Annie and Alex had the most perfect wedding day with the most perfect love story. It was a tad warm on the early October day, but overall the weather, the love, and the wedding was fantastic! Their ceremony and reception were both held at Columbus Park Refectory in Chicago and their photos were around the Chicago city so they had a perfect mix of city life and nature.

We were there as their day-of coordinators to make sure they were really able to take in every moment without worrying about the details. As a couple, they were such fun-loving, happy people and we knew that all they wanted was to smile all day and not be worried about any logistics. Thankfully, that’s exactly what happened for them and we truly had a blast making sure the wedding went smoothly!

They started their day at Hilton Chicago to get ready for the day. They were really able to casually take their time and enjoy each other’s company before getting started with their first look.

Annie’s look for the day was truly so elegant. Her dress was heavy with beading and it was incredibly beautiful and unique! She kept her look fairly simple and it really showed off her inherent beauty. We also loved the colors of her flowers - such a happy bouquet for a happy bride!

Annie and Alex did their first look in a park and it was a perfect start to their day. They got to have a really sweet, intimate moment together before things kicked off with their photos in the city where they will be meeting up with their wedding party.

The wedding parties in black always look incredibly classy and timeless, and we love what this does with a pop of color in the bouquets that they had! We also appreciate when the bridesmaids can wear different silhouettes that suit themselves best and make them feel great while celebrating their favorite couple!

Alex and Annie got truly some of the most perfect shots by the Wrigley building. The rainbow solar flare was featured in many of their photos too and we loved that it literally felt like their happy energy was being shown! Their entire photo album is stunning and it’s so hard to narrow it down to just a few photos - AJ did a spectacular job capturing their day!

When they got to Columbus Park Refectory, they had made time so they could take more photos around the beautiful park. This venue is so beautiful with their spots that are nature-filled and green, but the venue itself offers some interesting photos too with the teal window grilles, which is personally one of our favorite parts about the Refectory!

Their ceremony was personal, short, and sweet. They had their cousin sing for the processional, their friend officiate the ceremony, and Alex’s mom’s friend that came all the way from Germany (where many of Alex’s family is from) to do a reading. The vows that they had were the longest part which personally was the sweetest!! They had some funny stories about each other that truly had us laughing out loud and we loved hearing more about their love with all of their loved ones. There was even a seat reserved for Alex’s late father in his honor.

Once the ceremony was over, we directed the guests through the venue to the cocktail hour while Annie and Alex got a minute to themselves with their signature cocktail. They took some more photos on the private upper deck of Columbus Park Refectory and then joined their guests for cocktail hour. We know that many couples love this layout of the cocktail hour, and it never is a system that they regret as long as they do a first look beforehand!

One personalized part of their day that many people do was the signature cocktail. As the night went on, we heard all of the guests joke about Annie’s love of the show, “90 Day Fiance” and that they named their drink “0 Day Fiance” in honor of that. It was clear that Annie had two obsessions that they called to throughout the wedding - this TV show and Beyoncé. There were plenty of Beyoncé songs through the whole day, but also for their formal dances too. Annie did a super cute father/daughter dance where she had taught her dad The Parent Trap handshake from the movie which they did before dancing.

After cocktail hour had ended, the guests got to see the beautiful dinner space and take their seats. To personalize the day for Alex too, we had placed on each place setting lyrics to a German toast / song that they sang before dancing got started. We also had their formal dances and speeches in this room, where we heard nearly every family member and friend mention these parts of their personalities - her maid of honor mentioning Annie finding her “Mr. (Jay) Z”, his best man being scared of Annie’s Beyoncé knowledge, and Alex’s mom’s speech. Her speech was incredibly sweet talking about them as a couple, but also mentioned how the groom's late father probably would have thought they were crazy for their obsession with 90 Day Fiance!

Once all of the formalities had finished, including an incredibly sweet “thank you” from the couple to all of their vendors, the dancing room was open for guests to get down and have fun!! Annie changed into a reception dress and the dance floor was truly packed all night thanks to the amazing DJ. We heard lots more Beyoncé and it was really a blast all night! They went off on their way at the end to an after party too because the party couldn’t just stop there.

Overall, we absolutely adore all of the personal touches in this wedding and we are so thankful to have been a part of such a happy occasion. Truly they had so much fun from start to finish and we are so glad they got to enjoy themselves. We definitely think this wedding was one to remember and we will never forget!!