A brunch wedding is just genius to me. Celebrating your nuptials over a mimosa? It’s like having your cake and eating it too. And when you happen to celebrate in serious style like this duo? Well, then you enter an entirely new level of fabulous. So grab your beverage of choice, and join us in toasting to Ashley Biess Photography for bringing us such a fab fête. See it all here.
From the Bride… When it came to planning our wedding, we knew we wanted three things: to keep it simple, intimate, and to be in our favorite city: Chicago. While we no longer live here, it’s where Cameron grew up and where we first met in college along the North Shore. During our short planning process (just 4 months!) we relied heavily on trusted local friends to find the best vendors and were absolutely thrilled with each and every decision that was made!
Living in D.C., just about everything we booked was done so completely blind. When we decided on a brunch wedding, our friends raved about The Bristol’s menu and we immediately booked their private event space. From there, we found our photographer, Ashley Biess, and an amazing florist, Kate Powell, online. The other details for the day quickly fell into place. We had difficulty finding a place to hold our ceremony. Officiated by a friend of a friend, our short-and-sweet ceremony ended up being held in the condo my parents had rented for the weekend. There, our immediate family and two oldest friends witnessed our vows.
After the ceremony, we headed to the restaurant to celebrate with more family and friends at the Bristol. Brunch was served family style, and included an assortment of pastries, maple sage sausage, fried eggs over braised pork chilaquiles, vanilla cinnamon french toast, and wedding cake for dessert. Guests were served an array of brunch-inspired cocktails, including bloody mary’s, moscow mules, mimosas, and more. Everything was delicious!
Since we had to ship everything ahead of time, we decided to keep the decorations simple and fresh. We displayed family wedding photos along the bar and hung a banner on the cake table. The tables were decorated with favorite spring blooms arranged in eclectic metallic vases. The flowers popped against the exposed brick walls of the Bristol and softened the space. We sent our guests home with Vermont maple sugar candies, a traditional Christmas treat in my family. Our favorite part about the day was that it was small enough to spend time with every single guest. Family and friends flew in from all over the country and the world (Cameron’s aunt and uncle traveled from Qatar!) so it was wonderful to have enough time with everyone we love. [dotted]
Weddding Photography: Ashley Biess Photography | Ceremony Location: Anderonsville Guesthouse | Reception Location: The Bristol | Floral Design: Fleur Du Jour | Cake: Swedish Bakery | Catering: The Bristol | Invitations + Paper: Minted | Wedding Dress: Valentino via Neiman Marcus | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Engagement Ring: Tacori | Wedding Band (1940’s Vintage): Doyle & Doyle NYC | Earrings: Majorica | Groom’s Attire: Burberry | Accommodations: Public Chicago & Andersonville Guesthouse | Hair: Jason at Art + Science Salon | Makeup: Laura Black Makeup | Transportation: Going Green Limousine