katelyn + tony | the barn at hornbaker gardens wedding.

Every so often, a wedding day comes along and proves my guarantee that “something will go wrong” on your wedding day wrong itself – this was one of those days.

Katelyn and Tony’s wedding day was the weekend right after the Fourth of July (which just few days earlier, had been around a high of 95 degrees); despite this, the temps dropped the weekend that followed, leaving us with the kind of weather that people dream of when planning a summer wedding. But this wasn’t even close to the best part about Katelyn and Tony’s wedding, really. I see a lot of people on wedding days who get taken over by the nerves, or by still trying to meet the expectations of what people think wedding days should be like, or get caught up stifling their tears, or by continuing to try to execute their plans from the chair they’re getting their hair done in, or by the worry that their makeup might not look as fresh or that bugs might get inside the tulle of their dress before the ceremony. Instead of letting any of these things potentially consume them, Katelyn and Tony instead leaned into every single moment that happened to them on this day – Katelyn hopped off the bus to greet her dad and brothers despite the fact that some others would potentially see her “before the ceremony” in doing so, and her entire family escorted her to her first look with Tony together, where Tony squeezed his eyes shut for a moment after seeing his bride while two big tears streamed down each side of his face. They ate cheeseburgers on their party bus and partied with their friends and family, and grinned and giggled their way through the ceremony, as Katelyn and Tony simply seem to do together.

Their reception was equally perfect in all the right ways – it was full of heartfelt yet funny toasts, and teary, sincere dances with their parents, and so many great moves on the dance floor. Every so often, I am in the midst of a wedding day and think to myself that they truly are going to look back on these moments as the ones that made up one of the actual best days of their lives – there’s a different sort of energy to the room on a day like this, when you can tell that the two of them are fully present in everything that’s happening around them – and Katelyn and Tony’s day was without a doubt one of those.

Reception venue: The Barn at Hornbaker Gardens
Church: St. John the Baptist Catholic Church
Dress: Marien Mae Bridal Boutique
Catering: Mark Allen’s American Kitchen
Cupcakes: Paxton’s Corner Coop
DJ: Everlasting Weddings & Events, Tim Doubek
Coordinators + Linens: Advance Event Group, Jacqui Grant
Videographer: Mitch Colgan
Hair: Trackside Beauty, Jenny Brieser
Makeup: Courtney Wagenbach

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LOCATED IN:

Chicago, IL

Documenting:

Weddings + Engagements + Life

Get ahold of me at:

brookerumbold@gmail.com

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