Our wedding day was an absolute dream come true. Dave and I had been dating for 6 years prior to our wedding and I had dreamed of this day for all 6 of those years!
The photography was honestly one of the most important parts of the day for me. I already knew Dave and I would have the best time surrounded by the family and friends that we love...but what was improtant to me was to be able to re-live that day through images for years and years to come. I am such a sentimental person and these pictures bring me right back to the moment. Sipping champagne in my bridal robe with the girls that mean the most to me. The photos with my father instatnly bring tears to my eyes becuase the moment was SO special to me. The look of just pure happiness and love I see in Dave and myself in these photos will always be something we have to share with our babies....these photos are just so important and special to me!
Our photographers name was Kalli Matthies with
Kallidoscope Photography. Not only does she take the most beautiful pictures but she made us feel so at ease....and gave us these amazing tangible memories to keep forever. I am so grateful for that woman, let me just tell you!!!
This post has been a long time coming. I have written bits and pieces of it but just never got around to posting it. I wanted to take the time to share all our vendor information and give my honest reviews of the very best day of Dave and I's life.
I will start at the very beginning of the day!!
*THIS IS A SUPER LONG BLOG POST but it is filled with so much info!
Our invites were done by
Amore Creative. They were a DREAM to work with. I worked with Jessica on all aspects of the design, I picked the font, the colors...literally EVERYTHING. I love that I had so much freedom to pick the elements that I wanted and that she was then able to compile it into my dream invitation suite.
The morning was so incredibly relaxing and filled with happiness. All my girls started to show up around 8am for hair and makeup. We used
Brides by Kelly for hair and makeup...the girls were all so sweet and did 12 heads of hair and makeup in record time. It was PERFECT.
The weather was insanely perfect, beautiful sunshine coming in through the windows and 70 degrees.
We had bagels, mimosas, coffee and fresh fruit and we all just spent the sunny morning laughing and just so excited for the day to come. I am sharing my wedding spotify playlist
here because it was the perfect background music for the most perfect morning.
I bought the flower girls these precious
monogrammed robes when I asked them to be in the wedding. They were made of a super nice waffle material and I was really happy with how they turned out!
See below for what I gifted my bridesmaids;
My
Robe // Bridesmaids
Robes ( I am not sure if they make the exact print I selected anymore)
I personalized these adorable
duffle bags for the bridesmaids in both Pink and Olive green. They were perfect for bringing everything they needed to and from the church, reception and hotel!
Having my sister and mom get me into my dress was one of the happiest moments of my life. I am so glad these moments were documented so I can relive this morning over and over!
My wedding dress can be found
here... I was, am, and will forever be obsessed with this gown!!!
After we arrived at the church I did a first look with my father. I am the baby of the family and this was just a really special moment between us.
We got married at St. James Lutheran Church in Lincoln Park. Its a beautiful area and a church filled with really amazing people.
We hopped on a trolley from
Second City in Chicago. They were great however the one thing I wish we could have changed was the traffic....AH We wanted to head from Lincoln Park to The Planetarium for photos. I wish that either the driver or one of us would have looked to see that with the traffic it was going to take far to long to get there. We ended up having enough time but did have to take some pictures in a rush!
We did eventually make it to the planetarium area which has some of the best city views mixed with lake michigan in my opinion. The sun shining off the blue water was STUNNING and made for some really gorgeous pictures.
Bridesmaids Dreses I used these three styles in Almond (
one.
two.
three) // Daves
Tuxedo // Groomsmans Calvin Klein
Tuxedos // Flower Girl Dress
Another one of my favorite decsisions of our wedding day was the venue itself. We got married at
River Roast in downtown Chicago and it was the absolute PERFECT venue. We picked River Roast because it had some real chicago charm, we were able to utilize the balcony space and with that you get the Chicago River and some beautiful Chicago skyline.
We arrived via the Wendella
Water Taxi which was just SO fun!
We had
Donovan Nixon play the Jazz Guitar during cocktail hour which was a blast!!!
Our Florist was
Trablume and Melissa was the most amazing person ever!! She was so patient with me, made me beautiful mock ups and transformed our space into the lush romantic wonder I has imagined.
I wanted huge white hydrangeas, big garden roses and lush greenery....she captured my ideas so perfectly.
Our cake was from
Urban Icing. We selected Red Velvet, and Marble! It was delicious!!!
The part that I believe made our wedding so much fun for dancing was our wedding band! We chose
TVK Orchestra for our big day and they were absolutely out of this world amazing. People danced literally the entire night and the dance floor was PACKED. I would reccomend them in my top 3 wedding day vendors I could not have lived without!!
We decided to have champagne place cards to held our guests find their seats. Dave and I are HUGE fans of bubbly and we thought this was a perfect way to add a personalized touch. We added a sign next to the glassses with one of my favorite quotes about champagne..."Come quickly I am tasting the Stars!"
Words cannot describe our perfect this day was to us. It is a day we will remember and truly cherish forever.
We are so thankful to our families, our friends, the amazing vendors we got to meet along the way and just for the opportunity to be able to celebrate our love in such a beautiful way!
XOXO,
MRS. CAIT SHANEEN
