Next up we have a fabulously chic Chicago wedding captured by Jeffrey and Julia Woods. We first fell in love with the bride and groom right here on the LBB and we could not be more excited to show off their modern spring I-do’s. Designed and coordinated by the very talented Renny Pedersen of Bliss Weddings & Events we’re loving the contemporary styling and flawless fresh details. If this is just the kind of sleek, sophisticated affair you’ve been wanting jump right over here to see the rest of this beautiful bash.
{You can see even more of this stunning wedding right here in the galleries}
From the bride, Corinne…
Our wedding day was amazing!!! I never saw or heard of any glitches- it was everything I ever wanted- total perfection in my eyes (probably because my wedding planner, Renny, did such a fantastic job!). We planned the wedding from afar, so we relied heavily on Renny and she far surpassed any expectation or hope that I had.
Chuck and I got married in Chicago- our favorite city. We stayed at the Elysian. It is such a romantic hotel, so when I woke up on Saturday to start getting ready, the tone was already set for the day. We had both our ceremony and reception at our venue, the Chicago Illuminating Company. It is a modern, loft-ish, blank canvas with espresso colored hardwood floors, white walls with high ceilings. The venue seemed the most “us”- rather than a museum or country club- but still showcased Chicago (the outdoor courtyard is one of Al Capone’s old stomping grounds). We chose to use all white flowers (peonies, roses, ranunculus, hydrangea, etc) and bring in pops of color- cornflower blue and graphite- with custom fabric draping and table linens. We had a custom floral monogram at the altar, which I think really set the stage perfectly. I guess you could say that we had 2 different themes for the wedding- we wanted the ceremony to be traditional and have somewhat of a serious and romantic tone, and the reception to be a PARTY!
Ceremony- My father walked me down the aisle, I am a daddy’s girl and his baby of 5 girls, so it was emotional. We hired a string trio to play during the ceremony and cocktail hour- they were fantastic. One unique element we decided to add to the ceremony was to include a love box. In this box we placed a bottle of wine (from a vineyard in California where we visited on the day Chuck proposed) and all of the cards and letters we had written to each other up until our wedding day. We locked the box during the ceremony, and it is only to be opened if ever we find ourselves at a point where we are considering giving up. We would then open the box, drink the wine, and read all of our love letters in hopes that it would remind us of our wedding day, our vows, and renew our love. Hopefully we will never need to open it!
Reception- The goal of the reception was for everyone to have a blast! We had an awesome DJ that got everyone on the dance floor. Chuck and I met in Orlando where we had several of our first dates Samba Room over mojitos (my favorite drink), so we had included made-to-order mojitos with the open bar. The food was shockingly great, and the cake- OMG! We chose to do a small tier for us to cut and then individual mini cakes for everyone to enjoy. I only wish I had more cake than the small bite that Chuck fed me!
We ended the reception with a sparkler sendoff- perfect way to cap off the day!
Photographer: Jeffrey and Julia Woods / Venue: Chicago Illuminating Company / Wedding Planner: Renny Pederson, Bliss Weddings & Events