Holiday Weddings

LOLA Real Wedding: Natalie & Josh at the Chicago Cultural Center

Posted on Feb 27, 2013

Who doesn’t love a holiday wedding in Chicago? 

Guests are in a celebratory mood, snow is in the air, and the inspiration for décor is endless.  Natalie and Josh chose the timeless elegance of the Chicago Cultural Center for their winter wedding.  Natalie wanted to use classic design techniques and color palettes – incorporating festively hand dipped and sugared fruits and gold dipped greenery into the pomegranate centerpieces. Adding gold touches to the tabletop design layered over loden textured linens and a classically engraved menu card completed the look.

Natalie herself wowed passing holiday shoppers entering Holy Name Cathedral for her evening wedding ceremony in her Vera Wang gown, and mixed things up for the reception adding a custom designed fascinator she had picked out in Paris to the look for the reception.

The Rundown:

Catering: Limelight

Floral: Botanicals

Entertainment: Ken Arlen Orchestra

Stationery Suite: Magnificent Milestones

Fabulous photos credited to Gina from Imaginative Studios

The Benefits of a Hotel Wedding!

Posted on Dec 14, 2009

On December 12th Kristi & Jake tied the knot at Chicago’s Historic Intercontinental Hotel. Thanks to Rachel at Metropolitan Images for these great photos!

This smart bride made life easy for herself and eliminated the ‘X factor’ of December travel around the city (forget the crowds and the weather!) and had both the ceremony and reception on-site at the hotel -  where they exchanged vows in the Grand Ballroom under the room’s signature Baccarat Chandalier.  Here are some great things to inquire about when looking at a hotel for your wedding:

1. What sort of upgrades are included that you otherwise may need to pay for?  At the Intercontinental, the gorgeous chargers pictured below are standard issue for all the place settings, and their standard linen is an elegant ivory brocade. Upgrades like this can cost as much as $10-15/pp if you need to bring in outside rentals.

2. Kristi chose her colors wisely – as they coordinated with the existing holiday decor within the hotel.

3. As dog people, we LOVE that Kristi and Jake’s dog Porkchop wasn’t excluded from the festivities!  He got to stay in the bridal suite which truly made the happy couple feel like the entire family was there with them.