Oak Street’s Fourth Annual Charitable Wedding Walk

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Don’t miss a chance to meet and mingle with some of Chicago’s best wedding professionals at this annual charity event.  All proceeds will benefit The American Heart Association and as a bride you will get your very own luxury swag bag full of tons of amazing goodies (including something from Greatest Expectations).

To purchase tickets just click here

But wait … We have a free VIP ticket!! One lucky reader will get a vip ticket  for two (the bride and her guest worth $90!) to this exceptional event!  If you would like to be the recipient of such an awesome prize just post a comment on this post telling us what you enjoy most about reading CS Brides!  We will have a random drawing on September 9th so hurry and post your comment today!

An Afternoon of Bridal Luxury

Oak Street’s 4th Annual Charitable Wedding Walk

Sunday, September 19, 2010 | 12PM-4PM

Walk begins at The Private Dining Rooms of Spiaggia
980 North Michigan Avenue, Level Three

COUTURE GOWNS • ELEGANT JEWELS • DELECTABLE CAKES
BRIDAL REGISTRY • FLORAL & EVENT DÉCOR • HAUTE CUISINE

LUXURY SWAG BAGS
Filled with extraordinary gifts exclusively for the bride-to-be

TO PURCHASE TICKETS, VISIT WWW.CSBRIDES.COM
A percentage of the proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association

Be sure to check out the latest issue of CS Brides!

The Endless Love issue is full of wonderful ideas to make your wedding day exceptional and don’t forget to check out our new ad on page 234!!

Click on the image above to view the entire issue online!

11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Pleasant Home ~ 217 South Home ~ Oak Park

]]> http://www.greatestexpectations.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/simply-elegant-its-not-too-late/feed/ 0 http://www.greatestexpectations.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/greatest-expectations-in-print/ http://www.greatestexpectations.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/greatest-expectations-in-print/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:00:15 +0000 Greatest Expectations http://www.greatestexpectations.com/blog/?p=1014 We love to see our name in print!!

A special thanks to CS Brides Magazine for including us in their December 2009 issue with a two-page spread featuring our fabulous clients Rachel and David. This wedding was extra special to us and we’re pleased CS felt the same way!

Thanks to GetMarried Magazine (a sister to getmarried.com and the GetMarried TV show on WeTv) for featuring us in their “Real Weddings” section with Christina and Cary’s beautiful wedding. (Just a little note here, my name was spelled wrong and they left out the company name … And there was a little misquote, I assure you my grammar is much, much better than the last quote in the article … But we still think it’s a great magazine, love free press and look forward to being featured in future issues).

It was also a thrill to be featured in three articles in the Spring/Summer issue of The Knot Chicago Magazine!  We loved working with Ashley and Michael on their Spring 2009 wedding and thank the people at The Knot for including us in their “expert tips” section! Lastly, it is a honor to have received be a 2010 pick for The Knot Best of Weddings which is also featured in the magazine.

We even got a little old fashion newspaper love in the Chicago Tribune!! They published a fun article on creative ways to propose and mentioned us as a go-to planner to help put together the perfect proposal!

This wedding was glamour on a grand scale!! We all had so much fun working with Rachel and David on their beautiful black, white and hot pink wedding!  Rachel, who is the oldest of three girls has excellent taste and we really bonded.  The planning process was like hanging out with an old friend.  I also truly enjoyed getting to know her mother!  We had a lot in common since I was pregnant with my third daughter for a majority of the process.

The setting was just right at Ivy Room at Tree Studios.  Any opportunity to work with Donna and her team at the Ivy Room is a welcome one!  I just adore this picture of Rachel and David against the “Ivy Wall”. Breathtaking!

Jewish law requires that all weddings on the Sabbath be after sundown.  That meant this Labor Day weekend wedding started after 7:30 p.m. (and lasted well into the wee hours of Sunday morning eventually moving to Pops for Champagne!)  The first event was the Ketubah signing.  I have always loved this tradition, it one of the most beautiful parts of any wedding ceremony. Once this event is over the couple is “married in the eyes of Jewish Law”.

The ceremony, which took place directly following the Ketubah signing, was in the main ballroom with the most amazing and beautiful seven layer Chuppa you can imagine with lots and lots of romantic candle light.  Ronsley Special Events really did a great job with everything.  The ceremony was a magical setting in all white (except for the beautiful black chivari chairs provided by Tablescapes).

We were blessed with perfect weather for cocktails in the courtyard (seen below light up beautifully with pink up-lights thanks to Sound Investment).

From there guests went back inside to a totally transformed space with rich pink lighting, the most luxurious black and white silhouette linens from BBJ Linens and to die for centerpieces from Ronsley Special Event.  We alternated tables with the all white tall centerpieces featuring Calla’s and Orchids and short square centerpieces of hot pink roses in an opaque black vessel … Of course there was tons of candlelight throughout the room!

The treats just kept coming as the guests were blown away by the sounds of the Larry King Orchestra, tastes from Weddings by Blue Plate and the piece de resistance, a four tiered PB&J cake, dripping in handmade silver and crystal flowers, from none other than Amy Beck Cake Design … Ok, so it was Amy’s, to-die-for, chocolate bourbon cake with peanut butter mousse and fresh raspberry filling … PB&J couture style!

All around this wedding was a blast.  It was such a pleasure working with Rachel and David (and their families!) and being surrounded by some of my favorite vendors.  That always makes events run smoothly and a lot more enjoyable!  The beautiful photography is courtesy of Matt Blum .

As a little icing on the proverbial cake … Chicago Social Brides Magazine decided to feature Rachel and David’s wedding in their December 2009 Issue.  Be sure to pick up your copy today to see it in person (you can also view the entire issue online).