The Perfect Wedding

     It will be weeks before the professional photos are ready from my niece's weekend wedding, but I couldn't wait to share a few of my own photos. The above photo will be my favorite, no matter what the photographer does because Jenny looked at me and grinned after the ceremony and it looks "so Jenny" that I just love it!

     This was by far my favorite wedding, ever. I would say the same thing if I hadn't been related to the bride. Our family tends to do things slightly non-traditional and this wedding was the perfect blend of fun, fabulous, silly and elegant. It took place at the Adler Planetarium on the lakefront in Chicago, at sunset. The view was stunning even though the temperatures were a little warmer than we expected.

My dad walking my sister (the mother-of-the-bride) to her seat.

     There were 7 bridesmaids, the dresses were these deep teal and navy. The two above just happen to be the bride's sisters, my nieces. Aren't they all just gorgeous? The guys all wore gray suits of their own choosing, with matching plaid ties.

    Jenny and her dad entered from the upper level down two flights of stairs. There was no traditional Wedding March. Our Jenny came down the aisle to Cosmic Love by Florence and the Machine. I loved it!

     The service was really personal. Jenny and Jerry asked their very good friend Chris to be ordained so he could marry them. He was friends with Jenny long before Jerry came into the picture and as he said during the ceremony, he was there after their first date when Jenny came home floating on air. His service was a mix of humor, memories and a few tears. Above you see that they asked my dad for a few words of advice about having a long marriage. He talked to them about a few things he and my mom did to remind each other of their love and then he read from the Book of Ruth, which was very special to my parents. There wasn't a dry eye in our family when he was speaking. The bride and groom also included a memorial section on the program that included my mom, Jenny's other grandparents and two of Jerry's friends.

     We had cocktails and a large variety of appetizers out on the terraces before dinner was served. They had a mac and cheese "tini" bar set up. A large chafing dish of macaroni and cheese (with truffle oil) to be spooned into martini glasses and topped with everything from sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and blue cheese. So clever.

The flower of the day was the pink peony.

     You can't share a blog post without showing the food. We had the choice of salmon (mine-above), chicken (my husband's below) or a vegetarian dish. I don't know who catered this wedding but they did it very well.

     Another thing that I loved was they didn't have a cake. In fact at one point my niece said, "we are going to cut the beignet" and that is what they did! There was a beignet dessert bar. Servers would fill the beignet with either chocolate, vanilla, strawberry or lemon cream and then serve them with ice cream, hot fudge sauce and a fruit selection. Coffee and tea were served with chocolate spoons and optional Bailey's. 

     The DJ was great and the dance floor was packed all night long. There is nothing quite like dancing to Katy Perry singing Firework while the fireworks are going off right outside the window.

Of course being in a planetarium added a few

decorations that one doesn't normally have at a wedding!

     My niece is as sweet as she is beautiful. My sister and I are really close and our kids are also very close, so I couldn't be happier if this was one of my kids. What makes it even better is that her new husband Jerry is such a great guy. He not only worships her, he fits in very well with our family and after meeting his parents and grandparents over the weekend, I can see why he is so special.

     It is rare these days when everything comes together perfectly, when everyone is happy and healthy and when everyone has a wonderful time. We were all very blessed that our first family wedding was absolute perfection! They are currently taking a 3 week tour of Italy, France and London. Bliss!