Glorious Cakes + support for Cakegirls

We were saddened to hear about the fire that destroyed Chicago's Cakegirls bakery.  While they are working on rebuilding their business, supporters can purchase t-shirts to help Cakegirls employees.  We wish them a speedy and successful recovery.

Wedding cakes are indeed works of art.  From elaborate to understated, they are not only lovely centerpieces for the reception, but they also represent the style and personalities of each couple.  Giorgio is always teasing me that I take 5000 pictures of the cakes at weddings, but I can't help it.  I'm always in awe of the beauty and craftsmanship that goes into these sweet wonders.  In honor of all cake makers, here are highlights from some of our recent weddings. The first picture is an amazing golf bag cake made by Cakegirls for a couple of avid golfers who had an elegant golf-themed reception.  Feast your eyes!

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Weddings that sail in Chicago

If you are having trouble determining just the right location near the lakeshore for your wedding, perhaps charting a different course is in order.  With beautiful Lake Michigan at our doorstep, and the Chicago River running through the city, marina life is quite active and attractive for events in Chicago. 
© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo Photography

Along with the main ships at Navy Pier, there are several boats available for private events.  Here are several worth checking out that are available for weddings:

Entertainment Cruises
Odyssey – up to 200 guests
Spirit of Chicago – up to 200 guests
Mystic Blue – up to 145 guests
Located at Navy Pier

Kanan Cruise Ship
Up to 400 guests
Located at Navy Pier

Windy Tall Ship
Up to 150 guests
Located at Navy Pier

Red Witch Schooner
Up to 49 guests
Located at Navy Pier

Anita Dee I & II Yacht Charters
up to 149 and 400 guests respectively
Located at Navy Pier

Free Spirit Yacht
up to 120 guests
Located at Burnham Harbor

Valara VI Yacht
Up to 149 guests
Located at Burnham Harbor

Chicago Line Cruises
Ft. Dearborn – up to 200 guests
Innisfree – up to 90 guests
Located at North Pier Docs on Ogden Slip
behind River East Arts Center

Shoreline Charters
Celebration – up to 100 guests
Evening Star – up to 200 guests
Located on Ogden Slip in front of Navy Pier

Chicago’s First Lady
Up to 150 guests
Located at Riverside Gardens Dock
Michigan Avenue bridge at Wacker Drive

Then, there are private yacht clubs that are available for their members’ weddings:
Columbia Yacht Club
Belmont Yacht Club

Finally, if you are looking for an intimate locale to pop the question, many private charter companies also have smaller boats available that are perfect for that special romantic occasion. All aboard!

Love at Breathtaking Heights - coming up Saturday!

We are really excited about participating in Love at Breathtaking Heights, an exclusive boutique wedding show hosted by the The Metroplitan Club.  This event is coming up this Saturday, January 23, 2010 at Willis Tower (formally Sears Tower).   There will be several door prizes, including our awesome giveaway for a premium Engagement Portrait package.  Also, Chicago Style Unveiled is giving away tickets to this event.  Be sure to leave a comment on thier site before noon tomorrow, January 20, for a chance to win!

During the door prize drawings at 5:30, we will be giving away a premium Engagement Package to one lucky couple, which will include:

• A Location Engagement Session (downtown Chicago area)
• Our custom-designed Wishes and Wisdom™ Guestbook
• Framed 8x10 Engagement Print
• a value of $700!

Here are some sneak peaks of our sample Wishes and Wisdom™ Guestbook that we'll have on display Saturday.  We will also have some special goodies at our table, so please stop by and say hi.

All images © Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

Engagement Package Giveaway

We are excited to announce that we will be participating in Love at Breathtaking Heights, an exclusive boutique wedding show hosted by the The Metroplitan Club.  This event takes place on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at Willis Tower. 

During the door prize drawings at 5:30, we will be giving away a premium Engagement Package to one lucky couple, which will include:

• A Location Engagement Session (downtown Chicago area)
• Our custom-designed Wishes and Wisdom™ Guestbook
• Framed 8x10 Engagement Print
• a value of $700!

We hope to see you there!

More, More and More Album Options

With our album binderies continually offering new cover options every year, it is literally impossible to adequately describe the hundreds of combinations and materials available to make our couples' custom-designed albums and parent albums.  There are so many new cover options including metallic, printed and textured leathers, shimmery textiles, brocade silks, color or black and white image printed metal, image-covered acrylic, formica and even glass!  And more new materials are scheduled to be added in 2010. 

Also, we are now able to offer "premium" parent clone albums with both our Flush Mount and Italian Book Bound albums.  The parent clone sizes are 8x12 (or 8x8 square) EXACT copies of the main wedding album - meaning the same premium covers, layout, and binding style - are available for all of our premium albums.   Parent books are a new option all together for our Flush Mount line, and an updated offering for our Italian Book Bound line.

Overall, this means more choices for our couples to have a beautiful one-of-a-kind heirloom album, with better quality matching parents' albums.

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

This is a Flush Mount album with split cover wth a metallic-textured leather back and spine, with the front featuring black and white printed metal - yes the image is printed right on the metal, and it is hard to see online, but the image highlights show a matted shimmer of metal for a stunning effect.  You can even see reflection in the metallic leather! I don't know how our bindery makes leather look like a cracked mirror, but they are geniuses and we love them.

This is the acrylic image cover in our Italian Book Bound line.  The back and spine are black leather, with a printed image incased in glossy acryllic on the front.  Here you see the 9.5x13 main album and 8x12 parent clone - both with the same premium cover.

Here is a colored solid leather option in the Italian Book Bound line, again matching parent clones with same premium covers as main album.  The bride matched the cover to her "something blue" shoes.

To see more album covers, please visit the "Galleries" section and click "albums" on our website www.weddingcreativo.com.

Trendspotting: hand-drawn road maps

Trendspotting: adorable hand drawn road maps in invitations such as the ones made by Carrot and Stick Press

( from Carrot and Stick Press website)

Farms, Barns and Winery Weddings

We've been asked a few times lately about rural places for weddings such as barns, farms and vineyards. They can be lovely alternatives to traditional venues and you might even consider making near-destination weddings down-state or to neighbor states for a fun getaway weekend for your guests. They also generally make for a relaxed day, especially when ceremony and reception are both held at the venue and guests need not travel to any additional locations in these usually unfamiliar countryside areas.

Here are suggestions in the region closest to Chicago area:

Lynfred Winery (Roselle, IL)
http://www.lynfredwinery.com/priv.html

Whyte Horse Winery (Monticello, IN)
http://www.whytehorsewinery.com/winery/winery.php

County Line Orchard (Hobart, IN)
http://www.countylineorchard.com/weddings/staging/events.html

Hoosier Grove Barn (Streamwood, IL)
http://www.hoosiergrovebarn.com/

Vehe Barn (Deer Park, IL)
http://www.village.deer-park.il.us/Vehe_Barn_Rental.htm

Danada House - horse stables (Wheaton, IL)
http://www.danadahouse.com/

Millcreek and Blue Dress Barns (Southwest Michigan)
http://www.millcreekbarn.com/aboutus.html

There are a lot more vineyards that have weddings in areas throughout the region in southern IL & IN and northern MI, so if you are open to having a near-destination wedding these would be good to look into as well.

Chateau Pomije (Guilford, IN)
http://www.cpwinery.com/weddings.html

Chateau de Pique (Seymour, IN)
http://www.chateaudepique.com//index.htm

Spirit Knob Winery (Ursa, IL)
http://www.spiritknob.com/events.html

Ravissant Winery (Belleville, IL)
http://www.ravissantwinery.com/banquet.htm

Gill's Pier Vineyard & Winery (Leelanau Peninsula, MI)
http://www.gillspier.com/banquet-room.htm

Black Star Winery and Farms (Suttons Bay/Leelanau, MI)
http://www.blackstarfarms.com/events/

Michigan's lakeshore and Traverse City area is loaded with wineries - certainly make for a great weekend getaways for newlyweds too!


© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo Photography

Wedding Creativo's Top 5 favorite wedding trends from 2009

Here are five of our favorite trends from 2009....and hope to see them continue in 2010! We are lucky to have such fashion forward brides!

All images © Wedding Creativo Photography / Giorgio Ventola Inc.

#1 - Birdcage Veil


#2 - Pashmina Wraps


#3 - Peacock Theme


#4 - Something Blue Shoes


#5 - Intimate/Rustic/Vintage Venues

Create your own Wedding Web Site

We have been accepted as an affiliate of Wedsite.com. They have really cool layouts and features to create your own wedding website. Email us to request a coupon code for 20% savings on your Wedsite.

Le Birdcage

We absolutely adore the revival of the birdcage hat, which is a great modern-vintage swap for the traditional veil, plus it can qualify for your "something old"....even if it isn't. There are tons of hand-crafted ones available on Etsy.

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides - Madeline

© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides Kerrie

Katherine Heigl's birdcage veil