Jane and Adam’s Chicago Botanic Garden Wedding all started with a long-distance romance that crosses the Atlantic!
Jane and Adam met while attending a Jewish summer camp located in upstate NY circa 2014. That year marked the time that their close friendship began. Over time their friendship evolved into a long-distance romance, with Jane studying at NYU while Adam was working in Manchester. The couple worked on their long-distance relationship for the next three years before holding a small civil ceremony in Jane’s childhood home.
Searching for a Chicago Wedding Videographer to capture your curated love story on film? Click the >>> contact button <<< and let’s chat!
Among Jane and Adam’s many hobbies together, they enjoy traveling with one another and have been to Israel, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland. They have a rule with each other that any great experience must include the three “C’s”: culture, cuisine, and company!
When it came to their wedding day at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the bride and groom wanted to provide their loved ones with an experience that felt as if it was ‘otherworldy’. Their key focus was to provide the fantastic feeling of being swept into romance and to fill the room with elegance, laughter, joy, and love.
Jane’s wedding day style was every bit the bride who appeared to be swept away by romance. Her wedding gown, a Monique Lhullier design, was purchased at The Wedding Club in South Kensington, London. She accessorized with a sparkly pair of Jimmy Choo shoes to draw on the desired aspect of elegance.
For Jane and Adam, the laughter and love of their Chicago Wedding Day found it’s way to them in several different forms. The bridal suite was filled with glittering smiles and laughter, with Jane having a first look with her bridesmaids. Jane and Adam shared an intimate first look with one another at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where they were surrounded by lush greenery and a small but distinct bench built for two. Their wedding celebration was marked with wholehearted speeches from the groom’s brother and the father of the bride, and the night was made complete when all of their loved ones joined them on the dance floor for a traditional horah.
Click play on the film above to see more of Jane & Adam’s Chicago Botanic Garden Wedding!!
What’s your story? What are ya’ll into? How do you spend your days? What’s important in life? etc, etc…
Adam and I met at Camp Tel Yehudah, a Jewish summer camp located in upstate NY in 2014. After we met, we quickly became close friends, and later even closer. We have been together since. We did a long-distance relationship for almost three years while I was studying at NYU in New York and Adam was back working in Manchester, England. Long story short, we decided last year to have a civil ceremony to end our separation, as we had already been speaking about getting engaged and it felt like the right time for the both of us; we had our civil ceremony at Jane’s house in Chicago on March 10th, 2017 where both of our immediate families were present.
As best friends and as a loving couple, we love to explore new places together and have been on many trips together, such as to Israel, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and more. We love to spend our time cooking and just being near one another. We have a rule that we often like to implement that we created: a great experience must include the three C’s: culture, cuisine, and company!
Family is a massive factor in both of our lives and we are both incredibly close with our respective families as well as our new ones. Jewish cultural life is important to us, and we try to incorporate that into our lives in our own unique ways. We often find ourselves on exactly the same wavelengths– we just get each other. We even accidentally got each other the same exact first first-year-anniversary gift: a map of the constellations and stars that were in the sky on the night we ‘fell in love’. Both maps had the same date, the same place, and nearly the same text!! We love to have fun, and always love some good cuddles and a great laugh.
Why do you want to capture your wedding on video?
We want to capture our wedding on video because it is rare that we can get both of our families and friends together, let alone our own! We all have family from out of town, whether that be a distance of Illinois to Michigan, Illinois to South Africa, or Manchester to Boston. It would be amazing to be able to have these memories captured on a video to serve as a memory for ourselves and our future family. Although we are both ones to believe that it is impossible to capture real life through a lens as accurately as it was first experienced, we feel that your work is a fabulous example of how those memories should be captured and weave together the story of our wedding day.
Why did you pick Hunter Floyd FIlms to create your wedding film?
See above 🙂 We also feel that your aesthetic and taste aligns with ours with ease.
The proposal? …Tell me everything (all the gushy details)
Oh boy… So it all started in January of 2017 when we thought we could end our long-distance relationship by applying for a ‘partners’ visa in the UK.
Well, let’s just say that that wasn’t an option and within the next three weeks we had planned our civil marriage as well as Adam designing a ring and proposing. Whew! That’s a lot.
Adam and I had already been talking about prospectively getting engaged in August, so we already knew that we were ready. Those next three weeks were a timeline for us, as I had been staying with Adam in Manchester after I had graduated from university and was leaving in three weeks’ time.
Adam then spent excessive hours trying to create the ring of my dreams and the proposal he felt that lived up to the level of which he had always wanted.
The last weekend of the three weeks came and I was leaving on Tuesday. Friday morning I (Jane) went to go visit a friend in London and was coming back that evening with the hopes that Adam was going to propose to me that evening. He didn’t. What did happen though, was a sobbing Jane with freshly painted nails resting on Adam’s kitchen countertop whilst begging him to just propose already because I couldn’t take it anymore. Needless to say, he did not propose then.
The next day, however, Adam, myself and his brother, Mark, were planning on going on a walk through a beautiful English estate in the countryside. I was certain he would propose then, as he had brought my camera, and wore a suit jacket, and told me to dress nicely. The whole day went by, and my suspicions were seeming wrong so I basically gave up the idea he would propose then and that it must be later that evening. As the estate was closing, and we snuck around some of the guards who were locking up, Adam insisted that we look at the beautiful mansion house before we go. Once we were in front of it, he got down on one knee and said some beautiful gushy words while I swore like a sailor (which I never ever do but was in such shock and excitement). I said yes, duhhhh, and Mark was there taking photos of the whole proposal and then cleverly brought out champagne from his backpack that we proceeded to down. We had a great night that evening dancing with friends back in Manchester, going late night bowling, and staying at a beautiful hotel downtown. And the reeeest is history. Except for the fact that I had to leave two days later and then wouldn’t see him again until the day before we got civilly married (eep!!!!)
What experience do you want to give to your guests?
A night in ‘some other world’ that feels fantastical; feeling a bit like being swept up in romance and filled with elegance, laughter, joy, and love.
Jane and Adam’s Wedding at the Chicago Botanic Garden was also Featured on ‘Smash The Glass‘!
Creative Partners: Chicago Wedding Videography|Hunter Floyd Films Wedding Planner|Lovebird Events Venue|Chicago Botanic Garden Photography|Lilly Photography Entertainment|Cocktail Hour: Elan Artists, Spanish Guitar Duo, Diego Alonso; Reception: Final Say, Robby Celestin Bridal Gown|The Wedding Club in South Kensington, London Hair & Makeup|Flawless Beauty Chicago Cake|Dimensions Kosher Florals|HMR Designs Stationery|E.Y.I.Love