My little heart loves this next wedding. A contemporary Chicago affair, with fabulous stationery and styling by Anticipations Events, gorgeous images from Michael Rastall Photography, and here is the kicker – it all happened in a local flower shop! I love unique venues! There are surprises around every corner of this celebration, but you’ll have to check out the full gallery to see it all.
click here for the full wedding gallery!
From Elizabeth of Anticipation Events…Elizabeth and Mike live in Washington DC but they grew up and fell in love in Illinois, so they were excited to show Chicago off to their friends and family and knew it was where they wanted to wed. They were looking for a venue that was unique with an outdoor space and when they saw A New Leaf in they knew it was the one.
Even though they were planning from Washington DC , have really intense jobs and just under six months to put the whole thing together it was important to infused their style into the day and make it unique to them. Their style was urban and modern, a little preppy and totally classic. Elizabeth and Mike really trusted me to create all the elements for the wedding day in their style. The save-the-dates were done in their wedding colors of black, white, yellow and gray. Each card had a calendar of August with their wedding date hand-stamped and embossed with a yellow heart. There was also a small tag attached with yellow and white baker’s twine that had the hotel accommodation information on it so guests could start booking right away. We used a gray envelope that I lined with yellow and white striped paper to mail them.
The invitation came in another gray envelope and was lined with floral wallpaper from Anthropologie that gave a subtle nod to the floral elements of their venue. The invitation was an accordion fold tied up with a yellow grosgrain ribbon. I drew a line drawing of the Chicago skyline that went across the entire invite so when it was opened all the way the whole skyline was visible. The last panel of the invitation was and RSVP postcard that was perforated so that guests could fill out their RSVP, rip it off and drop it in the mail. Easy-peasy! We also included a mini-accordion with the weekends? events that Elizabeth & Mike had planned for their guests. Because many of them were from out of town they were kind enough to invite everyone to dinner at Gino’s East on Thursday night to welcome them to Chicago and then hosted a bon voyage brunch at the Sofitel morning after the wedding! It was an easy way to get all the information to everyone without another envelope or stamp. And a tiny slice of pizza, what’s not to love? I also created programs for the ceremony. I used black linen cover stock to make a little cover for them and punched a heart shape from the wallpaper we used for the invitation liners for the front (we used this everywhere, wait and see!)
To welcome guests (and let them know they were in the right place, since it is a flower shop and not a traditional wedding venue) I made little signs out of chalkboards and ribbon. The kissing ball was put to excellent use by their adorable flower girl—yellow flowers and a gray satin ribbon and she got to keep it forever! I paper-mached two little buildings for a card box to play off of the skyline on the invitation. They loved the idea of the thumbprint tree for a guest book so I drew one for them using their invitation fonts. Fingerprints abound! Using scrap paper from all of the various paper projects I worked on for them, I created a backdrop for their ceremony space. It was simple, the materials were inexpensive and although it did take some time, it turned out to be one of my very favorite things. I thrifted old frames and painted them yellow, black and gray and then used more of the leftover paper to create all of the signage including the cheeky signature drink signs at each bar. For their favors, Mike and Elizabeth wanted to give their guests a little “taste of Chicago” so they got bags of Garrett’s “Chicago Mix” popcorn. Heaven! I created little thank you tags for them out of them with a thank you message from Mike and Elizabeth on each. I backed them with the wallpaper, tied them with the twine from the save-the-date and embossed a yellow heart on each, just so we could come full circle. And of course, a little thank you banner for their thank you notes.
Ceremony & Reception: A New Leaf / Catering: Food Evolution / Wedding Planning & Styling: Anticipation Events / Photography: Michael Rastall Photography / Florist: A New Leaf / Stationery: Anticipation Events / DJ: Kristin with Toast & Jam / Ceremony Music: Panache Entertainment / Hair: Sine Qua Non / Make-up: MAC / Brides Dress: Cosmobella by Demitrios / Bridesmaid Dresses: black dresses chosen by bridesmaids / Groom’s Suit: J.Crew / Cake: made by family members / Favors: Garrett’s Popcorn / Alcohol: Binny’s Beverage Depot / Guest Accommodations: Sofitel Chicago Water
Tower / Rehearsal Dinner: Gino’s East