We are one day into “summer 2017” and we cannot be more excited. When you think of a summer wedding, bright bold colors typically comes to mind, which is why we thought Heather and Ryan’s wedding was perfect to share. They have that great summer color palette, including bright blues and with pops of brilliant yellow.

Heather and Ryan chose the Danada House to host their wedding at. The Danada House was originally where the 1965 Kentucky Derby winner, Lucky Debonair, lived during the years he trained and competed. This derby charm still sits on 230 acres of beautiful land, which makes for the perfect secluded and romantic venue for a wedding.

 

Heather and her best friends spent the morning getting ready in the upper level of the Danada House. She loved the feeling of getting ready in “a home”; it made her feel very relaxed and at ease while the wedding butterflies were getting more and more obvious.

You cannot beat this reaction! The happy couple chose to do a “first look” because they wanted to get most of the pictures taken prior to the ceremony, and yes Ryan was very excited to see Heather! Because the venue was a one-stop-shop, this allowed them to enjoy the entire cocktail hour, and rest of the evening, with their guests.

You would never be able to tell, but Heather and Ryan joined a baby boy, Sullivan, to their family a few weeks before the wedding. Sullivan’s godmother strolled her down the aisle to meet Dad at the front!

After JUST finishing the ceremony, a torrential downpour began. Feeling lucky, the guests watched the rain from the windows. We love to think that just means good luck for the bride and groom!

Heather is a Blackhawks fan, and Ryan is a Wings fan. It has always been friendly competition and a great conversation piece among their friends. They both had their last names added to their respective sports team jersey, and used those as a guest book. Now, they will forever have the people they love most, on the team they love most!

Guests began entering the reception room, at the same time the sun began to shine. It was such a nice entrance because the room is an atrium, completely surrounded in glass windows. The main colors of the evening was bright blue and yellow. All we could do was smile with such a happy color palette.

To see more from this wedding, check out Poetic Production’s video trailer!
http://poeticweddings.com/events/heather-and-ryan.html

We could not have coordinated this beautiful wedding without the help of the other vendors:
Venue – The Danada House
Photography – Lilly Photography
Florist – O’Cie Floral
Catering – Angeli’s Catering
DJ – Okyne Media Lab
Hair Stylist – Style and Sassy
Makeup Artist – Renee Beaton
Lighting – Sound Investment
Videography – Poetic Productions

-The Effortless Events Team

When most people think of flowers for weddings their minds go straight to bouquets and centerpieces. Boutonnieres are a topic that typically does not get brought up until the floral meetings begin. Who gets flowers? What are boutonnieres? What are pocket squares? We find it important to educate ourselves and our potential clients on what the newest trends are, and figure out what is best for each person.

Here is OUR advice

Boutonnieres are old school. They fall apart. Sorry guys, but you’re not the most delicate flower recipients, and the amount of boutonnieres we have seen fall apart is sad. If there are bad weather conditions, that boutonniere is wet, shriveled up, or petals have blown off. In the past, one of our grooms “took his boutonniere off while going to the restroom” and forgot it sitting on the top of the toilet. He was missing it the rest of the evening.

We do respect the wedding traditions that are expected by older generations, so we think that giving a boutonniere for the fathers and grandfathers is completely acceptable. It will mean a lot to them to receive one on the wedding day, so keep those on the floral bill.

Adding a pocket square with the boutonniere does not necessarily give you the best of both worlds, instead it clutters up a man’s jacket. Because pocket squares are the hot new thing, most grooms feel they want that in addition to the boutonniere, but in reality there is no room. A boutonniere should be placed at the height of a pocket square, BUT if you have both then the boutonnieres have to be moved above which does not look right.

Pocket squares, and only pocket squares, are the way to go for the bridal party (at least in our opinion). They are sophisticated and make for a clean look. They also will save some money on the floral bill, and are reusable for future events. If you’re really feeling fashionable, match the socks with the pocket squares; it makes for some really cute pictures.

You can have a lot of fun with pocket squares, and it really allows the groom to show his personality. You can go with a solid color or a pattern. The groom can have the same as the groomsmen, but we feel it’s nice to differentiate so the groom could have a white-dominant pocket square. Also, there are endless possibilities how to fold the pocket squares. But whether it is straight lined across the top of the pocket, in a pointed triangle, or folded over butler style, they should remain in uniform across the entire bridal party.

Take a look at all these handsome groomsmen all matching with their sleek patterned pocket squares!

– The Effortless Events Team

We spoke with senior planner, Danielle Kuhn, about what creative unity ceremonies she has seen throughout her career. She grew a huge grin, and instantly began to share the unique story of this off-beat couple’s unity ceremony.

“Without hesitation, I remember my favorite unity ceremony (and one of my favorite couples), which happened in the summer of 2015,” said Kuhn.

Anna and Andy had the cutest personalities and were extremely unique, which made it so refreshing and fun to work with them. They called their wedding the “anti-wedding” when mentioning it as a whole. They did not have a bridal party, there was no cake cutting, they had a Beatles Cover Band for their entertainment, and they didn’t go through many of the other formalities that most couples do these days.

“But, as some people may think this is odd or peculiar, I thought it was unbelievably charming,” Kuhn continued.

“Anna and Andy were perfect together and shared many of the same interests. They were able to incorporate so much personality to the wedding day and every guest could tell they put in effort to make it their own.”

They had their wedding reception in Plano, Illinois, and had their ceremony 15 minutes away in a town called Sandwich. Not only did they get married in Sandwich, they got married at the Sandwich Opera House.

Now this is where their creative juices started flowing.

“The ceremony started with the groom walking down the aisle ‘looking’ for his bride. She was no-where to be found,” said Kuhn. “He went up on stage, and ‘miraculously’ pulled her out of the trap door in the middle of the stage! Laughs were shed throughout the room.”

The best part was in the middle of the ceremony, the whole point of telling this story.

It was the unity ceremony, but they called it the “unity sandwich ceremony.” Instead of pouring sand at the same time into a closed vessel, or lighting a candle, they made a sandwich together. But not a random sandwich, it was a BLT –their favorite sandwich. Here is how the couple’s officiant phrased the ceremony:

“The bread is wheat, symbolizing the foundation of the relationship. One goes on honesty and respect.

The lettuce symbolizes healthy communication. Because just as lettuce keeps the bread from getting soggy, strong communication keeps your foundation of honesty from being eroded.

The bacon is the protein, symbolizing energy for the long term. In 10, 20 or 30 years, you must put forth the necessary energy and effort for a happy relationship.

The tomato is the nutritious vegetable, symbolizing their commitment to nurture a healthy relationship by encouraging hobbies and passions.

The mayonnaise is the topping. It symbolizes the zest and the flavor of the relationship. Joie De Vivre, ‘you only live once’. Might as well have a little fun, so don’t skip on the mayo.”

The couple then took a bite of the sandwich in unity.

That is one unity ceremony that Effortless Events won’t forget. We encourage couples to get creative with their weddings so they are memorable and show their personalities (if they are not trying to “follow” all regular traditions)!

-The Effortless Events Team