You made it to Friday, in the dog days of summer no less, so I declare a necessary celebration. And so I present to you a wedding full of rustic, glam details – starting with this Berta Bridal dress. The intricate lace – from the stunning v-neck to those elegant long sleeves – have me rethinking all my wedding dress dreams. Tamara Gruner captured the whole look and more – including this bouquet from Fionna Floral that I predict will be all over Pinterest within hours. See it all starting now!
From the Bride… We were living in California when we got engaged, but knew we wanted to get married in our hometown of Chicago with all of our family and friends. We both grew up in the Chicagoland area, and went to college and lived in the city, so we knew we wanted to have our ceremony in the city. Holy Name Cathedral has always been a special church for me growing up, with its beautiful architecture and long history in Chicago.
We wanted an intimate and romantic space for the reception, and we found the perfect room at Concorde Banquets. The big windows overlooking the grounds, the soft lighting, and delicious food made the entire evening magical.
I have always had a picture in my mind of what my gown would look like – anything but ordinary. My style is very simple but detail oriented. The silhouette of the dress is very elegant, but the lace adds a layer of romance I knew would blow Daniel away. The dress struck the right balance between modesty and sexy. While I didn’t initially look for a long-sleeved dress, my mother’s wedding dress was also long-sleeved – so when I tried it on, and it fit like a glove – I knew it was meant to be.
It was very important to both Daniel and I to bring our California life into the wedding. The colors we chose – dusty blues, muted jade greens, ivory and slate gray with a touch of blush – were inspired by the colors of the Pacific ocean. The soft gold in the chairs, votives and decor brought the warmth of the California sun. My former boss and good friends from Fionna Floral in Santa Cruz flew the flowers and herself from California and provided the lush, intimate, romantic setting that evoked the sunsets off of the Pacific Coast Highway that we cherish.
Our theme phrase was “Love in a Mist”, reminiscent of our days at the beach in California. The flowers in the long, cascade bridal bouquet were white and blue veronica, dusty blue hydrangea, tillandsia, garden roses in ivory tones, tulips, green hanging amaranthus, dusty miller, eucalyptus, passion vine, air plants, and some olive leaves and berries. The boutonnieres were white roses, lilac, olive/bay leaves and berries.
We wanted our guests to have a piece of our wedding that lasted longer than the night, so we bought baby succulents from California with little white pails for them to take home as a reminder that love continues to grow with the proper care.
Photography: Tamara Gruner Photography | Floral Design: Fionna Floral | Wedding Dress: Berta | Cake: Central Continental Bakery | Ceremony Venue: Holy Name Cathedral | Reception Venue: Concorde Banquets | Bride's Shoes: Christian Louboutin | Rings: Cartier | Bridesmaids' Dresses: BCBGMAXAZRIA | Bridesmaids' Dresses: BHLDN | Catering: Concorde Banquets | DJ: DJ Leon | Groom's Attire: Prada | Bride's Handbag: Prada | Earrings: Helmut Lang from FarFetch | Film Processing: Richard Photo Lab | Groom's Ring: Benchmark