Our amazing bakery!

Brandon and I had a plan. We were going to seek out THE best bakery in Chicago to make our dream wedding cake. So before we began our quest, we researched various bakeries on Yelp and through referrals. We then called around to set up tastings with the ones we had a good feeling about. But neither of us knew that our quest would end before it really began.

On Saturday, Jordan and Pam (our caterers from Jordan's Food of Distinction) surprised us with a sampling of Naomi Levine's (of Tipsy Cake in Humboldt Park) great work. We were left licking up the crumbs. Coincidentally, our first cake tasting was scheduled for the following Tuesday (yesterday) with none other than Naomi herself. 

We walked into our first cake tasting adamant that we were going to find the best baker in Chicago....and we did! Naomi's cakes were light and airy and her choices of fillings were absolutely amazing (try the peanut butter mousse, the raspberry infused chocolate mousse, the passionfruit...just try them all!) And her cakes look as good as they taste. She truly is an artist!

We had so much fun with her, that our tasting lasted almost two hours! She brought us out everything that we wanted, and after showing her my inspiration boards she came up with some really great ideas (our inspiration above). And best of all—her work is incredibly priced! 

If you're looking for a custom bakery to make the cake of your dreams (and believe me I dream of cake A LOT) be sure to give Naomi a call—just don't forget to tell her I sent you!

My Beautiful Bridesmaids

When it came to selecting bridesmaids for my wedding, I knew I was going to have a large party. In my life, I have been blessed with four sisters (two on each side) and five best friends (three from high school and two from college). And while I briefly thought about somehow widdling it down to a smaller group, I knew it wasn't going to happen. When I walk down that aisle, I knew that I wanted each of those girls standing there to greet me.

The tricky thing with having nine girls though, is trying to figure out what they're going to wear. I could've been that bride and put them in whatever I felt like without a concern for their body shape and budget, but I wanted my brides to be happy to stand up in my wedding—not punished.

Now since the girls really do run the spectrum of body types/sizes, I knew the one-dress-fit-all approach wasn't going to fly. And with that many girls, seeing nine of the same dress seemed a bit redundant. Instead, I opted to let them pick their own dresses.

Since many of my bridesmaids are still in school, have families etc., I knew they weren't going to be donning Vera Wang. Though David's Bridal sometimes gets a bad rap, I was able to select several styles that complemented both my bridesmaids' individual styles and my wedding theme (my favorite style above). And each gown came in under $130! While it's not exactly couture, David's Bridal offers plenty of gorgeous, fashionable dresses in an array of colors. Plus, the fact that it's a national chain made it easy for the girls who aren't in the area.

We just ordered all the dresses yesterday, so they should be coming in by late March to early April. I will post pictures as soon as I have some!

A Little Taste of June 12th...

Today, B, our moms and I had our first dinner tasting for the wedding. Jordan and Pam from Jordan's Food of Distinction invited us to their Chicago studio where we sampled every morsel of food that will be served at our wedding—and we were not disappointed.


I can't give too much away because it will ruin the surprise, but we have some pretty unique and savory appetizers. I'm hungry just thinking about it! Jordan prepared several appetizers for us to taste and it was so hard to pick between. By the time he had brought out the actual dinner we were stuffed! The dinner itself had the most beautiful presentation that it was so hard for us to ruin Jordan's "artwork." Everything tasted absolutely amazing and while people say the bride and groom hardly have time to sit down and eat, I know there is no way I will pass this meal up!


They also let us sample some cakes from Tipsy Cake who we are actually going to visit on Tuesday. Their lemon cake with raspberry buttercream was absolutely delish. We're checking out a few other bakeries too, so stay tuned because B and I are on a quest for the best (looking and tasting) cake in Chicago!

So happy!

While I was in my office today, I got THE phone call that left me shrieking at my desk and in tears. One of my best friends called to tell me she just got engaged! I am so happy for the both of them. And after I stopped shaking and smiling for her (and my co-workers realized I was okay), I sat and reminisced about how great it felt to be newly engaged. 


While being engaged to the best man on Earth is pretty amazing, nothing beats that feeling of the newly-engaged bliss that overcomes you for a few days after he slips that sparkly diamond (that's her beauty above) on your finger. It's like walking on clouds. And I'm sure Jamie is floating on the highest cloud there is right now!


Being the organized little planner that I am (except for when it comes to my own wedding), I already have some ideas to run by Jamie, heehee. At least now I have one other friend to chat about weddings with!


Congratulations Jamie and Kevin! 


xoxo

The light at the end of the tunnel

B and I just got back from our first meeting with our day of wedding coordinator, Shannon Helmig—and we are just smitten. Our friends, Kelly and Mike (to be wed 10/10/10), have her as their full wedding planner and love her!

We met over $1 burgers at Bar Louie and had such a great time chatting about our weddings (she's getting married in July). She was so incredibly organized and pretty much promised to hold my hand the rest of the way (THANK GOD!)  And on top, of helping me plan the rest of my wedding, she's even doing my bridal hair. She's cute, she does hair AND she plans weddings—seriously...triple threat.

She already has some great ideas for us and I am so happy to have her join the team!

The Engagement Shoot

   

The fabulous Nick Gerber from Orange 2 Photography took B and I on an amazing engagement session around the city a few months back, and here are some of the highlights:

To check out more photos, visit the Gerber and Scarpelliblog!

It's been so long...

Wow... so I haven't updated this blog in awhile. But to be honest, B and I were on hiatus. Not a whole lot was going on in the wedding world, and then...well life got in the way. However, things are in full swing and all of sudden we are definitely behind on our Real Simple Wedding Checklist! Now we have so much to do, and only 130-something days to do it all within!!


Even with all the hustle and bustle, I do promise to be more diligent in my posts. In fact, here are some style boards I'm working on:








I made these using Dessy's new "My Styleboard" feature. You can start by choosing images based off of their color swatches, and then import you own to create your very own custom style board. I will most likely be putting several of these together, and will post them as I make them!