Effortless Events

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What “Ring Shot” Are You Going To Take?

When you get engaged, what’s the first thing everyone lays eyes on? The engagement ring of course! On wedding day, we think one great photo opportunity is to showcase the beautiful engagement (and wedding) rings because that is a symbol that represents the couple’s love for each other.

How do you want to remember your engagement ring on wedding day? We gathered some great shots from our happy couples that we would love to share! Maybe this will spark some ideas how you can showcase your rings.

 

Rings on your bouquets captures the feel of the wedding.

Christy Tyler PhotographyShow off the season you get married!

Can’t forget about your shoes.

Artisan Events PhotographyRings with your loved ones.

Or rings with your partner!

Artisan Events PhotographyRings on rings on rings.

You can set your ring on your clutch, or next to other accessories.

Artisan Events PhotographyResting on top of the lace from your wedding dress.

Add some bling to your invitation shots!

If you place your rings on a blank slate it allows you to focus solely on the rings

Artisan Events Photography

And last but not least, a shot with the drink that will get you through the morning. Hallelujah for Starbucks!

-The Effortless Events Team

Wedding Skin Prep

By Guest Blogger and Makeup Expert, Wendy Woodside

We believe all brides should get their makeup professionally done for their wedding day. It’s hard to get that glowing look with every day makeup. We also think a bride should feel pampered and get treated like a princess for once. Makeup and facial beauty is not our expertise. So, we asked Wendy from Wendy City Faces (based out of Chicago) to write some tips on how to keep care of your skin leading up to wedding day.

Wendy has designed and produced makeup looks for theatre, industrial shows, commercials, television productions, and of course weddings for many years. Being in so many niches throughout her career has expanded her knowledge in makeup and skin care. She knows what someone will look like once through a camera film or picture, which is why she is so talented and is someone we love to work with.

Bridal Beauty Boot Camp

Congratulations on your engagement! As a bride-to-be, you are aware that planning a wedding is fun, but also stressful. As you plan for your big day, remember that the time leading up to your nuptials is a great time to focus on your face and skincare needs. For the best look on your wedding day, you want to work ahead of time to achieve a smooth canvas and a comfortable hydration level. This will keep you glowing and provide “staying power” for your makeup.

Are you wondering where you should start your skin care treatment? A visit with a skilled esthetician is a great first step. Do your research though, so you’re not swimming in a large salon with an inexperienced practitioner. During your first visit, you can discuss your skincare goals and determine treatments to help achieve your best results. Making your appointment earlier is advised, as some treatments require multiple visits to see optimal results. There have been great advances in skin treatments to address acne scarring, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and dry skin/pigmentation. Be sure to be honest with your esthetician about any skin concerns you would like to address, so she can outline the best series of treatments for you.

I recommend to all my brides to meet with me to consult on their skin with a mini-facial plus a monthly visit with a series of 3 treatments that are designed to brighten, lighten, and plump up the skin, while addressing any age spots and acne. I also work with each bride to determine the best products to use in between treatments to continue their progress. Your last appointment should be scheduled about 5 – 6 days before your wedding for a cleansing, light exfoliation, and a hydration mask to plump up and calm your skin.

The skincare aisles at any store can be overwhelming, and identifying the right products for your skin can be a daunting task for even the most confident bride-to-be. The products I find to be most important and powerful would be a purchasing and using a quality cleanser, eye cream, and moisturizer every day. On top of that, using a fine exfoliating scrub and a mask to target problem areas 2-3 times per week. Many of my brides have achieved great results alternating the use of a clay mask to help remove impurities and a hydrating mask to plump up the moisture levels.

Some common wedding woes right before your big day should not put you in a panic.

  • Stress Acne: If you find yourself with any stress related breakouts, I use a light treatment or a high frequency treatment. These are magical tools that are effective at reducing that one bump that seems to always show up right before your big day.
  • Back Acne: A low-backed dress does not have to be out of reach. Back acne can be addressed with an antibacterial wash, clay mask, and a benzoyl spray. Be sure to start early in the months ahead for best results.
  • Pale Skin: A great spray tan can help you feel confident in your own skin. You should schedule this treatment 3 days before the wedding. For best results, exfoliate with a body scrub prior to your treatment, do not apply lotion prior to the spray tan, and allow the tan to take effect for at least 8 hours before showering. Avoid the automatic spray tan booth, as this often results in orange lines and uneven application. My clients have had great results using a natural product with a PH balanced treatment on your skin prior to getting the spray.

As you plan for your big day, be sure to take time out for yourself. Drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep will benefit your skin tremendously, and help you feel calm and confident as you approach the most exciting day of your life!

For more information on Wendy and her growing company, visit her website here.

 

Ivy Room Wedding in Chicago

The Ivy Room is a great wedding venue in Chicago for many reasons; one being its tall beautiful Ivy wall in the courtyard. That is one of the reasons our client chose the stunning venue, so they could have their ceremony and cocktail hour outside with the stunning backdrop. We were VERY close to having the entire wedding indoors because the temperature dropped heavily the morning of the big day. The bride and groom were both pretty upset, but we were able to compromise. We still performed the ceremony outdoors while the sun was setting, but moved the cocktail hour in so guests were comfortable.

We definitely thought about the weather a few weeks prior to the wedding though, figuring it’s a late October wedding in Chicago and temperatures are never consistent. We suggested to our client that they should provide hot cider, pashminas (which they ended up purchasing from Charming Charlie) and blankets to cozy up with while watching the vows. We placed them hanging on random chairs so guests could sit with one if they wanted.

Now, lets go back to the beginning where it all started. Susie and Lars are the sweetest couple; they met at Lake Forest College and were together for 5 years before Lars proposed in Norway. Besides Lars being from Norway, Susie is Jewish, so customs and wedding traditions definitely had to be intertwined.

The ladies started off getting ready at the Langham. Purple was Susie’s favorite color, and she treated all of her bridesmaids with an embroidered robe to get ready in.

 

After getting ready, the bridesmaids took their luscious purple bouquets that were surrounded in dusty miller, to meet the groomsmen. They traveled to a few locations around the city, and finally arrived back to the Ivy Room to prepare for the ceremony.

As guests found a seat for the ceremony, they faced a beautiful chuppah; designed by the bride and groom but executed by Cornelia MacNamara. Cornelia hung strings of flowers from the corners, and covered the chuppah with part of Susie’s grandmother’s wedding dress.

After the final kiss, everyone headed inside for cocktail hour. Throughout cocktail hour, every guest took their respective place card off of the clotheslines, and took a picture of themselves with an old fashioned polaroid camera to replace it. Now, the bride has a picture of every guest in a book!

One hour later, guests were invited to enter the main room where a live band, Chicago Catz, kicked off the festivities. This was a New York Style wedding, so there was dancing that took place in between courses. This is a hard type of dinner style to perfect because the caterer has to time out when they think the next course will happen. If the band plays one extra song than our timeline says, it may throw off the food. We partnered with Limelight Catering for this wedding, and it went off without a hitch. Their level of expertise was exactly what we needed to have a delicious and beautiful dinner.

The happy couple cut their cake during dinner service, and smushed it into each other’s mouths! After the cake smushing, they had Limelight cut the rest up and put on a cake display table. Because the couple did not want to waste any cake, they also provided to-go boxes for the guests so they could take it home if they pleased!

The wedding was finished with lots of live music and a few traditional Jewish dances. Many laughs and many smiles, which is what we love to see at the end of a long day.

Other vendors not mentioned previously:
Photographer: Studio This Is
Cake: Bittersweet
Transportation: Windy City Limo

This wedding was featured on Borrowed and Blue, check it out here! Continue to follow our blog to see more REAL weddings to come!

-The Effortless Events Team

Wedding Slideshows – What to do, what not to do?

Do you have a family member or best friend that wants to put together a slideshow to present at your wedding? Have you thought about the logistics of showing one at your venue? There are many questions to ask yourself before you commit because it’s trickier than you would think. Besides just the logistics, there is usually a time and place to show a lovely wedding slideshow.

Logistical questions you should ask the place you want to show the slideshow:

  1. Do they have a screen to project the slideshow on?
  2. Where is the built-in screen placed/where would you put a movable screen?
  3. How large is the screen?
  4. Will the guests in the back of the room be able to see the screen?
  5. Will the sound from the video (music/live footage) come through the DJ/Band’s speakers or self standing speakers? If they won’t go through larger amplification, will your guests be able to hear from the back of the room?
  6. How will you play your slideshow? USB, CD, via email? If you need the internet, make sure to have that already pulled up before play time.
  7. Have you practiced playing the slideshow at your venue? Most likely, your venue rep will allow you to come in early to practice playing it. This way, you will be sure it should run smoothly.
  8. How is the lighting in the venue? It needs to be shown once the sun is set if there are windows, or in a room without much outside light.

 

The ugly truth though is not everyone cares to look through baby photos and a life story of both the bride and groom.

The most fitting time to show a slideshow is at your rehearsal dinner. Here are the reasons why:

  1. The people who care most about your “life story” is your closest family and friends. These are the people who will be at your rehearsal dinner. Does your dad’s work friends and distant cousins want to see photos of you and your partner?
  2. Your rehearsal dinner location has a higher chance of having in-house AV. If you chose to use a private room at a restaurant, most include speakers, a TV/screen, and input abilities (to insert a USB drive or CD). When you look through ALL the logistical questions above, think about if they are easier to answer at your rehearsal dinner compared to your wedding reception.
  3. Screens are intrusive if they are not built into the venue. If there is no “drop-down” screen, you will have to either have the screen pre-set in front of your guests (which takes away from the beauty of the room), or you will have to roll out a screen prior to showing which is slightly obnoxious.
  4. Having a slideshow during your reception is one more thing you have to worry about with the timing. It’s very important that the catering staff has a precise timeline so the food does not get cold, and if there are any mechanical errors with a slideshow, it could really throw things off.

Funny Slideshow

Tips on how to properly construct a wedding slideshow:

  1. Make sure your photos are high-quality. Once blown up on a big screen, pictures easily become depixilated.
  2. Keep the video short! There is a point that every guest becomes bored. Not that they are bored with your relationship, but studies say people have less of an attention span than every before. We think the perfect slideshow does not exceed 5 minutes.
  3. Make sure both the bride and groom have an equal amount of showtime. It’s very awkward if the video is focused more on one side. Even if the groom’s mother made the video and she clearly wants the focus on her son, it’s just as much the bride’sday too, so share the love.
  4. Make sure there is music, and the music is appropriate for the crowd and setting. It’s alright to use slow songs (most people like to during baby photos), but don’t have “depressing” slow songs. It’s a joyous occasion so have the music match. On the other hand, we suggest shying away from “inapropriate party music”. Swearing in songs is not good, especially at a formal wedding or if children are in attendance.
  5. Make sure your slideshow is in chronological order. Starting from baby photos, going through the school years, college, when the couple met, and the “love story”. It will confuse people why the photos are shown otherwise.
  6. Balance out the family photos, friend photos, and selfies. Typically there are the most selfie photos when thinking of going through people’s childhoods. But once at the “grown-up stage” of the slideshow, try to balance out who you showcase. Your guests can only see so many sorority girl shots, or family christmas photos.
  7. Add in some funny pictures or videos! Everyone loves to laugh, so allow your guests to be engaged by throwing in embarrassing photos of you.
  8. If you want to add video footage, space that out between your photos. It’s a nice break of still shots.

 

Now, if you read this blog and still really want to show your slideshow on your wedding day, but agree it’s difficult to have it done during the reception, here in an option. Have the slideshow playing on repeat (with no sound!) during your cocktail hour. This will allow guests to watch as they please, but is not intrusive.

-The Effortless Events Team

Wedding at Emerson Creek

Whenever we see very colorful bouquets, lots of lace, and fields of green, we think back to this vibrant and rustic wedding at Emerson Creek Pottery + Tea Room.

Lets start with the morning. Keri wanted to be in a comfortable setting while getting ready for the long day. Being in her parent’s house was the perfect choice, especially being that it was half way between the ceremony location and the reception location. Keri gifted all of her six bridesmaids with a personalized tote to carry around their possessions with on the wedding day. She also put a few essential items, like water bottles, lip stick, etc., in each bag. Keri was able to tie in her rustic-themed wedding with her bouquets by wrapping them in burlap and lace. The lace closely resembled the lace detail work on the back of her dress.

Next stop – the chapel! Keri and Aaron tied the knot at Century Memorial Chapel, which is located inside Naper Settlement in Naperville, IL. The atheistic of the chapel is beautiful, with very high ceilings constructed of long poles of wood. Then for pictures afterword, the bridal party went around Naper Settlement for a few quick rustic shots.

On to the reception! Keri and Aaron made it to Emerson Creek first, so they could have some more photo opportunities. This wedding was in the late July, so all the grass was healthy and high. During off season, there is nothing like this beautiful background to take photos in front of.

The bride and groom were as sweet as could be. You can tell just by looking at their genuine love for each other, and the ones that surrounded them on their wedding day.

Keri and Aaron did their fair share of DIY touches. Here are just a few:

  1. The colorful fabric banner that stretched across the front entrance
  2. The matching colorful triangle banner that said welcome on the front fence
  3. The chalk board sign that said “With heartfelt delight we welcome you to ‘The Best Day Ever’ – Aaron & Keri, July 25th”
  4. Place cards made of cardboard, safety pinned to rope
  5. They brought their grandmother’s antique lace overlay to put on top of their burlap linen for their sweet heart table
  6. They made “Mr. and Mrs.” sign for the front of their table as well
  7. Keri made her Nothing Bundt Cake topper, which actually matched the welcome sign in the front!

So many personal touches to this wedding that we will never forget. Follow our blog for more inspiring weddings to come!

– The Effortless Events Team