Last weekend finished off my summer weddings for this year. I attended my work friend Dana’s nuptials along with several of my dear friends I’ve met working in PR. (Luke was away at his 10-year high school reunion) Here we are looking spiffy in our black-tie attire.

Upon walking into the Four Seasons, we were met with some out of this world floral arrangements.

And the most breath-taking aisle I’ve ever seen!

This was the first Jewish wedding I’ve been to, and it was really neat experiencing all the unique traditions and customs. For instance, Dana walked down the aisle by herself and then her and Josh walked in circles around each other. Anyone know what the significance of that is?



After the ceremony we took in all the beautiful details during the cocktail hour and beginning of dinner.

Like the cake…

And the centerpieces…

My friend Molly popped a squat on the custom-made couches!

Butter-flowers. (I loved these for some reason!)

And even a custom-made dance floor…

Then their AWESOME band took the stage and got everyone dancing.

I think it’s safe to say everyone had a blast. Thanks for inviting us Dana and Josh! Mazel Tov!

This year’s wedding season came and went for us rather quickly. We had three weddings from March-June and now, sadly, they’re over! I really love going to weddings, but I will also enjoy not having to travel this summer.

The two most recent wedding I attended were here in Chicago for two of my girlfriends. First was Erin’s. Erin is a college friend of mine who also happens to work with Luke…she even introduced us at her birthday party three years ago!

Erin made a gorgeous, elegant and very classic bride. Her reception followed suit too! It was held at the Union League Social Club, which really embodies old-world Chicago with the dark wood, chandeliers and amazing artwork.

They had a live band that got everyone dancing…

Luke and I loved the slow songs…

My favorite part of Erin’s reception was when her father-in-law took the stage to play some traditional Irish music. Brian, Erin’s husband, and his family took center-stage to show off their Irish step dancing skills.

Everything about Erin’s wedding was gorgeous, classy and fun! – just like Erin herself :)

I must say, one special moment of the evening for me was when Erin’s mom stopped me (we’ve never met) to tell me she is a abattylife reader! That was pretty cool.

Mrs. Fitzgerald and Erin…you put on an amazing wedding! Thanks for inviting us.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a recap of the other wedding I attended recently- black tie and the Four Seasons, ooh lala!

Weddings that are planned and personalized down to the last detail are all the rage these days. As I’ve written before, it’s really hard to live up to those expectations when you’re on a budget and don’t have endless time to DIY everything.

Now that my wedding is over, I’ve realized that it’s not making every little detail personalized that makes a wedding memorable, it’s about the one or two things that really stand out in people’s memory. Think about it. When you recap your experiences at someone’s wedding, do you say “they had 10 things that were hand-painted with their monogram!”

Probably not. You likely WOULD say though, “They did XYZ that I’ve never seen done at a wedding before. It was so cool.”

For Luke and I, the special things we wanted to stand our from our wedding were our swing dance, the personal notes we wrote to each of our guests and Batman-themed table names. Everything else was just icing on the cake.

I think it worked too, because we’ve gotten a lot of comments from people saying they remembered our “details” and were impressed with the level of thoughtfulness our wedding had.  Honestly though, we really didn’t focus on the little things like favors, monogrammed matches or centerpieces at all! It was just those few personal touches we paid attention to.

What aspects of your wedding did you focus on? What ended up being the things your guest remembered most?

Earlier this week, one of my readers asked for anniversary ideas for her husband. I always find it difficult to buy for men, so I know the dilemma she’s facing!

I asked Luke to think of some ideas and here’s what he came up with:

For the coffee drinker:

a nice french press

For the Trendy Techie:

Shoulder MacBook Sleeve

Pocket Ipad Case

Leather phone case

For the Day Tripper:

5–Day Duffle

Leather passport holder

For the City-Man:

Vintage Field Army Watch

Aviator Shades

Galoshes

For the Outdoorsy-Type:

18-Tool Knife (a little scary, but Luke insists any guy would love one)

Light Down Jacket

For the Man-Foodie:

Interesting Whiskey (bottle can be engraved too)

Good Grilling Rubs

A Bottle of Scotch

I am also a big fan of DOING something together to celebrate an occasion. That could be a steak dinner, comedy show or weekend getaway…just something that give you some uninterrupted QT together.

What do you think? Any ideas you’d add? I’m interested to hear from the men – would you like to receive something on this list for a present?