANYA as soon as it came out. As the lights were going down at the movie theatre, Daniel handed me a Chinese takeout box (a nod to my love for Asian food) filled with dark chocolate covered orange peels (my family’s official favorite candy). Under the first few orange peels was a green ring pop, because Daniel knew I had wanted an emerald engagement ring but am too clumsy to ever wear something that soft. Daniel also knew I wanted a hand in designing the ring from my favorite jeweler, so the ring pop was absolutely the right way to go! Daniel suggested we leave the movie to celebrate, and I insisted we stay, as I was so excited to see it. After the movie we walked home debating and discussing different aspects of the film, as two producers would. We were almost back at the apartment when we realized we should probably get some champagne to celebrate! It all felt so natural and so right.

Photography: Nancy Beale Studio This Is // Planner: Christine Janda // Design + Florals: HMR Designs // Stationery: LBrown Design & Paperie // Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art // Bride’s Gown Designer: Valentini // Bridal Boutique: Dimitra’s Bridal // Bride’s Reception Jumpsuit: Azeeza // Hair: Colleen Mortag-Krejczyk // Makeup: Mireille Hamon // Cake: Alliance Bakery // Lighting: Frost Chicago // Entertainment: Michael Lerich Band

 

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Real Weddings:

Natacha and Fábio’s Wedding in Portugal

featuring João Almeida Fotografia

Natacha and Fábio were married privately in Cuba the year prior to their stunning wedding celebration in Portugal.  Their venue, Aqueduto Eventos, a one-stop-shop responsible for the stationery, cake, decoration, florals and catering; set the tone with moody lighting, and modern, textural romance. We’re loving the way the live trees look against the graphic, contemporary architecture. Gilded details add hints of glam while Natacha stuns in a Pronovias. Check out all the details of the couple’s big day in these photographs by João Almeida Fotografia.

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Natacha & Fábio | Elegant wedding in Porto from Vanessa & Ivo on Vimeo.

Video: Vanessa & Ivo // Photography: João Almeida Fotografia // Venue, Stationery, Cake, Decoration, Flowers and Catering: Aqueduto Eventos // Dress: Pronovias // Suit: Prassa // DJ: Nuno Rodrigues

 

Real Weddings:

Hien and Eugene’s wedding at Olowalu Plantation House

photography by Trish Barker

Hien and Eugene’s serendipitous meeting led to their romance and eventually the proposal in the South of France. For the travel loving couple, Maui was an easy decision. Eugene is Australian and Hien is Canadian and Hawaii was the exact middle ground for both sides of their friends and family. The always-beautiful Olowalu Plantation House offered breathtaking scenery and Couture Events helped the couple design an intimate day that combined cultural traditions and relaxed romance.From the Vietnamese tea ceremony, to the ocean view ceremony, to the garden reception under climbing banyan trees and dressed in florals by Mandy Grace Designs, the day oozes casual elegance and it’s all captured to perfection by photographer Trish Barker.

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Will you briefly share your love story (how you met, the proposal)?

We met by pure coincidence. Eugene was new to Toronto, having lived in Toronto for only about a few weeks when we first met. He moved from Shanghai, where he lived for 3 years for a job. He was invited to a party by a few people he had randomly met at a restaurant. It turns out the party was taking place in the common entertainment room of my friend’s apartment building. Funny enough, that night I received a text from my friend telling me to come to the party, and by pure coincidence I was passing by in front of her apartment and naturally,  joined the party. I don’t actually remember when we first met at the party, but I do remember at some point in the night he asked me a lot of questions and I was getting really tired of answering them! He then gave me his email at the end of the night. He was so new to Toronto that he didn’t have a cell phone yet.

We dated for about 3 years and lived together for about 2 years prior to the proposal. He completely swept me off my feet and surprised me. We love to travel and so for Thanksgiving we went to the South of France — we’ve been before and absolutely love it there. I actually didn’t know we were going to the South of France until we go to the airport. I usually take the lead in planning our trips, and this time I insisted Eugene plan it, which he agreed to do, but in return, I had to agree to not ask about the trip — even where we were going  It didn’t occur to me that he was going to propose, even when I knew of where we were going because we’ve been to the South of France before and said we’d go back when we had the chance. We stayed in a town called Eze which is located on a cliff between Monaco and Nice. Eugene proposed the first night we were in Eze, and completely caught me by surprise. We were sitting at the hotel terrace (common area for guests)  and he said he had to run back to the room to go to the washroom — he has a thing about public washrooms, so I didn’t think anything of it — and when he came back he got down on one knee with the ring and proposed. I initially thought he was joking and actually said — don’t, don’t, don’t do it. I then figured out he was being serious and of course said yes. We topped off the night by heading into Monaco to celebrate. The evening was so memorable and fun!

How did you select Hawaii as your destination? 

Picking Maui was an easy decision for us. Eugene is Australian and I am Canadian. Hawaii was the exact middle ground for both sides of our friends and family.

What was your vision for the day?

It was very important for us that the wedding be classy/elegant but not stuffy. We wanted to create an intimate feeling and let our guests know how appreciative we were that they all traveled so far to celebrate our wedding day (more like week!). Overall, we wanted the day to be fun, and stress free.

Please tell us about the style you were going for (flowers, outdoor setup, etc.).

I would use the following words to describe the style we were going for: classic, simple, elegant, vintage, natural, romantic. Colours we stuck with were primarily cream and green, with grey blue as our accent.

We’d love to know about your dress! Who was the designer?

I LOVE my dress — wish I can wear it again and again! The dress is by Lea-Ann Belter a local Toronto designer. The dress was actually two parts. The main dress is called Divine by Astrid & Mercedes. I then had a lace top made, but in the same lace fabric as the skirt of my main dress. I wore both pieces during the ceremony and for most of the photos, during the reception, I took off the lace top.

Any other special details you’d like to share.

We also had a Vietnamese tea ceremony before the Western tea ceremony. The ceremony starts off with the groom’s side of the family bringing gifts to the bride’s side of the family.  The groom’s father asks the bride’s father for permission for his son to marry the bride-to-be. Once gifts are exchanged the bride and groom then serve tea to the parents and in return, the parents provide advice for a happy marriage. Following that, the groom’s family puts on jewelry for the bride as a symbol of welcoming her into their family.

Coordination: Couture Events // Floral Designer: Mandy Grace Designs // Photographer: Trish Barker // Venue: Olowalu Plantation House // Bridal Gown & Lace Top: Lea-Ann Belter // Stylist: MeiLi Autumn Beauty // Cinematographer: Hawaii Video Memories // Ribbon: Adorn // Officiant: Pia Aluli // Caterer: Cater 2 U // Cocktail Service: Garnish Craft Cocktail Catering // Ceremony + Cocktail Musician: M. Tevaga // DJ: DJ Boomshot // Rentals: Signature Event Rentals /  Inspiration Event Rentals // Table Top Rentals: Set Maui // Guest Transportation: Speedi Shuttle

 

Real Weddings:

Kate and Jeff’s Boulder Wedding

featuring Callie Hobbs Photography

Kate and Jeff’s wedding at Boulder’s St. Julien Hotel was the destination wedding the couple dreamed of—a stunning, scenic location with travel accessibility to their dearest family and friends. Self-proclaimed “professional wedding guests,” the couple knew exactly what they wanted in a reception—an ideal seating layout where each guest had a great view. With the help of their planner Banks & Leaf , there was no bad seat in the house—a house decked out in elegant details and stunning florals by Statice Floral Design. Lucky for us, Callie Hobbs Photography captured the day with her signature style in the beautiful images below.

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What made the wedding special and unique?

It was special to us to have destination wedding that was in an accessible location. Boulder was a perfect choice, especially since we had a lot of friends that were pregnant at the time. A destination wedding also has a different vibe since everyone was treating it like a vacation.

Our wedding was on the smaller side, with 80 people, so it was imperative to Jeff and I that all of our guests felt included in every aspect of the weekend, especially at the reception! We’re basically professional wedding guests, and have experienced a few weddings where all the friends were sat at a large round table in the very back of the room, where it was hard to see or hear what was going on. When we had our final head count confirmed, we went back to the St Julien layout to rearrange everything a few weeks before the wedding. Jeff and I scoured Pinterest, along with every wedding magazine and website, to look at layout options. We fell in love with a U-shaped layout from an outdoor wedding, the only thing was we had to make it fit in the room at the St Julien. During our final walk through we worked with Gabby and multiple staff members at the St Julien, walking through different options and taping off measurements, making sure no one would have a bad view and while also trying to optimize the layout for the servers. It was so stressful at the time, but on our wedding day it paid off in spades. Looking around the room during the toasts, speeches and dances, everyone was engaged and best of all, we could see every person’s face! Looking back, it was one of the best decisions Jeff and I made!

Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it!

I went into the dress searching thinking I wanted an ethereal, bohemian wedding dress. I tried on a bunch that I really liked but wasn’t necessarily in love with. I was in Denver for Thanksgiving and decided to make an appointment at LWD. It was one of the first ones I tried on. I remember thinking my mom wouldn’t like it for some crazy reason. Then when I came out of the dressing room she started crying! Since my family is just a bunch of group criers my sister and I both started crying and it turned into one of those cheesy but touching moments that I look back on.

What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?

Jeff’s mom’s side of the family comes from Guatemala, so it was important to us to incorporate his heritage into the ceremony. His grandmother did the second reading, doing it first in Spanish then followed by English. It was beautiful. We also incorporated arras (wedding coins), which is a Spanish tradition where the groom gives the coins to the bride followed by the bride giving the coins to the groom as a symbol of marriage and commitment to each other. We also incorporated El lazo which was essentially a large rosary in a figure 8 that was placed on our shoulders during the ceremony, symbolizing everlasting love and unity. Multiple guests came up to us at the reception and the brunch afterwards, commenting how much they loved how we personalized the wedding.

We weren’t able to bring our dog out to Boulder so my step-dad surprised us with a life-size cut out of our dog, Mowgi! Jeff was so surprised and absolutely loved it since they are best friends. He also made an appearance in wedding guests’ photos.

For our guest book we worked with Simon Pearce since we wanted a unique guest book. They helped us pick a large vase that could be engraved. My stepmom decorated the paper for guests to sign. All of the guests wrote well wishes on the paper that was then sent to Simon Pearce to be engraved.

What was the most memorable part of the day?

I could never choose just one memorable part of the day! One of my absolute favorites was at the ceremony, when the doors opened and I walked down the aisle looking at Jeff. I was experiencing so many emotions, I could not stop smiling.

Just being surrounded by so many people you love is a surreal experience. I still remember that feeling. I will remember that for the rest of my life!

In the car on the way over, Jeff’s sister led us in yoga breathing ending with OM before we walked out of the car. The calmness carried through the entire ceremony.

Tell us how you met and became engaged.

My stepmom actually introduced us! I had just moved back to Chicago from the east coast after a break up and was living with my sister when my stepmom texted me saying, “don’t kill me but I told one of executives we work with about you. He’s TALL!!!” He then messaged me on LinkedIn. We finally met up at brunch a few months later and were inseparable since then.

I was in no rush to get married, I actually didn’t want to get married. One Friday after a friend’s birthday party, he told me he had a surprise. Jeff is a very carefree person, so I assumed it was something small, like a piece of jewelry or my favorite type of wine. When he called me in the other room, I walked over and there were flowers EVERYWHERE and he was waiting there on one knee. I instantly started crying and made him walk me through all of the details of how he got here before saying yes. Blame my OCD.

However, he had thought of everything! Our close friends were waiting outside for us afterwards, and he had the whole weekend of celebrating planned with friends, siblings and family. It truly was an experience I will never forget!

Planner: Banks & Leaf // Photographer: Callie Hobbs Photography // Florist: Statice Floral Design // Stationery: Minted // Venue: St. Julien Hotel // Gown: Justin Alexander / LWD Bridal // Hair: Some Claudia Girl // Rentals: Amora Group // Band: #Rockslide with Give 5 Productions // Linens: Nuage Designs // Ring Box: The Mrs. Box

 

Real Weddings:

Julie and Christian’s wedding Franciscan Gardens

featuring Natalie Schutt Photography

Julie’s dad convinced her to try online dating and wouldn’t you know that her first—and only—date ended up being the love of her life. Julie and Christian, both California transplants from the East Coast, celebrated their wedding at the picturesque Franciscan Gardens. Traditional romance with touches of blue add personalization, but the couple elt the stunning beauty of the venue grounds take center stage. We love the soft, voluminous white florals by Florals by Jenny and the bride’s lace gown and classic cathedral length veil, but it’s the always-amazing work of Natalie Schutt Photography that captures the beauty of the coupe on their big day that has us swooning.

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What made the wedding special and unique?

We were very selective on choosing who attended our wedding. Our wedding comprised of family and only close friends of ours only, and I think having a smaller size wedding of 95 really made for a more intimate feeling and gave us time to chat with everyone.

Tell us about the gown and where/how you found it?

I knew I wanted a long sleeve dress and I chose a champagne color to really accentuate the white lace detail instead of choosing an all white dress that would have not emphasized the lace as much.

I originally found a similar style on Pinterest and once I had the designer name I went on a hunt to find who carried that designer. It ended up being a small boutique bridal shop in Torrance called Bridal Elegance. It was the second dress I tried on and it was a tough decision, but in the end I had to go with my gut feeling and what I initially envisioned because the assistants at the bridal shop make you try on a lot of different styles.

What were some touches added to make the wedding personal?

We really wanted personalized everything! We had personalized mints and chapsticks in the restrooms for when guests freshened up. We had personalized napkins for cocktail hour along with personalized seasoning at every seat to ensure our guests left with many goodies that reminded them of the good time. I have a very close eye when it comes to attention to detail and planned the whole wedding myself with my husband’s input of course!

What was the most memorable part of the day?

We couldn’t really pick a specific memorable time as I remember the day so vividly, but if I’d have to choose it would be the first look where we shared smiles, laughs, tears and an embrace that I will hold close to my heart for a lifetime.

Tell us how you met and became engaged.

Let’s start by saying Christian and I are both from the East Coast. New York and New Jersey. It is really hard to meet people in California if you didn’t grow up here, so needless to say I didn’t want to meet a guy at a bar or a club and my Dad actually told me to try match.com. This was in 2012 way before dating apps were a thing. Christian was my first and only date from that website and I knew it was fate. How do two people from back East meet on the far West Coast? He was everything I was looking for in a man. Genuine, kindhearted, stunning blue eyes and had the personality of an East Coaster.

It was March 17,th 2017 and Christian’s mother asked if I could help out her real-estate friend by serving champagne after work for an open house. I agreed because you never say no to your boyfriend’s mother when she asks you for a favor. I practiced and watched YouTube in anticipation so my champagne opening skills were flawless. I arrived in a nice simple dress at the open house “before it started” to help set up and met with the realtor. The realtor expressed that we needed to go in the backyard where there were steps leading down to Crystal Cove state beach and he explained, he really wanted to “sell the view, so the set up will be down at the lookout.”  I mentioned I was very familiar with the lookout as my boyfriend and I always walk there every weekend. (On our walks we talk about life, goals and aspirations for ourselves/relationship). As we exited the gate, leading to the path there was a sign: “Honey, Hurry Up à” pointing in the direction of the look out where I saw a path of flowers with mason jars filled with candles and my soon to be husband awaiting my arrival at the lookout point. I started crying and pretty sure hyperventilating when I saw his friend pop out of the bushes taking photos of my reaction. I truly couldn’t believe what was happening to me at that very moment; it was a true out of body experience that I did not see coming. I thought I was popping bottles of champagne that night, never did I think I was getting engaged!

 

Christian & Julie | Highlight Film | Franciscan Gardens | San Juan Capistrano, CA from Emma Lynn Cinema on Vimeo.

Coordinator: Confetti Skies // Florist: Florals by Jenny // Photography: Natalie Schutt Photography // Invitation + Stationery: Minted // Venue: Franciscan Gardens // Wedding Dress Boutique: Bridal Elegance Studio // Bridesmaids Dresses: Weddington Way // Suits: The Black Tux // Beauty: Design Visage // Cinema: Emma Lynn Cinema // DJ: KIK Entertainment // String Trio: OMG Ocdamia Music Group // Catering: 24 Carrots Catering // Flower Wall: Wonderwall OC // Cake: Susie Cakes Bakery // Donuts: SideCar Doughnuts // Officiant: The OC Wedding Guy // Specialty Flatware: Signature Party Rentals // Lighting: Premier Lighting and Production