Flower Monday

I LOVED the vibrant fall colors of Jenn and Kelly's wedding in September. I wanted to share the lovely flower details with you today!

Pictures by Michael Scarpelli.

"Glamorous" Celebrity Bride

Fergie, who made Glamorous, well, "Glamorous", and Josh Duhamel tied the knot last Saturday. I LOVED their wedding invites which they handed out at the end of the night done by Lehr and Black, based out of Los Angeles.

But what I especially loved was the caricature they handed out to guests as they departed the wedding, some guests partying until 2am. What a FUN idea for a favor!

Fun Picture

No bouquet today, I had to post this, so fun!! Alie (Harmon) Johnson, who was married on November 1st, sent me this picture from her wedding day. Each and every bride gets an Engaging Events by Ali Lands End bag when they sign up as a client and Alie used her bag on her wedding day with all her items she needed with her on her wedding day! How cute!



Thanks you Ana Miyares for doing such an amazing job photographing this wedding!

Alyssa and Jeff's Chicago Wedding

Alyssa and Jeff tied the knot at The Newberry Library. It was a gorgeous day in October for pictures around Chicago, which they did before the ceremony with their wedding party. The ceremony at 6pm was officiated by Jim Rehnberg and the guests laughed and cried when he talked about the amazing relationship of this bride and groom. Having met in a bookstore, their tables were all named after their favorite books.

And HOW ABOUT THOSE SHOES? Yes, the shoes from the SITC movie. And Alyssa worked it even better than Carrie could!

The night was a blast! Levy Catering catered the event and guests were treated to three different stations; Thai and Asian food, Italian food and a traditional carving station. Craig from Fun Times DJ kept the dance floor packed! The gorgeous flowers were done by Gretchen at Flora Chicago. She has an adorable shop on Southport, you must check it out!

The ever fabulous Glen Abog was the photographer with his assistant, Veronica.

Click Here to see the amazing pictures

Alyssa and Ali

I adored my bride Alyssa last Saturday. She and Jeff got married at Newberry Library. Stay tuned for pictures of their amazing wedding which I will post next week. You HAVE to see her bridal shoes. (Think Carrie in Sex in the City Movie).

Alyssa dragged me into the photo booth before the end of the night which was so much fun!

Cortney and Anthony's CHIC Wedding

Cortney and Anthony's wedding was so chic! They said their "I Do's" at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the early afternoon. Their doggie even showed up for pictures following the ceremony in the garden.

The wonderful photographer, Kurt Gerber, took the new Mr. and Mrs. with their wedding party and friends on a photo safari around Chicago.

The reception at the Chicago Illuminating Company was super chic and cool. Cortney and I brainstormed and picked a color palatte of black, white and magenta. Using different shaped tables with different linens and chairs really made the guests ooh and ahh as they entered the dinner. Pavel from Kehoe Designs is truly an artist when it comes to flowers and lighting and decor. The reception could not have been more fabulous!

Click here Click here to see Kurt Gerber's fun photo montage of the wedding!

Rachel and Noah

Rachel and Noah did NOT let the rain get in their way of having an amazing time on their wedding day last Saturday!

Click here to see the photo montage of their fabulous wedding day!

Ingredients for a perfect wedding day:

Glen Abog Photography
Fourth Presbyterian Church
Chicago History Museum
Rhythm City Band
Hello Darling Flowers
Chicago Trolley Company
Engaging Events by Ali, Inc wedding consultant

Sneak Peek of Kate and Michael's Wedding

Here is a sneak peek at Kate and Michael's Wonderful July Wedding. Check back next week for their story and wedding pictures!

Jaime and JT's Wedding Pictures

I LOVED this wedding that Belen from Gerber and Scarpelli shot for me on July 19th! What a fun group and WHAT a party!

Enjoy the fun slideshow!

Click here to see the slideshow!

Alexandra and George's Fabulous Wedding

I am so incredibly proud of this gorgeous wedding! Alexandra and George were married on July 12th at Queen of All Saints Basilica. Their classy reception was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Special thanks to Glen Abog for capturing such a gorgeous wedding and Erin at Heffernan and Morgan for creating such spectacular centerpieces and flowers.

Please enjoy this photo montage of Alexandra and George's Wedding

Alexandra and George

Alexandra and George will be married this week at Queen of All Saint's Basilica and a reception following at the Museum of Contemporary Art. We are so excited about this event and just adore working with Alexandra, George and Alexandra's mother, Kathy Kajari.

Here are some awesome engagement pictures by Glen Abog of Alexandra and George last week. We are taking 10 of their favorite pictures and placing them into a scrapbook so that guests can leave a note for the bride and groom in their picture book of their engagement session.

Colleen and Matt Reardon

It is always so exciting when "one of our own" gets married. Colleen, a consultant for Engaging Events, married Matt this weekend. The wedding was so lovely and my husband and I got to be guests at the wedding. (Well, I TRIED not to work). Jaclyn Goris, another consultant for Engaging Events, did an excellent job organizing the day.

Here is a little "teaser" picture. Professional pictures to follow soon by the always fabulous Jeremy Bustos at Studio This Is!

My Gorgeous Brides

This amazing picture was sent to me today by the famous and wonderful, Jai Girard. This is a picture of our bride on June 15th, Sharon Kim.

Sharon had so much fun in her photo session with Jai and Jai even convinced her to climb onto a cement wall to get this shot!

Thanks Jai for sending to us! You are truly a remarkable photographer!

Nicolle and Paul Marinec

I LOVE my job!!!!!! I am so excited to post these pictures today that Glen Abog sent me.

Here is my wedding from last Saturday; the marriage of Nicolle and Paul Marinec. SUCH an adorable couple and so in love. NOT only did Paul shed tears when he saw Nicolle but also when she walked down the aisle. The love they have for one another is so apparent in these photos.

Thanks to the Glen Abog, David Wittig and Kelly Moore for these amazing wedding pictures!
Enjoy these pictures

Thanks Nicolle and Paul for being such an amazing couple and letting me share your love and your beautiful day with my readers!

Ingredients for a pefect wedding day:
Ceremony Location: St Josephs Church
Reception Location: Chicago History Museum
Photography:Glen Abog Studios
Flowers: Flora Chicago
Music: Stanley Paul Orchestra
Wedding Consultant: Me, Ali Phillips of Engaging Events by Ali

Maricay and James Gorgeous May Wedding

Becky Hill (one of my favorite photographers in Chicago) posted some pictures of a wedding we recently did together on May 10th, 2009. The ceremony was at Holy Family in Chicago followed by a "rocking" reception at Maggiano's which was DJ'ed by the 'oh so fabulous' DJ Toad.

You can click here to see the wonderful pictures Becky posted!

Ali in "action"

Well, I don't love the picture of me but here is a picture from Rick Aguilar from a wedding we shot on April 26th together at Old St Pat's Church.

He called it the "Ali In Action" shot!

Thanks Rick for sending!

The Marriage of Katie and Johnny Callaghan

I can hardly wait to post these pictures! Not even 24 hours later, Kurt and Nick Gerber have put together this BEAUTIFUL photo montage of Katie and Johnny's wedding last night.

This wedding has such special meaning to me because it is Kurt Gerber's niece. I have worked with Kurt Gerber of Gerber Scarpelli Weddings since I first started being a wedding consultant. Kurt even photographed my own wedding. When Katie and Johnny and I first started working together they expressed to me that they wanted their wedding to be fun and also represent who they are as a couple. Johnny is from Ireland, so for cocktails and dinner we hired the Katie Sullivan Band to sing and perform Celtic Music. But then Katie also loves to dance to all kids of music so the evening was completed with tunes spinned by DJ Dan from Tone Productions.

Jenna from Flourish Invitations designed a fabulous celtic knot design with the bride and groom's initials for the wedding invitations, programs and escort cards. We even had Bittersweet Bakery place the initials on the wonderful carrot cake wedding cake.

Katie wanted a "shabby chic" look which Kara from Botanicals and I took into account when designing the wedding flowers. There were three styles of centerpieces (my favorite one was the gorgeous blooming branches) in gorgeous silver vases. The linens were a classic ivory with a gorgeous ivory garden cutwork overlay.

The wedding ceremony was so beautiful. Katie looked just stunning and walked down the aisle to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring with her father. Luckily, the ceremony ended in-between rain showers and they were able to have a Grand Appearance on the church doors! The wedding party then stopped off at The Abbey Pub "for a pint of Guinness" between the ceremony and reception. Cocktails and dinner at the Chicago History Museum was wonderful and the guests danced until midnight!

Wedding season has started in Chicago and this was such a wonderful wedding to start the season off right!

Click here to see the photo montage set to the Bride and Groom's first dance song!!!

Katie and Mike Cunningham's November Wedding

I LOVED working with Katie and Mike Cunningham on their November 3rd Wedding at St Joseph's Church and the Renaissance Ballroom at the Intercontiental Hotel. Everything about Katie and Mike's wedding was wonderfully elegant and sophisicated. Katie chose a black and white color scheme for her modern wedding style.

Click here to see the fabulous wedding pictures taken by Kurt Gerber

Shelby and Doug's Wedding

Shelby and Doug were married on October 20th, 2008, at Parkview Lutheran church, an adorable little church which is actually in my own neighborhood! Their reception at A New Leaf was a blast for their guests! Their guests enjoyed a wonderful dinner upstairs in the apartment and danced until the wee hours of the morning.

Thanks so Nick Gerber at Orange2photo for the awesome pictures!

Click here to see the photos

Grand Cayman Wedding

I am off to Grand Cayman for the wedding of Janie and Kevin! They are getting married at the Ritz Carlton on December 1st in Grand Cayman. Check out their website for details on their amazing wedding. They are a special couple and looks like the weather is going to be perfect for their outdoor wedding and events!