All white weddings are oh so chic! This gorgeous garden wedding captured by bonphotage will make you think twice about the bride only wearing white rule. How stunning are the bridesmaids’ lace dresses?
We always wanted to have an outdoor wedding. We imagined stunning photos surrounded by water and greenery, lit by candles. Originally, we planned to have our wedding in Istanbul since Seda has a big family in Turkey. Ultimately, we decided to host our wedding near Chicago at the Morton Arboretum. Luckily all of our families and friends were able to attend thus making the event a huge success.
At the beginning I was looking for boho style, outdoor wedding dresses. Then we began talking about a classic, chic outdoor wedding and I began considering some different styles. When I see my wedding dress “Anya Gown” by Karen Willis Holmes I was in love with it. It was as simple as possible but at the same time as glittery and chic as possible. I knew that this dress would surprise everybody. For the after party, I picked my first choice strapless corset top and flowy skirt with a front slit from BHLDN. This way I was able to wear both styles I liked. My bridesmaids found very affordable white, laced dresses and they looked gorgeous in this style.
The Morton Arboretum was the best spot to have an outdoor wedding. Saying our I do’s under a large drooping willow tree right next to a picturesque lake was a dream come true. We started planning all the details with a vision of a classic, chic, garden wedding. With the natural landscape of the arboretum already being so beautiful, we attempted to keep everything as natural as possible. We utilized multiple shades of green and white to highlight all the different settings.
For us, the most important (and most also nerve-racking) was getting our two families together for the first time. Bringing Seda’s family to the US was a big challenge for us. We splurged on the travel, accommodations and dinners leading up to the wedding. We wanted to spoil our families to ensure they enjoyed such an important moment in our lives. Other than this family effect, the most important thing was having a fun wedding. In fact our first dance was very very important to us. We never wanted to count our step while our first dance, we wanted to dance how we feel at the moment, because we knew that all those emotions we have would create the perfect dance.
Our wedding favors were very special to me. My family carried them all the way from Turkey. We put a Turkish Delight (candy delicacy) in a Turkish style mini-silver tray. It was topped by a traditional Turkish “evil eye” to go along with a thank you tag. They were beautiful, meaningful and delicious. You could even use the silver tray as a jewelry box or home decoration. Our table numbers for dinner were not your traditional place numbers. We handcrafted small wooden blocks with city names etched into each wooden piece. The city names represented special locations around the world where we were born, lived or had visited.
A night before the rehearsal dinner we had a very traditional Turkish henna night accompanied by a Turkish coffee ceremony. This night was all about Turkish music, food, dance, heirlooms and traditions. To match with our culture, I wore a traditional Ottoman Sultan dress. During the evening, Mike’s mom had to give me gold coins as a sign of trust and love.
Photography | bonphotage | Venue | Morton Arboretum | Floral | Katherines Garden | Cake | The Cakery | Hair & Makeup | Sheena Marie Beauty | Dress | Karen Willis Holmes from Bella Bleu Bridal | Bride’s Shoes | Badgley Mischka | Bridesmaid Dresses | Akira |Groom’s Attire | Hugo Boss | Submitted via Matchology
