Cozy Winter Ceremony Downtown Chicago

After several COVID reschedules, Megan and Charlie finally got their cozy winter ceremony downtown Chicago! Their planners, The Simply Elegant Group, helped them pivot their plans and made their nuptials possible in the middle of the snowy winter! Photographed by Gerber & Scarpelli, this wedding is proof that love always finds a way!

The Love Story

“Charlie and I met at Brownstone Tavern in North Center after Rib Fest in 2009.  It makes me laugh just thinking about that night.  My friends and I had been at the fest all day and just happened to pop into Brownstone.  Charlie was lip synching to “I want to Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston when I walked in and we started talking. 

The Proposal: “Charlie proposed at home in our living room.  He called me in from the other room to “grab some Rolaids” from the cabinet (super romantic!).  I didn’t find Rolaids but I did find a ring box, when I turned around he was on one knee.  It was just us and it was perfect!  We celebrated with some champagne and went to out to a fabulous dinner to continue to celebration!”-Megan, Bride.

The Wedding Vision

“Our original wedding day was planned for March 28, 2020, so we had to adjust our plans a bit.  We moved the entire wedding to a date in July 2020 but with the pandemic still going on, we pushed it again.  We ended up keeping this backup February wedding day for our ceremony and a small dinner and moved our big reception to July 2021.  While our wedding day itself looked so different than what we had originally planned, it was still a great day, icy rain and snow and all!

Our vision for our wedding was classic with modern touches.  All of our flowers, by Flowers for Dreams, were white with lots of greenery.   The Bridesmaids wore black and got to choose whatever they wanted to wear that day.  Charlie wore a white tuxedo dinner jacket, from Formally Modern Tuxedo, which was a subtle nod to his Dad who wore the same thing on his wedding day 51 years prior!”-Megan, Bride.

Advice to Couples

“Don’t forget to eat! Also, make sure you have food for your bridal party at all times.  Food is very important to ensuring a successful day! Ashley Lytel from The Simply Elegant Group was the absolute best!  We LOVED working with her and honestly miss her now that our wedding is over! She is a master of detail and on top of that she is an absolute delight.  Hire her immediately!  The time leading up to our wedding was filled with so much stress and heartbreak after postponing 4 times(!) due to the pandemic but Ashley consistently lifted us right up!”-Megan, Bride.