Bijou Bride of the Month (September): Sarah

#BijouBride of the Month (September): Sarah

Weddning Date: 8/27/17

The Dress: #StefanJolie from Bijou Bridal & Special Occasion/Bijou Sample Gallery

The Venue: It was intimate with immediate family at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Their Story: It's a funny story because we actually got married 3 years ago this August. My husband Arturo and I met when he came to North Central College (in Naperville, IL) for a study-abroad year. He is originally from Venezuela. We met one day when I was working at the Box Office for a performance, and he was a volunteer usher. I actually got in trouble by my boss because we were talking so much in stead of checking in guests. :P We saw each other a couple times afterwards when we worked the same performances, but it was a couple months later that he asked me out on an official date. Since he had to go back home to Venezuela after that school year, we ended up doing long distance for a couple years. We would go months without seeing each other in person, and at some point I told Arturo I need him here with me. :) At that point, we knew we wanted to be together, so he moved to the U.S. Once we started the immigration process, we needed to be married right away, so the day he officially moved here, he proposed! My family and I were actually throwing him a Welcome party too at the time he proposed, which was really nice he included my family in the moment.

So we went from engaged to married in 8 days! Needless to say, we didn't have the traditional wedding, but it was perfect for us! We had debated on going to the courthouse, but in the end, my brother got his marriage license and officiated for us on August 9th. We chose to use a gazebo near North Central's campus on the River Walk, and his mom flew in for the day (which was also my first time meeting her in person). I didn't have time to chose an actual wedding dress and we couldn't get a professional photographer come in time, so it was very intimate with only immediate family. We absolutely loved everything about that day! A part of me however always missed that I didn't get a chance to wear a real wedding dress.

A couple months ago at my brother's wedding, we got chatting with his photographer and he suggested doing a photo re-shoot. I instantly loved the idea and we went for it! So I went dress shopping with my mom and found the perfect dress at Bijou Bridal in Oakbrook! I remember knowing it was THE dress before she even finished zipping the back because I started tearing up. :) I also got to experience the whole trying-on-the-one-dress with your mom, which was a blast! So this past Sunday, we went to the Botanical Gardens and did took some beautiful shots with our amazing photographer! We owe everything to him for the inspiration and capturing the things we couldn't on our wedding day three years ago!

Dress shopping advice for other brides? My advice to others looking for a wedding dress is don't worry if you can't find the right dress right away. I was about to leave after trying on a few and not feeling like I had found the one (that was also in my price range), until I tried on one last dress. Bijou bridal helped me find the perfect dress and I'm sure they will help you find yours too!

#bijoubridal #loveourbrides #chicagoweddings #lace #weddingdress #summerwedding

 

Posted by thanhadmin / Posted on 7 Sep