You'll Love The Bride's Artful Butterfly Print Dress At This Milwaukee Art Museum Wedding
One look at our bride's floral and butterfly print Monique Lhuillier wedding dress, and you'll agree that it's just as beautiful a work of art as anything hanging in the Milwaukee Art Museum - the couple's venue! B Signature planned the spring garden-inspired day, filled with flowers by Nancy Chase Arrangements. She even used the exact flowers pictured on the bride's dress in different setups throughout the day! You'll fawn over every fabulous image perfectly captured by Clary Pfeiffer Photography, see them all in the full gallery.
From the bride... Eddie and I knew each other in grade school, he was just a year older than me. My older brother and Eddie would play cards in high school and in college when we were home on break, we’d run into each other since we had many mutual friends. It wasn’t until we both moved back from our respective schools, that we ran into each other yet again and upon being reintroduced by a mutual friend, we serendipitously said the exact same thing at the exact same time, “Oh, we know each other”. Eddie later asked for my number and in the months and years following we ate and drank our way through Milwaukee. On April 4, 2020, after six years of dating, Eddie decided to pop the question. He had tried to plan a party with our immediate family and closest friends to celebrate but the world had different plans. Throughout 2020 and into 2021, our wedding was something to look forward to when everything felt heavy and isolating like the first spring day after a long winter.
Over the past six years, Eddie and my summers consisted of a string of weddings. By the time we finally said our “I do’s” we had attended over 30 weddings together, so I knew I wanted our wedding to be in “off-season”. Eddie was the one to pick our date, March 12, 2022. I later found out he chose this because 312 is Chicago’s area code where we were both born and where some of our most memorable memories were made together. An early spring wedding is risky in Milwaukee because it could be 60 degrees and sunny or -18 with a snowstorm. We got a little bit of both with a beautiful, cold sunny day.
Over the past six years, Eddie and my summers consisted of a string of weddings. By the time we finally said our “I do’s” we had attended over 30 weddings together, so I knew I wanted our wedding to be in “off-season”. Eddie was the one to pick our date, March 12, 2022. I later found out he chose this because 312 is Chicago’s area code where we were both born and where some of our most memorable memories were made together. An early spring wedding is risky in Milwaukee because it could be 60 degrees and sunny or -18 with a snowstorm. We got a little bit of both with a beautiful, cold sunny day.
The date was set now it was time to dress shop. I tried on beautiful traditional gowns that could’ve fit the bill, but nothing felt like me, so the hunt continued. Constance, at Gigi MKE Boutique, put me in this gorgeous Monique Lhuillier gown and I knew this was it. The train, the print, the sleeves. It was perfect. Eddie and I took a road trip around Colorado in a 95 Volkswagen euro camper van named Mariposa (meaning ‘butterfly’ in Spanish) back in 2018. It was our favorite trip together and the trip where we knew each other was the one so having butterflies covering my dress made it that much more special. No one would expect it and that’s exactly what I was looking for. This gown is a piece of art so I found it fitting to get married at the iconic Milwaukee Art Museum. The hardest part was keeping the dress a secret for two years! This dress didn’t call for a veil, so I opted for a beautiful custom hair piece and custom earrings to match that Constance handpicked and sourced for me from the designer, Paris by Debra Moreland. I found the most gorgeous shoes from Christian Louboutin that resembled ballet slippers; a nostalgic piece for me since I danced as a little girl. I was gifted a beautiful ring at my bridal shower from my mom to wear as my “something blue”. It was a sapphire ring adorned with diamonds from the earrings my dad had given her on the day I was born. The look wasn’t complete without my mom’s diamond bracelet that every woman in our immediate and extended family has worn on their wedding day. I felt like an absolute princess.
We worked with Eddie’s aunt Nancy of Nancy Chase Arrangements and truly this day wouldn’t have been possible without her. She was instrumental in making our day what it was: a masterpiece. I wanted people to enter the Art Museum and feel like it was an exhibit that teleported them to a different time and place no matter what the weather would be like outside. With the help of her, her team, and her network of colleagues, Bridget Monihan of B Signature planning, and Dave Kelly from Frost Chicago, they created a spring garden experience when it was only 10 degrees outside. From the trellis pillars that set the stage for the ceremony to the gorgeous grand bar at the reception, everything was done with intention. Nancy took the details from my dress and incorporated the exact flowers in different areas of the day. We wanted our reception to feel intimate and cozy even though there were 250 guests. The Milwaukee Art Museum is an architectural art piece in of itself, but the stark white and high ceiling can be tricky to make feel warm. It was no small feat, but our team pulled it off. I personally loved our table settings where we used a white opaque wine glass for water and vintage-inspired glassware for the wine. Bayview Printing Company, a women-owned, 100-year-old printing press company, beautifully executed our paper needs with pure elegance.
We worked with Eddie’s aunt Nancy of Nancy Chase Arrangements and truly this day wouldn’t have been possible without her. She was instrumental in making our day what it was: a masterpiece. I wanted people to enter the Art Museum and feel like it was an exhibit that teleported them to a different time and place no matter what the weather would be like outside. With the help of her, her team, and her network of colleagues, Bridget Monihan of B Signature planning, and Dave Kelly from Frost Chicago, they created a spring garden experience when it was only 10 degrees outside. From the trellis pillars that set the stage for the ceremony to the gorgeous grand bar at the reception, everything was done with intention. Nancy took the details from my dress and incorporated the exact flowers in different areas of the day. We wanted our reception to feel intimate and cozy even though there were 250 guests. The Milwaukee Art Museum is an architectural art piece in of itself, but the stark white and high ceiling can be tricky to make feel warm. It was no small feat, but our team pulled it off. I personally loved our table settings where we used a white opaque wine glass for water and vintage-inspired glassware for the wine. Bayview Printing Company, a women-owned, 100-year-old printing press company, beautifully executed our paper needs with pure elegance.
Eddie is a fourth-generation chocolatier, so we knew we wanted Burke Candy as dessert on our special day since we aren’t big cake people. However, we wanted a “cake cutting” moment so in lieu of cake we had a champagne tower; what’s better than chocolate and champagne?!
We had a short and sweet ceremony where we exchanged our own vows followed by a lovely cocktail hour and the night commenced with an electric dance floor thanks to our band Ron Bedal Orchestra who had everyone moving and grooving from the start. He convinced us to do a dance set in between the salad and main dinner course and it is one of my favorite memories. Eddie and I took that time as our moment to stop, stand back and enjoy watching everyone have a great time. We concluded the night with Kopp’s Frozen Custard burgers and fries. It was just by chance that the custard flavor of the day was “Wedding Cake”, so one of Bridget’s team members decided to surprise us with a pint to share! Eddie and I shared a few decadent bites before heading back to the dance floor.
Our day was a dream. And after a long two-year engagement and “social winter” of sorts, we were overjoyed to be able to celebrate with our large families and our friends who are family to us. We are honored to have Clary Pfeiffer Photography and Hunter Floydfilms document our day and all its details.
We had a short and sweet ceremony where we exchanged our own vows followed by a lovely cocktail hour and the night commenced with an electric dance floor thanks to our band Ron Bedal Orchestra who had everyone moving and grooving from the start. He convinced us to do a dance set in between the salad and main dinner course and it is one of my favorite memories. Eddie and I took that time as our moment to stop, stand back and enjoy watching everyone have a great time. We concluded the night with Kopp’s Frozen Custard burgers and fries. It was just by chance that the custard flavor of the day was “Wedding Cake”, so one of Bridget’s team members decided to surprise us with a pint to share! Eddie and I shared a few decadent bites before heading back to the dance floor.
Our day was a dream. And after a long two-year engagement and “social winter” of sorts, we were overjoyed to be able to celebrate with our large families and our friends who are family to us. We are honored to have Clary Pfeiffer Photography and Hunter Floydfilms document our day and all its details.
