Garden Wedding in Monticello, IL at Allerton Park

Abby Capalbo
October 9, 2014
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Inspired by a Liberty of London print, this Bride and her talented team of vendors created a vision of wedding filled to the brim with style and elegance. The gorgeous images from Wright Photographs paint the prettiest of pictures of their perfect day, and it’s all waiting for you here.

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From The Bride…The story of our love is one of travel, distance, and… shall we say “savoring the flavors of life”. After a romantic proposal under the nighttime stars on the shores of Lake Sara, and 6 years of dating, we began planning our wedding. Our love of travel has brought us to many beautiful and romantic places that have left imprints on our hearts. It was important to us that through our wedding, we told the story of our love through atmosphere, food, and drink. Though our dream was to return to an estate in the French countryside for our wedding, our large and in turn, relatively immobile, families gave us new inspiration to bring our travels to them. As an artist and a maker, I knew the journey could be captured in careful, refined details.

Both my husband and I are native to the state of Illinois, him to central Illinois and I to Chicago. After investigating many venues in both locations we chose Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello, Illinois. The park is an old estate surrounded by beautiful European-inspired gardens, carved sculptures, thick woods, and lush cornfields – a unique mix of our favorite locations. Our ceremony took place in the Sunken Garden on a cloudless September afternoon. To bring the aroma of France, and to allow the natural beauty of the garden to shine, we kept the space simple; only supplementing it at the beginning and end of the aisle with blue ceramic urns full of fragrant rosemary, lavender, and thyme and by lining the aisle and stairs with white petals. We hand selected the music and songs with our band, who doubled as an acoustic three piece orchestra, as well as worked with our officiant, J. Sain, to design the perfect spiritual ceremony. After the ceremony, guests walked through the gardens to the Koi Pond Terrace outside the mansion where the staff was waiting with trays of sparkling drinks and hors d’ouerves inspired by our travels. After cocktails, guests descended into the oak-gilded 19th century mansion, filled with evening sun. As they passed the impassable dessert table filled with a variety of treats like bite-sized s’mores cupcakes, passionfruit macaroons, and bacon brownie bites from Cream & Flutter, they entered the main gallery. Dinner tables were set with pristine white tablecloths, navy blue napkins, and stunning garden-inspired floral arrangements by Fleurish in a mix of glass vases and handmade wooden boxes Ian and I created from French wine crates. A stickler for clean, simple design, and the endless pursuit of “timeless” I supplemented the tables with menus, table numbers, and placecards of my own design alongside mercury glass and other eclectic votives filled with candles and more flowers.

While we never officially decided on wedding colors, a Liberty of London floral print became the cornerstone that brought our palette of blues, pale greens, and touch of sparkle together. We sought old world elegance in our attire. Ian and his groomsmen wore midnight blue suits from Macy’s and bowties in the Liberty of London print made by the talented hands of Andrea at Pomp and Ceremony. My bridesmaids wore Amsale crinkle chiffon dresses in slate, accessorized by silver and gold hydrangea earrings (which I made especially for them!) and white freshwater pearls. My attired consisted of a San Patrick traditional lace gown, birdcage veil, Julianne Hough for Sole Society wedges, and an antique silk clutch embroidered with Czech glass beads given to me for this special occasion by an aunt. To add a final old world touch to the ensemble, I wore the diamond studded Victorian inspired earrings Ian gave me the night before as a wedding gift.

The end result was a night to remember – filled with so many special memories. Wright Photographs did an amazing job capturing the fun of the night, grandeur of the mansion, and many of the details we created to make the day truly ours.