You know how you know a wedding is going to be awesome? When the bride and groom not only plan a seriously sophisticated Michigan Shores Club soiree (complete with beautiful blooms from Ashland Addison Florist and an amazing black, white, silver and yellow color palette), but also plan an after-party that is crazy amazing. (Think bowling, music, hot dogs and beer and you are on the right track.) Add to all of that lovely a gallery chock-full of gorgeous images captured by Lauren Wakefield Photography and, well. Happy Wednesday. Click here for the full gallery.
From the Bride… From the moment Matt and I got engaged in November of 2011, I dove head first into wedding planning! Having dated for 8 years, I had been looking forward to the time where I got to plan our own wedding, and we truly enjoyed each minute of it. I was incredibly lucky that my mom enjoyed wedding planning as much as I did, as she tackled each and every task with me. Matt and I knew we wanted a classic and chic wedding, with cheerful color, so we decided to go with black, white, silver and yellow as our wedding color palette. We also wanted to make sure that each of our personalities shined through the little details throughout the day, so we really tried to pay special attention to each aspect of the wedding to really make it as personal as possible.
I contacted an artist on Etsy to design a custom map for the wedding, which we in turn had transferred to canvas tote bags to be the base of our hotel welcome bags for guests. We filled each welcome bag with some of our favorite things (a bottle of wine, a candle, lotto tickets, etc.) so each guest started the wedding weekend with a special treat and got to enjoy some of our favorite things. We also both went to the University of Dayton, so had our school letters as the groom cake. We had two signature drinks – his and hers, and had each of our favorite cocktails with a fun little spin on it!
Since most of our guests were from out of town, we hosted a late-night party after the reception ended in the bowling alley at the club. We had bowling, Chicago-style hot dogs, beer, and music for our guests to enjoy until the wee-hours of the night!
One of our favorite moments of the evening was when our bridal party surprised us by starting off the dancing! A couple of the groomsmen had talked to the DJ to play a song when the dancing was about to start and call the bridal party out to the dance floor. Matt and I had no idea what was happening and before we knew it all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were busting out their best dance moves! It was hilarious and a great way to kick off an evening of dancing.
My one piece of advice that I would pass down to any bride is to make sure you and your groom stay by each other all night! Matt and I knew we wanted to spend the night by each other’s side, and made a conscious effort to do so! It easy to get pulled in different directions, but the night is about celebrating the two of you together, so be sure to enjoy each moment together as husband and wife!
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Wedding Photography: Lauren Wakefield Photography | Ceremony Venue: Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, Illinois | Reception Venue: Michigan Shores Club in Wilmette, Illinois | Wedding Cinematography: Lexoria Films | Floral Design: Ashland Addison Florist | Wedding Cake: Sweet Mandy B’s | Transportation: Chicago Trolley & Double Decker | DJ: EMM | Wedding Invitations: William Arthur | Custom Map: Eliza Jane Ink | Signage: Tie That Binds | Wedding Dress: Kleinfeld | Shoes: Jimmy Choo + Tory Burch | Hair: Salon Soca | Makeup: Blue Mercury