Curved Creative Wedding Seating

Wedding Ceremony Seating Arrangements

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Wedding Ceremony Seating Arrangements

When planning your guest list, you can get creative with your wedding ceremony seating arrangements so your guests can see your special day! Especially if you are having an outdoor ceremony there are many options to choose from. That being said, not every wedding seating arrangement works for every size guest list or wedding venue. To help you decide, here are some creative wedding ceremony seating arrangements to get you thinking.

Curved Seating

If you are having a more traditional wedding but want to slightly change it up, curved seating is a great option. You can still have the traditional long wedding aisle to walk down. Your guests will love there is no bad seat in the house because of the varying of row lengths, which creates a less obstructed view. It’s also a great way to make the most use of your ceremony space if it is more wide than it is deep.

Circular Seating

Circular seating arrangements are great for more intimate weddings. Your wedding guests will be up close and personal surrounding you 360 degrees. If you enjoy having your own space, this might not be the ceremony seating option for you. However, if you don’t mind the intimacy, it is a beautiful way to surround yourselves with your loved ones on your wedding day.

Spiral Seating

If you’re going for a unique ceremony, spiral seating is a great option for you. Similar to curved seating there are no bad seats. Spiral seating works well for small or larger weddings due to it’s unique and seemingly endless shape. If you have been looking forward to walking down a long aisle, but didn’t want a traditional wedding, a spiral ceremony seating arrangement provides a long aisle with a fun twist.

Traditional Row Seating

Sometimes classic is classic for a reason. Traditional row seating works with any sized wedding ceremony and venue. If you are overwhelmed with details, row seating is the simple wedding seating arrangement you need. Guests often expect this seating arrangement for wedding ceremonies because of its traditional and common use.

Happy Planning! We hope these wedding ceremony seating ideas will help get your wedding ceremony planning started! For more wedding planning advice and inspiration check out more Chicago Wedding Blog posts below.

Monogram Newlyweds

Five Holiday Gifts Ideas For Newlyweds

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Five Holiday Gift Ideas For Newlyweds

The holidays always sneak up on us. As they are quickly approaching, there is no time to waste in choosing your holiday gifts. for the newlyweds in your life! Here are five great, helpful newlywed gift ideas for the newlyweds we know they will love!

Unpurchased Registry Gifts

An easy gift idea is to buy them any wedding registry gift that was not purchased. You know they’ll love it because they picked it out. Often, there are a bunch of little things left over. This situation can make a fun gift set by wrapping each small gift individually and putting them in a decorative bowl. You can purchase small gifts as one theme, such as baking, to make a well thought out gift.

Newlywed Christmas Ornaments/Holiday Decor

Every family celebrates different holidays and differently at those holidays. Regardless of what holiday the newlyweds celebrate, a great gift idea is to get them “our first married (insert holiday here)” gifts. Whether you choose an ornament, customized wreath, or wall décor; it’s bound to be a keepsake they’ll treasure for years.

Monogrammed Gifts

If the couple changed last names, this is a great gift! You could get the bride(s) their new monogram in a necklace, clothing, or home décor. You could the groom(s) a newly monogrammed leather wallet, cufflinks, or cellphone case. The exciting and new changes couples experience after there wedding are something to celebrate. What better way to recognize their new life together than using their new initials on a gift?

Framed Wedding Photos or Newlywed Family Photos

Wedding photos are some of the most cherished photos for families. We think a great idea to welcome the newlyweds as a family and into their greater families is framed wedding and family photos. Often until weddings, there aren’t many photos with the full family, including both newlyweds. Giving wedding, or new family, photos is a great way to welcome the spouse of your loved ones into your family.

Home Appliances Or Tools

Often, after couples get married they purchase a home or move to a new rental. A great way to help the newlyweds make their home their own is gifting small home appliances or tools. If the couple loves coffee, there are plenty of fancy coffee and espresso makers to choose from. Home improvement tool sets are always useful. If the couple has new furniture to put together or fixer upper projects; tools are the perfect gift.


We hope this gave you some easy, helpful holiday gift ideas for the newlyweds in your life. No matter what holiday you celebrate; we know the newlyweds in your life would love these great gifts! For more wedding planning inspiration and advice, check out more Chicago Wedding Blog posts below! Happy planning!

Jumping The Broom Ritual

Wedding Ceremony Rituals

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Wedding Ceremony Rituals

Every wedding ceremony is personalized by the engaged couple. One way couples personalize their ceremony is wedding ceremony rituals. A ritual can be religious or spiritual in nature, or simply symbolic. The choice is yours as to which you prefer. Here are some unique wedding ceremony rituals to give you some ideas.

Sand Art

Any child of the 90’s will remember the joy of sand art! Each person can choose their own color they’d like. Then, during this ritual the couples will pour both of their sands into the capsule to blend them together. As with most wedding rituals, their meaning is the union between two people becoming one. Couples can then use this capsule as a decorative keepsake.

Unity Candle

A unity candle is similar in idea to the sand. Each person will hold a lit candle and together they will light a big beautiful candle, called a unity candle. The candle makes a great living room keepsake. Who doesn’t love a good candle? Every year on your anniversary you can make use of it again by relighting it.

Jumping The Broom

Jumping the broom is a wedding ritual from the African culture, specifically Ghana. Traditionally a broom is circled over the engaged couple to cast away evil. Then, at the end of the ceremony, the couple jumps over the broom, as a solidifying of the ceremony. The jump of the broom traditionally symbolized a wife’s promise to clean their house and whoever jumps higher over the broom, typically the man, would get to make the decisions in the home. However; in the 21st century most couples embrace this tradition simply as a cultural tradition they want to pass on, not a symbol of the wife being lesser than. Many couples embrace this ritual by applying their own meaning to it such as their embracing of one another’s culture and commitment to their relationship.

Hand Tying Ritual

A hand tying ritual originated from the Pagan and Celt traditions. Some couples, however, just like the meaning of the ceremony, so it does not need to be a cultural ritual. The tying of the hands, also known as handfasting, symbolizes a couple’s commitment to each other through good times and bad. Historically, some traditions would tie a couple together for a year and if they lasted a year being tied together their marriage would last. While we are not recommending you be tied to your fiance for a year, a hand tying ritual is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to each other through good times and bad times. You can later keep the rope, maybe even braid it to create home decor.

Wine or Communion Ritual

In the Christian traditions, some couples will feed each other wine and bread symbolizing their promise to care for eachother. Some weddings do not have a communion service, but just have the couple give communion, bread and wine, to each other. Some people do not come from a religion who participates in communion. In that case, this ritual can also be a sort of blessing that the couple may never go hungry or want for anything.



Each ritual can mean something different to each couple, and that is the beauty of planning a ceremony. Unless you are getting married in a religious denomination with strict guidelines, there are many ways you can customize your ceremony to embrace symbolism that is meaningful to you as a couple. You could even get creative and create your own ritual specific to you as a couple, such as a beer pouring ritual. It is your wedding day! Structure your ceremony to reflect the love you feel for each other. From there, there are no wrong choices. Happy Planning!

Micro Wedding Decor

Micro Weddings

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Micro Weddings

For the couple who are introverts at heart and want a small wedding we are loving the micro wedding trend! It’s as the name implies – only your nearest and dearest are invited to your big day and that makes it a great intimate gathering without all the decision fatigue. Planning a huge wedding is an event in itself and some couples just don’t have the time or will power to get through that. The answer is a micro wedding!

A micro wedding is not only less stress for you, but also nice if you’re on a tight budget.

The average cost of a wedding since 2017 is around $34,000. That’s money you could definitely be spending on your future together not just one day! The micro wedding is not an elopement. It has all the traditions of cake, dancing, wedding ceremony, flowers and speeches. The time allotted isn’t micro, just the budget and size of your wedding party.

The size of your micro wedding can range from 5 guests to 50.

Any more than that and the cost and constraints go up. Of course, having a small wedding means you get to lavish your closest friends and family like royalty. Typically the cost per plate goes up as much as $150 per person, but that’s still within a smaller budget since you’re only inviting a few people. Think Champagne and cocktails that you can customize, party favors that are more personal to the wedding guests, and getting to talk to everyone that comes. You don’t have to have wedding planning stress about making rounds in a huge venue, but instead will get to speak with your loved ones on a personal level for more than five minutes.

Since the size of your guest list is smaller you can consider smaller venues as well!

For micro weddings your venue selection isn’t as limited. You can find unique spaces like libraries or museums that only accommodate a tiny group of people. The venue for your micro wedding can enhance the vibe you’re going for immensely. Even if it’s a destination micro wedding, you can use the setting to decorate for you like a gorgeous sunset, mountain top or aquarium. A lot of venues will have special “mirco wedding” packages available as well!

Tiffanny and Steven at Riverside Receptions

Tiffany and Steven at Riverside Receptions

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Tiffany and Steven at Riverside Receptions October 13th, 2019

In the words of Tiffany…

It was amazing and my florist knocked my vision out of the park! My photographer captured all the perfect moments and all the feels! Dillon from Music By Design kept everyone on the dance floor all night long!

I wanted a romantic enchanted fairy tale fall wedding and I knew from the second I tried it on that the gorgeous Casablanca Bianca dress from Bijou Bridal in Oak Brook Terrace would set the tone for me to build around. This dress was the only dress I did not want to change a single thing about and that is how I knew it was the one.

I have to stay that for my Husband Steven as well, just like the dress I wouldn’t change a thing!

As for my day of wedding look- Annetta Michelle, award winning makeup artist (two years in a row!) from Rockford, IL, gave me the perfect romantic fall glam and Kathya from Meld Studio in Naperville gave me the bun of all buns to top it all off (no pun intended)!

MK, my florist- Flour & Flowers By MK, completed the whole look with the beautiful floral arrangements to go with my romantic fall fairy tale theme!

Tiffany and Steven at Riverside Receptions – Let’s recap all my vendors:

Venue – Riverside Receptions in Geneva
DJ – Chicago Wedding DJ Music By Design
Photographer – Bridgette Burgman Photography
Flowers – Flour & Flowers By MK
Award Winning Makeup – Annetta Michelle
Hair Style – Meld Studio Naperville
Wedding Dress Style #2340 BIANCA – Bijou Bridal – Oakbrook Terrace

All images of Tiffany and Steven at Riverside Receptions is courtesy of Bridgette Burgman Photography.

Tiffanny and Steven at Riverside Receptions
Tiffanny and Steven at Riverside Receptions
Circus Wedding

Wedding Themes

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Wedding Themes

If you’re a bride who wants a traditional white wedding, no need to stress on your wedding theme. An ongoing trend, however, is to have a wedding theme. It’s often easier to plan a wedding if you have a central, unifying idea. So, if you don’t know which wedding themes to choose from; we’ve got some unique ideas!

Vintage theme like Ancient Greece:

This wedding theme will give you all the fun of gold filigree, huge centerpieces and dainty arm cuffs. You can go simple or elaborate with this theme. Think candelabras, white sheer materials, big flowers in the wedding bouquets and fountains! Vintage theme can also transfer to any period of time like the eighteen hundreds too.

Mid Century Modern theme:

This wedding theme is retro! You can go very minimal with a few cogs and gears or add in a lot of greenery for a garden feel. If you want to choose a unique wedding theme with many options, a Mid Century Modern theme may be a great choice! You could apply this theme to the decor, cake, your attire, flowers, or even colors! The skies are the limit with this wedding theme!

Circus theme:

What’s more fun than a circus? With the bright colors and bold patterns, this theme is sure to catch everyone’s eye. You can have a lot of fun with this one and have stilt walkers or jugglers at your reception. A circus theme is also a great choice for a kid friendly wedding. You can even go high-class vintage circus with long gowns and tophats!

No matter what theme you choose from be sure it reflects you and your partner! You can even combine a few themes if you both want different things. Enjoy choosing your wedding theme! For more advice and wedding planning inspiration check out the blog posts below!

Why Hire A Wedding Planner?

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Why Hire A Wedding Planner?

You’re already strapped for cash as it is, so why hire a wedding planner?

We’re delving into this big question because The Knot found that 29% of brides in 2018 hired a planner. Reasons to hire a wedding planner run the gamut from “control freak” to “disorganized hot mess”. If you’re very strict and like to control every detail a planner can still be a good idea to help keep your wedding planning checklist on track. If you’re always late and never remember to feed the dog then a wedding planner will help organize and keep you calm.

Even if you’re on a tight wedding budget, hiring a wedding planner doesn’t have to be a huge expense.

In fact, if you choose wisely, you could end up saving money in the long run! A planner will go over your budget and the legal contracts for venues, live entertainment, etc. They can see holes where money is going down before you do. A lot of wedding planners also have contacts in the industry and can possibly get you discounts. Vendors would sometimes rather bother a planner rather than you since you’re already stressed. A wedding planner is the middleman who takes the emotion out of a stressful situation.

Another great reason to hire a wedding planner is that they are in your corner 100%, they will fight for your dream wedding!

You definitely need to vibe with your planner because they are the ones who can make your vision a reality. The venues and vendors go through several weddings a month, but a wedding planner is solely focused on what you want.

Lastly, hiring a wedding planner is genius because they can coordinate your entire day. If you’re switching between ceremony and reception venues a planner will make sure the transition is smooth. They are worrying about the little details while you enjoy your special day! Even if you can’t afford a planner for the whole day, having one for part of it will make a lot less hassle for you.

floral design

The Wedding Floral Trends Of 2019/2020

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The Wedding Floral Trends Of 2019/2020

2019/2020 should be called the wedding planning year of the flowers! It’s seemed the bigger, and more unique, the better! Whether you have an endless floral budget, or you have to pinch your pennies on your flower budget, we have great, local, inspiration for you! Here are four floral trends of 2019/2020 weddings! See Wedding Flowers By Season.

1.Cascading Canopies

One of our favorite trends this year! We love how they turn your wedding venue into a magical forest! From budget-friendly greenery to luscious florals, canopies add life to your decor. If you are not a fan of flowers, but are in love with different kinds of greens, this may be a great option for you to decorate your  wedding venue with.

2. Floral Hoops

This floral trend has come back into style from decades ago. We can’t get enough of it! Whether you want your bridal party to carry the floral hoops, or you want to use them as decoration for your venue; this trend will add shape and uniqueness to your wedding day. This trend is perfect for avant garde brides who are not a fan of the typical bouquets.

3. Greens, greens, & more greens!

Greenery is a trend that began in 2015/2016 and has been going strong ever since! We can definitely see why this trend has been “in” for so long! Greenery can both help keep your floral budget smaller and also add luscious texture to your florals. There are numerous kinds of greenery you can choose from, which makes it easy to combine different kinds of greenery into a bouquet.

greenery

Photo: Miss Elite Photography, Flowers: Town & Country Gardens, Geneva, Illinois

4. Ginormous bridal bouquets

This year has been the year of the ginormous bridal bouquets. Don’t worry, if you don’t want to sacrifice your budget to have a bigger bouquet. If you are budget conscious, aim to incorporate more greenery and in-season flowers.  If you have the budget to spend, incorporate many shapes and sizes of both greenery and flowers. This trend will be sure to add drama, and of course beauty, to your wedding photos.

huge bouquet flowers

Flowers: Floral Wonders, Geneva, Illinois

We hope this inspiration will both give you ideas for your wedding flowers and introduce you to talented local florists who can help bring your vision to life! For more tips and tricks to help plan your floral budget and look check out more Chicago Wedding Blog posts below!

stylish halloween wedding

A Tasteful Halloween Wedding

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A Tasteful Halloween Wedding

Perhaps you’re planning a fall wedding and want to not only embrace the season, but also Halloween theme! You may be afraid such a spooky, dark theme is too over the top. Because of this, we have great ideas to keep the haunted spirit without exactly saying it’s entirely a Halloween themed wedding.

For starters:

Not all Halloween themed weddings have to be tacky with fake blood and zombies. We love the idea of a masquerade ala the Italian Renaissance or any Victorian era! You can have the ambience of decadent, sophisticated and elegant, with a touch of spookiness.

Halloween Wedding Venue:

The venue can certainly pull of a Halloween themed wedding, more than simply decorating with pumpkin and colorful leaves! We love the idea of a mansion for the reception or a Gothic looking church for the ceremony. When the venue is gorgeous it can double for amazing pictures too! If you want a more overt spooky tone, have your reception at a haunted location. A great example is The Stanley Hotel in Colorado was where Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining. A lot of local historical buildings have their own ghost lore you can capitalize on as well.

Halloween Wedding Decorations:

In tune with venue are the decorations for your wedding. We love huge chandeliers and long drapes. You can also arrange bare branches if the venue has a fireplace all the better for throwing shadows and light. Candles dripping wax are a nice touch. You can also use decorated skulls (picture Dia de los Muertos) on the tables as centerpieces with your wedding theme slogan “until death do us part.” This gives it a fun, slightly macabre feel that your guests will enjoy!

These are just some ways you can throw a tasteful Halloween themed wedding. We love the autumn wedding season because there’s so much variety in how you can show off your big day! For more fall wedding inspiration check out the recommended blog posts below!

feed wedding vendors

Take Care Of Your Vendors! Here’s How And Why!

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Take Care Of Your Vendors! Here’s How And Why!

One of the biggest things you need for your wedding day is help from vendors.

This comes in the form of both paid and un-paid vendors (thinking of your well-meaning uncle who makes his own bourbon)! The best helpers are the vendors you’ve hired such as a photographer, videographer, wedding planner and DJ or band. To show your gratitude for their work, take care of your wedding vendors! Here’s how!

Most couples are on a wedding budget. You’ll need to factor in extra meals to take care of   your vendors.

This is a subject of much debate : do you have to give a meal to your photographers or musicians? Some wedding vendors such as  planners and photographers build in a clause in their contracts. Some couples simply offer it as a common courtesy. These vendors are, after all, holding your entire wedding day memories in their hands. 

You’ll also want to speak to your caterer and ask if those meals are included in your meal fee or are they extra.

Why is it important to feed your DJ and photographer? It is important to show your gratitude by taking care of your vendors. You also don’t want them tired from lack of food, or miss important events if they’re having to only eat a snack. 

Timing is key for giving your vendors time to eat.

For photographers and videographers it’s best to have them eat while you are eating. Then, they won’t miss the cake cutting or first dance. If they come as a pair, even better! You could have them alternate as they take breaks. For the band or DJ it’s best if they eat during cocktail hour. After that, they are ready to go and get everyone up and ready to dance after dinner. 

A happy, well taken care of  vendor is one who will most likely go the extra mile for you on your wedding day.