Investigations Turn Up Love

Jennifer & Jim met while working together in the Investigations Department at the Chicago Board of Trade. They began as friends and quickly became best friends. “We counseled each other through some bad relationships until we realized that we should be together,” says Jennifer.  It was a natural progression and so there wasn’t the traditional first date—the thought afterwards is that they were dating the whole time, but didn’t realize it.

With extremely similar values and the same sense of humor, the differences were their personalities. They were complete opposites. But they were a great match because they complimented each other. The differences in each other were what was so intriguing and attractive. It was during one friends evening at dinner and the movies that it became so much more. 4 years later they were engaged. Jen always said that she wanted a private romantic proposal—no showy public displays at sporting events, in the park or in a restaurant somewhere—just the two of us. So, Jim tricked her into thinking they were going to dinner with his parents and then proposed at a hotel room he had filled with rose petals, candles and chocolate covered strawberries. “It was perfect, and everything I ever wanted.”

Jennifer and Jim exchanged their vows at St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago. It was chosen as their wedding site because the priest who married them is a friend of the family.

The weather that day had been had been unseasonably cold, and the night before the wedding and it was snowy and raining. But just as Jen began her bridal walk down the aisle, the sun beamed through the beautiful stain glass windows and lit up the church – it was a true fairytale wedding moment. With the sun streaming in, Jen glowed in an elegant and fitted bodice A-line dress that was embellished with rhinestone belting and Swarovski crystal buttons. “I believe in selecting the right dress to showcase body type…” and this dress made Jen feel like a princess. Tying everything together were the tiny crystals added to the dress and the cathedral length veil.

The bride carried a stunning, hand tied, tear drop shaped bouquet featuring eggplant and Picasso Calla lilies, magenta cattleya orchids and deep plum dendrobium orchids—stems were wrapped and tied with simple ivory satin ribbon. The shape of her bouquet matched the long sweeping curls of her hairstyle for the day.

The couple’s reception was held at The Blackstone Hotel. It was a great place to have the Chicago elegant event, since it is such a “wonderful mix of modern sophistication and historical elegance.” They had the window shutters in the ballroom opened to allow the sweeping views of Chicago to be seen by their guests.  “It made everything come together.”

They danced to “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz while their guests enjoyed the red velvet wedding cake and then everyone joined in dancing and entertainment. Guests went home that night with gold custom made coasters in an organza bag with the traditional Greek Almonds Favor. It was something unique and traditional that closed the perfect day for the couple.

Make it meaningful…Jennifer’s new item was her Wedding Dress, but in keeping with the old, blue and borrowed—she wore her mother’s diamond watch and also had her seamstress sew a piece of material from my great-grandmother’s blue dress and attached a penny with the year she and Jim started dating.
      
Stick to a budget… there are so many beautiful choices, that you have to keep your ideas of location, vendors and style in mind with what you want to spend before you make your final decisions.

Lastly, relax and enjoy the day…you can freak out and stress out leading up to the wedding, but once the day comes just take everything in.  It will be so surreal and feel like a dream in the blink of an eye. Enjoy the time with each other that day; it will make for the best private memories.