intimate wedding

Intimate Dim Sum Restaurant Wedding Chicago

 

Dim sum, trivia with fun prizes and a red wedding dress??? This nontraditional, intimate wedding at Furama Restaurant on Chicago’s north side had my name written all over it.

Ann and Erik decided to elope at City Hall and then host a party featuring all of their favorite things! I can’t tell you how much I love the idea of a small, private ceremony and a relaxed, intimate party that’s true to you! Also, you know I’m forever a sucker for a bride in a non-white dress, there’s nothing cooler in my book.

The couple hired their favorite bar trivia MC to host their wedding reception trivia over a dim sum dinner. I didn’t know these two things perfectly belong together but they really do.

The winning trivia team won a ton of cool nerdy (meant fully with love as a fellow nerd) and vintage prizes including books, movies and games!

A & E mixed a few more traditional moments into their unique reception, like toasts and a first dance.

They also had a little photo booth sort of area set up for me to take some fun portraits of their guests in. This is difficult to achieve without adding a full option for it at a standard wedding, which is why I love the freedom and flexibility of these smaller celebrations! I always feel like I get to know your guests better and at a wedding like this you know I had an absolute blast getting to meet everyone!

If you ever need unique wedding reception ideas or to chat about how coverage can work for these options don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m a huge fan of these sorts of celebrations and would love to continue to document more like this!

Xoxo, Jordan

 

Self Officiated Wedding With a Mix of Traditions

 

Where to even begin! Meghan and Max’s wedding will go down as an all time favorite for many reasons but mainly because their ceremony was so unique. In my now 10+ years documenting weddings they are the only couple I’ve witnessed officiate their own ceremony (which is absolutely an option in the state of Illinois - did you know that?!). On top of a unique ceremony, the couple sprinkled fun details that were so true to themselves throughout their wedding day. Let’s take a look back!

The couple used an Airbnb rented by friends to get ready at together that was down the street from their venue The Secret Garden located in Pilsen. You already know that I adore when couple’s get ready together. Meghan even did her own hair and makeup!

The couple made all of their own decor based off of favorite books and movies and I really couldn’t love it more especially in this venue - it all tied together so well!

I really love the moments just before the ceremony begins. The couple mixed Jewish traditions with non traditional choices throughout their ceremony in a way that felt so uniquely them. This last photo of Max putting the veil on Meghan is one of my favorites from this day.

Like I said before, the couple ran their own ceremony and officiated their actual union but they had plenty of help from family that preformed a mix of wedding rituals and readings.

The couples reception was just as sweet as their ceremony. Family members gave meaningful toasts and the whole thing was recorded live for family who was unable to travel.

After dinner and toasts dancing was kicked off in the garden with the hora! Following that guests enjoyed ice cream, drinks & dancing and cigars on the back patio.

A huge amount of thanks goes out to this incredible couple who hired me as one of their few vendors in their mostly DIY wedding day!

Venue: The Secret Garden in Pilsen, Chicago IL

Catering: Honky Tonk BBQ