Lake Geneva Wedding at Hawk’s View Golf Club

A whimsical, romantic celebration of love

The Beginning

Jess and Tommy fell in love at first swipe. When they met on Hinge, they realized they shared a handful of mutual friends and would sometimes be at the same events and parties but just never ran into each other. “The timing must have never been right, until it was!” Over the course of their relationships, they talked a few times about getting married one day. One day, the two took a trip to Madison to explore the city with their dog Ranger. Tommy insisted on getting a photo of them outside the capitol building. When Jess handed the phone over to a total stranger to snap the picture, Tommy got down on one knee!

The Dress

Jess found her dream wedding dress, a Lillian West, at Grace and Lace in Richmond, Illinois. She knew it was “the one” when she had butterflies in her stomach and her mom and sister teared up when she tried it on.

The Celebration

Jess and Tommy had their wedding at Hawk’s View Golf Club in Lake Geneva on a perfect 75º August day. The venue boasted an absolutely stunning view and amazing scenery, which is still one of the couple’s favorite memories from the day. The newlyweds shared their first dance as a married couple to “First Times” by Ed Sheeran. During the reception, the dance floor was outside under the pavilion. Guests loved being able to enjoy the weather throughout the evening as they relaxed and danced to music from Delta Disc Jockeys. After the best day of their lives (so far), Jess and Tommy honeymooned in Fiji at the Nanuku Resort.

The Décor and Activities

The color palette for Jess and Tommy’s wedding included rose and champagne with hints of gold and sage green. The flowers from Trellis Weddings were breathtakingly beautiful! “My florist truly knocked it out of the park,” Jessica shared. There were a number of personal touches around their venue, including custom matchbooks with their dog Ranger on them, along with an open bar sign that read, “Drinks are on Ranger.” The couple also had a photobooth, which they had lifesize cutouts created of themselves people could take pictures with – something that started as a joke but became reality.

The Food and Drinks

Everything on Jess and Tommy’s wedding menu, catered by the venue, was delicious. Hors d’oeuvres served during cocktail hour included Southwest egg rolls, buffalo chicken skewers, bruschetta, and stuffed mushrooms. For dinner, guests enjoyed ravioli, Italian baked fish, and sun-dried tomato chicken. Dessert featured three different flavors of cake from Blackbird Bakery in Burlington: yellow cake with raspberry buttercream, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, and yellow cake with vanilla buttercream. There were also cannolis, butter cookies, and summer tarts. The late-night snack, of course, was pizza!

The Photos

Brilliant Bee Photography captured all of the beautiful moments throughout the day. Jess loves looking back on memories, so she wanted to make sure she hired a wonderfully talented photographer.

Words of Wisdom from the Bride

“Becky gave us the best advice at the rehearsal – take 5 minutes during the night to go stand in a corner and just look at the wedding, people chatting, drinking dancing, and just take it all in. We did that and are so glad we did. I remember Tommy grabbing my hand and being like, “Let’s take a step back like Becky said,” – it was so worth it.

I also recommend doing a honeymoon right after the wedding! You’re still on cloud nine and in that newlywed bliss, so it doesn’t feel like just another vacation. Truly such a magical time for the two of us!”

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