Designing With Nature - An Outdoor Ceremony in Chicago!

An outdoor ceremony is a dream for many of our Midwest brides. There are so many factors that you need to plan for an outdoors wedding in the Midwest! I will need to write a whole other blog for that.  Today, I wanted to talk about creating a ceremony design that compliments and doesn’t compete with the beauty of nature.  I am going to use a wedding that is close to my heart as it is our long time friends, Radha & Praseen’s, wedding.  The wedding took place in front of a beautiful lake surrounded by greenery. Believe it or not, this unique venue is the outdoor ceremony area of The Westin in Itasca!  As the backdrop of her venue is already adorned with so much natural beauty, we decided to go with minimalism and pick up natural elements that complimented the outdoors. Radha wanted to make sure that our design blended with and enhanced the surroundings.  We went with birch wood branches to create the mandap.  Then we added in soft touches through white chiffon fabric draping that played beautifully with the summer wind. We added in succulents and greenery accents on the branches to bring them to life.   We brought in the summer feel through soft colors such as sage, peach, and dusty green through fresh flowers arranged in vintage cages.  Finally, the aisle was kept modest with spring blooms and baby’s breath in mason jars hanging off of Sheppard’s hooks.  We loved the simplicity of this wedding and how the ceremony setting just became part of the surrounding.  We hope you like it too!  Here are some pictures: