We couldn’t be happier to be a part of Indie Wed once again. This time our design team is working with some of the best wedding vendors in Chicago to produce a specialty lounge area, inspired by an era where Vaudeville shows and carnivals provided entertainment and glamour. Here’s a snippet right from the Indie Wed website:

Art of Imagination will magically transform the 3rd floor space with beautiful draping and lighting, utilizing the eclectic bunch of parasols from Bella Umbrella. Fab Flora* will add a touch of romance with textured florals in burgundy and blush. Vintage couches, settees, trunks, and gorgeous furniture will be provided by Shadowbox Dreams Vintage Rentals. Nimblewell* will work with Luscious Layers Bakery* in providing rustic crates and vintage platters for all their yummy baked goods to sample. What would a carnival be without cotton candy? Our friends at Spin-Spun will be whipping up their all natural cotton candy to enjoy. FIG Catering is working on a menu that is sure to dazzle and will be providing the perfect libations for this soiree. We heard a rumor of craft cocktails! Fumee Gypsy Project will be on stage and Doodle Booth* will be providing hand drawn caricatures.Vaudezilla will dazzle and delight guests with vintage inspired can can performances.  Cage and Aquarium* will put together the perfect playlist while our performers are on break. Paper Stories is designing all the signage and paper goods to pull in all the details, while Tuan H. Bui Photographer captures some amazing photos to document our fantastic lounge. Don’t forget to hop behind the kissing booth and say hello to the gal who put this all together, Carlene of Naturally Yours Events.

Be sure to get your tickets today!! And we shall see you on February 1st!

Our office looked great all set up for the Bridal Gown Giveaway announcement party. All of us at Art of Imagination loved the small, intimate affair for 30 guests. We mingled with the finalists, sipped on champagne and enjoyed sushi by Thalia Spice and sweets by BomBon.

Take a look at the detail shots, especially for the gorgeous floral decor by Juliet Tan. 

Jenny Yoo, of course, provided a sample dress for the event. The winner will get to choose any dress from the collection, along with either a pin or sash. 

Juliet Tan provided the floral decor for the party and gave each couple a take-home centerpiece to enjoy. 

We also had fun, luxe goodie bags filled by all the vendor partners as an extra bonus for entering the competition and coming out that night to celebrate.

Sweets by Bonbon.

Thank you to all our vendors for helping make the announcement event a success: Fotio, Thalia Spice, Juliet Tan, Left Bank Bridal Finery, Crowne Plaza Hotel, BomBon Bakery and Maypole Photography for taking the photos. And Jenny Yoo for inspiring the giveaway.

We loved having Fotio in our office for the announcement party. The booth-less photo booth was a real blast to have. Fotio took up almost no space, and was ready to take photos within just a few minutes. All night our guests were taking photos with the booth – and seeing the slideshow on the back of the monitor was great too.

Not having to wait for a printout meant we all could take more pictures! Scroll through for some of our favorites, and see the rest of the set on our Facebook page.

Deborah with Juliet Tan.     

Jeanette, on the right, and her assistant, from Jenny Yoo.

Our lucky winners pose with the big check. They won a $3,300 credit to be used toward any dress from the collection, and either a pin or a sash.

Bethany, a photographer, loved the photo booth too!Thank you, Fotio for a fun & lovely evening.

We already posted a photo recap of the Martha Stewart Wedding Party at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel that we recently took part in – but today we also have this video to share that shows our work and the overall show in more detail. It really was a great show, both for the number and quality of vendors as well as brides – we met so many lovely engaged couples and new vendors from Chicago and beyond! A true success for all involved.

Click here to watch the short video & share with your friends & family.

 In just a few days, our friends at Room 1520 are throwing a fun and not to be missed bridal event – the 4th Annual Great Taste!

Come this Thursday, March 28 – 6pm -9pm to see 8 fabulous dresses on display from Victoria Sdoukos. Each dress has been paired with one of 8 bakeries that will be showcasing a display cake inspired by the dress as well as tastings from each of the bakeries.

New this year is a bridal bouquet bar featuring up to ten bouquets from ten different Chicagoland florists. Brides will be able to adore themselves holding the bouquets in a nearby mirror and each bouquet will be raffled off to lucky brides at the end of the night.

Food, booze, photobooth, music, Reenie Rose, and more…. RSVP today – click here to add yourself – bring your friends and family

We’ve spent so much time talking about our Bridal Gown Giveaway – we wanted to take take a moment to feature the genius behind the gowns – Jenny Yoo herself. Having met her a few times since first partnering with her company several years ago, we know her to be a down-to-earth and genuine person who’s a pleasure to be around – read on to learn more about Jenny Yoo.

From the start, Jenny’s passion was to create and design her own collection of bridesmaid dresses. Jenny’s clear vision and motivation has driven her company’s rapid success and recognition in the bridal industry. Her modern and elegant designs emphasize her philosophy that one must evolve with the footsteps of today’s changing times. She launched her first collection in November 2002.

Since then, her reputation has blossomed and she has been featured in countless editorials and televised media coverage. Several of Jenny’s dresses have been featured onNBC’s The Today Show in its “The Today Show Throws a Wedding” for the past 3 years and her dresses even won the prestigious top prize. She has been featured in numerous publications like InStyle Weddings, Martha Stewart Wedding,Town & Country and many more.

Jenny’s vision, direction, and designs are refreshing and continues to raise the bar in the industry to create understated, yet uniquely stylish, quality dresses.

We were recently part of Martha Stewart Wedding Party. Lovebird Events reached out to us early in their planning to be a part of the soiree. For the event, brides walked through an entry-way we created. For our area, we built a 12′ show-stopping chuppah centerpiece in the main show, using our ivory and platinum crepe-back satin.

Both we lit with uplighting in various shades of pink.

Scroll through for all the lovely details and stay tuned for a video of the event.

The chuppah we created for the event – the sashes were crystal-studded cuffs with fabric roses made from matching fabric.

Pure Kitchen Catering‘s Baked was on hand providing tasty treats for brides and guests.

These cute cake toppers were part of the Newlywish display.

Here’s the Fancy Candies team, rocking vintage aprons.

Fancy Candies display included plenty of quite-literal eye candy.

The ever-talented ladies at Hello Darling creating a whimsical & colorful table display.

Our friends at Poladora also had a booth, showcasing some of the many local businesses who are part of their registry.

The amazingly talented Reenie Rose painted one of her photo-realistic on-site between talking to brides and guests.

These treats are by Vosges Chocolates – we loved seeing bird feathers used on the favor boxes.

All you creative brides have something else to look forward to in our Bridal Gown Giveaway – our friends at the Crowne Plaza Metro Hotel  have graciously agreed to be a part of our giveaway. A complimentary stay will be a prize to one of our top six runners up. In case you need to be reminded, all we need to know is how you brides are bringing Imagination and Creativity to your Special Day – you can either fill out the form, contact us or tweet us at @art_imagination.

We’ve had so much interest in these two weeks – and we hope this extra perk will be just the push some of those DIY brides on our blog will need to enter.

All you creative brides have something else to look forward to in our Bridal Gown Giveaway – our friends at the Left Bank Jewelry & Bridal Finery are now part of our giveaway – with both our winner and runner-up each receiving a lovely surprise along with their prizes from Jenny Yoo. A pair of earrings and a bracelet are up for grabs in our giveaway – all we need to know is how you brides are bringing Imagination and Creativity to your Special Day – you can either fill out the form, contact us or tweet us at @art_imagination.

Calling all brides!  Share your imagination and win a beautiful gown from Jenny Yoo Bridal Collection. Each and every day we are inspired by the creativity of our brides who continue to find fresh and exciting ways to showcase their personalities for their special day. To reward all you creative, imaginative brides, we have partnered with the Jenny Yoo Collection in giving away one of their luxurious gowns valued at up to $3,000 and other prizes.

Entering is easy – visit our Bridal Gown Giveaway page to submit your registration. All brides have until March 4th to submit their inspired designs, DIY tips, whimsical touches and more. Be sure to include the following information

• Basic Contact Info

• Answer how are you bringing creativity and imagination to your wedding day in 500 words or less.

• Submit a photo of you and your fiancé

• You have the option to also submit a video story via YouTube.

Six of the most creative entries showcasing their creative ideas will be selected by our Creative Team and posted on our website. To find the winner, it will be up to the finalists to gather votes from friends and family. In return, we are throwing a fabulous Announcement Party on April 4 at our Creative Offices in the West Loop – where the finalists will bring their fiancee and up to four guests and enjoy bites and champagne as the announcements are made. That night, one lucky bride will win the $3,000 gown but everyone will be a winner that night with additional prizes furnished by our sponsors.

Among all Chicago bridal shows, Committed is the city’s only Green bridal show and it is not a show to miss. Last year, we attended as guests and had a blast! Unlike other bridal shows, Committed is small and intimate, giving couples a chance to talk to each vendor and ask questions directly. Even though we knew all the vendors, for brides It was a great chance to get a lot of the wedding planning out of the way – and the best part is that each involved vendor is eco-friendly, so brides could “green” your wedding without any extra work!

This year, we are excited to be a member of the alliance and to actually have a booth at the show. After the tremendous success of last year’s show, the organizers are promising a larger, more interactive show that still keeps the fun and casual atmosphere of last year, including an expanded layout on the second floor, filled with interactive activities from all of the vendors – with so much creativity under one roof, we expect the show to be a lot of fun.

Personally, we can’t wait. With more space, more activities and more vendors, this will be THE bridal event of the season to attend for all urban brides.

We’re thrilled to be taking part – here are our favorite moments from last year’s show!

Beautiful, custom and vintage gowns by Mignonnette Bridal. This year, the show takes over more space of the Green Exchange building, so expect to see a much bigger fashion show!

We’re looking forward to treats from Katherine Anne Chocolatier and on-site pampering from Head 2 Toe Mobile Spa. 

Cage and Aquarium will be on hand to provide the awesome music and Pollen will have their trademark, eco-friendly and inventive florals to admire.

Of course, the Alliance will have volunteers on hand to answer questions. To learn more about the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance – be sure to visit their website! All photos by Julia Franzosa. Get your tickets today.

We recently partnered with our good friend Anthony Navarro, of Liven It Up Events on a project that was both a lot of fun and supports a fantastic cause. Anthony had the idea to gather members of the wedding world to create a platform where caterers, florists, stationers, planners and others could come together to profess their support for marriage equality.

Deborah and the Art of Imagination team are firm supporters of full marriage equality nation-wide and we were excited to be asked to participate in the Stand Up Project. Since civil unions were legalized back in June of 2011, we have worked with a handful of same-sex couples in planning and designing their unions across the city, including two at Loft on Lake, at Room 1520, the Rookery Building and Stan Mansion.

Be sure to watch this and the other videos posted on the YouTube channel and spread the word.