Vintage chic Chicago perfection. That sums this gorgeous wedding by Cristina G Photography up quite nicely. With such a beautiful combination of elegant Chicago style and eclectic vintage details, it's enough to make any wedding junkie jump for joy. And believe you me, we are jumping over here at SMP Headquarters, because you don't see a soiree like this everyday! See every lovely moment here!
Chicago Wedding by Cristina G Photography
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From the Bride... When we decided have a full wedding rather than eloping, we knew we wanted every detail to leave our guests feeling like it had “David and Heather” written all over it! My style has always leaned towards vintage, romantic, and a little quirky, and I wanted the wedding to reflect this. David is incredibly artistic and fun, so we pulled all that together, found the right balance, and this is what we ended up with! We decided on a palette inspired by the Monet Water Lily’s at the Chicago Art Institute. All of the shades of purple, blues, greens, a little yellow, whites, and ivories blending together seemed perfect for an early spring wedding! My background is in visual merchandising, so I knew that I wanted to do most of the decorating myself because it’s what I love to do. We found our wedding venue about a month after our engagement. It was the first place we went to see. As soon as we walked into Kitchen Chicago we made up our mind that was where we would be married. The space has tons of natural light, the open loft provides a little industrial edge, but the beautiful wood floors and lighting fixtures give it the perfect balance of soft and hard, old and modern. It was perfect.
We truly loved working with all of the vendors at our wedding. We managed to find people that were around our age, shared a similar aesthetic and all genuinely love what they do, which totally shows in their work! Our caterer and florist are both part of the Green Wedding Alliance in Chicago and support environmentally friendly practices. Our caterer only uses organic ingredients from local farmers and artisans. At the bottom of menus guests could read where everything they were eating came from, all within a few hundred miles of Chicago! We chose our photographer, Cristina G, because her images really spoke to us. She has a timeless style and made everyone look like they were straight from a magazine … and who doesn’t want to look like they are in a magazine spread for a day?!
Our welcome table was the first thing our guests saw in the space and the focal point for the cocktail hour. We incorporated photographs and odds and ends, along with our escort cards. The night before the wedding before our rehearsal we set up the pinwheels, tissue paper flower poofs, paper flags, tulle (and lots of twine) from the loft railing. For our ceremony, we kept decorations simple, draped ivory tulle over the huge loft windows that we stood in front of for the ceremony and more romantic loose flower arrangements. For our reception tables, we used vintage books wrapped in French velvet ribbon from BHLDN and tied with old keys. Our florist incorporated her collection of old mason jars and vintage apothecary bottles and filled them with simple, loose arrangements. We wanted to promote conversation and keep everything relaxed so the dinner was served family style. I would completely recommend this to anyone looking to have a less formal but seated meal! Our dessert table was a dream come true for someone like me — a sugarholic! We had three different kinds of cupcakes, pineapple upside-down cake, triple chocolate cookies, heart-shaped sugar cookies with “H + D,” chocolate and sprinkle dipped pretzels by one of our favorite local bakeries and a small cake to cut. We displayed everything on mismatched plates and pedestals. At dinner, looking out at our guests with all of the twinkling candle light and smiling faces, I felt like there was a magical spell over the room. I really do feel like I’ve got my fairytale ending.
![Swirl](http://smp-is.stylemepretty.com/uploads/wordpress/uploads/2012/01/Swirl1.jpg)
Wedding Photography: Cristina G Photography / Wedding Venue: Kitchen Chicago / Floral Design: Lynn of Pollen / Day-Of Coordination: Sweetchic Events, Inc. / Wedding Cake: Sweet Mandy B’s / DJ: Style Matters DJs / String Trio: White Lake Quartet / Save-the-Dates: DIY by the Groom / Wedding Invitations, Escort Cards, Table Numbers + Menus: DIY by the Bride & Groom / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet for Priscilla of Boston (Now Closed) / Bride's Veil: Vintage / Bride's Purse: From Her Grandmother / Hair: Virginia Olenick of Strange Beauty Show / Makeup: Audrey Olenick of Strange Beauty Show / Bridesmaid's Dress: Betsey Johnson / Photo Booth: ShutterBooth - Chicago