KIM BLACK AND CHRIS HUBERT—who met at a work happy hour and bonded over tacos and margaritas—knew their 150-person wedding would be full of out-of-towners, so they wanted to give guests a taste of Chicago. “Our save the dates were boxes of Chicago mix from Garrett Popcorn along with our wedding details,” Kim says. They hosted a welcome party on a river cruise aboard Chicago’s First Lady to offer guests a unique way to see the city at night.
For the big day, they tapped HMR Designs to execute their ultrabold vision—whimsical, bright and tropical—inside the architecturally significant Langham hotel, which occupies a Mies van der Rohe structure. “We wanted our wedding to be a vibrant and fun celebration, so we wanted to pull in color as much as possible,” Kim says. The palette was rich—deep pink, purple, orange, blue and green—and the focal point was a custom graphic floral print that covered the dance floor and stage and extended up the towering south wall of the ballroom. “It was breathtaking,” Kim remembers.
The electric decor set the tone for a nonstop party. After dinner, the bride removed the tulle overskirt of her Ersa Atelier gown to dance the night away to music from The Chicago Players. “The stage was packed the whole evening,” Kim says. “We could barely pull ourselves away.” Later, guests moved to a smaller ballroom for a more intimate after-party—and got one last taste of Chicago in the form of mini Chicago-style dogs.
Kim’s bridesmaids wore dresses in various styles and shades from Revelry.
The focal point of the decor was a tropiclal graphic print that covered the dance floor and extended up the wall, and tall junglelike centerpieces made it even more immersive.
The bold cake was lemon blueberry with passion fruit buttercream.
The invitation envelopes had monstera leaf liners.
“We wrote our own vows for the ceremony, but kept them short and sweet,” Kim says. “We read longer personal vows to one another during a private moment after the ceremony while enjoying a celebratory cocktail."
The List
Venue & Catering The Langham, Chicago, langhamhotels.com
Wedding Planner Lori Stephenson, LOLA Event Productions, lolaeventproductions.com
Bride’s Gown Ersa Atelier, Dimitra’s Bridal Couture, dimitrasbridal.com
Bride’s & Groom’s Shoes Jimmy Choo, us.jimmychoo.com
Bride’s Hair & Makeup Rare Bird Beauties, rarebirdbeauties.com
Groom’s Tux Balani Custom Clothiers, balanicustom.com
Rings Bridal Rings Company, bridalrings.com
Bridesmaids’ Dresses Revelry, shoprevelry.com
Bridesmaids’ Gifts Bon Viviann, bonviviann.com
Groomsmen’s Tuxes The Black Tux, theblacktux.com
Florals HMR Designs, hmrdesigns.com
Invitations Black Ink, blackinkca.com
Cake Flourish Cake Design, flourishcakedesign.com
Entertainment The Chicago Players, Gold Coast Events, goldcoasteventschicago.com
Lighting Encore, encoreglobal.com
Transportation Windy City Limousine, windycitylimos.com
Welcome Party Chicago’s First Lady, cruisechicago.com
Photography by: Amanda Megan Miller
