Every wedding vendor team is created a little differently. In this series we explore how and why each couple selected the right wedding vendor team for their wedding day.
Taylor and Patrick met the old-fashioned way—on Tinder. After a very long month of chatting online, the pair finally went on their first date to a restaurant in Chicago's River North neighborhood in what turned out to be a perfectly imperfect night thanks to an impromptu change in plans followed by pizza and conversation. Four years later, the two were engaged on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, during the height of COVID. Taylor & Patrick, both creatives, came to the table with strong and sometimes differing opinions on how they wanted the wedding to look. They wanted a more intimate affair where they could spend quality time surrounded by their families and closest friends. In late summer of 2022, family and friends from around the country gathered for Taylor & Patrick's celebratory, multi-event weekend in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. On Saturday afternoon, guests arrived at the Viceroy Chicago for a black tie, garden party-themed wedding that commenced with a champagne reception and an elevated, urban garden party wedding ceremony.
Read more about how this chic contemporary fete came to life.
Taylor and Patrick toured a diverse range of spaces in both Chicago and Palm Springs, tossing around the idea of doing a destination wedding before ultimately deciding on their hometown of Chicago and the Viceroy Chicago. As for the rehearsal dinner, cocktail hour, and reception, Nomi Art Gallery proved to be the perfect choice—artful and elevated.
"The Viceroy Chicago checked a lot of boxes for us. It's in the Gold Coast neighborhood where we first lived together, it’s a luxury hotel with a reputation for great design, it has a large terrace off the ballroom, and its service is spectacular. And nothing beats Chicago in the summer–it’s the best." - Taylor, groom
Immediately after securing the Viceroy Chicago, the grooms worked to get a wedding planner on board. Anticipating a tedious planning process and a busy weekend, they wanted to find someone who could keep them organized, knew the industry and its vendors, and would make them feel calm on the actual wedding day. Samantha Helmig, Planner for Shannon Gail Events, was exactly that person and guided them through the rest of the hiring process.
The overall design was inspired by a trip to Palm Beach that Taylor & Patrick had taken a year prior. Known for its bright colors, lush gardens, and abundant greenery, the couple’s Palm Beach trip planted the seed for their ultimate garden party aesthetic. As much as they love that area, Taylor & Patrick wanted an urban and edgier style, which they achieved with architectural florals–i.e. Manzanita branches and moss rocks amongst thoughtfully modern decor
"Every decision was centered on this concept of weaving a traditional garden aesthetic with choices that would elevate and modernize the overall design. It was a real balancing act." - Taylor, groom
Photographer Alisha Siegel, Founder of Tova Studios had been recommended to the grooms who had researched her work and instantly connected with it since they were seeking a photographer who could deliver a more editorial look & feel.
They wanted as editorial as it comes! A lot of flash photography, untraditional posing, and contemporary portraits. I was all about it. - Alissa Siegel, photographer
Cassandra Vack, Floral Event Producer at Anthony Gowder Designs was not only organized but very upfront and honest with the grooms about where they should allocate money to get the most bang for their buck since both Taylor and Patrick are creatives with a desire to drive the design.
"We wanted an understated and elevated aesthetic and that required some creativity. It’s very easy to keep adding in this arena, and Cassandra told us where to stop. That was beyond helpful. We really wanted Manzanita branches for our high arrangements, and she was able to source them from a vendor in Georgia–they were perfect." - Taylor, groom
The couple wanted a DJ who frequented clubs in Chicago and elsewhere. DJ Matt Roan was ideal and connected with Taylor and Patrick because of his ability to carry a crowd alongside his great style and musical taste.
As for the champagne pre-reception and the ceremony, the grooms dreamed about a string quartet, so Samantha recommended the ceremony string trio, Parkwest Strings which beautifully set the tone. Taylor loves classical music and really wanted to incorporate that into the day.
"We both walked down the aisle with our parents to Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was Patrick’s late father’s favorite song so it had a lot of sentimentality to it." - Taylor, groom
Patrick designed the invitations with the assistance of Paper Source. They were up to the task of doing something a little different which included heavy cardstock for the invitations and an attire card to eliminate the guesswork for attendees. Taylor was a major collaborator and the driver behind “Very F*cking Chic”.
“We love great design, but we can’t take ourselves too seriously.” - Patrick, groom
Shades of pink became the standout on all of the day's printed pieces and helped tie everything together from the seating chart (with the help of H.M. Witt & Co.) to the dinner menus. The dinner menus were printed in pink and incorporated the starburst design found in the Viceroy Chicago logo. The invitations had the same design as the table numbers and bar signage and included the starburst to keep everything cohesive as well as reinforce the garden theme.
The seating chart was an ode to things the grooms love–Patrick’s love of Disney and their mutual love of Banksy, the artist.
Taylor & Patrick thought long and hard about having a traditional wedding cake but ultimately did not resonate with seeing themselves cutting a cake in front of 125 people. In true chic style, the pair opted to serve crème brulee instead.
"It's our favorite dessert of all time, and the Viceroy Chicago’s pastry chef is so good. We were more interested in people eating and enjoying good food than them watching us eat it.- Taylor, groom
There were multiple iterations on the ceremony and ballroom layouts before Samantha and the grooms could finalize furniture rentals and linens. At one point, Taylor rotated the ceremony layout 180 degrees after realizing the view to the north of the terrace was incredibly picturesque. In the ballroom, round and square table configurations were considered, as to where best to put the dance floor. Once that was all set, they selected linens and furniture through BBJ La Tavola and Tablescapes Event Rentals, respectively. BBJ has an extension selection and the colors they were looking for, and Tablescapes has a large selection of furniture, chargers, pillows, umbrellas, etc. that could tell the story of their “Urban Garden” wedding.
