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Where to even begin with this lovely treasure from Nimble Well beautifully captured by Lisa Beth Anderson of Spark + Tumble Photography!  Whether or not Art Deco is your thing, its incredibly hard not to appreciate the elegant designs, architectural speaking, font design, fashion and so on, that was born out of the roaring 20’s age.  Cities like New York & Chicago are filled with gorgeous behemoths that remind us daily of their beauty.  Wanting to harness the aurora that comes from such style, class and sophistication, the team choose two wonderful locations {Madonna della Strada ChapelThe Powhatan Apartments}, each dripping in art deco design, to create a modern world filled with vintage 1920’s feel.  Our bride & groom perfectly capture the time period both in look and dress, though I must admit our bride looks so perfectly spot on that I wonder if they stole her from the 20’s itself!  Utterly breathtaking in a nude underlay lace gown from Mignonette BridalDebra Petrielli  worked her magic in hair and makeup to transport our bride ever so effortlessly into a modern take on a vintage look.  Likewise sporting a modern turn on a long ago style, our groom looks ever the dapper man with smartly swept hair and a three piece tweed suit.  The styling around the celebration table is clean, crisp and ultimately vintage minded, working with understated patterns and florals just the way one would imagine an intimate wedding of that age to be.  From start to finish the shoot is pure eye candy, from the wonderfully moody imagery at each perfect location to the dip in the pool at the end which is just gorgeous!  Savor each image, I know I am!

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Event Designer’s Note:

Chicago is home to hundreds of Art Deco buildings and we planned an elegant wedding shoot around two Art Deco jewels by the shore of Lake Michigan: the Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola University and The Powhatan Apartments.

The Madonna della Strada Chapel, built in 1939, perches on the edge of the lake. The moody spring weather the day of the shoot made shooting outside an adventure in battling wind, rain, and hail, and Lisa Beth Anderson captured the spectacular sweep of our bride’s gown in the wind outside the Chapel. Kpoene’ Kofi-Bruce of Mignonette designed both dresses, the first with silver hand-beaded floral straps, and for the reception dress she turned 200-year-old Battenburg lace into a gown with a low-cut back that swirled around our bride when she jumped in the pool. Lynn Fosbender of Pollen designed the the natural elements with lush foliage, jasmine, fritillaria, and muzgo moss.

For the reception scenes we followed Lake Shore Drive south to The Powhatan Apartments, a lovingly maintained private residential building, based on a 1922 Eliel Saarinen design, and home to the only 24-hour elevator operators in the city. The penthouse ballroom, rarely open outside of residents, is pure Deco from the ceiling panels to the window frames, with the lake right outside. Our palette was black and white to match the ballroom and a spectrum of greens to match the lake. Everyone worked to extend the feeling of lightness in the ballroom to all the elements. We used vintage china from Plate’s curated collection and vintage crystal stemware, gold flatware, lace napkins, Deco vases, and cake stands from Nimble Well’s collection.

Fig Catering designed a dinner menu with organic and locally-sourced ingredients, polenta and heirloom tomato appetizers and grilled steak, puréed potato, and asparagus for the entrée. We framed the dessert table with a design inspired by the radiating triangle motif in The Powhatan’s pool room, and Tracy Sampson of Yum Squared kept the dessert table light with translucent feathers made from sugar and a white cake with a silver design inspired by the architectural elements.

Vendor Love

Venue: Madonna della Strada Chapel, The Powhatan Apartments | Wedding Dress: Mignonette Bridal | Hair: Debra Petrielli Freelance Hairstylist + Makeup artist | Invitations: Spilled Ink Press | Floral Designer: Pollen Floral Design | Baker: Yum Squared Bakery | Caterer: FIG Catering | Rentals: Vintage Plate Rental, LLC, Nimble Well | Photographer: Spark + Tumble Photography