A Gorgeous Spring Chicago Wedding: Scott and Sarah

Happy Monday! Our friends Scott and Sarah moved to Pensy a few months ago after their May wedding in Chicago. After I saw their wedding video I asked Sarah if I could share it with you all because it was beautiful and SO fun. Seriously, their wedding was gorgeous and I love love love everything about it, from the bridesmaids dresses, to the coral and "vintage berry" color scheme, to the watercolored save the dates, to the plethora of peonies. If we had had a Spring wedding I like to think it would have been very similar to this one 

Having gotten to know Sarah and Scott over the past few months, it was so special to see how their love for each other as well as the silly parts of their relationship really shine through in their video. They are the coolest/cutest. (Side note: Their video was done by a good friend with no professional videography experience. He killed it right?!)

 I asked Sarah if she wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about her inspiration and the planning process for anyone who may be planning a wedding, or just likes to read about wedding things...

(All photos by the talented Amelia of Amelia Ann Photography)

The Pink

Never in her life did Sarah think that she would have a pink wedding and that her husband would be ok with it! But, when it came around to her wedding to Scott, she felt that the color scheme fit the season of life they were in. They wanted their wedding to be elegant and yet still young, fun and, especially, whimsical. She also really wanted to make sure that the colors that she chose worked florally, which was evident in the lovely assortment of peonies, garden roses, ranunculas and greens that can be seen throughout the wedding. 

Favorite Parts of the Planning Process

Sarah loved working and collaborating with all of her vendors. She felt that they truly took on and imbued her vision into every part of the wedding, and as a creative herself, she cherished getting to know and work with such talented people. (For a full list of Sarah and Scott's vendors see the list at the end of this post.) Also, she mentioned that she loved being able to use certain DIY aspects to spend time with some of her favorite people. For example, a few days before the wedding her mom, aunt, sister, grandma, and best friends all hung out and helped her put the favors together. (Each guest had a strawberry champagne macaron waiting for them at their table...yum!) Sarah's family is also super into fitness, so the morning of the wedding the whole family and wedding party ran a 5K together, complete with matching t-shirts saying "Love runs in the family." Adorable.

Sarah brought in a little aviation by creating a seating chart using watercolor dip-dyed paper airplanes!

Hardest Part of the Planning Process

When asked about what the hardest part of planning was, Sarah shared that Scott was away at OCS for the majority of the process, and had little to zero ability to communicate. Therefore, Sarah had to make a lot of the decisions by herself, without any input from Scott. Sarah and I both agreed that while so much emphasis is put on "The Bride" and her big day, it truly was both of their big day, and it was emotionally trying not being able to make decisions together. Not to mention, wedding planning can be so fun and it is something that naturally you want to share with your partner. Sarah was super grateful for the input and support of her friends and family during this time. She would also email Scott updates at OCS that, when he got internet, she hoped were entertaining for him to read and distracted him for a moment from the rigor of his training.  She made a point to save some of the more fun decisions till closer to the wedding so that she could bring Scott into the process. These included their food tastings and a final walk through with every vendor so that Scott could really feel like he knew how everything was going to look and feel the day of. 

Biggest Piece Of Advice in Planning a Wedding

 Sarah had some awesome advice for anyone planning a wedding: have little events where your wedding party, family, and guests can meet and hang out before the actual wedding, and where you can spend quality time with them. This will not only make the wedding itself more comfortable and fun for everyone, but will also take the pressure off of the Bride and Groom to catch up with each and every one of their guests on the day of the  wedding as it won't be the first time they have seen most of their guests in a while. Classic examples of this are traditional events such as showers, engagement parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties. Some non-traditional ideas include  inviting people from both the groom's and the brides's life who don't know each other yet over to your house for a casual get together, a night out on the town, or if you are bad-ass like Scott and Sarah--a 5K! 

(I cannot echo this advice enough. John and I had quite a few mingling events before our wedding, from beautiful parties that people threw for us to a bunch of my college friends and his guy friends all meeting up in DC for a couple of nights out. Our friends and family had so many chances to meet and get to know each other that during the actual wedding it was such a joy to see them all together having the time of their lives together as friends in their own right who now hang out and keep in touch!)

The Navy

 Sarah had never actually seen Scott in his formal Navy whites before she saw him at the end of the aisle! Even better-- Scott had just graduated from OCS just before the wedding and they didn't really have a lot of time to talk about Navy traditions, so Scott completely surprised Sarah with their sword detail! I love that even though Sarah did the majority of the planning while Scott was away, he still got to sneak in such a beautiful and symbolic Navy tradition in light of them embarking into not only marriage, but also life in the Navy. Not to mention--he completely swept his beautiful bride off her feet in the process. Bravo! 

The Real Deal

Sarah and Scott had such a gorgeous wedding, but what is even more wonderful is the real joy and love that resonates from their pictures and video. I loved hearing about the moment that Sarah, on her father's arm,  turned and looked down the aisle at Scott and it felt as though everything clicked into place. She shared how she thought to herself "That is the face. That is the face that was meant to wait for me at the end of this aisle." She had spent years of her life, like many people, wondering who would be waiting for her there-- and there he was. She shared that although much of the day was a bit of a blur, she remembers the ceremony in clear focus. She felt as though it was just her and Scott, standing before the Lord, taking vows to love each other as He had first loved them. Amen. 

Sarah thank you so much for sharing about your lovely wedding! I so loved hearing all about it, and love even more witnessing your marriage and how you two are living out the promises you made to each other that day. 

xoxo,

Emily

Vendors:

Flowers: Alicia Kiewitt (find her at Fleur)

Dress: Ultimate Bride

DJ: PROESG

Food and Cake: La Cuisine Catering

Makeup: Beth Follert

Venue: Columbus Park Refectory (Park District of Chicago)

Photography: Amelia Ann Photography

Videography: Chris Erdos

Favors: Vanille Patisserie

Bridesmaids Dresses: J. Crew

Bridesmaids Robes: SilkandMore shop via Etsy

P.S. Wondering what song Sarah and her bridesmaids are jamming out to in their to-die-for robes while they are getting ready? Firework by Katy Perry. Girls after my own heart.