Romantic Fall Weddings 2020

View Quoted Comment I think a budget excel sheet would be a great idea! That way I can keep track of all my spendings 😇 I like to write everything down and I’m constantly flipping back and forth at all my note taking, trying to keep up with all the vendors’ information and organize them.
I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to host the after party just at the lodge, even though it is a quiet space, we could liven it up with consent from the venue!! I had a really hard time finding good nightclubs and bars in the area my venue is at, at least places that are open late on a Sunday night! That would also save on the whole transportation bit. 💸💸
Even the clubs in Chicago are only open til midnight on a Sunday! Good call on the rehearsal dinner timing.😳 That is VERY good advice!!!!Yeah that would suck if people were too hungover to come to my wedding!!!! I’d be like “excuuuuusse me” 👰🏻 🤦🏻‍♀️Okay. So I could do it Friday night, the ceremony rehearsal there and then nightclub/dinner at Tao in Chicago after, maybe shuttle back to the venue after that? Or just get a room there for the night? I wonder how we should handle that with our whole bridal party.....Then next day, spend my hungover day in the spa 🤗😋 Probably get Cheesecake Factory for lunch with more cocktails (it’s really close to our venue, we went there right after we toured the place). Maybe workout, swim in the pool, guys could play golf and drink beer all day if they want to, etc, etc. and then Sunday do the wedding!I’m thinking our timeline will be from 4:30-500p for the ceremony and then 6:00p-10:00p. I think that’s realistic?! I honestly have no clue 😂BUT talking this out has SERIOUSLY helped lmao I am so lost and I didn’t even know it. This is what happens when you try to be budget-savvy and don’t get a planner 🤑😛 I honestly think that’s still worth it though!!

I’ll private message you our spreadsheet!


Yeah, we called the day in-between as our “Recovery Day”. Haha and if guests wanted some time away from the wedding events or people, they can go off on their own and explore Chicago!
Yeah, you could probably just Uber back and forth from Tao to your venue/hotel. Or some transportation companies will do specials on “night on the town” packages for limos and stuff! That’ll be such a fun night!!!
Your timeline looks good!
Are you doing first look photos? I’m all for trying to do a lot of the bridal party photos before the ceremony so that the couple and bridal party can enjoy cocktail hour.
Don’t worry, girl. I didn’t get a planner either. I did get a month-of-coordinator. She didn’t actually start until a couple of weeks before our wedding. She was helpful for day-of setups and handling the timeline, BUT didn’t actually help with too much planning and creative decor. Are you doing a day-of coordinator? I would definitely recommend looking into that or having a trusted family member with it so that on the day of the wedding, you don’t have to deal with vendors calling you with questions and whatnot. You can pretty much just relax (as much as possible) and get pampered.

View Quoted Comment Yes!!! A recovery day sounds perfect 🤗🤗 I’m thinking that’s a really good idea!
I’ll have to find out how much an Uber XL is from Chicago to Oak Brook. I’ve honestly been told that the drive from Oak Brook to Chicago isn’t that bad, the majority of the time that it takes is just getting into the city and where you want to be at in Chicago because of traffic and whatnot. But we could definitely even do some shopping and exploring that way!!! I’d love that a lot!
Omg if me and our bridal squad arrived to Tao in a limo that would be forever iconic!!!!!!! I would want a photographer just for that moment! LOL.I’ve thought about first look photos, I think that they’re an amazing and practical idea, however my fiancé isn’t down to do it. He thinks that if there is any chance of him crying while seeing me walk down the isle, that he shouldn’t see me beforehand lmao. But I actually think I would want to do the first look photos anyway, we could get in some daytime photos that way since our ceremony would be at sunset/nightfall. Again, practicality is a HUGE appeal!Our venue comes with an event coordinator, she’s basically there to make sure that things run smoothly throughout the day and for the rehearsal. She also is there to keep in contact with my vendors and coordinate with them, I think she will mostly be involved in the weeks leading up to the wedding which is good.

View Quoted Comment Yeah, if you could swing getting a limo or party bus— I would totally do it. Even if the drive was a little longer, it’d be fun because you guys could pre-game and drink in it!


Haha, my husband actually was the opposite! He didn’t want to risk crying in front of everyone so it worked out. What I did to kinda change up my look was I bustled my dress for first looks and when it was time to walk down the aisle, I unbustled my train and put my veil on!
If you don’t do a first look, at least do one with your dad or brother or grandfather. I did one with my dad (who went dress shopping with me and had seen it already) and he cried like a baby. It was just a nice moment to have with him.
Okay, good that you have an on-site coordinator because you don’t want to deal with any of those last minute stress-inducing stuff that pops up on the actual day!

View Quoted Comment That’s a good point!! I will definitely at least have to carve out some time for photos of me and bridesmaids having morning mimosas, doing a first look with my mom and dad, and I really hope my fiancé will change his mind about it and let us do one together as well.
I forgot about the whole un-bustling and bustling thing!!! That’s actually a really good idea 💡
I’m sure it would be a much more different experience that way too, more ceremonial if I wear the veil down (it’s a cathedral veil, so I hope he does okay with lifting the damn thing 😅🤣) . And then bustle it up for dancing!!!! I’ve thought about possibly doing a second dress or reception outfit too?? Haven’t worked out any details with that but I’m wondering if that’d be necessary or not, or if I would be fine just wearing the one dress all day.
I think that getting plenty of photos in while on the property would be spectacular, especially with the lake, the pavilion, and the forest preserve.. can’t let all of that scenery go to waste!!!!!

AND—the pregaming in the limo/party bus is a YES idea!!!!! Very important info haha

View Quoted Comment Oh yeah for sure! How long do you have your photographer for? Definitely make sure that they’re there for when you’re getting ready with your girls!


Honestly, I always thought I would have two dresses for my wedding, but once I bought my dress, I couldn’t imagine not wearing it all day. Haha
My dad actually kept asking me if I was sure I didn’t want another dress, but I’m like “you spent so much on a dress—I’m gonna wear that thing alllll day!!!” Hahah
However, my bridesmaids and I did change into much more casual outfits for the afterparty. We all wore animal print outfits haha
Yeah, honestly, I’ve been to weddings where there were first looks and the groom still cried when seeing their bride walk down the aisle.

View Quoted Comment Also just thought about it— if he’s against first look. Do a first touch instead!! You can get pics of that too!!

View Quoted Comment First touch photos are sooo cute! Very emotional and sweet ❤️ Yeah I think I should just go ahead and do the first look photos though l’d be pretty pissed if we skipped out on that hoping he'd cry while I’m walking down the aisle and then he still couldn’t bring himself too 😂 so we may as well do it and then if he gets emotional , he gets emotional. If not, welllll there’s no surprise he’s not a very emotional guy 😅
And yes! I definitely want my photographer to be there for all of the getting-ready fun. I know that the event itself will be 6 hours, I’m wondering when to even start getting ready 🧐 so that we have time for photos, but also not too early as it would probably cost more to have the photographer there first thing in the morning. And yeah I was thinking too that with the whole dress situation, I might have like a backup white jumpsuit or something cute just in case I feel like being comfy at the end of the night, but a second dress may be too much. I’ve even seen inspiration photos of the bride wearing just like a white hoodie that has “Bride” bedazzled onto it. That could be a cute and cozy thing to do. I know that I’ll for sure be in love with wearing my sparkly wedding dress the majority of the night though! Especially once it gets fitted and altered the way that I want it 😇😇

Omg animal print 😭😭❤️ That sounds so cute!!!!! I can imagine your wedding was just the cutest thing ever lol you’ll have to send me your full wedding video when it’s ready!!!!!

Oooo... How many bridesmaids do you have and will they be getting their hair and makeup professionally done? I had 5 bridesmaids, 2 adult flower girls, 2 moms, an officiant and one of my sister-in-laws get ready with me so we had to start around 8am to be dressed and ready to go by 12:30pm. I had two makeup artist and two hairstylists working on all of us. However, I got ready in a different location from my venue.


My photographers and videographers got to our cottage around 10ish and he took details shots as well as pics of us getting ready. We had two shooters for each team so I had one videographer and photographer in my cottage and my husband had one of each in his suite.
Here’s a tip for photographers/videographers— they don’t have to be there until the end of your wedding. They just need to capture a good amount of dancing and having fun after dinner. Because towards the end, it’s just going to be a bunch of drunk, sweaty people. No one really wants pics of that. 😂
We had both our photographers and videographers for 10 hours each. So they started around 10:30 and left probably around 8:30 pm.
Yeah, honestly, I personally know a couple of brides who did two dresses because they really wanted to, but ended up regretting it because they had to get two “nice” dresses as opposed to their dream dress because they wanted to stay within budget. I danced all night in my dress and it wasn’t uncomfortable at all for me!
The jacket idea is super cute! I’ve seen cute denim and leather jacket ones too!! You could wear a white one and have your girls wear a black one or other color. It’ll be so cute for pics!
Yeeeessss!!! I’ll definitely show you my video once it’s finished. We’re hoping to have our full gallery from our photographer this upcoming week! 💕

View Quoted Comment Yes 😊 I have 6 bridesmaids, My mom + my mother-in-law, I’ll be having 2 flower girls but they are younger so I wouldn’t have to worry so much about them makeup-wise BUT they will need their hair done!! I haven’t found my officiant yet, I will have to do some looking around for a good one!!
But I was thinking of upgrading to a Meis suite with 1131 sq-ft


or a Partner Suite with 1100 sq-ft, that one also has a table for 8 in it.

Our stay comes with a complimentary king suite with 754 sq-ft but I think I would want a little more space for getting ready regardless.


I actually just graduated from Paul Mitchell’s Cosmetology Program, along with two of my bridesmaids who work at the salon with me so they will pretty much be helping with Hair + Makeup, I was also thinking of contacting two or three more girls I graduated with that I know would be a good fit for the event and what style we’re going for! My bridesmaids will be wearing black, going for the deeper purples here so like black, black-violet, plum, eggplant, fuchsia, etc. so here’s the styles that I will be having them do:

Black, fitted dresses (I’ll probably do something with more support than an off-shoulder) and side swept hair 💗💗💗💗I will definitely have to plan a hair and makeup trial and also carve out enough time for everyone to get their stuff done!!!!!And ooooo!!! That’s smart!! I definitely am searching for a photographer that can offer a second shooter, but I’ve been looking for someone who does that within budget that also can do the vintage style of photography 😭😭 it’s so hard finding someone that fits everything! I feel like 8:00a.m is a good start time for getting ready. Where did you get ready at? Was it far from the rest of your bridal party? I had wondered if getting ready in a separate room would be better or not. I could see it being less stressful!!!I also feel like that is a good timeline all around for the photographers and videographers! And one of each with the groomsmen and bridesmaids getting ready! Very good idea. 🙌 I’ll for sure keep that in mind too with how long to keep them for. You’re totally right they don’t need to be there for the sweaty drunk people bit 😅😅 and when my fiancé sweats, he SWEATS like hello Lake Michigan!!!!! Lol. I am in LOVE with the jacket idea!!!! Oh my gosh!!!!!!! That would suit us so well, we both kind of have tattoos and we just love that darker vibe 😃😃😃🖤



Okay, LOVEEEE
Gaaaaahhhh I can’t wait to see your gallery and video!!! I just know that they will be amazing 👏👏

View Quoted Comment Oh yeah, young flower girls don’t need too much makeup. Maybe some lipgloss and blush to make them feel like they’re getting ready as well.


So I got ready in my cottage with all my girls. My husband got ready with his guys, ushers and dads. He had a suite of his own for Thursday-Saturday AM and then the wedding night he stayed in my cottage. The resort had stand alone cottages in addition to rooms so I had a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom cottage and my MOH and one other friend stayed there with me Thursday and Friday night.
It had a kitchenette and it’s own lakefront deck with a fire pit. It was kinda packed since we had 18 people (including hair/makeup artists and photographer/videographer). So I would definitely recommend getting a bigger spot if possible!
Don’t forgot to have some type of breakfast for your crew and artists. My parents had picked up breakfast sandwiches and pastries from Starbucks as well as bottles of orange juice and cold brew. They’ll be up early and probably won’t eat until the wedding dinner so definitely make sure they get breakfast!
Ahhh! So cool! I wish I could do makeup. I can only do it on myself (since I’ve been practicing on it all my life), but suck when doing anyone else’s. Haha
Are you doing your own makeup? If so, only do yours if possible. You shouldn’t have to worry or stress about doing other people’s hair/makeup!
Oooo those dresses look super chic— love it!! 💕
Yeah, the jacket idea is super fun! My girls got cute cropped faux fur black jackets from Nordstrom and I had a white one, but we forgot to take pro pics in them 🤦🏻‍♀️ You can kinda see some of the girls wearing it in this photo.
What’s your budget for photography? I can see if I can find someone who fits what you’re looking for!!

View Quoted Comment Oh my gosh yes!
Okay yeah lipgloss and blush would be good for the girls )
And I will definitely try to book a room with enough space throughout the weekend! I sadly didn’t get to tour the other suites when I went to visit this venue, probably because it came with a complimentary suite and that’s what they showed us. I’ll have to ask to see the others next time I go and hopefully find one that’s perfect! I’m thinking that the fiancé and I could still just keep that one for the wedding night because it is complimentary and it would just be the two of us, but then use the upgraded suites for the nights leading up to the wedding. And that is a good point!!!! I need to feed my people haha. The lodge does have a café downstairs by the bar so I’m sure we could either get room service from that or have someone pick us up some Starbucks nearby!!!! YUM! ☕️☕️I’m obsessed with their whites chocolate mochas and blonde vanilla lattes!!!! AND their coffee cake good lord😅 lmao I have the biggest sweet tooth 🦷 🤗💕And girlllll good heavens yes!! If I had to do everyone else’s makeup I would have a meltdown lol I like saving money but that would just be a hot mess 🤣 I could just hire my old classmates to do it, some of them are pretty good at it and I would be comfortable with them already, and they could enjoy the reception after and party it up with us! 🍾🥂I actually went to Anaheim, California last year on an education trip to take Makeup Classes through Paul Mitchell, it was so much fun!!! It was so sunny there 🥰🌞☀️
My overall budget is around $25k-$30k for the wedding + honeymoon, I got proposed to while I was still in school and unemployed 😅 so I was like uhhh let’s have a 2-year engagement so I can graduate and find a job in a salon and hope that this wedding goes smoothly!I’m thinking that my splurge items should be videography and photography, because that’s what we’d have for the rest of our lives from the wedding, so I went with the $4250 videographer Amor In Motion, and then I want to try to keep the photographer around $2500-$3000 if possible. It is difficult trying to find someone that is good in the Chicago area that costs around that much, with the style I’m looking for, and offering a second shooter! I also do like photos that aren’t so dark but definitely want good detail and editing. I would LOVE the help, thank you so SO much!!! That’s so sweet omg ❤️❤️❤️❤️And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fur jackets!!! That is seriously sooo cute! And I love Nordstrom omg my fave everLove the backdrop too!!!! You girls look amazing! 🙌🙌

View Quoted Comment Also, do you have Facebook + Instagram??
I’d love to add you!!!
FB- Katheryn Monera BalchIG- @katmonra

Yeah, I’ve heard some horror stories about brides forgetting feed her girls all day! I have a crazy sweet tooth too! I weirdly enough didn’t eat all
morning except I had a couple of glasses of mimosas! Haha


Ooooo smart! Yeah, if your friends can help with your girls makeup, that would be perfect! 🤗
Oh nice! Yeah, we’re from the Orange County area. It’s typically pretty good weather except for the morning of our wedding! 😂
I’m not sure how much weddings cost in Chicagoarea, but your budget is a pretty nice budget for here in CA (about the cost or an average wedding)! And same, girl. My husband and I had a 15-month engagement so we could save up some more for our wedding and not drain our savings. It’s crazy to think how much one day ends up costing!
Same with us— I knew I was gonna allocate more money towards photography and videography. Then flowers. Haha I actually ended up upgrading our videography package two weeks before the wedding and then added additional stuff a few weeks later. So my $5k budget for it went up to $7k. :/ I bargained with my husband and asked for the additional stuff as my birthday present 😂 Okay adding you on FB and Instagram so I can send you some photographer suggestions to gauge what style you like!!!

View Quoted Comment Oh my gosh I would hate to have a room full of hangry bridesmaids!!!! Things would definitely get catty lmao 😭😭 I couldn’t imagine starving everyone all day and then all of us pigging out at the dinner stations 🤣 Very classy haha. I’ll have to organize something too for the groomsmen, my fiancé is just not himself when he gets hungry lol he would be miserable!!!!
I’m sure that maybe you were too excited or the nerves were kicking in, I lose my appetite when I’m super anxious. Mimosas are a must haha. I’ve been told to also remember to have a snack between the ceremony and the dinner at the reception, to avoid passing out from all the madness, especially with speeches!
I have considered too sending them like groomsmen gift boxes with cigars in them that they could smoke outside during photos if smoking is allowed on the property. I think his two older brothers are into that sort of thing. With whisky glasses of course + Jack 🥃
Another splurge item I had thought a lot about was the screen projector + audio you can get from your DJ. My dad is an awkward dancer, so I thought maybe I should play like a video of him raising me during the father-daughter dance and it would kind of take the attention off of us and it would still be very sentimental.

My mom is a VERY good dancer haha it must be a Filipino thing!! Never a dull moment with her lolol.I asked my fiancé’s mom if they had any home videos of him growing up and they unfortunately don’t have any! I thought maybe they could either just do like a photo slideshow or if they feel comfortable they could do a super cute mother-son dance!!!! I’ve seen so many cute ideas for first dances and surprise dancing and it is such an adorable concept!!!!!! If I had the time I would totally arrange something fun for us to do.
Weddings around here are pretty much around this same budget I believe, but we wanted to carve out some of that funding for our honey moon as well. That’s another thing about the Hyatt Lodge, by hosting our wedding there we receive World of Hyatt points, so possibly a free 2-3 night stay at any Hyatt in the world for our honeymoon, which there are a LOT. I was thinking either Europe or the Maldives 🤔🤔Have you and your husband decided on where to honeymoon or already gone on yours? I’m so torn about what kind of trip to take! And thank you for the add! I’d be more than happy to keep in touch 😊

View Quoted Comment

Yeah, definitely feed them! And buy a few extra sandwiches for your makeup/hair and video/photo people. Last thing ya want is hangry vendors!

My husband did breakfast at the restaurant at our resort. He had all his groomsmen, ushers and our dads there. I just put it on their timeline/schedule haha there he gave them a box with their wedding day accessories— tie, pocket square, socks and suspenders. He gifted them a Patagonia fanny pack filled with random little bottles of liquor and goodies the day before.

Has he already asked his groomsmen? We did proposal boxes for our party. In his box, he did cigar holders with his grooms men’s initials and a cigar, a mini bottle of bourbon, animal crackers box, mentos (not sure why. Lol), and a card. That might be fun to do for them! With like the whiskey glass and cigars!

I had gotten all his groomsmen and the guys that went to his bachelor party each a personalized yeti lowball rambler and I think some of them may have brought it to use for the wedding weekend.

Awww I like the projector idea! Super cute! 🤗 if your dad is down for it, take dance lessons! My dad took dance lessons for our first dance and it was a nice chance to spend extra time with my dad. 💕

My husband danced with his mom to “What a Wonderful World” then they transitioned to “Love Shack” (his family used to dance to it in their living room when he was a kid) and had his sister and dad join them. Then the DJ called my family and I to join them on the dance floor. Then eventually the rest of our guests. It was a great way to open up the dance floor and get people dancing!

My husband and I also did dance lessons for our first dance. We did a waltz that transitioned into a faster routine. However, if your husband isn’t the best dancer or gets nervous... don’t make it too complicated. We were too ambitious and my husband I think got stage fright and forgot part of our routine. It looked fine and I don’t think people noticed, but save yourself the stress. Haha

That’s awesome for your free Hyatt nights for the honeymoon!!! Oooo the Maldives would be so romantic! Have you been to Europe? Or has your husband been? What parts of Europe are you looking to visit?

Our honeymoon plans were a mess because of coronavirus. We were initially booked to do a one month honeymoon in Asia — Hong Kong, Bali, Singapore and Japan. Then we would have capped it off with a few days in a Hawai’i. However, once all the stuff started happening in Asia, we switched to a month in Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, and my husband said we can do Asia as a babymoon trip. Then the world basically shut down. Haha thankfully we got refunds for all our flights and hotels. We’ll take the trip next year around our anniversary.

View Quoted Comment Absolutely! I’ll have to take a look at the breakfast options at the lodge, it’d be easier to feed everyone in the room that way in the morning!


That would be good to give the groomsmen too—a gift box with all of their needed accessories for the wedding! That’s something I should do for my bridesmaids too! He has already asked his brothers to all be his groomsmen, I have all of my bridesmaids too but I really wanted to get all of us girls together for a brunch or something and have like a cute setup with their proper bridesmaid proposal boxes. I know I should do the robes, probably some jewelry for the wedding, maybe some wine tumblers or something? I love Yeti’s that’s one of our favorite brands haha and all of those thing pretty much hit the mark on things they will need!
I would love to do dance lessons, I’ve even thought about somehow organizing a surprise bridesmaid dance lol but half of my bridesmaids are in Champaign and the other half are out of town! My parents are living in Bloomington too. I even had a hard enough time getting all of them together just to do the dress fitting appointments!! I understand that it’s mostly because of work and two of my bridesmaids out of town are single-moms. Life just gets in the way sometimes but I really do hope that we can get together (hopefully this summer) and do a proper bridesmaid proposal brunch. I think all of them would love it, it would be fun, and everyone would receive what they need for the wedding day!
I will definitely have to request from my DJ to help get people out on the dance floor, I would hate for it to just be me and only the people that know how to. I’m sure the open bar will help people let loose!!!I will probably save the stress of doing anything too fancy for the wedding as far as the dancing goes, I’d hate for my fiancé to get cold feet! I’ve honestly kind of have always wanted to learn how to salsa though, it looks like so much fun!!!! 💃🏻👏
I really am thinking of going the exotic route for a honeymoon, I haven’t been to Europe, my mom is Filipino so I’ve been with the family flying through Tokyo, Japan to Manila, Philippines 🇵🇭 And Dipalog in Zamboanga del Norte, where my family is.And my sister and I have also been to Jamaica/the Caribbean 🌴🌴🌴🌴 I love the sun, and in the Maldives we could do the overwater bungalow!!!! I’ve always dreamed of my honeymoon I guess experiencing the beach and having a private dinner for two on the sand and getting couples massages on an island lol!!! And drinking a lot of champagne 🥂😍
I haven’t been to Europe though, I thought it could be nice to experience the culture while we’re young. I’ve heard a lot of couples right now are doing the 3 countries in 10 days European travel route. You can experience the beaches of Greece, they’re very beautiful there! And in Iceland they have the Blue Lagoon hot springs with a swim-up bar, and of course the Northern Lights. I love the green terrain of Ireland, my other two sisters were just there visiting some old friends! And there would be plenty of waterfalls to come by.
I had also considered traveling in Southeast Asia as well, Bali is soooooo beautiful!! My only concern was the humidity (my fiancé sweats like an insane person 😅) I would like to go somewhere he can feel comfy, otherwise he’d be complaining the whole time lol. He and I haven’t traveled together outside of the country, and he actually has never been out of the U.S before so I really want his first international experience to be good, so he will want to do it again!!! Hawaii looks like so much fun too!!! The luau’s look amazing!!!I’ve always wanted to see a fire-dance performance!!!

And Singapore’s architecture is INCREDIBLE. I would seriously love to see that some day!!!!! 😍😍😍 Oh my gosh!!!!!! That would be a beautiful baby moon!!!! I forgot we still get to do that haha!!! My fiancé has actually always wanted to go to New Zealand because of how beautiful it is. I’m pretty sure that’s where all of the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings movies were filmed, truly beautiful countries you’ll be seeing!!! You will definitely have to tell me how it all goes, I love hearing details about different countries and travel do’s & don’ts!
I’m so excited for everything coming!!!! Traveling is seriously so fun, there’s no better feeling than being on a plane at sunrise 🥰 I really want to play my cards right with wedding planning so that I have enough funds to do plenty of traveling after hand, it’s seriously so worth it!!!!

Do you guys have any certain activities planned for your honeymoon or know what are some good places to eat/stay? I love finding new experiences and new travel goals to put on the bucket list haha

View Quoted Comment Also, and this just came to me—Bachelorette Party ideas!!!!
I know you’ve mentioned you’ve been to Vegas, and that is totally where we are planning to go!!!! I’d love to hear about all of the best things to do and what to expect going there!
🥳🥳🥳🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸