Wedding planner Jessica Sylfest gets to work with people on the best day of their lives.
But what was it like to have the tables turned and plan her own wedding? For starters, she had to follow her own expert wedding planning advice. Other than "plan as early as possible" (that's a given), what do Sylfest and other recent brides say it really takes to pull off the picture-perfect wedding, incorporating new trends and all, in Lake Geneva?
McIntosh-Sylfest Wedding
August 20, 2011
The pressure of being a planner and the desire to showcase new and exciting wedding elements she wanted to try was a driving force in planning Sylfest's day. But one of the obvious benefits of being a wedding planner planning her own wedding is knowing and working with many different event vendors to get exactly what she wanted for her big day.
"I worked the day-to-day exposure to vendors to my benefit," Sylfest, owner of Lake Geneva-based Cherry on Top Events, confesses. "I knew what they could bring to the table, so I trusted them, which made it easier to give up that control that comes with being an event planner." As a small business owner herself, the bride wanted to give other local small businesses and recent start-ups like Sugarbees, Drink Inc. (Burlington), and her father's own Geneva Lake Brewing Company a shot.
The ability to bring in this all-star lineup of local vendors was the very reason the couple chose Horticultural Hall as their venue, which didn't require the couple to work from a set list of vendors. The hall accommodates weddings up to 200 and also boasts a recently restored library that serves as a very private bride's room. Originally built for Lake Geneva's Horticultural Society and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hall regularly hosts weddings and other private functions, as well as a Thursday farmers' market April through October.
The couple particularly liked the intimate circular ceremony setting in the Horticultural Hall's garden. A flower-filled private courtyard surrounded by arcades covered in ivy, guests sat in a circle around the bride and groom as they exchanged vows and the Rat Pack-inspired piano/singer duo Felix and Fingers (Leadent Entertainment in Crystal Lake, Illinois) played.
With the menu, the couple chose to forgo traditional, which in the world of weddings is a plated dinner or a buffet. Instead, they went with "action stations," food stations designed for fun and interaction. That included a tomato carving station, with red, yellow and orange tomatoes beautifully carved and complemented by a wide offering of ingredients to dress them up, including fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil and more.
For favors, out are trinkets sitting on the table; in are interactive favors that can be enjoyed at the wedding, including photo booths and sundae, candy, nut and other types of bars.
What's a hot trend in bars that's making a creative comeback? "Italian sweet tables, from the 1980s, are big. Back then, families would bake and bring all of the sweets to be enjoyed at the wedding. Now caterers have jumped on the idea and provide it as an option."
Groom cakes that accompany the larger, traditional, more elaborate wedding cake are also popular. They are typically presented by the mother of the groom and carry a theme related to her son's interests. On flowers, Sylfest says romantic cascading flowers are coming back, and wedding colors are moving back to a clean palette that includes champagne, ivory and white.
"For those who are not afraid to mix or go bold with color, bright pink, lime green and sapphire blue are hot right now," she adds.
Spaight-Olinyk Wedding
July 30, 2011
Destination weddings in Lake Geneva are still very much in style, according to Marlene Minnich, events manager, Grand Geneva Resort & Spa. She helped Valerie and Brendan Olinyk of Plover throw a memorable event wedding that treated the couple's out-of-town guests to a weekend affair packed with parties. Upon arrival at the resort, guests were greeted with elaborate welcome gift bags filled with an array of items inspired by Wisconsin, weddings and, of course, the bride and groom. They included fresh cranberries, a hot commodity in their hometown of Plover; a wedding cake-shaped cookie; and Smart Water, a Coca-Cola Company product, since the bride is an account manager with the beverage giant.
On Friday, the groom's party golfed at Geneva National Golf Club as the bride's party was pampered with manicures and pedicures at the resort's Well Spa + Salon. In the evening, close family and friends participating in the wedding enjoyed heavy hors d'oeuvres at the rehearsal dinner on The Duchess, a Gage Marine Lake Geneva Cruise Line charter boat. Later that evening, all guests were invited to a welcome reception cocktail hour by the fire on Embers Terrace at Grand Geneva.
The morning of the wedding, the bridesmaids, mothers of the bride and groom, and the bride soaked in the spa, and the bride presented each lady with a trendy white cotton hoodie. The bride herself sported one embellished with "Mrs. O" on the back.
Breaking with tradition, the bride says the best moment was seeing her husband-to-be for the first time while taking pictures before the ceremony. "Because we started early, we were able to get pictures at the resort, Yerkes Observatory, and the beach near The Abbey Resort, as well as during and after the ceremony at the church."
The reception was in the Maple Lawn Ballroom and foyer at the resort. According to the planners, many resort and hotel venues have changed their approach to packages, enhancing their inclusions in recent years. For example, now typically included with a Grand Geneva wedding package are the bar arrangements; hors d'oeuvres; a champagne toast; a four-course dinner with wine and dessert; a custom wedding cake baked fresh in the resort's kitchen; and a complimentary suite for the bride and groom.
A special touch (and surprise) for the Olinyks was the waitstaff parading to the song "Be Our Guest" Beauty and the Beast-style for the head table as each dinner course was served. The couple also took advantage of special lighting effects (most provided by the couple's flower vendor, Joseph's Florist in Libertyville, Illinois), including up-lighting, a "GOBO" (names or monogram in a spotlight on the ballroom floor), and changing patterns and colors on the walls. The groom's cake was a replica of Brendan's #5 hockey jersey from the University of Connecticut.
The final event was a Sunday brunch featuring Bloody Marys and mimosas in the Evergreen Ballroom.
Ford-Bahrke Wedding
June 25, 2011
Like our planner-bride Jessica Sylfest, Emily and Zack Bahrke of nearby Salem chose Horticultural Hall for their venue, but for a different reason: the affordability and budget control that can come with choosing your own vendors. After falling in love with its garden off a ballroom (the perfect "Plan B" in case of inclement weather), the couple brought in a family friend with an Italian restaurant to cater the event.
Wrapping up her senior year at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, the young bride works as a part-time nanny while studying to be a social worker. Like millions of young people who caught the viral YouTube video of the wedding party that danced down the aisle to a popular Chris Brown song, "Forever," Emily and her fiancé not only loved the idea, they ultimately made a bold move and incorporated it into their own nuptials.
"But we had a traditional processional, walking down the aisle to an instrumental version of Taylor Swift's 'Love Story,'" explains Bahrke. For the recessional, the couple chose to dance to the infectious 1997 upbeat pop hit "MMMBop" by Hansen.
"At 21, we're both really young and wanted to end the ceremony on a really fun, youthful note. It was the perfect transition to set the mood for the reception."
Another trend, a candy bar, also highlighted the fun, youthful tone of the wedding. Large glass candy jars were filled color-coordinated candy to match the pink and black theme, including pink cotton candy, and a guest favorite, Good & Plenty licorice candies. The bride says that it was this "touch of nostalgia" that guests talked about the most, in addition to their unexpected dance at the end of the ceremony.
Trying new things and going with the unexpected seems like the perfect way to plan a wedding. After all, marriage is filled with new adventures and unexpected turns that you share with your long-time love.
A Note on
Picking Battles
"One of the first things I talk about with brides is the role of stakeholders," explains Jessica Sylfest, recent bride and owner of Lake Geneva-based Cherry on Top Events; she suggests that brides be cautious in picking battles. "I ask them to identify people who have wedding elements or current trends and ideas that are important to them. If flowers are critical to the mother-of-the-bride, for example, let her 'win' if you're not particularly concerned about them."
However, Sylfest contends that the wedding is about the bride and groom and says that they need to have a heart-to-heart upfront to see the end vision that is their wedding day. It's this vision that will protect them when little things happen that are beyond their control.
In her own wedding, for instance, the planner's husband, James, was a stakeholder and wanted a strong say in the food; he chose Burlington's Courtyard Catering and Gooseberries Fresh Food Market did the cake. The bride says this was an example of something she as a wedding planner "would normally do on auto-pilot," but now had to run past her groom, a stakeholder in the event.
