Hannah & Brian

How did you meet?
When I moved to downtown Chicago and began looking for a new church to attend, a mutual friend connected me with Brian. Brian began giving me rides every Sunday morning and that’s when things started.

How long did you plan the wedding after the proposal?

5.5 months

The top 3 challenges/difficulties of planning the wedding.

1. Finding the right photographer/videographer: We wanted to find someone who was not only very capable, but also someone who could capture the emotions and atmosphere. We loved how much experience our photographer and videographer brought with them, and how well we clicked.
2. Planning from afar: Planning a wedding from halfway across the country was tough. Luckily, we had supportive friends and family who helped with the little things from buying and wrapping gifts, meeting vendors on our behalf, putting together our wedding favors, and more!
3. Figuring out the day-of schedule: Unfortunately, most couples begin thinking about the day of schedule a couple weeks before the wedding, or right around crunch time. There was so much we wanted squeeze in but only so much time!

The top 3 most fun/easiest parts of planning the wedding.
1. Flowers: I spent one afternoon brainstorming ideas, and that was the last time I worried about the flowers. It helps to work with experienced florists who are happy to work with you while kindly knowing how to put that perfect touch!
2. Programs and name cards: Having a shorter engagement means not being able to spend the time to put your own design touches to the little things. Luckily, I had an aunt who knew just what I wanted and helped oversee the small and stressful, yet important details.
3. Menu tasting: We flew in to LA just for it and it was worth it! We ended up picking a cake we initially weren’t sure we’d like but fell in love with after trying it

What fun/unique feature of your wedding made you the proudest?

I absolutely loved the way our flowers turned out especially the table centerpieces and my bouquet. I thought it’d be fun to include feathers and rhinestones in my bouquet. For the centerpieces, I worked with the florists (who also happen to be my aunts) on designing something elegantly extravagant yet out of the box

If you had it to do over, what would you change, add or do differently?

A longer engagement- wedding planning is a once in a lifetime occurrence, and I wish we were able to take it slower and enjoy the process. At the end, there’s nothing I would change about the wedding day itself!