Real Wedding: Noelle + Joey

Yesterday, I posted about Noelle + Joey's wedding day. Here are the pictures from the reception.

All photos are by Michele Rivera from Mischa Media.

The tables were dramatic with brown and turquoise accents.

The menus were designed by Amanda from Made with Love Paperie.

Noelle had flip-flops for each of her bridesmaids so that they would dance all night long.
It worked!

The bridesmaids and groomsmen each came in to the room with their own funky dance.

One of their close friends performed a solo during the entree course.

The couple raise their glasses to the toast from the Father of the Bride.

Noelle and Joey chose a contemporary square cake: a swiss dot pattern was anything but simple with ribbon wrapped around each layer and roses on the top and rose petals around the edges.

The couple's first dance. Don't you love the bow on the back of Noelle's dress?

It's becoming more rare these days but Noelle had a bridal bouquet toss. There were plenty of single ladies out on the dance floor.

What is a sweeter way to say goodnight than a cookie?

Real Wedding: Noelle + Joey

I adored working with Noelle and Joey!

Noelle is a nurse so we met on a Sunday at a Starbucks in the surburbs. Although I hadn't had any experience with filipino weddings, I talked about my interest in incorporating one's culture into a wedding. Luckily, Noelle and Joey felt comfortable enough to book me without the experience. This can be difficult for some couple's. One of the first questions that I often get is, "Have you ever done a X type wedding?"

I loved working with Noelle. Even with 350 guests attending her wedding, she didn't forget the details. Instead, she focused on a contemporary design that highlighted her modern taste with many DIY projects. Her talent is amazing! I rarely see DIY projects look so professional. So let's take a peak, shall we? All photos are by Michele Rivera from Mischa Media.

Cake: Allegretti's Bakery
Ceremony: St. Isidore Ceremony
Musicians: Brass String Chamber Ensemble
Decor: Dayle D'Ann Edgeworth and The Chair Couture
DJ: Mark Del Rosario
Hair: Ann Bautista
Limo: American Coach Limo
Make-up: Tina Salazar for MAC
Photographer: Mischa Media
Reception: Marriott Schaumburg
Videographer: Carbon 14 Films

Noelle in her fabulous Bride silk robe getting the final touches on her hair.

This is the first of many detail: the bride and groom's initials with their wedding date.

One of the lovely bridesmaids!

The Bride's DIY invitations with her white bouquet -- don't you love the texture?

This was Shelly's first wedding. She's using her floral background to help pin bouts.

The programs were also DIY. Noelle has some made paper skills.

Noelle and Joey during the veil and cord ceremony.

St. Isadore is a modern Catholic Church in Bloomingdale.

Did I mention that Noelle is a DIY goddess? She even made the Unity Candle.

As the couple exited, there was a ton of bubbles! I love this photo!

After the ceremony, the bridal party headed out to take some fabulous photos in the city.

The escort "cards" were actually votive candles. It was a lovely sight when all 350 were lit!

Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple chose to make a book from their engagement photos.

Tomorrow, I will post photos of the reception.

Chicago Style Unveiled

Based out of Cali, Style Unveiled recently joined the Chicago market with Chicago Style Unveiled, an online wedding planning website. The website is gorgeous. The website has great articles, a blog, and my favorite: real weddings. I love the website. It's super easy to use and very stylish.

One of my favorite couples, Amy and Gary, have been featured for their real weddings post. Click here to read the fabulous post.

HoneyBee Favor Giveaway

Honey Bee Wedding has a $25 gift certificate for you! Sponsored by My Wedding Favors, all you need to do is leave a comment below with the name of your favorite favor by My Wedding Favors.

Want to enter again? And again? Leave a comment on our Twitter and Facebook account.

Here are some of my favorites...

While I wouldn't give these away as favors, I did put one of each of these mints in my bathroom baskets. They are cute, aren't they?

I adore mint julep cups so these little candles are perfect for a romantic wedding.

We came this close to using the Fleur de Lis on our invitations.
If we had, we would have incorporated the symbol elsewhere.
What is better than place cards to add flair to the place setting?

The contest ends on November 16th and the winner will be announced on November 17th.

New Bridal magazine?

Nothing makes my heart beat faster than a bridal magazine. Coupled with the term "free", and I'll be first in line. Get Married now has a magazine. Eco friendly? View the magazine online.

Future Real Weddings

I promise, more real wedding posts are to come! Until then, check out some recent blog posts by photographers about our brides.

Meredith and Jeremy had a gorgeous wedding at St. Michael's before heading to what looks to be a fabulous party at the Chicago History Museum. The photographer, Joy Marie, took some fabulous photos that really capture the spirit of the wedding.

Paul Yamashiro did a post about a recent couple, Stephanie and Andy. The couple was married at Forth Presbyterian and then had the celebration at the Art Institute Ballroom. I can't wait to see the rest of the photos! Until then, read Paul's post.

Real Wedding: Meghan + Jack

All photos by Chris Ligeza and Kristen Barker from George Street.

Ceremony: Old St. Patrick's Church Reception: Allerton Hotel
DJ: Fig Media
Florist: Fragrant Design
Hair + Make-up: R Bombshell Beauty
Photographer + Videographer: George Street Photo + Video

I love the fashionista look the Meghan put together on her wedding day.
Mixing a vintage style birdcage veil with the modern thick gold cuff screams FABULOUS.

Old St. Pat's is one of my favorite churches in the city.

I adore this dress! The back of the dress fits Meghan perfectly!

The bride kept the flowers simple and small.

Nothing says Chicago like the Chicago Theatre.

The couple took some fabulous photos near the Water Tower.

Feeling lucky? Guests were given scratch off tickets as a favor.

What's new?

...or, where are all the real wedding posts?

I'm trying Readers, I'm trying! Honey Bee has been growing madly! I'm happy to report that we are in the final stages of hiring a forth coordinator. Training takes a tremendous amount of work. That, coupled with a wedding every single wedding has left little time for blogging. And as much as everyone loves real weddings posts, I haven't had time to dedicate to some proper posts.

But, with only a few weddings to go before our big trip to India, I am dedicated to posting them again! Woo-hoo!

I'm also going to do some recap posts. When I met up with a fellow blogger, she said she had never seen any of my wedding posts. The posts were before she entered the crazy world of wedding planning. That got me to thinking, wow, I have some really great posts from two years ago that are "lost" in this blog format. So, one of my many winter goals is to redesign the blog to include said posts.

Oh, and I am also going to go off the topic of weddings.

*gasp*

Yes, I have been married for almost 18 months (love you babu) and have entered some other worlds: home decor, babies, and my biggest passion: fashion. Maybe.

Any requests?

Happy Wednesday!

Paper is the traditional first anniversary gift

...but an album of boudoir pictures is a modern twist!

Metropolitan Images is having an intimate moments marathon on November 21st and 22nd.

$400 gets you an hour long photo shoot at a couture hotel downtown, a private online gallery, a small pocket album with 30 images and a disc of all of the images. Hair and make-up artist will be on site for an additional fee.

For more information, contact Rachael at Met Images.

Mrs. Ivanka Kushner nee Trump

I was expecting the worse. Golf club wedding in New Jersey on a Sunday doesn't sound fabulous. None of the ceremony or receptions details have been released except that the wedding planner is Preston Bailey. I'm expecting to see some fabulous lighting in a bright color.

The venue? Seems sort of generic.
If I had my choice, I would have picked The Breakers in Palm Beach. (Yes, it competes directly with Trump owned Mar-A-Lago). But I'm just saying! Really? You picked to get married here??

The dress and the hair screams Grace Kelly. What is going on with Jared's bow tie?

I'm so not loving her bouquet either.