Michelle and Connor had such a beautiful wedding from start to finish, we of course wanted to showcase it!! It was a very warm day in August in downtown Chicago, but Michelle and Connor braved the heat and were able to really enjoy themselves from start to finish. We provided day-of coordination since they were looking for a point-person that could handle their decor and details while they were able to celebrate their love story with both their wedding ceremony and reception at LM Studio Chicago.

Michelle and Connor made it known that they really prioritized coming together and celebrating everything they’ve been through in their relationship. They made sure to curate their wedding details and their wedding day in a way that optimized the time they got to spend as much time together as possible, get the photos that they were dreaming of, and get as much time on the dance floor as possible. It truly was a dream from start to finish!

The girls got ready at the venue in LM Studio’s large wedding suite and the guys were nearby at Hilton Chicago. It was so nice for the wedding party to set up and have that extended time in the morning at the venue so that everything was truly in one place! They didn’t have to worry about any transportation with this too since the plan was to have everything as local as possible.

If you have the opportunity to utilize a wedding suite so lovely and large, it’s definitely more convenient for you to have everything in one place like the ladies had it with Michelle! They really could take their time and relax knowing that they really didn’t have far to go and weren’t going to leave anything behind at the hotel once they set up in the morning. Once hair and makeup was finished, the girls all got dressed and ready for the first looks and photos. Michelle’s sleek dress and long, simple veil really helped tie in the modern, timeless look too.

The couple had planned from the beginning of us working together that they wanted to do a first look for a few reasons. They wanted as much time as possible to be able to spend together, so the first look was a great way to get them together prior to the ceremony! They also wanted to have some time alone after the ceremony before being able to join the cocktail hour, so with doing a first look they were able to get their photos done early and could really allow for lots of time together throughout the day.

The first look and all of their wedding party photos were at Grant Park which was directly across the street from the venue. Connor and Michelle had such a sweet moment together soaking in the fact they were getting married and then also did their personal vows before all of their wedding party photos. Having the photos downtown really helped also have a variety in backgrounds like the nature in the park and the architecture of the city skylines, which we absolutely loved! Fox + Ivory did an amazing job candidly capturing Michelle and Connor’s love while providing a little posing direction to get some of these beautiful shots.

We think the wedding party in all black was a perfect way to make your wedding day feel more modern, classic, and formal. Everyone looks good in black, and black will never go out of style either. If you’re looking for a truly timeless color scheme, going with black may be surprising but it always looks elegant!

Thankfully the wedding party didn’t have to spend too much time outside for the photos either, so they didn’t get too warm too quickly.

Once Michelle, Connor, and their wedding party got back to the venue, they did all of their formal family portraits so they didn’t have to do any photos after the ceremony, and then took some really lovely shots throughout the venue. This was a priority for them so we allotted extra time to make sure they didn’t have to hide from guests before the ceremony!

The ceremony was set in the normal location in the venue right along the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. They had such a sweet, quick ceremony and then were right off to that time together in the wedding suite while the guests were ushered downstairs during the room flip.

One of our favorite details from this amazing wedding day was that Michelle and Connor hired a live wedding painter to capture their wedding in a unique, fun way. John did a spectacular job painting a moment right after their first kiss and we absolutely loved getting to see the process while the evening went on!

LM Studio is an absolute modern dream wedding venue - they have so many cool features to the space that really make it stand out and we adore. The gold detailing throughout the space makes it really easy to have an accent color, the floral print wall makes it so you really don’t have to dress up the space, the clear chairs are a nice modern twist as opposed to classic chiavari chairs most wedding venues have, and the smaller red, velvety wall makes for an extra spice we love too. LM Studio is absolutely stunning from top to bottom and we loved seeing the space get transformed for the reception!

The room flip was finished with the amazing staff at LM Catering and Flowers for Dreams, and we were able to get started with the reception without a hitch.

One thing we were really working hard to make happen was getting the couple to the dance floor as quickly as possible - Michelle and Connor really didn’t want dinner to drone on and make it feel boring. Thankfully, we were able to move quickly through dinner and shift our plans for speeches in a way that actually got the dance floor open 20 minutes sooner than we expected!! It was absolutely amazing to see Michelle and Connor’s beautifully choreographed dance, thanks to Windy City Wedding Dance, to kick off the dance floor.

The painting was making great progress, the dance floor was on fire the whole night, and Michelle and Connor got to do some fun evening shots outside with the lights and flash photography that also gave them an extra opportunity to have some time cherishing the moment together.

Overall, Michelle and Connor’s wedding day was an absolute blast. They were really able to enjoy each other and truly be present together from start to finish and we are so glad they really got to have so many intentional moments together. We definitely could tell that they were able to celebrate their love story without having a worry in the world! We are so thankful to have been a part in making sure Michelle and Connor could actually have fun on their wedding day without being bogged down by the details and logistics. They were so incredibly sweet and kind and even left us such a lovely review!

Their review: “I had the pleasure of working with Rachel (owner) and Tori (lead coordinator). Both were very professional and easy to work with. They made communication a priority before and during the day of. They assisted with the final walk through, timeline, and keep everyone/everything on schedule. ON my wedding day Tori actually kept us ahead of schedule to ensure we had more open dancing time, something she knew was very important to me. I would high recommend Firmly Rooted events to anyone looking for seamless help on their big day!!”