• Real Weddings

From the start, my husband [!] and I agreed that we wanted our guests to feel like they were going on on a mini-vacation when they attended our wedding. We’re both lovers of the outdoors, but we live in Chicago, so when we laid eyes on Migis Lodge, we knew we’d found the place. Migis, a 100-year old lodge on Maine’s Sebago Lake, had that “Dirty Dancing,” family-run, summer camp feel we were looking for, but had all the perks of a great resort!
We were told by our wedding planner that the invitation could really “set the mood” for our wedding weekend, so I looked far-and-wide for a stationary designer that I knew could take our vacation vision and make it a reality: Julie Song, whose beautiful wedding and paper I’d seen on Style Me Pretty, designed and illustrated our invitation and wedding timeline – which let guests know, months in advance, they were in not just for a wedding, but for a weekend of lobster, shuffleboard, boating and bonfires.

I made an effort to source many of our details from artists that I knew, or from Etsy. The welcome tote bags, covered in sailboats, were handmade by my bridesmaid, Anri, who had just started her own sewing business. The cake toppers were painted with great care, to show us in our wedding day outfits, and as a surprise for my husband, who has a deep passion for Northwestern football. The beautiful silk flower I wore in my hair during the reception was also an Etsy original creation.
We wanted our friends and family to feel like they were part of our ceremony rather than just witnesses. Our officiant Dixie gave us the wonderful idea of having guests “build the house” under which we were getting married by decorating the birch arbor where the ceremony would be taking place. Our planner Sandy, helped us source and hang small globe-shaped bud vases from the arbor, where each guest would receive a small flower to place in the vases before they took their seats. The way the sunlight reflected off the dozens of little vases was really amazing, and made for a unique, lovely experience for our guests.

Finally, because our wedding was small with about 70 people, we decided it would be fun for people to get to know each other better during the cocktail hour. I created some Martha Stewart-inspired Polaroid place-cards with people’s names and photos I’d found of them on the Internet. This way, guests could attach faces to the names of people they’d heard about from other parts of our lives, before the dinner and dance party and ridiculous amounts of joy ensued! We were so lucky to be surrounded by friends and family, but also by all the wonderful people who made our vision come true.

https://vimeo.com/65650348

Photography: Geneve Hoffman Photography Cinematography: Brighter Lights Media Event & Floral Design: Bea & Company DJ: Rockwell Productions Hair & Makeup: Inspirations Hair Studio Wedding Cake: Migis Lodge Dress: Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Yoo Invitations: Julie Song Ink Welcome Totes: Stitched by Anri Cake Topper: Itty Bitty Wood Shoppe Silk Flower: Wish Piece