As far as wedding days go, ours was truly magical. the sun was shining and With our family and friends surrounding us, Ethan and I were married at 4pm in Port Washington on the Lakefront. Through six years of ups and downs, three apartments, one child, and a recent move from Chicago to Milwaukee, there isn't anyone I would have rather said "I DO" too.
As you can see I did not go with the traditional white wedding dress, I had mine custom made from head to toe (Yes, even the floral fabric was made just for me). I have had the great honor of working with some of the best fashion designers in Chicago and even the country, and I have the greater honor to call some of them friends. Steve Curd Founder/designer of Garic Stephens is one such friend. he did an amazing job of creating my dream wedding dress. It was such an unbelieveable and wonderful process. I never felt more beautiful and comfrontable in a dress.
Our Wedding colors were navy and white with accents of rose gold. The theme of the wedding was "All You Need is Love". The gazebo in Rotary Park sitting on the edge of Lake Michigan, and much ceremony decor was not needed. The bouquets came from the local flower vendor at the Farmer's Market that closes down Main Street on Saturday mornings. The fabulous women at Studio 231 did our hair and makeup, and earlier that morning a large group of us had mani-pedi and mimosas at LinhZ's Nail Design & Spa.
the Ceremony was simple and a close friend of ours officiated for us. then Directly After the ceremony we had guests join us on the Lake's edge for a champagne toast and photos. As a group we walked through town to the venue, Blue Heron Banquet Hall, an old firehouse turned event venue and artisan shop.
Ethan and I love to eat so the food was a big deal for us. We had everything catered from Antigua Latin Restaurant, the service and food was absolutely amazing! We did not have a bartender instead we placed a variety of bottles on the table, for our guest to enjoy. we wanted the dinner to have a fun and family-like atmosphere. we opted out of the classic round tables and decided to go with long rectangular tables placed end to end to create a large family style banquet table. One of my favorite things we did was instead of paper name cards, we wrote the guest names on a clothes pin in rose gold ink and placed them at their seat, clipped to the linen napkin. Clear wine bottles with taper candles served as our centerpieces and satin navy tablecloths gave the room the warm romantic feel we wanted.
Outside we set up bags, a photo booth, and the dance floor so everyone could enjoy the summer night. When it was time to cut the cake we move the table outside onto the dance floor. Our cake and fruit tarts were from Metro Market and were absolutely fabulous. Their bakers worked with us to create the wedding cake of our dreams, and they delivered. Guest also enjoyed a coffee bar, of flavored syrups, and cordials. Our theme was carried throughout the decor and even in our cake design, the rose gold cake topper was the perfect adornment for our buttercream Masterpiece. Every detail was accounted for and the night could not have gone better. We closed out the night dancing away with our family and friends. We even ventured around town for a little after party. The most important thing to remember when planning a wedding, Is why you wanted to get married in the first place. the love between two people, After that nothing else matters.
I want to say a special thank you to everyone who helped us execute this perfect day, and KT for taking all these fabulous pictures. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and families.