I was first introduced to Sarah and JD a year and a half ago when a mutual friend of ours recommended me to help decorate their new condo they had just purchased. (Did I tell you I was a commercial interior designer? No, oops…. well that’s a whole other story!) For this adventure, we brought their Spring Wedding at Café Brauer to life! Complete with perfect spring showers and umbrella featured photo ops.

Our mutual friend hooked us up together and so began the process of working with their builders to outfit their entire condo! (Turned out absolutely beautiful, by the way.) In our many initial back-and-forths, JD looked me up online and realized that my website lead to a wedding coordination business and not my interior design work… luckily, the two of them were ALSO recently engaged. Que the music to fortunate timing and lots more fun for the three of us!

Quickly, Sarah and JD realized they had just scored a two-for-one special. While we were out in Chicago, shopping for headboards and new lounge chairs, we also chatted about wedding plans.

Thankfully for me, they both knew exactly what they liked, both in their home and on their wedding day. These two were quick to respond and to make decisions on all aspects of their life. Sarah also has really exceptional taste! Which helps the planning process a lot. And since I knew what color every rug and accessory in their house was going to be, I already had a pretty solid idea of what the wedding day color palette might be! And I was right…

Sara and JD’s wedding day at Cafe Brauer was a classically elegant affair with a neutral color palette with contrasting greenery and fluffy bright whites. Just like their new home! Every detail was immaculately selected and placed by a wonderful team of vendor partners.

Kloeckner Preferred Flowers provided gorgeous blooms for the ladies, gentlemen, and the reception area. A variety of centerpieces were made to compliment Cafe Brauer’s impressive dining room. Tigerlily Events provided all of the catering, staffing, bar, and sweets, which was a hit. FROST lit the dance floor beautifully with a custom colored floral pattern all night. All of the signage and stationary were created by Sarah through Minted and lovingly placed by my studio team.

Sarah’s gorgeous dress was from Lovely Bride, and perfectly suited her sophisticated elegant style. She paired that with stunning heals from Badgley Mischka. which she later traded for flip flops on the dance floor, of course. Breathtaking ring selections from Traditional Gems, Inc here in Chicago. The Beauty Crew made sure every lady was looking her best before photography started with our first look by Todd James Photography and 312FILM.

All the men were outfitted from The Black Tux in classic shiny black tuxedos with bright white floral boutonnieres (highly recommend TBT services if you’re considering them!). And they looked dapper as ever. I definitely need to do a tutorial on how to pin a boutonniere…. because trust me, no one knows how to do this (let alone spell it)!

And they were all swept from venue to venue in a darling white trolley from Absolute Dream Limousine. Thankfully, it kept them out of the sprinkles while they darted from photo location to location.

couple on their wedding trolley to cafe brauer

After a gorgeous church ceremony at Saint Michael’s in Oldtown, everyone made their way to Café Brauer. Where Toast & Jam DJ was already set up and providing mood music for the cocktail hour. Which quickly progressed into one of the danciest receptions I’ve been to all year! Such a fun crew to party with!

A simple wedding cake adorned the dance floor. But lots more desserts came out later.

And after a long night of dancing and revelry, everyone was Uber’ed and Lyft’ed back to their hotels… most of which were staying at the InterContinental Chicago on Michigan Avenue.