Anna and Peter got married on a chilly day in November and celebrated with all their favorite people at Walden Chicago—one of my absolute favorite venues in the city of Chicago—and the day was just so lovely in every way. From the getting ready moments at Walden filled with Anna and her bridesmaids in the cutest PJ sets, to the trolley ride around the city for photos, to the indoor photos I’m so grateful we planned for—and even the 30 seconds of outdoor ones we attempted before the wind chill made us say “okay that’s enough!!! Back to the trolley!” I’ll NEVER, ever be over Anna’s pearl-strapped wedding dress (or her short feathered reception dress for dancing), Peter’s kind and hilarious groomsmen and ushers, the sweet speeches that were said at the reception, or the sparkler photos we took on the roof of Walden after Anna changed into her reception dress.

There’s something just so cozy and magical about a wedding reception that takes place during a cold winter night (okay it was technically still fall on November 18th, but when it’s 15° out I’m calling it winter lol) when everyone is inside dancing and celebrating while it’s snowy and windy outside. It was an honor to be a part of this day! Keep scrolling to read the details on their dream team and the kindest review they left me on Google.

Venue + Planning + Catering: Walden Chicago

Photography: Marissa Kelly Photography

Dress: Alice in Ivory

Florals: Thistle and Plume

Hair and Makeup: Rare Bird Beauties

DJ: Amplified Events

Dessert: Sweet Mandy B’s and Bittersweet

Photo Booth: MDM Entertainment

“THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER!

If we could give one piece of advice to anyone planning a wedding, it would be to hire Marissa to be your photographer. We cannot say enough amazing things about Marissa’s work and our experience with her. Marissa is such a talented, organized, fun, and supportive person. We had to reschedule our engagement session 3 times because of weather, and she was so flexible and positive throughout it all, even turning our engagement gallery over in less time because she knew we were trying to get our save the dates sent out. And the gallery was SO beautiful! It was impossible to decide which pictures to frame because they were all so amazing. Leading up to our wedding day, we could see that the weather was going to be an issue, and Marissa was so proactive in reaching out and helping us think of backup options for photo locations if we weren’t going to be able to take them outside. Again, Marissa was so positive and flexible. It was easy to stay relaxed while working with Marissa! She did such an amazing job on the wedding day of encouraging us to try a few outdoor photos, but also being creative with indoor shots, and I’m so grateful to her for that! Marissa was also so efficient and organized, managing our large wedding party and various group shots, we were always on schedule and she even made time for some additional photos of just the two of us, which are so amazing. We already had high expectations for our wedding photos after receiving such amazing engagement photos, and somehow Marissa exceeded them!! We can’t count how many people reached out to us after our wedding to compliment our photos and ask about our photographer.

We feel so incredibly lucky that we got to work with Marissa and we will treasure the photos for the rest of our lives. If you haven’t hired Marissa yet, stop what you’re doing and hire her—you’ll be SO glad you did!”