Garden Party Wedding at Columbus Park Refectory

Michelle and Aaron’s Columbus Park Refectory wedding has an English garden feel, with gorgeous florals by Pollen, where Michelle is a floral designer! Their late summer wedding was photographed by Redwall Photo.

How We Met

We met at a New Years day brunch party hosted by mutual friends and immediately hit it off! Michelle asked me to walk her home and since we were getting along so well, we walked around the neighborhood and ended up walking down to The Boat House in Humboldt Park.

The Venue

The ceremony and reception were held at Chicago’s Columbus Park Refectory, a National Historic Landmark owned by the Chicago Park District, and perfectly suited to the classic, garden-party style wedding.

The Proposal

I wanted to surprise Michelle for her 30th birthday with a proposal because I knew it would mean so much to her. We were planning a special party with Sunday Night Dinner Club but so I secretly knew it would turn into an engagement party and she would be so excited to celebrate all the exciting news surrounded by her close friends and family. The night before her birthday, we went to dinner and on the walk back, she thought it was odd that I was so chatty and trying to take our time to get home. Before we got to the house, I popped the question and she was so ecstatic that she forgot to say yes! She asked me to ask again and I happily obliged.

The Vision

With a passion for gardening and a strong knowledge of flowers from Michelle’s career as a wedding florist, it was challenging for her at first to make decisions since she had seen so many beautiful weddings working at Pollen. Once she settled on an English garden theme, things started to fall into place. The mid-September wedding day revealed a subtle color palette of taupe, sage, and dusty mauve, with pops of navy and burgundy. Pollen used elements such as topiary and English ivy while choosing an outdoor brick wedding venue to give a walled garden feel. English garden roses added additional details to emphasize the theme, and a vintage Rolls Royce getaway ended the night.