The Beauty of Winter Weddings

Winter weddings are getting increasingly popular these days. I just wanted to share a few pictures from Ana and Jeremy's wedding here on February 13, 2010. They were such a great couple, one of those couples I truly miss working with once the wedding is over. (sniffle, sniffle)


Ana was such a gamer, wasn't she? She doesn't even look cold! And I love the above shot of her at Yerkes Observatory where you can see her wellies. All her bridesmaids received their choice of wellies as their thank-you gift and those are some of the best pictures from the day!

All photographs courtesy of Ideal Impressions Photography.

It was Valentine's Day weekend so we had horse drawn carriage rides available at the hotel. What a wonderful way to arrive for your cocktail reception, no matter what the season!

We have several weddings booked for the upcoming winter season, some with indoor ceremonies, and I'm excited to share those pictures on the blog as they happen.

Real Wedding - May 15

Sorry for the delay in posting pictures from the May 15th wedding here at The Abbey. There was a technical issue and I'm not very technical, so I had to enlist help to get back up and running.



We had a gorgeous day for a wedding last weekend - nice and cool (60's) for the groomsmen! It can get hot out there at the Gazebo in August and the groomsmen get a little antsy in their tuxes sometimes.



There are a lot of different ways to walk down to the gazebo. This bride chose to leave from Building 2.







This wedding was for approximately 130 guests and they had their reception in the Harbor Ballroom. They ended up using the entire ballroom partly because they had a large stage for the band and they set their dance floor in the 2nd section of the ballroom and their tables in the last two sections farthest from the windows. They used the 1st section (the one with the windows) as a cocktail area, as we normally do.







I really like a mix of centerpieces to add interest to the room, especially if all the tables are round. These centerpieces were brought in from Pesche's Greenhouse in Lake Geneva.

All photos courtesy of Mozart Photography.

Congratulations to David and Kelly!

Real Wedding - May 1, 2010

We had our first outdoor ceremony of the season this past Saturday and the weather was excellent. I can't imagine a prettier setting for an outdoor wedding, can you?

After cocktails on the patio, guests went to the Harbor Ballroom for dinner. The colors were khaki and coral - an interesting combination I haven't seen nearly enough of around here.

I like how the colors worked with the existing banquet chairs, too.

Rather than the typical banquet rounds, this bride had us "build" long rectangular tables. I have seen brides use a mix of the two types of tables, but this is the first one that's had all rectangular tables.

Her favors were small white buckets with wrapped See's Candies and a scratch-off lottery ticket. Hayley and I had fun chatting with the bride while we put them together. We got to hear their love story and she teared up while telling us about him. The best part of doing weddings is the personal side of it. Who doesn't enjoy a good love story?


The bride had a beautiful cake from Cakes by Dea. It was cheesecake - my personal favorite!

We usually recommend a colored linen for the cake table to set it off. This one was gorgeous!

Congratulations Kristen and Dave! Best wishes for many years of happiness together!

All photos courtesy of Mozart Photography.