Kris and Ralph 4/28/12

Let's go back to April. I met Kris and Ralph roughly 2 months before their wedding. Planning their wedding from Nashville,Tennesse, they realized they wanted a Day of Coordinator to tie up loose ends, and just make sure that all their planning over the last year came together.  Well the details sure came together and their wedding was nothing but beautiful.

They decided to do a first look photo at the JW Marriott Downtown, a great place to take some photos!http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chijw-jw-marriott-chicago/. Off they went to take photo's around the city before the ceremony. Their photographer Tasha Schalk, from Redwall Photography, http://www.redwallphotography.com/ knows the city really well, plus she's super AH-Mazing so the sneak peak photo's are Beautiful! 

The Ceremony was at the First Immanuel Lutheran Church, http://www.firstimmanuelluth.org/, and music played by an organist/pianist who has played for the Queen of England!! (Of course I forgot his name! )

The unique space that Kris and Ralph chose for their reception was the Aeree Loft, also known as Room 1520, http://www.room1520.com/aeree-loft.shtml. One of the reasons they picked this place is that the venue allows you to have your wedding reception go until 4a.m.! Which not a lot of venues let you do. They had a lot of out of town guests and wanted them to party and enjoy the evening with them for as long as possible.

Another thing Kris and Ralph wanted to do is feed their guests, and boy was there a lot of food! Ralph being Polish they used Polonia Catering, http://www.poloniacatering.com/ and had a family style meal. Pierogis, sauerkraut, Polish Sausage,  and more Oh My! Yum... is all I can say about that menu. Alcolholic Beverages were provided by Binny's, http://www.binnys.com/, and served by Corky's Catering bartending staff, http://www.corkyscatering.com/.

The color theme was yellow and gray. The yellow really popped and looked fantastic! Using white linens with a yellow pop of napkins, on the main tables, and yellow linens for the highboys during cocktail hour really made the yellow come out.  Floral centerpieces by Garland Flowers, http://www.garlandflowers.net/ made the room look great!

A few other things that were super great were using Molly's Cupcakes as the place card holders. Yum...  http://www.mollyscupcakes.com/chicago/home.php.  Another fun idea by the Bride was a Lemonade, Grapefruit, and Iced tea dispensers that were used for the cocktail hour.

Since the space is pretty much your own and there weren't many limitations, the Bride/Groom decided to make the entrance feel like an art gallery, so they blew up a bunch of old family photo's in black and white, and my assistant and I posted them on the wall, it was great, and got a lot of guests talking and loving the old photo's.

Lighting and drapery was done by the great MDM Entertainment, www.mdmentertainment.com  and a unique request by Kris and Ralph was to add a Ginger Rogers black and white film playing on one of the open walls in the background. The couple loves to dance, and loves old movies so this was a very unique addition to their wedding.

Sweets and more goodies. For the sweet table, there were a ton of sweets provided by Polonia Catering, as well as left over Molly's Cupcakes, Garrett Popcorn, homemade sweets by the Bride's mom, chocolates from Nashville, and Denver (where the Bride is originally from) and a huge Oak Mill Bakery Cake, that was stunning!  http://www.oakmillbakery.com/

Entertainment was nothing short of super as well. Ralph's dad is part of a Polka Band, so they had them play in between the DJ they had mixing some great music, DJ Mark Mikowski, from EMM Entertainment, http://emmcc.com/

Overall such a sweet couple, and a great wedding! Thanks again for letting us be a part of your special day!!! Congratulations again!

To view photo's from this day, please go to our Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/weddingsbykarolina  and  www.redwallphotography.com  for some sneak peak photos. Also, to view the video trailer go on the main page of our website and watch it. :) Produced by the fantastic Robert Cawthorne,  Wedding Films by Robert, http://weddingfilmsbyrobert.com/

Love this couple!  :)

Photo's by the great Tasha Schalk, www.redwallphotography.com 

Wedding Season is in full swing!

We apologize for being gone so long from our last posting back in April, but boy have we been busy! We've had 6 more weddings since just our last post, and have worked with some great couples, and vendors! We will continue our posts from all of our weddings. Thanks for following our blog, and being so patient!

Amanda and Bobby 3-10-12

I had met Amanda in August 2011 to discuss ideas to plan her wedding. She had some great ideas, including having a DJ Cabana at her reception. She wanted a night club/lounge kind of feel to her wedding, and boy did it come true!

 March 10, 2012 was a sunny, cool, and windy day, it was also the day Amanda and Bobby got married!  The Ceremony took place at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Huntley, http://www.stmaryhuntley.org/ ,what a beautiful, big church! A special touch to the wedding was that it was officiated by Amanda's Uncle Bernard. 

The beautiful pops of color down the aisle with fuschia and green pomanders, and bright altar arrangements were provided by the lovely Paige from Details in Bloom, http://detailsinbloomnyc.com/. She also brought out Amanda's earthy tones in her centerpieces of manzinita branches, and huge Pomander balls.

The beautiful reception location was at Venuti's, which I love and have worked at many times, http://www.venutisbanquets.com/.

Post ceremony pictures were taken at the Indian Lakes Resort, due to the high winds, we didn't want our lovely Bride/Groom to fly away! lol http://www.indianlakesresort.com/  This is also where the Bride/Groom had their guests hotel blocks.


Beatufiul pictures were provided by Furla Studio,  (below) and the Video was from Furla Vision(which you can view on the front page of this website) http://www.furlastudio.com/  http://furlavision.com/

Entertainment was provided by the great DJ Alan from Okyne Media Lab, http://okynemedialab.com/

The famous DJ Cabana was provided by my friends at MDM Entertainment, Mike, Patti, Nick, and all the hard workers not only did the Cabana, but the lighting, backdrop, and pillars. You can see a picture of this on our facebook page, or MDM's blog, http://www.mdmentertainment.com/

A few other special vendors to make the day special BBJ Linens, for all the linens, http://bbjlinen.com/

Prestige Wedding Decor for Chivari Chairs, http://www.prestigeweddingdecoration.com/About_us.html

The yummy lemon zest cake provided by The Baking Institute, http://bakinginstitute.com/

Last but not least, Exotic Coach limo for Transportation,  http://www.exoticcoach.com/

Thank you again Amanda and Bobby for letting me be a part of your special day! Love you!

Below please enjoy some of my favorite pictures of the special day!

Always read your Contracts!!!

I recently was in a situation with a company that didn't have one of their "policies" on their contract. Now I won't name this company because I don't want to throw them under the bus, but I think it's important to say.

Always, Always, double-triple read your contract with each vendor you hire. Some contracts can be 3 pages long and have fine print, please read it!!  It's not a waste of time, it may help you at the end.

This certain company I just worked with had a "waiting time fee" as one of their policies which was nowhere on their contract, and wanted to charge my Bride/Groom this fee. Since they had a credit card on file they thought they could just swipe the card for this non explained fee on the contract! Not only is this not right, this is illegal!!!

Before you sign away, always ask if there are any hidden policies, or "extra" fees that aren't on the contract, this may be a Red Flag!

Just trying to help my clients to be very careful when signing without reading the contract!

Save-On-Crafts Website

Save on Crafts is one of my favorite websites to get great Wedding Items. http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ Has everything you're looking for. If you're a DIY Bride or just looking for some last minute pieces to make your vision complete, go to this website. 

From Cake Toppers, to Lighting, Candy Bar Supplies to Guest Books, everything you can think of is on this website.


Our Birdcage Card Holders that we rent out are from Save-On-Crafts too!

Visit http://www.save-on-crafts.com/ Today!

Time to check in on Allison and Jordan!

Allison and Jordan got hitched last February, remember them?

 

How could you forget this cute couple!

So what's going on with them, well A LOT!

After spending some time in San Diego for their Honeymoon, and driving up to Joshua Tree to Rock Climb and Hike! (how fun!) They came back and started house hunting immediately!

They found their  perfect dream home in Aurora. Allison's words are, "A tall, blue, American four square with the perfect vintage style in excellent condition".  :) They moved in June 11th.

Then right before Halloween they found out that Baby "K" is due in July!  They're not going to find out the gender, but they're new home came with a nursery already painted in pale green. How exciting!

Congratulations you two, and Happy almost 1 year Anniversary!

Best of Weddings The Knot 2012 Pick!

Thank you for everyone's love and support for making us the Knot's best of Weddings 2012 Pick! We're super excited and honored!

http://www.theknot.com/

Late Night Snack-Nacho Bar!

So you've heard of the late night snack at Wedding Receptions. I've seen Chicago Style Hot Dogs, Cheeseburgers, and mini finger foods, but what about a Nacho Bar! I personally think this idea is great and super fun to have as your late night snack.  Yum!

If anyone would like this for their wedding, I'd be happy to help!  :)

Reminder. We Sell Carlson Craft Save the Dates, Invitations, and Wedding Accessories!

Just a reminder to all Brides/Grooms out there, we sell Carlson Craft Save the Dates, Wedding Invitations, and Wedding Accessories.  Set up an appointment today! 

Hillary Scott Married!

Hillary Scott from one of my favorite country band's, "Lady Antebellum" just got married to Chris Tyrell, a lead drummer of country music trio "Love and Theft".  They wed in New York surrounded by close family and friends.  The Bride wore a Vera Wang strapless mermaid dress, which looks stunning on her.

Congratulations to these two!

Photo Cred US Weekly

In case you haven't heard Drew Barrymore is Engaged!

I happen to like Drew Barrymore, and I'm excited for her recent Engagement to Will Kopelman, an art consultant and son of the former CEO of Chanel.

Read the story here: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/drew-barrymore-engaged-kopelman-175201754.html

My new addiction......Pinterest!

This is such a cute/unique/fun website! Pinterest, http://pinterest.com/  is very addicting!  It's a virtual pinboard, and let's you organize all your favorite things that you find on the web. You can use it for anything, Architecture, Art, Design, Crafts, and of course Weddings! Put all of your inspiration on this pinboard for your Wedding, from your dress ideas, to your favors, to your cake, and even shoes that you love! It will help keep you organize all your ideas.

You can also follow your friends on Pinterest, or follow other people. You can re-pin their favorites on to your pinboard.  To get started go to http://pinterest.com/ you'll be sent a log in, in a few days. Join now!

Where Are They Now........

I decided to start a Where Are They Now section for the Blog, to check in on our past Brides/Grooms and see how Newlywed Life is going. We're starting with Kristin and Gene.  Kristin and Gene were married December 2010, they went to the Mayan Riviera for their honeymoon.  Also, a month after their honeymoon they visited the Holy Land. In February 2011, they found out Kristin was pregnant!  In May, Gene left his job with the city and accepted a job in Florida. Kristin has to finish her last year and a half in her police officer position so she can retire and join Gene in Florida and be a stay at home Mommy.

Baby Michael was born on October 1st, 2011

What a busy year these Newlyweds had.

Check out Baby Michael below, how adorable!

Congratulations Kristin and Gene, and thanks for being our first couple on Where Are They Now! 

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Photo Credit:  Mick Luvin Photography from Naples, Florida

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone rang in the New Year in style!

What a great year 2011 was for Weddings by Karolina! We met some great Brides/Grooms, and helped coordinate their beautiful Weddings. We worked with some great vendors this year, and also worked with one's we've worked with in the past, which is always great!  We also worked with some great and beautiful Venue's.

One of our goals for this year is keeping up with the Blog! We were so busy last year that we didn't update, but we promise to update more this year!

We look forward to a great 2012 season!