I’ve literally been rendered speechless by this stunning Chicago affair by Gerber + Scarpelli Photography… and when you take a peak at all of the gorgeous below, you’ll see why. Simply brimming with the most amazing of DIY details crafted by the oh-so-talented bride and groom (including paper airplane programs, vintage tie save-the-dates and the coolest homemade favors ever), it just does not get any more fabulous than this. I’ll be spending my morning, noon and night soaking in all of this lovely… and I suggest you do the same. Join me in the gallery for even more!
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride… Travis & I wanted our wedding to feel like us. And we figured the best way to do that was to really get our hands on everything. The more we could make, build, and design ourselves the better.
For the save-the-dates, we collected used men’s ties and designed a “Tie the Knot” label to iron on. Each was rolled into a mailing tube and sent to our guests (some guests ended up wearing the ties to the wedding which was unexpected and really fun). The invites came next, each with a custom illustration. We bought a tool to perforate the reply card so that guests would tear off either the YES or the NO and mail it back. We printed funny excuses on the NO card like “sorry my favorite TV show is on that day.”
Travis and I love to cook and bake together. So we decided to make and bottle baking extracts for our guest favors. We made mint, lemon, or vanilla (our house smelled great for days). Each was paired with a recipe featuring that flavor. We displayed them in old crates we found at an antique store.
The bridal party wore gray with lots of accent colors. The guys couldn’t find ties in a color they liked, so the bridesmaids and the MOB got together and sewed yellow ties for the groomsmen. It turns out making ties isn’t so easy…but the end result was great and the guys loved them. The girls bouquets were dahlias wrapped in twine. During rehearsal, the guys said “The girls get to hold bouquets but we don’t get to hold anything…” so during the ceremony, the guys each held a beer.
The wedding was held at the Red Canary in Chicago. It has a casual but sophisticated 1920’s lounge feel. The ceremony was outside in the garden. Programs were printed on blue paper and folded into paper airplanes that guests threw instead of rice. The reception décor was old tins filled with flowers. They were the perfect mix of vintage and modern. Everything turned out better than we could have hoped for. Having all of our friends and family together in one place to share our wedding day with us was so special. And our ridiculously talented photographer Melody of Gerber + Scarpelli was able to capture everything perfectly. The night felt like it went by so quickly, and being able to look through pictures that truly show how much Travis & I love each other, our family and our friends is priceless. We hope that our marriage is just as hands-on as our wedding was. The more love and hard work you put into something, the more you cherish it.
Wedding Photography: Gerber + Scarpelli Photography / Flowers (Bouquets): Flowerama Mundelein / Flowers (For Tins): Mariano’s Grocery Store / Cupcakes: Luscious Layers Bakery / Wedding Venue: Red Canary / Music: DJ Intel / Boutonnieres: Pomp & Plumage / Wedding Dress: GiGi’s Closette
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Love love love the save the dates. So awesome & unique! Great design!
I love the bridesmaid dresses. Where are they from?
saconnel -- The bridesmaid dresses are Alfred Sung, style D445. The originals came with a sash, but I took it off and instead I made a pins using fabric flowers I bought from Michaels craft store. Then I glued some feathers onto them so they matched the guys boutonnieres.
Ashley -- thanks I'm so glad you like the ties! I'm in the process of setting up an Etsy.com store in the next month or so and I'll be making custom Tie-The-Knot ties and other things for brides! (i think i enjoyed wedding planning a little too much ha ha) :)
Where did you get all those antique tins? I looked around for them and couldn't find any. Thanks!
Sarah - we went camping up in New Glarus Wisconsin and there was an antique store there called
Glarnerladen Antiques. They had over 200 tins priced from $1 - $5. I don't know if you live near there, but if not, maybe they would ship them to you! One tip, if you're using the tins for flowers like we did, be careful and test all of the tins to make sure they don't leak! We had to seal most of them with caulk, and for others we had to put the flowers and water in a ziplock bag and stuff the whole thing into the tins. It was a bit of work, but worth it.
Beautiful! Was this a daytime even at Red Canary? Was it while the place was closed?
They did close down to set up for the ceremony which started at 4pm in their outdoor garden. Then after the cocktail hour, we moved upstairs for the reception at 6pm and they were able to open up their downstairs area for their usual dinner service. It was perfect. The entire staff there was so fantastic and accommodating!
pictures have such a consisten feel. love the look and feel captured
I LOVE the bridesmaids dresses and the boys three piece suits. Where are their suits from??
Your invitations sound amazing and so creative... any pictures of those?
Wow! What a great-looking wedding! Can you give me an idea of how you arranged your ceremony/reception package for the Red Canary? Also, how many guests did you have? Nice work!