Thunderhawk Golf Club in Beach Park Wedding Feature: Ashley and Johnny
Ashley and Johnny had a beautiful, fall wedding in October. They had their ceremony at their church at Village Church of Gurnee which was the focal point to them. Ashley and Johnny had made an emphasis to put God at the center of their wedding day and I think they did a great job of that. The reception at Thunderhawk Golf Club was a great space to have their guests all in one place to really soak in Ashley and Johnny’s relationship and love. I was alongside them to help find about half of their vendors and I really enjoyed getting to know them along the way!
Ashley got ready in her parents’ home which was nice and close to the church. She had her girls and parents there with her to help her get ready for the day!
I really have a love for details shots and Laura, Ashley’s photographer, did not disappoint! What I really loved about the invites was that Ashley had designed them herself and had the pattern match pretty closely to the lace on her dress. I thought that was such a cool touch to be able to see the cohesiveness of the day!
Ashley’s dress was two-toned and 100% gorgeous. The large, lilac lace on it was so unique and pretty!
I really loved the dresses that all of Ashley’s girls were wearing. Terracotta is a lovely color to bring into the fall season and having the girls be able to pick a style of dress that suits them adds such a nice variety to the day! The flowers from Poppy also were so lovely and really tied in the fall theme.
Johnny was getting ready with his guys at the church. They seemed to have a nice, relaxing time before everyone started showing up!
Both Ashley and Johnny had written each other letters to read on the morning of the wedding. The highlight video from Hello Darling Films was incredibly sweet hearing what they had to say for each other! Johnny also showed quite a bit of emotion while getting more and more excited to see his bride, which I found so sweet.
Ashley and Johnny had a pretty personalized ceremony because Johnny’s dad who is a pastor co-officiated with a pastor that is bilingual so they could have the ceremony in both Spanish and English. This was so nice so that everyone there was included, as most of Johnny’s family is from Chile!
Ashley and Johnny opted not to have a first look and kept things pretty traditional. Johnny’s reaction definitely was worth everyone being able to see! You really could tell throughout the whole day how happy and excited he was to be getting married.
They also did a unity candle ceremony which led into a prayer with both of their families. It was such a sweet moment to see them all together while the best man and a college friend of theirs played a beautiful song!
For the reception at Thunderhawk Golf Club, everything was pretty much set a day before the wedding. table numbers were also made by Ashley, which also reminded me of the lace again on Ashley’s wedding dress. Ashley clearly is quite the artist and it’s so fun that the decorations were so personalized!
Ashley and Johnny had served cake to the wedding party and the family that was actually a carrot cake! I thought that was so fun to have a unique flavor since it was Johnny’s favorite, and a complete surprise to him!
There were speeches from the dads, maid of honor, best man, and the couple that were all so incredibly sweet and God-centered! I found myself tearing up through them because of the love everyone shared throughout the day.
After the photographer had left, the guests and the couple danced the night away with only the string lights they added as the light source. It was so romantic yet still so much fun!
Overall, I really enjoyed working with Ashley and Johnny during their planning process. Even while they were incredibly busy throughout the year, we worked to create a wedding day that really showed their love and values. Ashley and Johnny were so sweet and happy throughout the whole day and it was such a joy to be a part of.
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Vendor Credits:
Ceremony: Village Church of Gurnee - @villagechurchofgurnee
Reception: Thunderhawk Golf Club
Planning: Firmly Rooted Events -@firmlyrootedevents
Photography: XoMe Studio Photography - @xomestudio_
Videography: Hello Darling Films - @hellodarlingfilms
Hair: Ali Egan Salon - @ali_ellesalon
Florist: Poppy Flowers - @yourpoppyflowers
Ceremony Musician: Hannah Thompson - @hannah_thompson720
Catering: Catered Productions - @cateredproductions
