{SBB Bride of the Week} Hayley
H A Y L E Y
+
K Y L E
{September 2nd, 2023}
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
We love a sweet bride/flower girl moment!
Introducing our beautiful bride, Hayley!
For her late summer wedding, Hayley looked so gorgeous in her strapless A-line gown by All Who Wander!
We are in love with the illusion bodice and leafy lace details on this dress!
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
Hayley’s flowers were stunning, thanks to Thode Floral who once again did such a stunning job!
We currently have an unhealthy obsession with pops of blue in a bouquet!
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
Hayley and very soon-to-be hubby, Kyle, shared a super sweet first look before the start of the ceremony!
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
Hayley and Kyle were married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Allure on the Lake in Chesterton!
The setting right on the lake was so simple and gorgeous!
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
The reception was held inside and y’all, we love this venue so much!
Every inch of this reception space is SO pretty!
{Photos by: Eight Hands Photography}
How did Hayley first meet Kyle?
“We met at Old Crow bar in Wrigleyville during a Cubs rain delay. I was there with friends and he was at the game with his buddy but when the game kept getting pushed, they came on over to Old Crow.”
How did Kyle pop the question?
“On December 4th, 2021, we planned to go ice skating at Maggie Daley Park in Chicago. Unbeknownst to me, Kyle had his brother in law hiding in the bushes taking candid photos of us skating. After we finished skating we walked around the park and found a bench where he popped the question. My first reaction as he started talking was "you're doing this here..in public!?" and sure enough when I said yes there was a crowd of strangers clapping. He even handmade the box that held the ring! From there, he had a nail appointment scheduled for me, then a surprise trip to Lincoln Park Zoo lights where our families were both there to surprise us, THEN he had a surprise engagement party at our apartment for when we got home. It was a great day!”
SO sweet! Was it a surprise or did she know it was coming?
“I knew it was coming eventually...but didn't quite know when or how he was going to do it.”
Moving on to our favorite topic - dress shopping!
“I do not like to shop and I do not like all eyes on me so I was incredibly anxious about this piece of wedding planning. We get to the appointment, the team gave us the rundown of how it'll work and we went to town! We pinned a handful of dresses for me to try and then went to the dressing room with about 8 or so dresses. I knew quickly what I didn't like. I wanted to be comfortable - I'm not tall so I didn't want to be swimming in fabric and I knew I wanted my dress to "go" with my venue (Allure on the Lake). We quickly narrowed it down to 2-3 dresses and the second time I put my dress on, it just felt right. Once we went over to the natural light area, it just solidified the decision!”
How did Hayley know her dress was "the one"?
“Initially it was when my mom started to ugly cry lol but also the way my friends were looking at me and how I just felt, I knew that was it.”
What was Hayley’s favorite part of the whole wedding planning process?
“Kyle and I are very into DIY so we had so much fun putting the little details together and creating a lot of our decor (centerpieces, seating chart stand, signage, we even branded a 3 ring ring box that Kyle made us for our unity ceremony). Seeing everything come together on our big day made it all worth it!”
What about her least favorite part??
“When people say that the day will fly by ... they're not lying. I feel like I blinked and it was all over which was really sad!”
Now that they’re celebrating one year of marriage, what is her favorite moment from the wedding?
“Obviously marrying my best friend lol but other than that, I loved being able to look out at all of our guests and see all of our favorite people in one space. We both have decently large families and very long term friends so seeing our worlds collide was so special!”
Does Hayley have any words of wisdom for brides-to-be who are currently planning their big day?
“Planning a wedding can be really overwhelming if you try to tackle it all at once. Make yourself a plan of what needs to get done and by when and stick to it. I'm the planner of our relationship so I did research on all of the vendors after we booked our venue (photo, video, band) and brought a list to Kyle with the vendor options, cost, what's included, what's not included, pros and cons and we decided on everything together in one night. If you stay organized and on the right schedule, it's definitely manageable!”
Congratulations, Hayley and Kyle, and Happy First Wedding Anniversary!!
Be sure to check out more of their gorgeous wedding photos by Eight Hands Photography in the gallery below!
