Independence Grove - Indoor Wedding

I have conducted several weddings at Independence Grove but they have all been outside.Last night Kellen and Kevin's wedding was inside in the Audubon Hall. It was a cold November evening but the room was beautiful and the fireplace burning in the front created a warm and inviting atmosphere. It was dark at 6:30 when the wedding started but if it had been light we would have also enjoyed great views of the marina, lake and beach. Audubon Hall is constructed with cedar, stone and glass and the high ceilings and the spacious design make it a wonderful setting for a wedding. You can contact Tania Paez, tania@eventsig.com or Beth Beringer, beth@eventsig.com, 847 247-1111 for more information.

Paul and Kerena Moeller of Moeller Music provided the music for the ceremony and also accompanied the soloist. I love working with Kerena and Paul and think the music they provide is absolutely wonderful. The combination of cello and guitar is such an usual sound and their ability to play all types of music from classical to the solo last night, The Power of Two by the Indigo Girls provides couples with limitless options. Contact Paul or Kerena at (224) 535-8932 or through the contact page on their website.

Visual Image Photography, Inc 414 456-0848 were the photographers. Their website indicates they do a variety of kinds of photography including weddings. Obviously I haven't seen the pictures they took last night but they were great to work with.

Swissotel Chicago

The Swissotel was the venue for Rekha and Sujit's wedding in late September. It was a large rather formal and traditional wedding with about 200 guests, five bridesmaids and groomsmen, a right bearer and three junior bridesmaids. There were also five ushers and like Sujit and Rekha, they were all M.D's. If anyone had become sick or had a heart attack they would have been well cared for right on the spot.

Michael Mitloff, the senior catering manager was a huge help during both the rehearsal and the wedding itself. The room where the wedding took place is in the lower level of the hotel as is the large separate room where the dinner was held. It's nice when there are separate rooms for the wedding and the reception so the room doesn't have to be changed over. It just feels less rushed.

If you are interested in the Swissotel you can contact Michael at 312 268-8220 or michael.mitloff@swissotel.com

The Narnia Estate

The Narnia Estate is a 55 acre venue located in Lemont, 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. They promote themselves as the newest and most exclusive private event locale in the greater Chicago area. The Estate was the venue for Julia and Michael wedding on a beautiful evening last August.

The wedding took place outdoors at the site shonw in the photo below.

The cocktail hour was held in the front of the house shown in the first photo and the reception took place in a large airconditioned tent adjacent to the house.

Couples looking for a venue far from the city and a beautiful setting should consider Narnia Estates.

Technorati Tags: Wedding, Minister, Spiritual, Chicago, Non-Denominational, Wedding Officiant

Park Hyatt Wedding

Lori Stephenson of Lola Event Productions served as the coordinator for Julie and Jason's wedding last month at the Park Hyatt, 800 North Michigan Avenue. Lori is great to work with and her clients are always well served.

I have conducted a number of weddings at the Park Hyatt and I am always pleasantly surprised how the coordinator and florists are able to make the room look entirely different for each wedding. Lori and her florist had designed and built the long plastic light boxes (my name for them) and then covered them with fabric. As shown in the photo above, they were placed on each side of the aisle and created a very dramatic affect. I also loved the candles, barely visible in the photo, hanging from the canopy. The contact at the the Park Hyatt was Virginie Bishop vbishop@hyatt.com. Virginie was there for the rehearsal and she and the other staff were most helpful on the day of the wedding.

The other participants in the wedding were:

Music provided by Mary Monica Thomas, contact Mary at marymonicamusic@sbcglobal.net

The photography and video team were from Studio This Is. Sarah Parsons who is the studio manager and lead photographer can be contacted at, sarah@studiothisis.com

West Loop Studio

West Loop Studio was the venue for Steve and Sarah's wedding last night. The studio is owned by Steve Ewert who along with Jamie Kelter, the studio manager, were the photographers. My photo above does not do justice to what the room looks like so be sure and click on their link for some really good photos. The room is on the third floor of the building, has very high ceilings and is what you would expect in a loft. The 100 guests fit nicely in the space and although there were only about 60 chairs to use during the ceremony, it was only about 12 mintues long so those who had to stand were not inconvenienced. Contact Jamie for more information, 312.733.5762 tel, jamie@westloopstudio.com

Blue Plate did the catering and Jessica McLean, was the person in charge. Jessica was there just when I needed her help and she and her staff remained calm and helpful during the 20 minute delay while we waited for several members of the groom's immediate family to arrive. The food and service was excellent. During the delay Jessica told me that even though Blue Plate is a large organization, she is part of a special group who only work on weddings. That allows them to provide all the resources of a large catering company but the attention of a small group of consultants who focus only on weddings. You can contact Jessica at 312.239.2844 or jmclean@blueplatechicago.com


Erik Friedly and Brent Rolland from Fig Media were the DJ's for the reception. They were friendly, helpful and very professional. In my experience, Fig Media always does good work.

I am not exactly sure why but I had an exceptionally wonderful time at this wedding. Sarah and Steve were a lot of fun to work with. They had specific ideas about their ceremony but they weren't demanding or difficult. Right before we started they were both relaxed and obviously excited about the ceremony. When Sarah walked down the aisle with her father her face lit up with a huge smile. Steve had not seen her before the ceremony and when he saw her that first time, his eyes filled with tears of joy. After her father had presented her Sarah gave Steve a tissue to wipe his eyes and when he finished he tucked it back in the top of her low cut dress. My only response was, "Ok then, let's get started." Everyone in the room seemed really happy and excited about this wedding and at the very end when I presented Steve and Sarah for the first time as husband and wife, everyone erupted in cheers and clapping.

I really love conducting weddings and feel so privileged to be a part of weddings like Sarah and Steve's.

One final thought, recently both a coordinator and a photographer told me that in their experience couples who take most of their photos before the ceremony are much more relaxed at the start of the wedding. Frankly, in my experience I am not sure that's the case, for instance, I can't think of a more relaxed couple that Sarah and Steve. But then, I am a traditionalist and I like it when the bride and groom have not seen each other before the ceremony. I feel very tender when I see the bride look down the aisle and see the groom waiting there for her. I love to watch the expression on the grooms face when he sees his future wife enter the room and walk down the aisle. Most often they are just like Steve was last night, their eyes well up with tears and I can see the love and tenderness they feel for the bride.

Obviously the decision about photographs is up to the bride and groom but I had to add my two cents worth.

Technorati Tags: Wedding, Minister, Spiritual, Chicago, Non-Denominational, Wedding Officiant

Wedding at The Knickerbocker

Ursula and Matt had a large wedding on Saturday at the Knickerbocker Hotel. I had never conducted a wedding at this venue. If you are having a larger wedding with 200 or more guests and want the feel of one of older grand hotels I would highly recommend the Knickerbocker. My photo isn’t great but you can I hope get an idea of the room as it was done up on Saturday. I really liked the groups of candles along the center aisle.

Here is the cast of characters:

Ali Phillips of Engaging Events By Ali was the coordinator and the person who introduced me to Ursula and Matt. I love working with Ali because our styles seem to match so well. You can contact Ali at ali@engagingeventsbyali.com

Lauren Haver at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel, located at 163 E Walton Pllace, Chicago, IL 60611 worked closely with Ali and behind the scenes during the wedding, cocktail hour and dinner. You can contact Lauren at Lhaver@mill-usa.com

The string trio from Belle Music were wonderful too. I’ve worked with several of them in the past and they are always a delight, easy to work with and provide excellent sounds.

The florist was Blumen Design, as you will see from my photo, they did a fantastic job with the flowers. I thought the ballroom where the wedding took place looked amazing. For more information about Blumen Design you can email them at info@blumendesign.com

Kurt Gerber of Gerber and Scarpelli was the photographer as he has been at several weddings I’ve conducted this year. It’s always good to see him in action again. Gerber and Scarpelli can be reached at 312 455-1144 or info@gerberscarpelliweddings.com

Technorati Tags: Wedding, Minister, Spiritual, Chicago, Non-Denominational, Wedding Officiant

The Ivy Room

Emily and Jason were married last night in the Courtyard of Trees Studios in what will probably be for me the last outdoor wedding of this year. The reception was held in The Ivy Room. The wedding was a 7:30 pm and it was dark here in Chicago so my outdoor photos didn’t turn out however the website contains some excellent photos of both the courtyard and the actual Ivy Room. Donna Albertson, director of marketing and special events donna@ivyroomchicago.com was a wonderful and helpful hostess for the wedding and reception. There were about 150 guests who comfortably filled both the courtyard and the Ivy Room.

Mary Nisi, president and disc jockey of Toast & Jam provided the music for the reception. I’ve worked with her staff in the past and they are first rate. You can contact Mary at Mary@toastandjamdjs.com



Technorati Tags: Wedding, Minister, Spiritual, Chicago, Non-Denominational, Wedding Officiant