PJ & Cate’s Rockwell on the River Wedding

Rockwell on the River in Chicago was the picture-perfect setting for PJ and Cate! I can’t think of a better venue that would fit their personalities and sense of style and love for people! Their early September wedding day was a hot one (it’s the time of year when Chicago can’t make up its mind if it wants to be summer or fall haha!). The sun was out, and there was so much beautiful light to work with all day long! It was a busy busy day in the city, but these two just floated along, so happy to be in the heart of the prettiest city in the world, surrounded by their favorite people, on their WEDDING DAY!!

Some of my favorite parts of their day, in no particular order:

(1) PJ AND CATE (ok, this one needed to go right at the top). These two are the bomb. Such a dynamite couple, sweet and kind and empathetic, and also wildly successful and absolutely beloved by every single person around them. Including us!!

(2) THE BAND. Funktastic was incredibleincredibleincredible. Maybe the best wedding band we’ve ever seen. Take a look at the dancing pics at the end of this post — how happy do those wedding guests look?! We were grinning all night long, and this Rockwell on the River wedding reception was BOUNCING.

(3) THE PEOPLE. So many lovely people!! The entire bridal party (what a crew), Larry the Trolley Driver, amazing Cydnei and her superstar team of planners (including the lovely Nicole who ran back to the hotel room to grab my styling kit BLESS HER, and Tiffany who understood and laughed at Marty’s obscure Homestar Runner references)

(4) CATE’S HAIR. Pearls! In a loose braid! Woven in! With curls! The stuff dreams are made of. It was so good, and she is so stinking beautiful!!

(5) **HONORABLE MENTION** RANDOM SISTER/STALKER. During wedding party photos, we ran into a proposal-about-to-happen at Olive Park. There was a woman crouching behind a trash can, and she was waving frantically at us and doing these weird hand motions. It was just so bizarre. We got closer, and she got up and started walking backwards in front of us. “MY SISTER IS ABOUT TO GET ENGAGED RIGHT NOW,” she yell-whispered, crouching and doing a funky backwards waddle so that we blocked her from whoever was coming up behind us. “I WAS AFRAID YOU WERE GOING TO GET IN THE WAY.” And then she was gone, hiding behind a tree. It was so random and so funny. If you look really really close a the wedding party photo at Olive Park, about a third of the way down, you’ll see her there, behind a tree, and the couple themselves, right in the middle of a proposal. You can’t make this stuff up.

I could keep going, but you get the point. It was such a good day. So many memories, so much love. Enjoy these highlights from Cate and PJ’s Rockwell on the River wedding day!

Photographer | Sherah Grose

Planning | Cydnei with Designed and Detailed

Hotel | Westin Chicago River North

Hair + Makeup | Beauty by Ann Krause

Dress | Sarah Seven

Church | St. Benedict

Transportation | 312 Limo

Venue | Rockwell on the River

Catering | Cocina Fusion

Bar | Venue Logic

Floral/Lighting/Production | Art of Imagination

Band | Funktastic Productions

View PJ and Cate’s Engagement Session HERE!