Claire & Michael are two physical therapists here in Peoria. Talk about a power couple! They had a majority of their wedding planning done when they reached out to me. However, they made the smart move of hiring a wedding day coordinator to make sure everything went smoothly on their wedding day! They needed someone to create a complete wedding day timeline, run their rehearsal, prep their ceremony space, and make sure all of the reception details were organized and ready to go. All things that are perfect to hand over to a Wedding Day Coordinator!

​

Claire & Michael intentionally had a slow and easy start to their day - the ladies took their time getting their hair and makeup done while the guys walked down the street to CxT Roasting Company's Main Street location to enjoy donuts and coffee. This gave me time to set up their ceremony space, which included tacking down an aisle runner, tying bows onto the center aisle seats, placing cones filled with fall leaves on each of the seats, and setting out their personal ceremony items. 

 

Claire & Michael chose to have both their ceremony and reception at the Pere Marquette. Guests attended their ceremony in the LaSalle Ballroom, moved to the cocktail hour in the Cotillion Ballroom, and then settled in the Marquette Ballroom for the reception. Both their ceremony chairs and florals played double duty! During the cocktail hour, I was able to make sure all of the ceremony chairs were transferred over to their reception space (a very detailed seating chart helped a ton here!) and their ceremony florals became centerpieces on a few tables at their reception. 

​

I loved the special touches Claire & Michael added to their wedding day. Claire had a first look with her dad while Michael had a first look with his mom. They had a very specific timing during a special song for when their ushers opened the ceremony doors for Claire to make her entrance. They wrote their own vows, and they collected the fall leaves from the backyard of their first house together. Claire & Michael even had a latte bar from their friends at CxT Roasting Company at their reception (which I appreciated SO much!).

​

All in all, I had so much fun coordinating Claire & Michael's wedding day. It was an honor getting to know the two of them during such an important time in their lives. I teared up during their vows (see Ivory & Oak's video below) and definitely shed a few years during Claire's dad's speech (seriously the sweetest speech). Claire & Michael had thoughtfully planned out all of the details of their wedding day from start to finish - which goes to show, even the most prepared couples can benefit from a wedding day coordinator! 

​