Real Wedding - February 11, 2011

Jessica and Eric got married in the Harbor Ballroom on February 11th - yes, a Friday. The date was 2-11-2011 and a lot of couples like having a cool anniversary to remember. (That's why 9-10-11 is such a popular date this year.)



Their ceremony was held on the steps in Harbor I, just as Melissa and Mark's was last month.



Jessica and her future mother in law worked on most of the decor themselves, including all the bouquets and centerpieces. The Abbey provided the lighting and paper lanterns to finish off the look. I have pictures of the ballroom with the lights on and off, so you can see the difference:

A big thanks to Michelle, from Jamie & Michelle Photography, for sending me these images. And congratulations to Jessica and Eric on a beautiful wedding AND for choosing JAMAICA as your place to honeymoon in February. Excellent pick, guys!

Real Wedding - January 22, 2011

Melissa and Mark had a beautiful winter wedding this past Saturday. The snow was fresh and clean, but not enough to impact travel plans for their 180 guests. Their ceremony was on the steps in the Harbor Ballroom. Take a look:


The bride and groom were out of Rockford, IL and brought in Event Floral to do their flowers and centerpieces. They also supplied some of the linens, including the chair covers. Pink uplighting was done by our in-house AV company (PSAV) and added a lot to both the ceremony and the reception, don't you think?

I always love cute kids involved in weddings, and these two were about as cute as they come! And they did really well considering how young they were; the ringbearer was just barely four!

After the ceremony, guests went out to the foyer for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while we flipped the ballroom for dinner.

Melissa did what I always say brides should do, and that's pay attention to the placecard table! She was very specific that she wanted a round one, rather than the standard rectangular one. She got a colored linen to set off the white cards and did a simple, yet elegant, centerpiece. Good job, Melissa!

After cocktail hour, the whole ballroom was open and it was a "winter wonderland." I'm so glad Matt Mason, a Lake Geneva photographer, was able to get these shots for me right away for this blog. Mark and Melissa had a different photographer, so I just asked Matt to come in and take a few pictures that will help highlight our ability to host beautiful indoor ceremonies. Thanks, Matt!

Congratulations to Mark and Melisssa, who were also kind enough to stop by my office to say goodbye on Monday. So sweet! Have fun up in the Dells, you guys!

Real Wedding - November 27, 2010

Michelle and Jarrett got married at The Abbey on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We didn't have snow at that time, but they did brave some pretty cold temps to get these beautiful outdoor shots prior to the ceremony...

All images courtesy of Alyssa Miserendino Photography.

In lieu of a traditional pillow their adorable ring bearer carried this dish down the aisle, which will be the one they put their wedding rings in when they're not wearing them. I love this idea!

(In case you can't read the words, it says "To Have & To Hold")

I told Michelle about a hundred times that their tasting was one of the most fun afternoons at work I've ever had! It was just her, Jarrett and Michelle's dad and they had me doubled over with laughter almost the whole time. Here's a picture of Michelle and her dad coming down the aisle where you can just tell how funny they both are. I love that their smiles almost match!

That's Marcia officiating Michelle and Jarrett's ceremony. I hadn't had Marcia conduct one of my ceremonies in some time and having her here that weekend made me remember why we always recommend her. She makes the ceremony completely personalized for the bride and groom and is such a calm, peaceful presence to have here on a wedding day.

After the ceremony in the Sandbar, guests went up to the Ballroom Foyer for cocktails and then into the Harbor Ballroom for dinner. There were about 130 guests, so we only used 3 sections of the ballroom and put the dance floor up near the windows.

Floral (and those trees!) provided by Renee at Frontier Flowers of Fontana.

I love these pictures from the reception. Thank you to Alyssa Miserendino for sending them over. Alyssa was so sweet to work with and I think she did a wonderful job capturing the "organic" feeling Michelle and Jarrett were going for with their wedding.

One more thing to note: As cool as I always thought Michelle was, she became even cooler on her wedding day when she told me she was donating her GORGEOUS wedding dress and shoes to an organization that provides bridal gowns to military brides. I'm not sure of the exact organization she's donating hers to, but you can read more about this cause here.

Congratulations to Michelle and Jarrett!

Real Wedding - August 14, 2010

I know I'm reeeeeeally late with this one, but it took awhile to get the pictures of Lacy and Alan's wedding from back in August. Remember this post? Well after spending several hours outside in their bathrobes, Lacy and Alan were able to get back into their rooms and fixed up for their beautiful summer wedding....

Lacy is the only bride I've had so far who's been brave enough to make her grand entrance from the 2nd floor - so dramatic! She met her father at the base of the steps and then proceeded down the aisle toward the Harbor Gazebo.

Full disclosure: Lacy did a "dry run" down the stairs in her shoes a few weeks before, just so she'd feel more confident that her entrance wouldn't be THAT dramatic!

The reception was in the Tent and she did a great job working out the colors and lighting. She did a mix of two different shades of blue for both the accent linens and the paper lanterns hung from the ceiling.

Alan, being from England, needed to have a proper traditional English wedding cake. (This was a supplement to the larger American wedding cake.) Inside, it was similar to a fruitcake, but we affectionately called this the "boozecake" because it was marinated in brandy for several weeks prior to the wedding. They also had English truffles on the dessert table, which was the first thing Alan asked me about when I saw them during the fire: "Are the truffles ok?" I thought that was so funny!

Photobooths are so fun! This one was provided by MiPhotoBooth.

All images courtesy of Dean Thorsen Photography.

Congratulations to Alan and Lacy, one of the most fun couples I've ever had the pleasure of working with!

Real Wedding - October 9, 2010

Jacque and Niko got married in Greece this past summer but planned a reception at The Abbey to be held on a beautiful fall day. It just doesn't get any better!

After cocktails on the Waterfront Patio, guests headed into the Harbor Ballroom for an elaborate buffet dinner.

The gorgeous floral was provided by our favorite florist, Renee. She always does such a beautiful job!

All images courtesy of Ideal Impressions.

As you can see, it was a great party! Congrats to Jacque and Niko!