I took off Wed, Thurs, Friday before the wedding.

I’m so glad I did.  We had family coming in starting on Wed.  I had stuff to do, and we had to pack up SO MUCH STUFF and take it to the hotel. I was also freaking out about the weather at this point, so I was searching for a shawl to wear.  On Thursday, we went and got a couples massage and that was very calming.

Friday we got our nails done, and still searched for a shawl.  I ate lunch at Taco Bell.  It was good.

Right before the rehearsal I put my RD dress on and it was big.  It slid a little bit, and I was worried.  I hadn’t weighted myself in a while, but I think i had lost about 5 pounds at that point.  But the wedding dress fit the next day.

At the rehearsal, everything went by so fast.  I felt like I really had to talk to everyone at the dinner, and we had tall bar tables which weren’t conducive to sitting for a long period of time, so I mingled the whole time.  Becky made me eat, otherwise I wouldn’t have.

I spent the night at the hotel Friday night after the rehearsal.  Best idea ever.  My maids stayed with me so I wasn’t lonely.  Next up:  getting ready in the morning!

I loved our photos.  I couldn’t have asked for a better photographer.

Laura Meyer Photography

Laura met all of our needs.  I didn’t really want a “wedding album” so she custom-made a package that fit our needs.  She also did our fab engagement photos, and I did some boudoir photos as well.

She was willing to meet our price point, and I would recommend her to anyone.  I love love love the photos, and we’ve gotten so many compliments about them.

The programs……….

We were greeted at the cocktail hour by tons of goodies.

My mother in law worked VERY hard on Friday to create a bird-like atmosphere for our card box.

Photo Booth!

We peeked into the reception before everyone else came in.

Table numbers on wine bottles that my MIL made.  She changed our wedding invite to say we were married!

Menu that I made about a week before.

We had been to many weddings where there was nothing to do but drink at cocktail hour.

So I made coloring books and Brendan made trivia cards.

Guestbook.

Escort Cards (my little sister did them all Thursday night)

I love being married, but I have no regrets about it being done.  I am so glad it’s over.  I think that people who have a lot of wedding regrets didn’t do everything they wanted to do.  We did everything we wanted to do.  And we loved it.

Some women say they have a “post-wedding depression” after it’s all over.  I couldn’t be farther from that statistic.  I unsubscribed from all the wedding blogs and I never looked back.  I loved my wedding, and it was perfect.

Regrets:

Not taking photos with headphones in the record store

Not having the deejay announce late night snacks

Not going in the photo booth more

That…………..is…………………it.

And those are such tiny details that don’t really matter.  At all.

All outside of the Art Institute, all by Laura Meyer Photography.

Maid of honor and Best Man.

I broke down and bought the umbrellas a week before the wedding.

Best

Purchase

Ever.

We needed them, the rain was on and off.

Get ready and………

Jump!

Back to the hotel to meet up with the ushers.

Here is the schedule we used.  Feel free to copy.

WEDDING DAY INFORMATION:

LIST OF IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS:

Bride                          Anne

Groom                        Brendan

Wedding Party -

Maid/Honor
Bridesmaid 1
Bridesmaid 2
Bridesmaid 3
Best Man
Groomsman 1
Groomsman 2
Groomsman 3

Usher 1

Usher 2

Parents -

Mother of Bride
Father of Bride
Mother of Groom
Father of Groom

Vendors –

Day of Coordinator  Sara Price
Hotel Coordinator   Sinisa Sirdic
DJ                                Mary Nisi
Officiant                     Tony Grimwade
Cake                           Georgia

Photo booth              Jeff Berger

Videographer           Steve Goodman

Florist                         Addison Ashland

Photographer            Laura Meyer

String Quartet           Michael Frigo

Venue:

James Hotel Chicago

55 E Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60611

DAY OF TIMELINE

7:45 AM – Breakfast, Shower

9 AM – Hair/Makeup Appointments
Mario Tricoci

Anne:  Hair:  Lynnae, makeup:  Brandon

900 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60610 (basement)

847-202-4236

11am:  Lunch- the Grand Lux Café.

600 N Michigan (bridesmaids and bride)

12:30 PM – Bridesmaids arrive to bridal suite bride to put on dress, jewelry.   Bridesmaids’ hair and makeup done, ready to go by this time.

Photographer, 2nd shooter begin shooting day.

Photographer arrives at bridal suite.

2nd shooter to hook up with Groom/Groomsmen at this point.

Groom’s location The James Hotel
Brendan- Groom’s phone #

Clay- Best Man’s Phone #

12:45PM – Put on dress, Pictures of putting on dress, bridal details (all rings, jewelry, shoes, dress, etc)

1:00 PM – Personal Flowers Delivered to Bridal Suite by Florist.
Bridal Suite James Hotel

1:30pm Day of Coordinator there to receive flowers and distribute.

Champagne!

2:00 PM – Bride Departs to meet Groom at Reckless

2:15-3:00 – first look, bride and groom portraits

Reckless Records

26 East Madison

Contact/Manager:

3:00 – 5PM – Photography

Everyone is entirely dressed and ready to go before arriving at the Art Institute at 3:00pm.

3:00pm Art Institute (meet on steps)

• Bride/bridesmaids
• Groom/Groomsmen

3:45pm Wrigley Building

• All Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

4:15pm River Walk- Ushers Join (meet at Wabash and Wacker)

• Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Ushers

4PM – DOC returns to hotel to oversee setup

5:00 Family Pictures in James Hotel Lobby (both families be there at 4:45pm)

5:30pm- Pictures wrap up…everyone get inside to cool off and relax…Photographers take detail pictures at this point…everything should be set up by now.

Between 6:00-6:15 – Ceremony Starts
6:45 – Ceremony Ends, Cocktail Hour Begins

6:45-7:45 – Cocktail Hour

7:45 guests are asked to be seated for dinner, bar closes

8:00- Guests are seated for dinner,

Grand Entrance, Bridal Party Dance

8:10 – Champagne Toasts.

8:25 Cake is Cut

8:30:  Dinner is served.

Bride and Groom take pictures with each table after eating.

9:15:  First Dance

9:20 – Father Daughter dance, Mother Son dance (Simultaneous)

9:30- Dinner cleared, Cake is Served, Bar re-opens, Dancing begins
Ushers bring gifts to the bridal Suite with Day of Coordinator.

Sara leaves, Mary takes over

12:30- Last Dance, Last call.  (Determines how tired we are)

We walked around the city to take portrait shots.  I wanted to go to the art institute, and we went though Millenium park.

Outside the Art Institute.

I bought Brendan these socks the day before.

These last ones were taken back at the James right before my Bridezilla moment (more on that later)

1

The first look:

All photos courtesy of Laura Meyer Photography.

I called a local record store the week before the wedding to make sure we could do the first look there.  They didn’t mind.

I had the boys call when Brendan left, then I waited 10 minutes before we caught a cab.  We beat Brendan to the record store, and everyone was confused how we had beat him.  I knew it though, he walked.  Gotta get that excercise.

Me waiting

patiently waiting to go in.

Our first look at each other…………….

Let’s buy some records.  So casual!

Some of the other patrons wanted to kill us!  Oh well.

Ahh, on to portraits!

I am going to start recapping as soon as we get the professional photos back. Maybe some other photos, but the one’s I’ve seen aren’t the best ever.

I cried last night I had such a bad day at work. Total mental breakdown. But I promise I’ll get out of the funk soon.

BTW: Who got us a rice cooker? You didn’t leave a card.

I am still recovering. Now, looking back, I can’t believe I did it. Started a new job, did my National Board certification, was in a Masters Program (3 more months) and planned the wedding.

The Wedding:
Perfect
Tear-Jerking
Dancing
Funny
Fabulous
I loved EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

And I really have no regrets. It makes me so sad when Bridal Bloggers list their “should haves”. We got married! That’s all that matters!

I will blog about it more when I get all the pictures and finish recovering. My house is filled with wedding crap that I still need to go through, we just finished opening gifts on Saturday, I have a million thank you notes to write. Excuses, excuses. It’s only been a week, people!

Right now I am pissed because Brendan and I can’t share an Iphone plan because he has a different area code on his phone number. So I still have my jankity red razor phone.

Okay, a day of returns (extra cardstock, bone folders, wedding undies I never wore (I SWEAR)).