What is more important than a bride looking and feeling great on her wedding day? We would guess nothing. A huge part of that feeling can come from help from an excellent personal trainer and Talia Rappatone, of Rappatone Boutique Training, is more than qualified. She works with clients on an individualized basis providing lifestyle programs. She tailors specific nutrition and workout plans to each of her clients and works with clients on lifestyle changes that enable them to break through barriers by setting realistic and maintainable goals. Her individualized approach shows in client success stories ranging from weight loss, fitness and personal goal achievement, recovery of eating disorders and overall well-being. For the 2012 eleven eleven WEDDING Giveaway, Rappatone Boutique Training will be providing the bride with 10 one-hour personal training sessions, a one-hour nutrition consultation, as well as a one-hour Bridal Party Boot camp. Last year Howard decided to join Amy in her workouts and Talia was thrilled to have him participate. All of Amy bridesmaids, as well as Howard’s mom enjoyed the boot camp! Talia takes the health and fitness of her clients seriously; this is an exciting opportunity for our winners to gain control of their physical well-being!
We love this picture of Amy, Howard and Talia!
Words cannot describe how amazing Amy & Howard’s wedding was, but it wasn’t just the wedding day, they were such a pleasure to work with from the first moment we met them.
It was such a pleasure for all of the event sponsors to work hand in hand with Amy & Howard to create their dream wedding. We took great care to make sure the event beautifully represented their personalities and their cultures. I can speak for each sponsor involved, this was an extraordinarily fun event to be part of!
As Amy & Howard began the planning process it was clear that they wanted something elegant, sophisticated and slightly modern. The talented women of Greatest Expectations worked tirelessly to ensure that the process was fun and exciting for the couple and also each of the sponsors. Their dedication and hard work spanned months of planning and you should have seen them in action on the big day! This stunning wedding would not have been possible without the onsite assistance of so many extra hands including the entire Greatest Expectations staff, Susan from The Left Bank, Sheshe from Berghoff, Kelly and Caleb from Fleur, Barb from the Chicago History Museum as well as countless others brought in by individual sponsors.
The bridal party started the day at Hotel 71 where the ladies had hair and make up done by Mario Tricoci Salons and were then transported to the ceremony in style by Chicago Trolley.
We were able to turn the already stunning Chicago History Museum, into a completely new space thanks to the expert assistance of Greatest Expectations, Fleur, Chicago Lighting Design, Halls and Private Label Linen. Who knew that savvy lighting could make such a difference in the middle of the day!
All of the little details, which we all know are not so little, were attended to by Magnificent Milestones and Rosemary Hall Calligraphy with the most beautiful menu cards, programs and hand done signage.
Because this was a brunch wedding, Berghoff Catering offered an amazing pancake bar, savory station and beverage bar featuring speciality champagne cocktails. It was really so much fun! Amy Beck Cake Design seriously blew our minds with the most spectacular cake ever and the guests were treated to delicious custom created favors by Truffle Truffle.
I am not sure what you were doing at 1:00 p.m. on 11.11.11, but I can tell you that all of the guests at Amy & Howard’s wedding were dancing their butts off! The Larry King Orchestra gets a party started like no other band! They are so amazingly good that it’s impossible to stay in your seats. It was extra fun because the guests were really into music. Seriously one of the best afternoons ever.
When people were not dancing, they were having a blast with the photo booth from ShutterBooth Chicago.
Fashion forward … All of these beautiful people were outfitted by the best in the business. Amy’s dress was from Jenny Yoo Collection and the bridesmaids were in dresses from Bella Bridesmaid. The ladies were all adorned in custom headwear from Joy Scott Millinery and bejeweled by The Left Bank Jewelry and Shoes, who also did everyone’s shoes! The men looked dapper in their tuxes from BlackTie Formalwear.
A special thank you is due to Bev Albert from Ceremonies for your Life for creating a truly meaningful and beautiful wedding ceremony and Rappatone Boutique Training for helping the bride and groom get fit and healthy for their big day (and the rest of their lives).
Much props to the ever talented Amanda Hein for taking all of these stunning photographs. She also shot the live reveal party hosted by ZED451 and Amy & Howard’s engagement shoot.
To see a “live” look at this extra special day be sure to re-watch the wedding day re-cap from our friends at Poetic Productions!
Thank you for following along with us as we took this journey! Much love to Amy & Howard! We are very much looking forward to what 2012 has in store! Stay tuned for more details over the next couple of months!
Posted: February 18th, 2012 | Author: Heather Vickery | Category: ACCESSORIES, BEAUTY, Blog, BRIDESMAIDS JEWELRY & BRIDAL SHOES, CAKES, CALLIGRAPHY, CATERING, CEREMONY, CINEMATOGRAPHY, eleven eleven WEDDING Giveaway, ENTERTAINMENT, EVENT PLANNING, FASHION, FAVORS, FITNESS, FLORAL & EVENT DESIGN, HOTEL, INVITATIONS, JEWELRY, LIGHTING & SOUND DESIGN, LINENS, MEDIA, OFFICIANT, PARTY FAVORS, PHOTOGRAPHY, RENTAL EQUIPMENT, TRANSPORTATION, VENUE | 2 Comments »
We are really enjoying working with Amy and Howard on their 11.11.11 wedding! I was tickled to get these reflections from Amy and Howard after our first day of planning meetings.
From The Bride’s Perspective …
We started at Magnificent Milestones. Let me start by saying that the store is amazing and beautiful. I just want to live there. The workspace is great, and it was amazing to see the literally endless amount of options they provide!! Nothing is off limits and that’s just unbelievable to me. Kara was super sweet and really went off our ideas and just ran with it! Howard put it correctly, it is like a kid in a candy store!
Next we met with Kelly from Fleur … AMAZING! Probably my favorite meeting, though all other meetings were a VERY close second. Kelly really listened to what we were thinking and took it to the next level. Never did she stray from our ideas, just enhanced it all. I loved her passion for her work and really giving us creative options for not just the bouquets, but also for the centerpieces, flower girl flowers, and the boutonnieres. Her attention to detail was amazing.
And then there is Talia from Rappatone Boutique Training. This woman is changing our lives! We are both eating better and are a thousand times more active than we’ve ever been. Howard and I are totally embracing the changes in our lives to be happier and much healthier people. She is teaching us to put fuel into our bodies, not just junk. I am absolutely loving all the organic food! And the best part is that we’re doing this together. Her advice and awesome workouts are really having us start our lives together on the right foot.
Going to Bella Bridesmaids was so much freaking fun. All the ladies are absolutely amazing. Answered all our questions, no matter how silly and really made sure that we were comfortable with our decisions. I’ve been a bridesmaid plenty of times, and this was the best and most organized bridesmaid shopping trip. And most importantly, they carry dresses that women actually want to wear again. My older sister may just order dresses just to have for special occasions!
Lastly was wedding dress shopping at Jenny Yoo! It was really great to share this time with family. I was fortunate to have my sister in laws and my niece on this shopping trip. And trying on dresses with my niece was so much fun. The ladies at Jenny Yoo were so helpful! I absolutely loved all the accessories you can add on to a dress. Totally makes it completely different with all the belts! Jenny Yoo is really my style, simple elegance, and seriously cannot wait to wear it on 11.11!
From The Groom’s Perspective …
Our first meeting was with Kara at Magnificent Milestones. This got the ball rolling on our planning and speechless is the only word that comes to mind. I was blown away with the extensive variety of invitation designs that we were asked to choose from. Basically a candy store for a little kid but for invitations. Kara was truly special…kind, warm, full of enthusiasm and she really cared about each individual detail that would ultimately form our wedding invitations. Essentially, Kara is a creative genius…period. I can’t wait to see the final product!!
Next we met with Kelly from Fleur. Within 5 minutes of meeting Kelly, I realized that we were truly blessed to have our floral arrangements designed and provided by Fleur. Even prior to discussing floral arrangements etc. Kelly’s heartfelt sincerity and love for our wedding nearly brought me to tears….(male pride is kicking in….my eyes watered…but Amy’s eyes looked like waterfalls)….from that point on, everything came together fast. Kelly took our vision and created a floral arrangement that took our breaths away. With the help of Heather and Katherine, we all collectively finalized an overall look that will represent our wedding with elegance, class and beauty. Can’t wait…
I wrapped the day up with Talia from Rappatone Boutique Training (Amy still had Jenny Yoo and Bella Bridesmaids on her agenda!). Talia was kind enough to add me to the package that she donated and for that, I will be forever grateful. Talia has changed my daily diet and that has already had a profound effect on my life. Our initial meeting consisted of a diet consultation along with defining clear goals that we wanted to achieve. She closely monitors our diet with the goal that we continue this changed lifestyle post wedding as well. Now the hard part….the workouts!!! Amazing, tough, very effective and all catered to our initial goals. The best part…Talia is an AMAZING person…she truly cares. She is sincere and as dedicated a trainer as I have ever seen in my life. She really, really cares..not much more you can ask for.
So far this experience has been exceptional! I cannot wait to meet all the other sponsors and continue our planning!
What is more important than a bride looking and feeling great on her wedding day? We would guess nothing. A huge part of that feeling can come from help from an excellent personal trainer and Talia Rappatone, of Rappatone Boutique Training, is more than qualified. She works with clients on an individualized basis providing lifestyle programs. She tailors specific nutrition and workout plans to each of her clients and works with clients on lifestyle changes that enable them to break through barriers by setting realistic and maintainable goals. Her individualized approach shows in client success stories ranging from weight loss, fitness and personal goal achievement, recovery of eating disorders and overall well-being.
For the eleven eleven WEDDING Giveaway 2011, Rappatone Boutique Training will be providing the bride with 10 one-hour personal training sessions, a one-hour nutrition consultation, as well as a one-hour Bridal Party Boot camp.
We don’t think anyone would argue with how fantastic Amanda looked on her wedding day!
