Diana & Kyle | Villa Terrace & Hamilton Wedding in Milwaukee | Chicago Destination Wedding

Diana & Kyle call Chicago home but their lives have wound them all around the country so when it came time to plan their wedding they knew for most guests it would be a destination wedding. So, they opted to make it a destination wedding for them, too. They looked north to the unlikely city of Milwaukee and found three amazing venues to host their guests and family for the weekend. They wanted to mix and match elegance with urban, beautiful views of Lake Michigan with a little city grit, and most of all their guests from New Jersey, Michigan and all over the midwest.

As I said in their Chicago engagement session, Diana & Kyle are a fascinating combination of sexy and sporty, comfy and haute. They met playing flag football in Chicago and are generally up for all things sporting but they also love luxe details and places which explains why they chose to start their day at the newly iconic Iron Horse Hotel where the guys played pool and the girls lounged in wildly printed robes. They moved from there to tie the knot with one of their best friends officiating at the Villa Terrace, an Italianate house museum perched on the bluff above Lake Michigan with views to all things blue. Guests were greeted with lemonade and explored the grounds before the ceremony and toasted the couple afterwards with champagne. At heart though, Diana & Kyle are city people so The Hamilton, a former city garage turned high end cocktail lounge, was the obvious choice for their reception. There they lit the cream city brick walls with candles and specialty uplighting in hues of lavender and fuschia and wowed guests with sweet details like two cakes (his in the shape of a Michigan football helmut – one of their shared alma maters), a decadent dessert assortment, a photobooth, a candy bar and place cards that were really personalized “s’mores in a jar.” They added some family history by decorating the wine shelves with family wedding photos and treated guests to a choreographed, stunning first dance. They designed all the paper themselves and made sure that guests not only ate and drank well but that they partied the night away on a packed dance floor. From sweet to sexy and all around gorgeous, these two had the destination wedding they always dreamed of in places they could never have imagined.

Diana & Kyle got a first look of the room while guests continued to enjoy their signature cocktails. They practiced their first dance and I loved the light and the quiet of just the two of them on the dance floor. Once the guests came in it was all fun and dancing, toasting and gathering. They asked all the Michigan Alumni out to the dance floor for a group photo, too – and that was the beginning of their huge dance party.

The Details ~

Hotel – The Iron Horse
Ceremony – Villa Terrace
Reception – The Hamilton
Passed Champagne and Lemonade – Zilli’s
Hair – Lyneé Ruiz
Makeup – Laura Hiatt
Dress – Allure 
Florist – Belle Fiore
Cakes – Eat Cake!
Tables, dance floor and champagne flutes – Canopies
DJ, Lighting and Chiavari Chairs – Sound by Design
Caterer and Linens – Chef Jack’s
Day of Coordinator – Timeless Events
Paper goods, candles, favors, candy table, and other items – designed by bride and groom