The weather was perfect for Elizabeth and Alvin’s wedding in September and we are so thankful for it! Elizabeth and Alvin from the start of us working together were so sweet, kind, and so excited to get married. We provided day-of coordination for them to really be able to enjoy themselves on their wedding day and that they did! Liz and Alvin’s goal for their wedding was to really be able to celebrate with their family and friends and have a wonderful mix of their Mexican and Filipino cultures. The ceremony was a classic, Catholic service at Assumption Catholic Church and the reception was at The Arbory which is one of our favorite venues. The way they personalized their wedding to really show off their cultures and have so much fun was truly such a beautiful sight and we are so glad to have been able to take care of the logistics while they got to be present and party with their family and friends!

The morning started for both Liz and Alvin at Pendry Chicago. They got each other gifts and each of them teared up which was incredibly sweet! Alvin got Liz an engraved watch and Liz got Alvin a putter which was a really personal, unique gift!

Elizabeth’s beautiful, soft, flowy dress really matched her sweet personality perfectly to us, and the cathedral-length veil was the perfect amount of drama and beauty to really bring a bridal moment altogether! We really feel like you can feel the bubbly personality in Liz’s look as a whole.

Alvin did a first look with his parents which was really sweet. His mom was wearing a traditional Filipino dress which was beautiful! Liz had first looks with her parents and her wedding party which were also incredibly sweet. We love giving you a moment to really soak in the fact that you’re getting married!

And best is for last with their own first look and personal, private vows. They both had so many happy tears and so many smiles - first looks are truly one of our favorite moments of the day for so many reasons. Being able to get some photos done before your wedding ceremony really is helpful to ensure you can take full advantage of your day together. If you don’t do a first look, you really don’t get to see each other for the better half of your day. It’s also a good time to get some of those nerves out and we just love that you can build in such an intimate moment for the two of you!

The wedding party went and took their photos all around the Chicago area at some of the most famous and popular locations - they are popular for a reason clearly because they are just so beautiful! We love also seeing the soft colors to match their energy and theme for the day with their wedding party wearing the pastel green and khaki, while still giving a moment for the bride and groom with their white dress and dark green suit to still match with the colors.

The couple’s portraits were absolutely stunning in the city as well - we love seeing their love!!! The couple’s portraits are definitely the most important to devote lots of time to because they are likely the main photos that you will hang in your home, keep on your phones, or post on your social media.

The wedding ceremony was at Assumption Catholic Church and it was a beautiful, wonderful church to work at! The ceremony was classically Catholic and so smooth to really start the wedding festivities off on the right foot.

The couple did a grand exit with streamers outside of the church when the ceremony had finished and we are absolutely obsessed! We really think that grand exits can be so beautiful and really add something to the energy and the photo gallery too. We loved the shots with each side of the couple below too where you have two perspectives on the same moment!

Then off to the reception - their decorations in the beautiful space at the Arbory were lovely. We thought their personalization for the elements that are always at weddings but can be boring were a great way to add some life and energy to the wedding day. They had their guest book as Lego people, where you build yourselves with the pieces and they had their place cards as little tags in succulents! Some other things to note were the table numbers that had different photos of them both at each table to really make it unique to them and then also having 3 neon signs that had featured sentences from each of their cultures’ languages was a beautiful way to add to how they are bringing both cultures together at their wedding.

The Arbory is one of our favorite venues because of the reception space - they have gorgeous skylights that perfectly illuminate the lofty space with the brick walls. The string lights help create a beautiful mood as the sun goes down, but the unique, black walls that are featured with all of the plants really bring something to the space that we absolutely love!

For cocktail hour, there was an amazing mariachi band that sang and played beautifully right around all of the guests. It was hard not to get excited for the wedding reception at that point!

The wedding party and Liz and Alvin had a HYPED grand entrance to start the night off right! They went right into cutting their cake because they had everyone’s attention and then got started with dinner.

After dinner finished up, they went into their first dances which were incredibly sweet and emotional. It is really sweet to see our couples have these emotional moments with each other and their family and friends while still being so hyped and excited for the dancing to get started!

Liz also wanted to dedicate her bouquet to her mom, and then also have a song sung from Alvin’s nephew - but after that the dance party got started! Some time into the dance floor kicking off and going crazy, the couple both went and changed into their reception outfits which perfectly wrapped in their cultures even more. We couldn’t help but be excited because of how excited they were all day long! We always recommend that couples that want to have a group that is ready to party that you have to set the tone and be excited to be on the dance floor too. With Liz and Alvin, that was NO problem at all and it really showed with having a packed dance floor all night!