The Wellsley Chicago Wedding | Waldorf Astoria | Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral | Chicago Wedding Photographer
The Wellsley Chicago Wedding | Waldorf Astoria | Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral | Chicago Wedding Photographer
Stefanie and Michael were not only wed in the most lovely wedding cathedral and had a beautiful wedding reception with all of their loved one in one of the loveliest venues in downtown chicago, The Wellsley, but they are truly the sweetest couple. and while I don’t have the whole timeline, I learned enough from our zoom chats and the father’s speeches where I can give a nice overview of their sweet love story!
Both of their parents attend ANnunication Greek Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Chicago, and knew of each other’s children. For one of the church events, stefanie was volunteering and met Michael. Their families hit it off really well with each other, as the father of the groom mentioned in his speech how he invited the bride’s family to his families village on an island when they were all originally vacationing sepArately in greece, and the families grew a lot closer then, especially for the start of stefanie and michael’s relationship. I iust love how close these two are with their families and how their families really bonded during their entire relationship and became one big greek happy family! ANd I adore them all as well, it’s really great to see how loving the families were of each other.
So fast forward to stefanie and michael’s wedding day, Stefanie got ready at the beautiful waldorf astoria. Her gown was by the beautiful wedding dress designer, ines di santo, and her shoes were none other than the iconic and red soled Christian Louboutin. Then they of course, were married at ANnunication Greek Orthodox Cathedral surrounded by all of the favorite people. The interiors of this cathedral were truly another level. I always love cathedrals, but maybe because this was a greek orthodox church, it was a lot more unique in it’s design, architectural features and of course the lovely greek orthodox traditions were so beautiful to witness.
After the confetti exit at the church, the couple had some alone time in the limo and upstairs in a private bar at The Wellsley, so they could have a bit of time to themselves while eating some appetizers and enjoying their first glasses of champagne together. After they took the wellsley’s vibrant red hotel downstairs, they made a low key entrance into their cocktail hour and started dancing on the dance floor. There are two bars on the main floor at the wellsley for all of the guests to enjoy drinks, and The decor at The wellsley is just stunning. Again, I’m not a great writer, but if you just glance at the wedding decor images below of the dining room, you’ll see just how beautiful and timeless this wedding was. A lot of it was already the beauty of the interiors of the wellsley, so thankfully you wouldn’t have to do that much to make it beautiful, besides adding your custom menu’s florals and any other pieces that you’d like to make your wedding day unique. They had lovely matchboxes in bowls at the bar for their guests to take away as memorable and practical wedding favors.
The speeches were so sweet, the food catered by Boka Catering was another level, with the chef coming out and flambéing the desserts in front of everyone before handing them to everyone freshly fired up and piping hot. After the multiple dinner courses were finished, the bars were opened back up again, the live band, The Carol Sarlas Band, started playing and the bride and groom led the way to the center of the dance floor to dance the night away. The traditions didn’t stop at the dance floor though, with everyone throwing money at the bride and groom, and of course the flower girl running around picking it all up! What an eventful and memorable day all around! x
“The Wellsley Chicago is one of the best wedding venue’s in downtown chicago for a modern and chic wedding venue.”
The unplanned moments, like the above, are some of my favorite to document. These
sweet men knew both the bride and groom from them attending the church and were genuinely so happy for them as they exited to head to their wedding reception!
Downtown Chicago Reception Venue - The Wellsley Chicago // Downtown Chicago Wedding Hotel - Waldorf Astoria Chicago // Wedding Planning + Design - Amanda Paige Events // Florist Company Name - Steve's Flower Market // Make-up Artist + Hair - Rare Birds Beauty + Salon Buzz // Bride's wedding Dress Designer - Ines Di Santo // wedding shoes - Christian Dior // Groom's Tux - Custum // Groom's Wedding Shoes - Christian Louboutin // Bride + Groom Rings - family jeweler // downtown chicago Ceremony venue - Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Chicago // Cocktail Hour + Reception Dinner and desserts Caterer - Boka Catering // Chicago Wedding Reception - Live Band - The Carol Sarlas Band
