I was lucky enough to get to know Katie and Jake pretty well before the wedding since they had me come up to Chicago to shoot their engagement session! We shot until Jake hit the breaking point we like to call “hangry” (a disorder I am quite familiar with as it is shared by both my husband Steve and my work husband Kristie) and then they treated me to an awesome dinner at a sweet little pizza place that I can’t wait to get back to try again! It was so cool – there is like a pizza dough bowl. Hard to explain. Must try. Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company.

I knew this was going to be an awesome wedding and would like to pre-apologize for the extra long blog post. Just couldn’t narrow it down. Katie loves Kate Spade classic style, so I purposely wore my black and white polka dot shirt thinking it might work well for an invitation photo background. I think it turned out nicely! No I was not running around the wedding suite in my bra – I had a tank top underneath I swear. ;)

The wedding guest bags were filled with all kinds of yummy goodness! And  Sprite with some aspirin. Sprite is my go to hang over drink of choice. Effort appreciated!


Katie hanging with her momma…

The rest of the lovely ladies.

Katie’s mom’s dress was FABULOUS. Meredith and I were both drooling.


I think I spy a Kate Spade necklace on the ladies. Shiny sparkly loveliness!

Katie’s turn…


The structure of this gown. Flawless.


One of my favorite dad first look faces of ALL TIME.


He was showing off his index cards for his speech later and scaring Katie. He’s a hoot that one!


Everyone else agreed…perfection!

Katie, not everyone can pull of the serious sexy bad ass face or the smirk, but you killed it.


Meredith headed out to go check in on Jake with his parents and the guys. Everyone was totally well behaved and on schedule! A responsible bunch. Not always what we get. ;)




Off to church! St. Francis Xavier. I never tire of this place. It is spectacular.




Personal fave…

Sneaking a little peek…

See? Spectacular.




Married!

These two followed my “artistic direction” perfectly. And then the wind caught Katie’s dress for one of my favorite exit photos ever!

Just a wee bit windy!


Off to find some cherry blossoms! So pretty.


LOVE our florist friend Tina Barrera’s style.







Seriously how awesome are those blooms?!




Following up our park time with a quick downtown architecture stop.




Off to party at the Bissinger’s Caramel Room!

Love this room.


How cute are the mini champagne bottles at each place setting?!




I remember Katie’s mom telling me they just kept ordering custom printed throw pillows. Not a sentence you hear every day and it made me chuckle.The Caramel Room now has these awesome copper mugs available for use at your event!







Dad’s speech didn’t disappoint after all of the hype. ;)








Dance par-tay with Arvell and Company!



How cute are these leaderboards by Cheree Berry by the way?!

I caught this shot of shots on their way to Jake and the guys…

Amanda, their chef and the creative team at The Caramel Room never cease to blow my mind. Those are little tins of seasoned fries with cheese and poached egg AND mini pancakes with a dollop of semi frozen whipped cream meant to resemble a golf ball. A PERFECT way to wrap up a wonderful day!

Congratulations you two! It was truly perfect. With love, Liz + Meredith

VENDOR LOVE

Planner: Kate & Co.

Ceremony venue: St. Francis Xavier College Church

Reception Venue: The Caramel Room at Bissinger’s

Florist: The Special Event Florist

Invitations: Two Blue Doors

Day of stationary: Cheree Berry

Band: Arvell & Co.

Draping & Lighting: Parties & Props

Linens: BBJ Linens

Chargers: The Aries Company

Transportation: Best Transportation

Hair & Makeup: Daniellestyle

L Photographie St. Louis wedding photographers