Real Wedding: Erin & Kenny

Erin and Kenny met for the first time at a Chicago Blackhawks game in the fall of 2009 (if you don’t know what that is it’s a hockey game, lol).  By July 2012 Kenny proposed on a balcony of the Aqua building overlooking Millennium Park, and then they celebrated with dinner at Aria.

Something I really liked was their wedding website.  It was all about them, the bridal party (who btw were all siblings), accommodations, what to wear, the wedding events, off site activities, travel advice, registries and much, much more.  I highly recommend this to any future bride because I’m ‘THAT’ guest who likes to know what’s going on and read all the details. I would like to personal THANK Erin and Kenny for making things easy for their guests!

The wedding was at The Red Crown Lodge, a favorite vacation spot for the bride’s family. The lodge made it only accessible to the wedding guests that weekend, NICE! The wedding wasn’t just a day outing. The couple made the whole weekend their wedding. On Friday, they had golf outings, a pontoon shopping cruise, lakeside water & recreation activities, a welcome BBQ and THE BEST part – a campfire with s’mores. How relaxing and comfortable is THAT?

You’d think with all that on Friday they’d be done, but NOOO. Saturday, they had lakeside water & recreation activities plus water skiing for the guests. Not to mention lunch and pontoon cruises. I don’t know about you, but I am impressed at how they kept their guests busy, yet relaxed. I am not a fan of wasting a whole weekend for an out-of-town wedding only to sit in the hotel room bored. This certainly is not the case for this wedding. They picked an ideal location and venue. I should mention The Red Crown Lodge provided the bride and groom with a private cabin so they could unwind. *sigh*

Erin wore a strapless lace dress, and her shoes were “something blue” to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. Kenny wore a custom suit instead of a tux, and the lining incorporated the blue as well. The morning of the wedding Erin took a pontoon cruise and enjoyed mimosas with her friends while Kenny held a Top Gun themed sand volleyball match with the guys. Love it! Erin works for a publishing company and loves to read, so the table numbers were decoupage numbers made from pages of love stories, and they were fixed on vintage books at the table. Then she hand wrote the place cards on library book inserts. Another fun detail was tying in an English party tradition called a “cracker” which their maid of honor worked into her toast. Crackers are tightly rolled paper tubes filled with fun prizes and jokes. Since Kenny is a professional comedian in Chicago, he wrote jokes for the inside of the crackers (which were hilarious) and they added scratch-off lottery tickets to the prizes, which is a common stocking-stuffer at Christmas in the groom’s family.

After seeing the different bands on the ACA Music & Entertainment website, Platinum stood out to the couple as the group that would best fit with their wedding because they could span all genres and decades of music in order to keep up the energy at the reception. The band provided live music for the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, dancing, and even DJ’s during the band breaks! The band was SO good guests asked the bride & groom if they had shipped the band in from LA. Impressive! They had perimeter lighting which ended up being an excellent addition to the reception. The lighting was an amenity included in the package when they booked Platinum. The lights provided a very classy and theatrical ambience-I personally love that look.

Every time I see a picture of their tent I think of a fairy tale. Erin & Kenny worked with Sperry Tents Great Lakes out of Lake Geneva, WI. I was told Dan and his team were very professional and a pleasure to work with throughout the planning process. The tent got rave reviews from the guests and the staff. Plus, the tent was versatile in case the weather shifted on them which luckily, they had perfect weather the whole day!  I’m a fan of the tent and the look it gives off.

The photographer, Stephanie Jolin Photography, had a great sense of humor which really helped the couple relax through the planning process, and on the actual day. Plus, she provided a great balance of direction and flexibility; she had a clear vision of shots she wanted to see which opened Erin and Kenny up to photos they wanted to try. The end results were quality photos that captured the sentimental nature of the day while celebrating the couple and their guest personalities.

Erin and Kenny’s photo album reads like a fairy tale come true. I wish nothing but the best to them. Now I’m wondering will they make The Red Crown Lodge their vacation spot for years to come?