Charlotte and Sarah’s wedding day was surely perfect all around! It was truly one of the best times of the year for us as their day-of coordinators and we are so happy to have made sure it ran as smoothly as possible.

Charlotte and Sarah were engaged for 3 years and together for 10. The anticipation and excitement around their wedding was palpable from their family and friends and it was joyous and fun from start to finish. We absolutely loved the personalized elements, vendors, and details. Their June wedding couldn’t have had better weather with it being in the mid 70s and sunny, and we thought LM Studio in Chicago was the perfect setting for a classic downtown Chicago wedding with the art deco, “Great Gatsby” theme they were looking to emulate. Their top priorities or things they were looking forward to was the dancing, the vows, and the speeches, and we made sure that they were able to soak up every moment.

Charlotte and Sarah started their day together at Hilton Chicago. They had lots of time together while getting ready since they got ready in the same room, and it really felt relaxed from the start.

While some couples do a “first look” if they are getting ready separately, Charlotte and Sarah got dressed and ready together. It didn’t take away though from how excited they were to see each other all dressed and ready for their wedding day.

One of our favorite parts about weddings in downtown Chicago, specifically at LM Studio and the local hotels, is that Grant Park is right across the street. This is extremely walkable and perfect for wedding photos - you can have both the “cityscape” style and a more nature-filled style of portraits without worrying about traffic or transportation! You really don’t get that experience with most of the downtown Chicago weddings so it’s perfect when you can use that perk in the city.

Charlotte and Sarah’s wedding party was mainly family, so they were able to do a lot of their family photos before the ceremony too!

After the photos were finished across the street, they made their way to the venue to see everything come together. We really loved seeing their art deco details all come together and that they had plenty of time to relax before the ceremony!

Their ceremony was officiated by Sarah’s dad which was a sweet and personal touch. They had their personalized vows that everyone loved and we recorded for them too!

Once Charlotte and Sarah said their “I dos”, guests were directed downstairs for the cocktail hour while the vendors handled the room flip upstairs. They took care of most of their family photos before the ceremony, so after they wrapped those up they were able to go and mingle with their favorite people!

LM Studio gets transformed when it’s time for the reception by pre-setting the tables to be moved after the ceremony. We love that it’s so perfectly downtown and you still get the view of the city with those big windows! And the feathers in the centerpieces were so much fun to see for that “Great Gatsby” theme too.

We had all the formalities throughout dinner starting with their grand entrance. We loved that they had a champagne tower that was pre-poured - the speakers for their speeches were able to grab one for their toasts and we thought that was such a fun, unique touch!

After the speeches and dinner, the guests were moved to the other half of the room for Charlotte and Sarah’s first dance. It was choreographed to perfect - they did SUCH an amazing job! They looked really smooth and comfortable which really makes an impact on your guests and makes it something to remember in the best way. And after their first dance, they did a joint father-daughter dance that we loved to see too.

We could tell from the start that Charlotte and Sarah’s crowd was ready to get on the dance floor but we had no idea how much fun they really would have! Our favorite part was actually when Charlotte’s brother, aka DJ Tripps, was able to take over for about 30 minutes and DJ for his sister’s wedding. He did an amazing job and all the guests were on the dance floor. At the end of the reception, the guests headed to Kitty O’shea’s for an after party and really kept the party going all night!

Overall, Charlotte and Sarah’s wedding day was exactly what they were looking for - they got to focus on the dancing, speeches, and their vows without having to worry about a thing and we are so thankful to have been able to help them enjoy themselves and be in the moment. We love a good downtown Chicago wedding and they really were such a joy to get to work with in bringing their art deco, Great Gatsby-themed vision to life.

A lovely review from Charlotte and Sarah:

“Booking with Firmly Rooted for our Day-Of Coordination was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. We had the absolute pleasure of working with Rachel for our wedding day and she went above and beyond our expectations. Leading up to the wedding, she was responsive, organized, and took the time to answer all of our questions and to coordinate with our vendors. She helped us stay organized which gave us peace of mind before the big day. On the wedding day, she made sure every last detail was accounted for and in order. She was an incredible leader and always had a smile on her face throughout the evening. Firmly Rooted are true professionals and we can't thank them enough for managing our big day.”