Bubbly Exit

As promised, here are some of Kim and Jeff's wedding photos. These are hot off the press from their photographer, Rob Barcroft. I've recently been obsessed with photo series, in sequential order. This one is so cool. I love the bubbles and the iconic charm of the church and black & white format. Not to mention the beautiful couple! Many congratulations to the lovebirds...

Photos by RHB Photography.

TGIF

Seriously, could this week have gone any slower? I'm a little behind in my postings, but I promise to make up for it next week (or at least I'll try). Here's a sneak peek into Kim and Jeff's wedding...

Real Wedding: Amy & Marc Part II

As I mentioned earlier, Amy and Marc were a pleasure to work with. I haven't known them very long, but I can tell that they're a couple that will live a long, happy life together. Here are some of my favorite pictures from their big day...the outdoor shots and reception details. Their reception was held at Flossmoor Country Club in Illinois. More on the details from Amy...

We wanted something simple, but elegant. Our flowers were beautiful; we had 3 different types of centerpieces. My favorite was the tall candles with the bud vases. We gave each table a “name," as well as a number, and then included a brief description of why that place was meaningful to us. For example, Table 12 was Millenium Park “Our First Kiss" and Table 25 was Hawaii...our "Honeymoon" destination.

I used to come home from work every day and tell Marc, “I have a great idea for the wedding….” I think he only said no a couple of times (once to fireworks and once again to sparklers). When I told him my idea for our favors he was a big fan! See, when we dated, we spent most of our summers at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs, so we had to incorporate something Cubbies in the wedding. When we first started dating, I would bake cookies for Marc all the time, so perfect...why not have a Wrigley Field cookie favor!

Our band, Front of House, rocked! Everyone LOVED them! Our first dance was to “You are the Best Thing” by Ray Lamontagne. For my birthday, Marc got us dance lessons. He made me promise not to say anything to anyone about it. People would ask, “Are you guys going to take dance lessons?” and we would respond back, “No! Marc would never take dance lessons.” We get out on the dance floor to do our dance, and after the first turn I hear my sisters yell out, “Oh my gosh! They took dance lessons.”

When I was a baby, my dad would sing “Once in Love with Amy” to me. When it came to picking out the song for our Father/Daughter dance, there was no question about what song we would dance to…

Everyone says to enjoy your wedding day and to take every moment in because the day goes by so fast…they weren’t lying! WOW! I still can’t believe the day came and went. Thankfully, we had an amazing photographer, Paul Yamashiro, who captured the special moments of our wedding. We hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed experiencing them. Our wedding was truly a dream come true.

Real Wedding: Amy & Marc

I had the pleasure of designing Amy and Marc's wedding programs, menu cards and table numbers. The couple was an absolute delight to work with, and I was so excited when Amy agreed to let me share some of her wedding photos on Keg Design. Here's her wedding story...

Marc and I were married June 5, 2010 at St. Maria Goretti church in Dyer, IN. We picked our wedding day because it fell between our parents’ wedding anniversaries and we wanted our wedding to be a celebration of our lives joining as one. I can’t begin to tell you about the range of emotions I felt on our wedding day... I was nervous because this was the biggest day of my life to date. I was excited because I was marrying the love of my life. I was anxious to see Marc and start our life together. Not to mention, I’m a crier, so sometimes my emotions get the best of me.

Family and friends mean the world to us, so it was important that they share in this day with us. We wanted to do something different than the typical wedding program, so we included a “bio” on each member of our wedding party. We wanted to make it personal, and wanted our guests to know why these people were so special to us. With the help of Keg Design, we came up with the perfect wedding program.

We are blessed to have such adorable nieces and nephews, so it was a no brainer to have them in our wedding party. We knew our flower girls would look like little princesses, and every princess needs a wand, so our florist, A Stem Above, created a wand for each of them to carry down the aisle.

Our favorite part of the day was our ceremony…by far. We were married by Father Dindo Billote, a family friend of Marc’s since forever. Father gave Marc and I homework before our wedding: he asked Marc and I to write letters to each other about why we wanted to marry each other, how our lives have changed since meeting, and how we see our future together. He said he may take some quotes from our letters and use those in the homily. Well, he quoted our entire letters! (Well, only half of mine because it was so long! Ha!)

Check back tomorrow for Part II of Amy and Marc's wedding. Photos by Paul Yamashiro.

70's Charm

I L.O.V.E. this bride's look! Zena and Lance married in San Francisco this March. Olivia Leigh Weddings shot the event. I'm drooling over the photos just as much as the dress. Oh, and those flowers! It's 70's chic, but feels so effortless. Reminds me of my Mom's wedding day style a little bit. Dress by BCBG. More on Zena and Lance's wedding here.

Something similar from BCBG: Pleated-Sleeve Silk Dress $278

Real Wedding: Christina & Dayne

Christina and Dayne married in Chicago on October 17th. I worked with the couple on their Save The Date and Invitation designs. Christina was kind enough to share her professional photos with me, so I'm sharing some of my favorites with you today. The couple's ceremony and reception took place in the same venue, West Loop Studio. All photos were captured by the Studio as well. Congratulations C & D!

Here are a few notes from the bride: My favorite part of the whole day was the ceremony, which was incredibly personal. Not wanting to do a religious ceremony, one of our biggest concerns was on how to make the ceremony meaningful to ourselves and to our guests. We did a couple of things to achieve this: First, we had select family members prepare a short write-up on what love and marriage meant to them and then present a symbol that represented their thoughts during the ceremony. Second, we took inspiration from our trip to Scotland (where we got engaged) with the tradition of a Quaich. We filled our Quaich with Aquavit (since Dayne is of Scandinavian heritage) and Dayne and I shared a sip from the Quaich and then had each member of our wedding party share a sip.

We did a cocktail reception with passed hors d'oeuvres and an hors d'oeuvre buffet. I loved not having a sit-down dinner as this really heightened the more laid-back, party atmosphere. As we got married at an event space that doubles as a photography studio, we used the venue's photography services, which included use of their portrait studio. The portraits of family and friends throughout the night are so much fun!

Real Wedding: Nautical by Nature

What a no brainer...if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd so have a nautical themed wedding. Check out the beautiful details from this New Bedford, MA wedding. Flowers and design by Chad Michael Peters. Photography by Person & Killian Photography.

Real Wedding: The Love Boat

I attended Megan and Tim's wedding a few weeks ago. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the rehearsal dinner, which included a sunset, cocktail cruise around Lake Geneva. Scott Patrick, the photographer behind the wedding, did a fabulous job of capturing amazing shots even despite some bad weather (it rained most of the night). The moody 'dusk" sky is super cool, and I love the contrast of the yacht lights against the water. Congrats again, Megan and Tim!

Keeping with the "love boat" theme, I thought I'd also share with you a few Save The Date designs I've been working on. They incorporate a nautical, clean style. I'm hoping to add these designs to my Etsy store this month...so keep an eye out. Seriously, I think that if I could get married all over again (to Luke, of course), I would love to have a nautical themed wedding...