Our Chicken Adventure As a joke one morning during my coffee walk, I mentioned I wanted to find the BEST fried chicken sandwich in Chicago. The IG fam did not think this was a joke and provided me with many an option and many opinions. With the city opening up a bit more - I figured, why not, let’s compile these and have ourselves an adventure. Many spots were within the Lakeview/Lincoln Park area, which is where I live. But there were quite a few in other places which would make for a great Sunday afternoon bike ride.  As I write this, I have gone to 12/36 spots, and while I have ..read more

  Reem and Ahmad’s wedding was one for the books. You have not seen glamour and fashion until you’ve seen Reem’s friends, but more importantly, you have not seen love until you’ve seen Reem’s friends. With no wedding party, Reem’s pals were getting ready with her just for fun, and they were they for every little thing - hyping her up, zipping up her dress, helping put her shoes on, etc. While there was no ceremony, they did have a few grand entrances with a ring ceremony in front of all their guests. The night was filled with so much dancing and heck their DJ even got me to dance along w ..read more

  Sean and Carleigh’s wedding was much awaited. It was right on the cusp of Chicago’s bridge phase and we had toyed around with the idea of moving everything outside that would ultimately be cut short with the sound ordinance at 8pm. Luckily, we were able to move back inside and dance the night away for our first wedding weekend of the season. After some classic Chicago skyline views, they moved over to Bridgeport Art Center for their ceremony and reception. With a glass of champagne in hand, their friends and families watched them say “I Do” in front of two beautiful floral pieces that ..read more

  Joanna and Brent’s big day happened the week Chicago finally opened to bridge phase, meaning at the last minute we were able to increase their guest count from 50 to 115. This wasn’t a major surprise since we saw the state trending this way, but it did make the postponement that much sweeter. Joanna and Brent were able to celebrate with even more friends and family even though they had agreed that one postponement was enough and they weren’t going to wait any longer. Their wedding was the first of Your Day by MK’s wedding season, and there was nothing sweeter than getting to start the ..read more

  Our Trip: We drove from Chicago to Cedar Falls Campground for one night. Then we drove to Bayfield Wisconsin, where we took a ferry to get to Madeline Island and stayed at Big Bay State Park. There we swam in Lake Superior, and biked all around the entire island, and just read our books in our hammocks. From Madeline Island, we drove to Grand Marais, Minnesota and stayed at Grand Marais Campground and Marina and had the most beautiful views of the lighthouse and shore each morning and evening. We ate donuts from World’s Best Donuts, hiked all along the shoreline, and learned a bunch ab ..read more

  Items the couple should do: 1. Please indicate on your invitations what level of dress you'd like your guests to come wearing. 2. Please still explain in greater detail what you mean on your wedding website, for real, set those expectations - DO NOT THINK people will just 'know'. White Tie This is the swankiest of swanky! This is truly like a diplomat dinner at the white house. It’s quite unlikely you’ll ever be in this attire for a wedding, but just incase! Suit wearers are required to wear a tux with tails, white tie, and white shirt. Dress wearers are in floor-length gowns with ap ..read more

  Nate and Janie started dating a few months before Nate graduated from Notre Dame. And ever since then, they have been long-distance. Even the first few months of their marriage were long-distance, since they are both in the medical field and had to wait for Janie to match at the same hospital Nate was at. But even through the distance, they had a gorgeous intimate wedding with their closest family and their wedding party in Minneapolis this past fall. I knew Janie a bit while at ND since we were in the same dorm, but this is one of those moments where it’s so amazing to be included in ..read more

  When your pals get engaged, you never know if you should get them a gift right away or wait for the engagement party. Here is a list of 20 of the best engagement gifts you can give whether you want something fun, practical, or classic! Fun Engagement Gifts {The And} Couples Edition A great game for couples on long drives, nights in with wine, or just wanting to get to know each other a bit better. $25 Get This at SkinDeep Custom Cutting Board Instead of getting your pals a shirt or a sign, get them a cutting board they can use time and time again! It can be something as simple as jus ..read more

  The standard wedding flow is a ceremony to cocktail hour to dinner and then dancing the night away. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good dance party, but there are some people who don’t think dancing to Whitney Houston represents who they are as a couple. Here are a few different options for your reception just incase dancing is not something you can or want to do. #1 Tip: When going the “alternate” route for your wedding, get your key people on board from the beginning. You’ll need folks to “buy-in” to the fact that you’re not just grabbing your fav drink from the open bar and scream ..read more

  The second week of January, I had such a clear moment of despair. Willem and I had just made our vision boards and I thought, wow half of this won’t come true this year because of the state of the world.  Then I saw that Chicago photographer, Anna Zajac, had made the plunge and drove out to AZ for a bit before buying a little bungalow. I don’t know her decision-making process, but I thought if she can just do it, so can we. January 13th I proposed the idea of leaving for a month and Willem said if I could make it work, he’d be down. We booked a house on January 16th.  I reach ..read more