Emma & Brendan The Cannery Wedding
Vendor Team:
Day Of Wedding Coordinator - 618 EVENTS, Kylie
Venue - The Cannery
Hair - Loft Bridal
Makeup - Shelby Whitrow
Caterer - Childers
Photographer - AbbyJo Photography
Photo Booth - Wyldeflower Photo Booth
Videographer - Second Cup
Floral & Rentals - Create A Scene
DJ - Todd Peterson
Cupcakes - Caleri’s Cafe and Bakery
Dessert - Dunkin Donuts & Crumbl Cookie
Calligraphy - Kinkos
Emma Kate and Brendan were such a fun couple to work with! They had so much spunk and I loved seeing how much they deeply cared for one another. This wedding is one that Maggie actually handed off the day-of coordination to me. This was due to her having her sweet baby a few weeks prior to this wedding. In addition, Emma Kate is actually Maggie’s cousin. How cool!
Emma Kate and Brendan had both their ceremony and reception at The Cannery in Eureka, IL. This venue is absolutely amazing and so unique. It has a rustic, shabby-chic style and many different spaces that you are able to use for your event!
I began my part of this wedding when I met with Amy (Emma Kate’s mother) and Maggie at The Cannery. At this meeting I was able to get an understanding of the planning that Maggie had helped them with and learn their plans for the wedding. Emma Kate lives in St. Louis and was unable to join the meeting in person so we Facetimed her in! Amy was so great to work with, and I instantly knew this was going to be such a fun wedding.
The Saturday before the wedding I headed to Eureka to help with the rehearsal. It was so great getting to finally meet Emma Kate and Brendan in person, and put a face to everyone involved in their wedding. Their officiant Greg was so great to work with and helped the flow of the rehearsal. I loaded up my car with some yard games for the wedding and the wedding party headed off to their rehearsal dinner! Emma Kate and Brendan knew they wanted to be baptized at some point and Greg had the idea to do it at their rehearsal. What an intimate and special setting to be baptized- together the day before your wedding!
Saturday morning before any wedding festivities began, Emma Kate and Brendan went out for a private breakfast. How amazing is this idea! Getting to spend special, quiet time together before the wedding rush begins. So great! When I arrived and went in to see the girls getting ready, they were having such a fun, relaxing morning with their music jamming. The DJ arrived pretty early in the morning to set up. He had one set up where the ceremony/reception would be, and another in the downstairs area where the cocktail hour would be. Fun fact, Todd was actually the DJ for Maggie’s wedding many years ago. He was so glad to see her again and remembered her wedding like it was yesterday. Create A Scene arrived to begin the decorating process. They truly did such an amazing job! Emma Kate and Brendan had a hanging flower installation above them during the ceremony. A true DREAM! In addition, they had these velvet, blue runners on top of the linens that were absolutely stunning.
Once set up was on its way and hair and makeup finished, the wedding festivities began. Before getting into her dress, Emma Kate and Brendan took a few photos with their precious dog Mocha. So fun! After this Emma Kate got into her dress with her mom, and did a reveal for her bridesmaids. Her girls were so supportive of her and she was absolutely glowing. Her reveal with her dad was so sweet and precious to witness. Finally, the cute couple got to do their first look together. What a special moment to share.
Following this, the bridal party and immediate family took all of their photos in the gorgeous courtyard. Once the guests started arriving for the ceremony, the bridal party got ready to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was so wonderful and everything went perfect. One of my favorite parts is that the couple did a unity sand pouring. They included their mothers and grandmothers in this special moment. This is a great idea to include more people in your big day.
Cocktail hour was in the lower level of The Cannery and at this time we “flipped” the room to be ready for the reception. During cocktail hour and the reception, there was a photo bus (vintage VW van) available for guests. This was such a unique twist on a traditional photo booth and the guests absolutely loved it! There were also an assortment of yard games that were available to entertain people. The plated meal from Childers was so delicious and everyone seemed to have a nice time during the dinner portion. The bride and groom were even able to walk around and talk with all of their guests. During this time the “dessert area” was opened. You heard that right! Dessert area! Emma Kate was adamant that there was a big assortment of desserts and she LOVED IT! We had Caleri’s cupcakes, Crumbl Cookies, and a donut wall full of Dunkin’ Donuts.
Emma Kate and Brendan shared their special first dance together, and then the party got started! Everyone loved the dance floor and DJ Todd did such a great job keeping the party going. It ended up being such a beautiful evening and the guests loved to enjoy the yard games under the string lights in the courtyard.
The weather was so perfect that we had a special event that we moved to outside because it was so perfect out there. This special event was a lightsaber salute that the couple ran through. HOW COOL! They are big Star Wars fans and wanted to incorporate this into their big day. Such a fun and creative idea. The guests absolutely loved it! Following the salute, Childers put out a late night s’mores and nacho bar by the fire pits and everyone continued to enjoy the night.
Emma Kate and Brendan’s wedding was such a perfect day, and I am so glad that I was able to help make it great. Congratulations!!