100 Layer Cake

The raw interior, brick walls, cement floor, and industrial lighting of A New Leaf‘s downtown Chicago location hit the mark in delivering the urban feel Thu + Richard were looking for in a venue. For all the other aesthetics Thu wanted to incorporate – the whimsical, romantic, and modern with a touch of vintage nuance – there were the details (and an adorable tandem bicycle send off). There to prove this was the fairytale wedding of independent, resolute, and tenacious Thu to the kind, patient, and understanding Richard, were the stunning photos captured by Kate Headley.

Setting the tone of your wedding with fun and creative invites is key. When you’re lucky enough to have a close friend with design skills, it doesn’t hurt to ask. More than likely they’d love to help. Like Olivia, Thu’s bridesmaid. She gifted her talent and left them with something to last beyond the wedding.

Sound advice on how to be the best bride to your bridesmaids:

I definitely wanted my bridesmaids to represent themselves and their personal style. We chose Jenny Yoo dresses after shopping all over Chicago and looking at dozens upon dozens of dresses. I picked a color, pebble, and let the maids choose whatever style that they felt most comfortable in! It was a huge struggle for me to choose a color for them. From the very beginning I wanted the color eggplant but through the planning process I realized I didn’t have to be a slave to the colors I chose for the wedding! Your vision evolves so much and at times you feel enigmatic! I also had them pick any accessories or shoes to accent their outfits…fascinators, belts, earrings, whatever looked fabulous! I also created a style card for them so they were able to carry it with them and coordinate their accessories. The style card had pictures of each dress they chose, styles of shoes for ideas, fabric color swatches of their dress & wedding colors, hand sewn onto a natural, brown card stock!

I wanted our bouquets to be whimsical and unstructured.  I love, love peonies but they were out of season so I asked for dahlias and garden roses.  Anything other than that was fine by me.  I just wanted the flowers to look soft, whimsy, and subdued.

And they rode off happily ever after…Congratulations Thu + Richard!

Photography: Kate Headley / Flowers: A New Leaf / Wedding Coordinator: Honeybee Weddings / Ceremony Location: St. Clement / Reception Location: A New Leaf / Invitations + Favors: Handmade by the Bride + Groom / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Wedding Dress: Demetrios / Veil: Demetrios / Hair: Misako @ Michael & Michael Salon / Reception Dress: Sarah Seven / Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss / Bridesmaids Dresses: Jenny Yoo / Groomsmen’s tie: Tie Lab / Transportation: Empire Limousine / Cake + Dessert table: Sarah’s Pastries / Caterer: Hel’s Kitchen / DJ: Dustin at Toast & Jam / Caricature Artist: Barton McGee / Food truck: Gaztro Wagon