Kayla Brooke Photography One of the most important vendors you’ll look into first when you start planning your wedding will be your caterer! So many couples describe their dream wedding as “the perfect guest experience.” The way to make that happen? Hiring the caterer to fit your guests needs. Catering is usually the area where most of your budget will be going towards, so you want to make sure you have a trustworthy and communicative point of contact through your catering company. Getting insight from your planner, friends who have hosted their own wedding, and this blog is a great way to st ..read more

Picking great music is super important to couples getting married right now. They want to curate a list, and know that each song played at their wedding is better than the last. The first decision you have to make when it comes to music is whether you want a DJ or a band. Each comes with its pros and cons of course, BUT if you are highly opinionated on the choices for your reception music I would definitely suggest looking into DJs during your open dance floor. Bands tend to be more expensive and will only learn so many songs for each of their customers. If music is your top priority in your ..read more

Everyone has a different vision of what they want their wedding to look like. Whether it be greens and white with exposed brick, bright colors, or even a traditional hotel wedding. Every wedding is different and every wedding is beautiful in its own way. I’m going to share with you my favorite wedding venues in Chicago based on different wedding aesthetics. Every venue in this city is amazing, but finding the perfect one for you can be a difficult decision and hopefully this makes it a little bit easier. 1. Simple & Elegant Morgans on Fulton is one of my favorite venues! It is so beautifu ..read more

If you recently started planning your wedding, you’ve probably found yourself at least once searching “do I need a Wedding Planner?” And while usually my answer is a resounding yes, years of working with couples who are planning their wedding, many great and several not-so-great, here are my signs that working with a Wedding Planner is not for you. You don’t want to have a wedding. This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many couples we’ve tried to help who come to us, usually with limited notice, saying that they’re overwhelmed with the process and want someone to guide the ..read more

Most of the time when we start talking to couples about designing the aesthetics of their wedding, their focus is on color palettes, florals and linens, which, don't get me wrong, are HUGE parts of the design process. But one element that goes widely overlooked is the impact of lighting! Quickly, here’s why lighting design is so important to the overall visuals of your wedding design - most of the time you buy your venue in the daylight, but your wedding, or at least your reception, takes place at night. So what happens when you lose all of that gorgeous natural light when the sun goes down? Y ..read more

Creating a budget can, arguably, be one of the most important processes in planning a wedding. That being said, it also is unarguably the most stressful and intimidating to-do on your list. How do you even begin? What are possible things you might forget to build a budget for? What platform should I use? Let’s talk about how to create a budget for planning your wedding weekend and vendors you don’t want to forget to set a budget for! Creating a budget will look different for everyone! Using excel can be a huge help and even do the math for you, but excel can be overwhelming! Maybe using a bla ..read more

In this city, we have some of the BEST photographers for your wedding! We have had to pleasure to work with so many creative and fun people that we can't wait to share with you! Not only are these people great, they are also unbelievably talented! If you ever need help seeking a photographer...this blog is for you!!! We took a deep dive on some of our favorites- but we had a lot :) and wanted to share them with you! We even added the links to their websites for easy browsing! We can't wait to share the wedding day once again with one of these amazing photographers! The talent in this city is ..read more

It’s one of my favorite parts of the wedding calendar year! Newly engaged couples, bright and excited, starting the very beginning phases of planning their wedding! One of the first conversations many couples have is about their wedding aesthetic and the color palette that they’d like to have. Some couples have a very specific look in mind, but other (usually our math, science, and data people) really struggle in this area. Let’s start how many colors you need in your color palette. I always recommend 5 to my couples. 3 main colors and 2 pops. The reason for this is that it creates dimension ..read more

Your wedding day is going to be stressful. All of your friends and family are coming to see YOU. It's hard to keep your head on the logistics of the day, while also creating long lasting memories! You shouldn't have to worry about where everyone should be going or what everyone should be doing next! These are some of the many reasons why we always will create a wedding day timeline (sometimes multiple) for you, your vendors, and your friends and family. The benefits of creating a timeline I could talk about all day, but let’s discuss what your timeline should consist of? What are the importan ..read more

Budgeting for a wedding can be a ton of stress. Especially when you are hit with the cost of everything that goes into a wedding. Who knew it could cost so much to have something so simple like food at your wedding? It is important to take a step back and figure out your priorities. What do you want to splurge on or save on? That way, you can figure out what a realistic budget looks like for you. In this blog, we dive into a realistic budget for Chicago, because as you can probably imagine...Chicago is pricey! We want all of our clients to have the best experiences and have an overall beautif ..read more