Chicago History Museum has been Nora’s dream wedding venue ever since she learned to ride her bike there as a kid, so it was an obvious choice when her college sweetheart, Daniel, popped the question! With its iconic checkered floor, stone façade, ivory crown molding, and crystal chandeliers, it was important to the couple that they highlight the venue’s elegance. Working with their planner Clover Events, they chose a fresh white color palette for the florals by Revel Décor, adding just a hint of blue in the ceremony arrangements as well as the bridesmaids’ dresses. Countless meaningful details filled the day, making it a special event for the bride and groom as well as all their guests and Ashley Bosnick Photography was there to capture this stunning event!
In their own words
How did you meet?
We met in college at the University of Pennsylvania. Dan, a football star, spotted Nora (a non-athlete) working out at the gym near the stadium. He talked with his teammates to figure out who she was and messaged her on Facebook. Nora hadn’t seen him that day at the gym, but when she saw in his Facebook photos that he was on the football team he looked familiar! She opened an old program from a homecoming football game to find that she had put a heart around his picture! A few days of Facebook chatting later, we agreed to meet in person at the campus bar and never looked back!
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
For the ceremony, we wanted to make the most of CHM’s stunning plaza and columned staircase. We flipped the traditional format of ceremonies at the venue by having the guests face the building so Nora could make a grand entrance from the double doors and down the stairs.
What were your favorite parts of the day?
Waking up and hearing the perfect weather forecast set the tone – it had been raining the day before and rained the day after too! Immediately after the ceremony, we exited up the aisle and into the museum. Our wedding party and families were right behind us and we all started hugging and crying and high-fiving! It was a special moment with our closest loved ones, celebrating our new union before the reception got underway. Before our first dance, Daniel got up and made a hilarious and heartfelt speech to all of our guests – completely off the cuff! So often brides and grooms don’t address their guests during the wedding celebration, but I so admired Daniel for getting in front of everyone to thank them for their love and support, and to share a few jokes he’d been working on too!
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
Create a shared email address to simplify email communications (there are a lot of emails!). We both felt like we were in the loop on everything and like it was a shared responsibility. The day goes by so fast, but you’ll want to remember every detail and moment. Daniel’s sister told us a trick about taking “mental photosâ€: during important moments, gaze intently at the scene, holding your head still. Then blink your eyes slowly once, like a camera shutter for your mind.