If this Chicago wedding by Simply Jessie doesn’t make you ga-ga for garden parties, we might need to have a little talk. Just take a little gander at the lovely bride’s bouquet by Fleur Inc.…go ahead, take a look…if you weren’t convinced before that we are getting this Monday morning off to the prettiest of garden party starts, that bouquet should bring you back to the right side of the fence. Then there is the fact the groom designed the cutest invites I ever did see incorporating the couple’s love for critters – which, in my book, makes this little rainy day fête beyond adorable. Wanna take a guess where I’ll be for most of that day today? Yep, in the full gallery of gorgeous garden party images.
Click here to see the entire gallery of images!
From the Bride…Justin and I wanted to have a laid back, magical vintage garden party wedding. We chose our venue because it’s a beautiful nature center and we knew we’d be surrounded by lush trees, green grass, open sky, and…critters! We both have a huge love of animals (it’s what brought us together, when I was helping him with his sick cat), and right from the start we knew animals would play a big role in our wedding (although we couldn’t bring our cats up to the Grove to join us). Our save the date was a stop motion video starring a painted fox and other animal friends, and Justin designed the invitations to feature two foxes in love. We used small porcelain and ceramic animals for the wedding cake toppers, and vintage animal illustrations as our table markers.
The day of our wedding brought thunderstorms, black skies, and torrential rain! For a little while I kept holding out hope that our ceremony and reception could still be happen outdoors as planned, but we eventually gave up as the rain kept pouring. We were so lucky to have our amazing friends and family help us get everything ready– there was a table of family photos and vintage animal postcards (in lieu of a guestbook); Jones soda bottles with baby, kid, and engagement pics; a wheatgrass place card holder; poms hanging from the second floor bannister; ribbon wands and numerous other items to set up. We literally could not have set up the ceremony and decorations without our friends and family!
But it was our amazing floral designer, Kelly Marie Uss of Fleur, who transformed the pretty 1920’s house that is the Redfield Estate into the garden party we had wanted. She transformed the setting into a paradise! As she set up the flowers and centerpieces and beautiful mercury glass urns that flanked the altar, we were blown away. It was beyond anything we could have imagined, lush and gorgeous and sweet and so perfectly spring. I nearly cried when I saw my bouquet, with passion flower, peonies, tulips, anemones, lilac, tweedia, ranunculus, garden roses, muscari, and more. She used mercury glass votives and urns, milk glass, and blue mason jars filled with votives to give the ceremony and reception a soft glow and beautifully vintage vibe.
The rain stopped just in time for guests to go outside for cocktails and enjoy the gorgeous sunset, and we had an amazing night, filled with so much love and happiness.
Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Redfield Estate at the Grove / Floral Design: Fleur Inc. / Wedding Photography: Simply Jessie / Wedding Cakes: Alliance Bakery + Molly’s Cupcakes / Wedding Dress: Giselle by Elizabeth Dye / Bride’s Shoes: Poetic License / Wedding Invitations: The Groom + Letterform (printing)