Emily and Adrian were exactly my kind of couple: fun, creative, and down to HAVE A GOOD TIME! We had so much fun working with them. They trusted our artistic visions, and were such amazing subjects. There were non stop opportunities to capture amazing moments on their big day! I also really love photographing rehearsal dinners! It gives me a little extra time to get to know everyone. And who doesn’t want more photos of their Wedding week?! Below are some of my favorite photos. There were so many that I loved, it was hard to narrow it down! Enjoy!
Here’s a Q&A with Emily + Adrian!
Looking back, what were some of your favorite parts or moments of the Wedding day?
Our favorite parts of the day were definitely the first look and the bees at museum campus. The first look was so exciting and made the day so much less stressful and fun. We were so happy to get to spend the entire day with each other and our best friends celebrating. It truly felt like a full and long event when most people told me it would go by so fast. We felt like we got to truly enjoy every minute of all the planning we did and to see all the people that traveled so far to celebrate. The bees were just hilarious and I knew that Sprung would capture all the hilarious candids from us avoiding them. They are truly some of my favorite pictures in the whole bunch.
What was your favorite piece of fashion or accessory, and where did you get it?
All of my jewelry were family heirlooms. My family is really important to me and the women really celebrate each other. My earrings were given to me by my maternal grandmother. Both of us hate dangle earrings and only wear studs so when she saw my dress she gave me the earrings since they are a perfect match to the embroidery on my dress and they are studs! My sapphire bracelet was my maternal great-grandmothers bracelet. We were all born in September so the sapphire got passed down through the births. My engagement ring belonged to my paternal great aunt who raised my father and her husband left the ring to me when he passed away. All very important pieces to me on my day and cannot be replaced at any store.
What was the inspiration for your decor or styling?
Adrian and I both love simplicity so we stuck with the classic black and white, but I wanted pops of green. I hate weddings where the color is used everywhere in excess. I also hate flowers and love love love green foliage so I told Lynn at Pollen that I did not want to have any flowers at all, but that ferns and fiddleheads are my absolute favorite so she made that the focus. Instead of having green on dresses and suits and tables and napkins etc etc, we only had the green in the plants. I also love things that are very oversized so Lynn at Pollen made these huge tall topiary-like center pieces for the longer tables to really emphasize the height of the ceilings and the greenhouse-like feel of The Rookery. It was all so on point and actually so much more perfect than I could have ever imagined. I was glad that I let her creativity run wild with it instead of being so picky and particular like some people can be. I wanted to be sure that the architecture was highlighted and the details of the building because it’s such a rare piece of Chicago history and I was so happy that everything felt like it complimented the space and highlighted all the beautiful features.
Mention a funny moment here:
THE BEES!!! It was like there was a mass migration of bees at Museum campus and they were everywhere, but none of us could stop laughing about it the whole day and even now. The pictures of everyone are so funny and I keep getting messages about how much they love those shots above all the rest.
Any wedding advice for engaged couples?
Be honest. Everyone has their opinion, especially the people who are helping to pay for things. We got into so many fights with our parents because they could not envision a wedding with so much black and grey, but when the day came and they saw it all together, they apologized for doubting us and told us how amazing everything looked. Be sure to be honest with everyone about what you want and do not give in if you feel strongly about something you want for your day. It was a thin line we walked between voicing our opinion and making people happy, but I’m so glad that I had all those conversations to convey why the details were so important to us and why it needs to be that way. It’s your wedding and you will be looking at the pictures for the rest of your life and you should never have any regrets about something you did just to make someone else happy because they were paying.
Tell us about the honeymoon!
Honeymoon was the most amazing place I have ever been to! We went to St. Kitts & Nevis for 7 days. We flew there from Puerto Rico and rented a house and a jeep. The people were by far the nicest people I have ever met, the food was so delicious, and the landscape and sight seeing were so gorgeous. The islands are British so they take US Dollars and speak english. It was so easy to drive everywhere and since the islands were so small we drove the entire perimeter for St. Kitts in a couple hours and took a ferry to Nevis another day and drove the perimeter in 45 minutes. We planned to do a tourist activity in the morning and then we went to a beach to have lunch and then just hung out on the beach in the afternoon. Each day we picked a different beach and tried a different restaurant, which are located on the beach stocked with fresh food and lots of booze. Renting a house was really nice and saved a lot of money. We went to the grocery when we got there and bought some stuff and then just cooked dinner at the house every night and hung out in the pool to keep cool. I highly recommend the trip in October when it’s off season. So much fun and lots of relaxation.
What was it like working with Sprung Photo?
Working with Sprung Photo was a dream. I work for a photo studio to manage the photographers, images and retouching so I knew I would picky about this and had put this as the priority of planning. I was worried when we first started looking for photographers because every portfolio I looked at was so cheesy and posed and pale. It was just awful. Once I found my florist, Pollen Floral Design, I fell in love with Lynn’s excitement for no flowers and talented creativity and signed up with her immediately. Once we were all set at the end of that first meeting, I asked her for recommendations and Sprung Photo was the first photographer on the list as a “must see asap” recommendation along with Cage + Aquarium for the DJ and An Event Less Ordinary for the planner. Once I saw Victoria’s website, it only took a couple clicks to know that I needed to have her shooting for me and I contacted immediately. From first contact to the wedding was at least a year (maybe more), but the communication was always there if I had questions or needed an opinion. If Victoria was out, Brandy was always super fast to jump in and help me which was so awesome. On the day-of I was a little nervous because Adrian and I are more behind the scenes people so being center-stage was a first, but Victoria and team were so amazing at helping us when we needed to pose and being invisible to get everything else. So many amazing candids!
I’ve never been in a wedding or planned a wedding so I let my vendors guide me with their professional expertise and now when I try to describe how amazing or how happy I am with everything, I can’t because it was so beyond perfect than I could have ever imagined and that was because of people like Victoria and her amazing team. I will never forget my day and every time I look at the pictures I can’t stop smiling or laughing (BEES!) and I can’t wait to share them with all our family and friends.
Fellow Vendors:
Wedding Planner: Lauren Donnelly of An Event Less Ordinary
Rehearsal Dinner location: Haymarket Pub
Prep: W City Center Chicago
Ceremony and Reception Venue: The Rookery
Catering: George Jewell Catering
Florist: Pollen Floral Design
Drapery: Art of Imagination
Hair: TAFHair
Cupcakes: Sprinkles Cupcakes
Photo Booth: A Posh Production
DJ: Cage & Aquarium
