Malerie and Andy were married at Chief O’Neill’s in their outdoor beer garden in Chicago, IL. A lot of colored ribbons, candles, and handmade decor around the venue achieved a pretty and casual evening for a celebration to remember.
A surprise rain shower threatened to ruin the outdoor festivities but quick thinking on the part of A Splendid Occasion and change of schedule kept everyone mostly dry and happy! Shower yourself with wonderful ideas from this mint garden wedding in the full gallery here, captured by Coach House Pictures.
Pre-ceremony cocktail hour saves the day
From A Splendid Occasion:It was a beautiful Chicago summer day, the perfect temperature for an outdoor wedding. Around 5:45 PM, the clouds turned black and the rain began to pour down. Since having the outdoor ceremony was one of the most important things to Malerie and Andy, we had to think quick on our feet to make the best of the situation.
We came up with the idea to let the storms pass and start with a brief cocktail hour. We didn’t want our poor bride to sit in “hiding” for that long so we had to think on our feet. Instead of Malerie hiding out, she did her grand introduction and joined the rest of her guests for cocktail hour, first. It was a fantastic entrance. All of their guests were so excited to see her! It’s definitely an unusual way to go about the evening, but it all worked out in the end.
Words from a splendid occasion
Once we saw a break in the storms, we quickly had all of the guests move outside for a standing ceremony, queued up the live ceremony musicians, and the ceremony began. Halfway during the ceremony the rain started again, lightly, and we passed out umbrellas to all of the guests. Malerie and Andy embraced the weather and made there way under the gazebo in the garden. What a beautiful and touching ceremony, followed by a bagpipe performance, which was only necessary for the Irish Pub! After the ceremony we went straight into dinner. By the end of dinner the stars were out and it was beautiful outside. The bride and groom weren’t into the traditional wedding cake and asked for cupcakes, macarons, and a stacked Oreo cake.
Read on to see advice from the bride on how to make your big day memorable for years to come.
You know, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. Despite the rain, the wedding was absolutely perfect. It was the most fun day of my life, and I’m so grateful that Tiffany was there to save the day when the storm began. I definitely would recommend to any bride to interview a lot of planners and pick someone with a great personality. I also made a bunch of separate Pinterest boards for photos, hair and makeup, and flowers.This was really helpful for me when discussing what I wanted with my vendors. I also handmade a few items which I’m so happy I have now as keepsakes and have extra special meaning to me since I made them. (It also saved us a lot of money!) I designed our wedding invitations and I also handmade our card box, which now holds some flowers and other small items from the ceremony.
