This Chicagoland Celebration is Autumn Come to Life: The Real Wedding of Bridget and Jason Sullivan

When Bridget and Jason matched on a dating app, they both were tired of being hurt and ready to find someone to love. In fact, Bridget let his message sit for awhile, knowing she should have deleted the app a long time ago. She decided to give it one more shot, and she's glad she did! They skipped the small talk and clicked right away! Later on, Jason was able to surprise Bridget even thought she thought she knew when his proposal was coming. He asked her to a nice restaurant and then asked if she wanted to go for a walk, which wasn't too unusual. After fighting through the bugs and almost walking onto a private dock, they wound up back at the car. Jason asked for help in the trunk where he was already down on one knee asking her to marry him!
 

Before she went dress shopping, Bridget was prepared. "Going in, I knew I wanted fairly form fitting, and I liked lace, beading, sparkle and detail. I knew I didn’t love strapless and I didn’t want a ball gown," Bridget explains. She ended up surprising herself a little because she chose a dress that had all the detail she wanted but was actually strapless! However, it did come with detachable sleeves. We think it is absolutely stunning on her! We also love that Danielle Schury Photography was able to capture all the beauty of this gown with expert detail. One cool thing about her dress is that she bought it at a trunk show in the spring and the dress didn't come out officially until the fall, so she was one of the first brides to get married in it!

Bridget and Jason wanted to stay organized when they started wedding planning. They created a spreadsheet and utilized a planner to keep them on their timeline and then took advantage of online tools like building a wedding website. Before they dug too far into the planning, Bridget and Jason agreed that they were willing to splurge on their wedding as long as they were still spending money wisely to get the wedding of their dreams. They found highly reviewed vendors that they grew to trust and love, who pulled off an absolutely beautiful wedding day!
 

A winter wedding was not out of the question when they began planning—since Bridget's parents got married on December 28th, and the photos were beautiful—but they settled on a fall wedding since they loved the colors and the season's décor! Their theme was really just "fall"! The bridesmaids wore burnt orange and their tablecloths were wine red, so those were their main colors with accents of champagne and sage. Their main goal with their décor was to emulate the feelings of the season. They wanted it to be warm and cozy and chose lots of candles, leaves and wood details. We love the way it feels like their wedding guests stepped into a fall forest!!

 

 

What We Love

Like other couples, Bridget and Jason did so many things in their day to make it unique to them, their love and their guests. First, their bridal party placed roses on seats in the front row, each one for a loved one who couldn't join Bridget and Jason on their wedding day. They also chose to have a Bible as their guest book with their loved ones highlighting their favorite verses. Another things they did was have a last dance where they reflected on the day they shared with those they love the most. They also did two less popular things. "I think two things that made our day so very special was that we did not do a first look and we did our handwritten vows at our ceremony," Bridget shares. "I think both of those things made our ceremony so much more special for everyone. I think all of our loved ones were able to be involved in a way and witness our love rather than just watch it and feel like they have to sit there to get to the reception."
 

 

Advice from the Couple

Bridget and Jason advise, "First, the day truly is a blur. Do your very best to slow down. Don’t let anyone rush you, be present for your day. The one part of the day we really remember is the ceremony, and that’s because we think we made it longer, and we would never change that. We highly recommend not doing a first look and keeping that magic when you walk down the aisle, and doing your vows at the ceremony. Talk to your person at your ceremony. Everything else moved about a million miles an hour, and while it was all magical and the best day, being able to slow down is everything. Last thing we’d say is really don’t worry about all the small, tiny details. Because you won’t see them. We had every little thing planned out, but you really don’t even see your guest books, the signage—someone else is doing all of that for you and it’ll all be great. Don’t worry about it. Just let it all happen and feel your day, see your people, marry your person."

 

 

 

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