Glamorous + Whimsical Garden-Inspired Wedding at the Art Institute of Chicago

Gabrielle Hurwitz
August 4, 2015
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Summer

This Chicago wedding isn’t just gorgeous and glamorous (do you see that flower arch?!)—it’s full of details that incorporate the couple’s love story, like the hand-painted paper goods (they bonded over art), the color scheme (she loves pink, he loves purple), and the Groom’s cake cupcake (the Bride explains below!). And the photos, by Olivia Leigh Photographie, are as beautiful as the day. See them all here.

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Whimsical

From The Bride….If I thought being proposed to by the love of my life was the best day of my life, I could not have even prepared myself for our wedding day! Reza and I met in a hot yoga class and immediately connected because of our love for family, art, yoga, travel, and dogs. Reza proposed to me in Costa Rica on our two-year anniversary (I was very surprised!) and quickly started wedding planning as soon as we got back.

We wanted a really glamorous but whimsical (think, playing in the woods when you are little and stumbling upon acres of wildflowers and lilies of the valley) wedding in the city of Chicago since that is where we met. The Modern Wing at The Art Institute of Chicago was the most natural and perfect decision for us for a venue since we both love art, especially painting. I water-colored all of the menus, place cards, and other signage, all while teaching Reza how to watercolor—usually at 3am!

The flower arch with the hanging chandelier in the ceremony was the most important décor item to us because we both wanted something special to stand under/front of when we became husband and wife. Reza loves purple and I love pink, and the flowers that made up the arch were these springy, light pinks and purples, organic, bouncy flowers.

Our other favorite décor and moment together was right before the reception started, only Reza and I were in the reception room at Terzo Piano. I could not help but put my hand over my mouth and cry of happiness because of how all the little details we had been planning for the last nine months came together beautifully. I had a surprise grooms cake made with a big smile on the giant cupcake cake because Reza is a dentist and there is a long story of how I would send him massive cupcakes to get Reza to finally date me. Together we picked out twenty-four postcards of famous paintings and painters we love and I wrote on the back of each card (twice because I wanted two postcards per table!) a personalized note to the guests at each table about why that painting or painter meant so much to us. Having those personal touches from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception is what was the most fun part of the wedding for me. I wanted our guests to feel like we truly appreciated them being at our special day, and I wanted to feel the love in the room between all our families and friends and of course Reza and me. I believe we achieved those goals.