Sydney and Mack’s wedding was truly one to remember! The two got to enjoy some beautiful - even a tad toasty - sunshine for such a lovely wedding day in mid September. We provided day-of coordination to make sure that they could really enjoy themselves with their family and friends for their ceremony and reception at Galleria Marchetti in Chicago, and it was surely a fun time from start to finish! Mack has been known to be a good time among his loved ones, and Sydney loves taking care of her friends and making sure they are enjoying themselves, so of course they really value a great guest experience for their wedding day. Mack really prioritized a sweet ceremony and a good dance party and Sydney really wanted all of their family and friends to have an amazing time at their wedding. They also wanted to add some personal elements to their wedding day and they did just that. It was truly one of the most fun wedding days!!

The couple got ready at Kimpton Gray Hotel which was nice and convenient for everything! They did their hair and makeup there as well as having the guys getting ready in another room so the photographers could freely go from space to space to make sure to capture everything.

Sydney and Mack both wrote letters to each other to read the morning of the wedding and it was super sweet. We love having some extra sweet, personal elements in your wedding day to really make it something to remember.

The first look was highly debated for the two of them while wedding planning at first, but we always recommend it because it makes your wedding day run so much more smoothly if you really value the guest experience. It also is a wonderful, intimate moment between the couple that you wouldn’t get otherwise! They did their first look and all of their wedding party photos at Lurie Gardens and they turned out beautifully! Their wedding party all in black really made the wedding feel more classic, modern, and classy. We loved how everyone looked and how excited everyone was while we were handling the logistics of the day.

After the photos, the wedding party took the trolley to the venue to get ready for the ceremony. They actually were incredibly ahead of schedule so when they arrived they were able to relax in one of the common spaces while we were getting everything ready for them!

Sydney and Mack did a great job planning to dress up Galleria Marchetti with some personal, classic decorations. We love the mirrors and glass to really compliment the modern look and feel of their wedding day. Sydney also had her sister paint the signature drink signs featuring their cats - they were beautiful and the guests really loved them too!

With such beautiful weather, we had no problem having the ceremony outside. The live musicians were incredible, the vows were emotional for everyone, and the ceremony was lovely.

After the family photos were finished, the couple took some time to themselves up in their suite space in the venue. The guests were excited for cocktail hour with delicious appetizers and a beautiful patio to celebrate! We also loved the “generations of love” table set with all of their families’ wedding photos - including the photo they took in Paris when they got engaged!

Before the guests made their way into the reception after cocktail hour, Mack was in an a capella group in college and so 10 of the guys from that group sang 2 songs and people loved it. Sydney really enjoyed watching him and they added some jokes to the songs that really go everyone so hyped for the rest of the night!

The reception space in the Pavilion was something out of a fairy tale. The black linens really brought that modern feeling, but we really loved the way they decorated. They used photos of themselves at the ages of their table numbers which is so cute and the garland on the ceiling really took everything up a notch. Steve’s Flower Market did an amazing job decorating an already-beautiful Chicago venue like Galleria Marchetti!

As it was the twenty-first night of September, Sydney, Mack, and their wedding party did their grand entrance to “September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire. We definitely knew that would be a popular theme for the wedding as it was a really popular wedding date too! It was really the perfect way to kick off the celebration and really get everyone excited. After that, we had dinner, speeches, and their first dances to kick off the dance floor which everyone was SO excited about. The day ran incredibly smoothly and we loved seeing just HOW MANY people were on the dance floor all night! They really knew their family and friends were ready to dance and party and we made sure that everyone was able to get out there as soon as possible - especially with Galleria Marchetti’s catering team working WICKED fast.

The black-and-white, checkered dance floor was large and FULL all night. Sydney and Mack also took extra care of their guests with doughnuts, ice cream, and late night pizza! People truly partied all night with the after party in the neighboring common room. Mack and Sydney changed outfits (Mack during dancing, Sydney for the after party) and their guests had such and amazing time. They really wanted an amazing time with their family and friends and they truly were able to have that!