Jeanie and Josh started their wedding weekend on Thursday, September 30, 2021, at Evelyn Chapel on Illinois Wesleyan's Campus. The rehearsal started with the venue not quite being set up the way Jeanie wanted it, so we moved everything around for Jeanie so that it was set up just as she envisioned it. Once, the space was set up, we walked everyone through the ceremony, from how they would enter the chapel, where they would sit during the ceremony, and how they would exit the ceremony. After the rehearsal, we went back to Jeanie's house and went through decor for both the ceremony and reception locations, so that we knew exactly where the bride wanted everything to go. The Brantley's enjoyed their catered dinner from Hyvee that evening with their family and friends.
Friday, October 1, 2021- Wedding Day!
We started out our morning with coffee from our favorite coffee spot in Bloomington-Normal, Crafted! Once we had our pre-wedding fuel, we made our way to Jeanie's house to grab the decor for the reception. We loaded up the vehicle and made our way to the Desthil Barrel Room, where we were greeted by Destihl staff. When we arrived Destihl was finishing up cleaning the space and we were able to start decorating. Jeanie picked simple, elegant decor to spruce up the already beautiful Barrel Room at Destihl. The space already has so much character minimal decor was needed. As we began to set up votives with white tea lights, white pumpkins, and table numbers, Paula with House of Flowers in Rantoul, showed up with all the greenery and flowers for the tables. As we were working together with Paula to get the tables ready, Janet's cakes showed up with the beautiful wedding cake.
Because they did not want to put the flowers on the cake too early, they instructed us on the best way to put the flowers on the cake later on that day. Once we set up the reception space and were happy with how it looked, we went back to Jeanie's house with her bouquet, flowers for her hair, and the flower girls' crowns.
We dropped off the flowers with Jeanie and made sure she had everything she needed moving forward. After we checked in with her we grabbed the rest of the decor and made our way to Evelyn Chapel to decorate for the ceremony. When we arrived, Paula had decorated the arch with beautiful floral arrangements. We sent a picture a Jeanie to make sure she liked how it looked, and she wanted us to make some minor changes.
She sent us her inspiration picture and we went to work. We took down one of the floral arrangements and set it down on the ground, draped fabric as shown in the picture, and Jeanie loved the way it turned out. We then set up the entrance to the ceremony with their guestbook, a memory table, and more to make the space look elegant and simple, just the way Jeanie wanted it.
Once we were done decorating, we went to Party City and picked up balloons, per the bride's request, to mark the parking lots in which their guests could park. Three-o'Clock came quickly and the groom and his father showed up at the chapel to get ready. We helped them make sure their suits were adjusted just right, put on their boutonnieres, and directed the photographer and videographer to their location. The photographer and videographer were able to get footage of the groom and his father getting ready in the basement of the Chapel while the bride made her way over to the chapel. Guests began to arrive at 3:30 and we directed them to the guestbook and their seats. The groom greeted all guests, meanwhile, we were able to sneak Jeanie into the basement of the chapel as to not be seen by guests or her soon-to-be husband. As the final guests were seated, we started the processional with the groom and officiant, followed by the groom's daughters. We closed the doors to the chapel, brought Jeanie up the stairs, and created a grand entrance for her by opening up the doors before she walked down the aisle.
After they said "I do" we found a place for them to go to have some alone time just the two of them while the guests were dismissed from the chapel. This is one of our favorite things to find for our
couples. The 5 minutes alone before the reception starts is a must for the bride and groom!
Holly with Vivid Studios and Tori with Tori Beach Videography was able to get some beautiful photos while the two snuck away. The bride and groom had a beautiful bubble send-off and took pictures on Illinois Wesleyan's Campus. The guests made their way to Destihl Barrel Room where the cocktail hour
began at 5;30. While the bride and groom were taking photos and the guests were leaving, we began clean up. We took dow
n all of the decor and loaded it up into the car to take to the reception space. This was a very fast process in order to get the decor the bride wanted across town prior to the guests arriving, but we made it work because that's what we do! We handle all the details so the bride doesn't have to worry.
Once we made our way back to Destihl we checked the details. Destihl was lighting all of the votives and had the appetizers ready to be served. The DJ was finishing his set up and starting the dinner music, we were putting the flowers on the cake and unloading all decor that was used at the ceremony. We appreciated that Destihl waited to let guests in until 5:30 so that we could make sure all the finishing
touches were ready to go. At 5:30 guests were let in and the party began! We were working with the vendors the entire night to make sure all of the bride's requests went as planned. Guests ate delicious food catered by Destihl, had great craft beers, and fabulous desserts. The dance floor was full all night as the guests celebrated Mr. and Mrs. Brantley. As the night was winding down, the bride wanted a glowstick send-off because a majority of the guests had already left, we worked with Holly and Tori to make this happen for her. Destihl has an amazing patio that was full of people having drinks and enjoying the beautiful night. We went around to all of the patio people and asked them to partake in a send-off for the bride and groom and the
majority of them said yes! We were able to have an amazing send-off for the bride and groom and that detail was handled!
After the send-off, we began to tear down the reception space. Because the bride chose this add-on we stayed until the very end. We took down all table decor, packed up the photo booth, and made sure the bride and groom were all set before they left the space. We worked closely with Destihl staff to make sure they had all of their leftovers packed up and could take them home that night. After clean-up was finished we gave the bride and groom a big hug and congratulations! It was a great night helping The Brantley's big day go off without a hitch! :)
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