We are so proud of the work we have done with the eleven eleven WEDDING Giveaway.  The event is extremely near and dear to our hearts since we created it in 2010.  This year’s exceptional event took place yesterday at The Chicago History Museum and was featured on the ABC 7  News 6:00 pm broadcast and in the Chicago Sun Times.

Working with the winners, Amy and Howard, was a truly exceptional experience.  They are the kind of people you just want to be around all of the time, infectious, generous, gracious, funny, kind (I could go on and on). It was such a pleasure to introduce them to each of the sponsors and work with them throughout the planning process.

It is important to note that none of this would be possible without the constant support from the vendors in our community. We are so blessed to work with these amazing people who give of their time, talents and resources so willingly and with such grace. We are truly humbled by the experience and thank you simply does not seem to be “big enough” but we hope it will do.

Keep an eye out for some sneak peak pictures from Amanda Hein Photography.

The eleven eleven WEDDING Giveaway for 2012 will be announced sometime in February so please check back often and send in those applications, as you can see,  dream weddings really can come true!

You can find all of our sponsors listed below.  We thank them all, from the bottom of our hearts.

All images are from the Chicago Sun Times Article.

We had the opportunity to work with some new people on this wedding, including photographer Danielle Aquiline and Dustin from Style Matters DJ’s. We also got to work with some of our favorites including Kelly from Fleur, Ken from Poetic Productions and the fabulous Anita Vaughan from  AnitaWeds. And of course, working at W Chicago City Center is like coming home for me.

Here are some of my favorite shots from Danielle … Enjoy!

We are so excited to see the eleven eleven WEDDING Live Reveal Party up on their site!  We are honored to be part of this amazing wedding and completely love working with Amy and Howard!

Thanks again to ZED451, Poetic Productions, Amanda Hein Photography and BKO for helping to make the live reveal party so amazing!

What happens when you cross an amazing talent for design with a love of birds, bling and peacock feathers?  A breathtakingly beautiful wedding, that’s what!

We were lucky enough to start working with Michelle and David almost two years before their Labor Day weekend wedding.  That is a long time to spend planning a wedding and as you can imagine, we grew extremely close throughout the process. We quickly learned that Michelle is an amazing graphic designer and David has a fantastic, dry sense of humor … Oh, and that they are perfect for one another.

The design inspiration came from their birthstones, Emerald and Aquamarine. Michelle set the tone with these georgous custom letterpressed invitations (she designed them and Rhoner Letterpress printed them), tied with ribbons and a little bling and placed in blue and green boxes. She even used a laser cutter to make these amazing scrolls by hand.

The ceremony and reception were held at The Ivy Room at Tree Studios. Because Michelle is Chinese and David is Jewish, they wanted to celebrate the richness of both cultures.  After walking down the aisle to the beautiful sounds of Amarante Ensembles they stood under a beautiful Chuppah draped with David’s prayer shawl from Israel and handmade Ketubah.  Blumen Design created the perfect Chuppah for their garden oasis ceremony and carried the feather theme throughout.

Then guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the courtyard before entering the ballroom for dinner. Michelle designed the wedding programs, menu cards and place cards in both English and Chinese.  The place cards were pinned onto a beautiful moss covered frame.

The guests were incredibly well-fed and entertained thanks to Berghoff Catering and The Larry King Orchestra. I love this picture of Michelle and David dancing their way into the room for introductions.  Their first dance was a Larry King original, White Cotton Dress.

Shortly after the guests were seated for dinner there was a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.  This is a beautiful, ritualistic ceremony focused on family old and new.  It was beautiful thing to witness, and we felt privileged to be a part of it.

The ballroom at The Ivy Room is such an amazing space.  I have seen it designed in so many different ways that I look forward to the creativity we can experience each time we work there.  This wedding was no exception, Blumen really did an amazing job with these out of the world lampshade centerpieces and submerged orchids.  We all know that a little lighting goes a long way and Chicago Lighting Design did a beautiful job of pulling the entire look together! The platinum pinktuck linens and nile blue lamour napkins were from BBJ Linen.  Everything just came together so nicely!

We had so much fun with the entire group of vendors on this wedding!  It is truly amazing to be in such great company when you are technically at “work!”  I love my job!

All of the beautiful photography featured is by Michael Monar Photography.  Michael truly has a special talent for seeing the beauty in everything and capturing those tiny moments that most people would miss.

As an extra special treat I am sharing their wedding video recap from my dear friends at Poetic Productions.  I think this may be one of my all time favorite videos!

The entire Greatest Expectations staff would like to thank Michelle and David for inviting us into their lives and allowing us to help plan such an extraordinary event.  We look forward to many years of continued friendship and collaboration.

I am so excited to see that the beautiful engagement pictures of Amanda and Mike are up on the eleven eleven WEDDING website!  Amanda Hein did an amazing job (as usual) of capturing the true spirit of this amazing couple. I cannot wait to see what the actual wedding pictures look like!

Below is a little teaser shot.  Be sure to check out the eleven eleven WEDDING site to see more, read all about the planning process and watch video’s from all our planning sessions (thanks to Poetic Productions).

Each of the sponsors will be doing guest blog pieces on the eleven eleven WEDDING website so I hope you will head their often to check it out.  Diana, from Jenny Yoo is the first blogger!  In the meantime, here is a little teaser … The video from Amanda’s dress shopping experience at Jenny Yoo!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLYWVqkMG8Q

Thanks to Ken from Poetic Productions for this fantastic montage!