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Welcome to the SoiréeSmith blog!
This is a journal about the weddings and events we do here in Chicago's North Shore, with some tips and a bit about life sprinkled in.
 Stay a while and please say hello!

Hi, I'm andrea.

O & B’s Country Club Coral Chic Wedding.

Jun 2, 2020

One year ago today was too beautiful and magical a day to not look back over these photos from Andrew & Marianne Nicodem (with their eponymous firm Nicodem Creative). This was my second 2019 that preemptively (design began in 2018) became one of 2019’s ‘Pantone Color of the Year Weddings’: infusing “Living Coral” as the signature floral color in their wedding day.  

As is SoiréeSmith tradition, it’s time to walk you all down memory lane on Olivia & Ben’s first wedding anniversary!

Similar to my last blog post, I first spoke with Olivia’s mom while on vacation back home in Canada (lesson learned: to book some pretty fantastic weddings – go on vacation!) – and I was thrilled to be selected to work with this family. 

Olivia was a North Shore gal who had grown up in Winnetka, and Ben a fellow Torontonian like myself)! Prior to hiring me, they had already settled on Olivia’s family club –  Skokie Country Club in Glencoe.

Olivia & Ben’s aesthetic was one of my favs – classic with a touch of East Coast prep to it. Olivia embraced colour by incorporating the Coral Charm peony – a true perfect June bloom. Our design was brought to life through the unbelievable talents of Jason at Flowers for Dreams. The colour was striking and made for one of my favourite photos within my portfolio last year:

The morning of the wedding when we arrived to Olivia’s parents home, the ladies were having a calm and fabulous morning catching up while having hair & makeup done. While the guy’s got ready at the Hilton Orrington in Evanston. 

The guys made their way up to Winnetka for the first look – but before Ben arrived we got maybe one of the sweetest Father Daughter photos ever.

Following the first look the couple who would be moving to the South following the wedding adopted the tradition of “Burying the bourbon” and had a wee toast before heading to the club for family photos. This tradition is supposed to ward off rain the day of the wedding. Those who swear by this Southern myth state that the bride and groom-to-be must visit their venue exactly a month before the wedding date and bury a full bottle of bourbon upside down. 

While the tradition held literally until just after the ceremony. About 20 minutes prior to guests arriving I went for my final walk-through of the ceremony space to find that temps had dropped a drastic 20 degrees and we rushed to get heaters into the tent and ultimately decided to move the terrace cocktail hour indoors. 

It was such a relaxed day, with family portraits prior to the ceremony out of the way, the bridal party and family could be found playing cards. Seriously the cutest! 

For an indoor wedding at Skokie, I’ve yet to see a prettier one.

And for a literal“special treat” we brought in the bride & groom’s favourite candy selections – including a Canadian specialty the ‘sour patch key’ for guests to make their own snack on the way home.  I loved working with this family! I hope you are loving life in the Carolina’s and found a way to celebrate today in these crazy times. 

Xo

Andrea

. . . . . . . . .

Planning and execution: SoiréeSmith / Floral design: Flowers for Dreams / Photography: Nicodem Creative / Venue & Catering: Skokie Country Club / Candy Station: SoiréeSmith  / Invitation: Mi-te Print / Escort Calligraphy: Bien Fait Calligraphy / Linen – Reception: BBJ Linen / Linen – Dining: Windy City Linen / Gown: Karen Willis Holmes from Bella Bleu Bridal / Entertainment: Velocity Band – Arlen Music / Transportation: VIP Valet / Accommodations: Hilton Orrington

Weddings

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