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The 39 floor penthouse at Hotel 71 was the venue for Angela and Dave’s wedding last month. The room has incredible views and Rebecca from the hotel was wonderful to work with. Dave and Angela had a little over 100 guests and it was a prefect fit for the room. As is often the case the room was reset after the wedding for the dinner, there is a adequate space with more great views on the same floor for the cocktail hour. If you look on Yelp you will also find 37 reviews on the hotel and weddings there.
Kathleen Carter, 585.590.0154 provided the music. I wish I could tell you who the photographer and the video guy was but neither of them had their business card
Elaine and Greg were married in the park house at Pulaski Park, 1419 West Blackhawk in Chicago. The room was nice and not fancy. I suspect it is an affordable space for a lower budget wedding. I think the bride and groom rented the chairs and they had their reception elsewhere but as you can see, it was a nice setting.
Greg and Elaine chose to do the sand ceremony and they purchased vases online from Things Festive.
The sand ceremony is often done at outdoor weddings but it works fine inside too. I really like these particular vases. Often couples will get sand that has special meaning for them. In a wedding a couple of years ago the bride and groom who lived in Hawaii brought different color sand from their favorite beaches to use in the vases.
Michelle Morales was the cellist. She can be reached at 773.910.8690 or azcello@gmail.com. The wedding was nearly 30 minutes late and she provided wonderful prelude music the entire time.
I conducted a wedding at the Newberry Library on April 14 and a couple of days ago the photographer Ana of anamiyares.com sent me a link to her photos,. Check it out they are great!
Ana can be reached at ana@anamiyares.com or 773.852-376
I had never been to the Grand Piazza or even heard of it for that matter and then I had two weddings there on the same weekend. The Grand Piazza located at 1431 West Taylor Street Chicago, IL 60607 and is home to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, a museum that pays tribute to athletic greats such as Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Lasorda, and Mary Lou Retton. Natalie Arakelian is the contact person and she can be reached at 312.226.5566 or kperez@levyresturants.com
One of the best features of the Grand Piazza is its rooftop terrace, the views of the downtown skyline are incredible.
But, with outdoor weddings there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The first wedding was on a Friday night and it rained almost all day and evening. So, the wedding had to be moved inside into the ballroom. The space was nice and worked well but it would have been nicer outside.
The wedding was about 30 minutes late because I had not carefully thought through how to get the guests up to the third floor on a very slow elevator and then how to get the bride, who had not seen the groom that day, off the elevator without being seen by the groom. She ended up riding up and down the elevator for about 20 minutes while the groom waited patiently at the front. Nevertheless, I think they were happy with how the ceremony turned out.
The second wedding did take place on the terrace but in the midst of gale force winds. You can't see them in the photo above but there are actually guy wires holding down the hupa. The aisle runner had been tapped down but as the wedding party walked to the front it sort of billowed up in front of them. The ceremony however came together beautifully and the bride and groom were cheered as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife.
Marcia Hemphill and her staff from An Urban Affair coordinated the Saturday wedding, they are always a pleasure to work with.
The other cast of participants included:
- Daniel Gin, photography, 312.285.0388 and dg@dangin.com
- Kate and Rachel from Toast & Jam provided the music for a wedding and reception. I’ve worked others from staff in the past and they are first rate.
The Newberry is an interesting setting for weddings. If you were to walk into the lobby during the week when the security desk and guard rail are in place it would be difficult to envision having a wedding there. But, when the desk and railing are removed it looks much different. The lobby has been restored and an art-nouveau chandelier creates a dramatic affect. The marble staircase and ornate banister become the focal point of the room and a dramatic way for brides to enter.
A separate room, Rugles Hall has large windows facing both Washington Square Park and Dearborn Parkway and is ideal for the wedding dinner.
Another room, the Towners Fellows' Lounge has oak paneling and works well for small more intimate weddings.
The staff in the office of events can be reached at 312 255-3595 or via email to skubishk@newberry.org
Anne and Michael were married at the Newberry last Saturday. Once again I enjoyed working with Ali Phillips of Engaging Events by Ali. I've mentioned Ali in many previous blogs and it continues to be delightful to work with Ali. You can contact Ali at ali@engagingeventsbyali.com
Ana of anamiyares.com was the photographer, she can be reached at ana@anamiyares.com or 773.852-3761. I am hoping Ana will share some photos with me to post here or perhaps a link to her site with photos of Michael and Anne's wedding.
Keith Jorgensen was the video guy. He is the co-founder of Poetic Productions a professional videography company. Keith is also involved in the wedding website called the Daily Bride. You can contact Keith at info@poeticweddings.com or 312 863-4007
Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago was the setting for the wedding of Elizabeth and James last week.Lori Stephenson of Lola Event Productions was the wedding planner and the person who introduced me to James and Elizabeth. Lori is a delight to work with, she is very well organized and detail orientated but she is also laid back so things get done well but without the stress that sometimes happens in weddings.
Amy and Sandro were married last night at the Intercontinental Hotel in the King Arthur Court room that features an entire wall of original stained glass and intricately carved wooden pillars, cast-iron chandeliers and a hand-painted ceiling. Christopher Schmidt, associate director of catering and his staff were great to work with. I really like the rooms in these older hotels, they just seem to have more character that many of the new places.
Sandro's father Dalmo who is a professional pianist played Chopin Nocturne in E Flat, Opus 9, No. 2 which was a wonderful addition to the ceremony. Sandro's brother Gian-Carlo read Love written by Roy Croft, a really beautiful reading.
Mike Stoklasa of Red Letter Weddings was the videographer and Toni DiDonato of Indigo provided the music.
Matt of Imaginative Studios was the photographer. I have had the pleasure of working with them several times recently. Be sure to check out their webpage to see their outstanding work.
It was a great team to work with and the wedding was a lot of fun for everyone.
The 39 floor penthouse at Hotel 71 was the venue for Angela and Dave’s wedding last month. The room has incredible views and Rebecca from the hotel was wonderful to work with. Dave and Angela had a little over 100 guests and it was a prefect fit for the room. As is often the case the room was reset after the wedding for the dinner, there is a adequate space with more great views on the same floor for the cocktail hour. If you look on Yelp you will also find 37 reviews on the hotel and weddings there.
