We found this place because we knew we wanted Levy to cater our wedding so we went to their website to see what venues they catered to. We fell in love with this right away because of the view and it was pretty affordable by Chicago standards!

We are going with a red theme, and will add on some black and white accents! Our florist did such an amazing job with the center pieces I can't wait to see them the day of!

Save The Dates:

Invitations and Custom Postage (made on zazzle.com):

Rehearsal Dinner with Brunch insert:

We decided to go with red tea legnth dresses with black sashes around the waist. We picked three different styles and the girls chose what style they felt most comfortable in. They will also be wearing black peep toe shoes.

For the groomsmen we did black tuxes from Men's Warehouse. Their ties and vests match the color of the bridesmaids dresses. The groom will wear an ivory vest and tie and the ring bearers will match him in their mini tuxes!

For our favors we did 2" square red boxes from beaucoup.com and 5/8" black satin ribbon, we also made custom lables on beaucoup.com which match our place cards except they are black instead of red. We filled each box with two buckeye candies from Waggoner's Chocolates.

We would like to do a white cake with black ribbon around the base of each tier, then add a pomander of roses to the top to match the centerpieces.

I want to go with a more natural look. I don't wear a lot of makeup on a daily basis and want to make sure I look like myself the day of the wedding.

I went for comfort with my shoes. These are just kitten heals. Still cute, but comfortable enough that I will be able to wear them all night! The comb I will wear under my veil at the ceremony and then I will change that out for a red rose for the reception.

So we decided to let the florist just put out a pretty vase to use as a card box. For a guest book we bought a large picture frame with an engraving of our names and wedding dates from beau-coup.com. The ring bearer pillow was purchased to try to match the bridesmaids dress colors.

For the bridesmaids I decided to get them a tote bag with their initials that they could carry the day of the wedding. Inside I put a thank you note with a target gift card (who doesn't love target!), flip flops to match their dresses, I bag filled with bobby pins, clear hair elastics, travel size deodorant, mints, mini hair brush, makeup mirror, nail file, tylenol, bandaids, travel size static gaurd, and some hairspray! I also included some granola bars, 100 calorie packs, and smart waters.

Danny found some custom made bar signs and decided to make these for each of his groomsmen!

For the flower girl and ring bearers we went on a shopping spree at Toys R Us. Danny and I had a great time trying to remember what we liked when we were young! We bought things like slinky's, sidewalk chalk, yo yo's, books, coloring books and crayons, and hot wheels cars. It was a lot of fun!

Girls Night Out:

The Wednesday before the wedding my mom and her friends wanted to go out with my friends for a girls night out. We are starting out at Sushi Samba Rio and then will bar hop to some nice restaurant and hotel bars from there!

Thursday Night Meet Up:

On Thursday we have reserved the top floor of Portillo's hot dogs so everyone that is trickling into town can meet up and have a Chicago hot dog! It will be an everyone for themselves event but we will have the space rented out for people to get together. After beer and hot dogs the boys will go out for the bachelor party and the girls will go grab a drink some where near the guest hotels.

Rehearsal Dinner:

For the rehearsal dinner we decided to do something that Danny and I both love, tapas! We booked a private room at Emilio's Tapas for bridal party and immediate family. We rented out a room at a bar around the corner for everyone not invited to the rehearsal dinner to meet up at afterwards.

Brunch:

Our brunch will be at the Grand Luxe Cafe. We will be having it buffet style running from 10am until 12pm. The guests are the same as the rehearsal dinner and can come anytime within those two hours to grab some breakfast before heading home.

Well we were all booked for Riviera Maya but because of the swine flu we decided it was better not to risk it. We rebooked in Punta Cana and are really happy with the way it worked out! We are staying at the Paridisus Palma Real, in a Royal Service Deluxe Suite with access to an adult only private pool and beach.