This Whimsical Summer Wedding at The Edgewater Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin was one for the books! Although LOLA Event Productions is primarily a Chicago wedding and planning company, every once in a while we get to take our show on the road for a very special project. This wedding weekend was very close to my (Lori’s) heart. As a proud University of Wisconsin Badger, when Lily and Ben asked me to help them plan a wedding weekend that would “make their guests love Madison, WI the way we do” I was honored to take on the challenge! The weekend consisted of 5 parties arcing from a Welcome event overlooking Lake Mendota on the rooftop of the Edgewater Hotel to a dock party and pep rally inspired rehearsal dinner complete with the Badger Band and Bucky himself! But let’s focus first on the stunning wedding day (and get to those other fun events in another blog installation!)
One of the primary design challenges we started with in working on our vision for the wedding day was that Lily and Ben loved the ease of a hotel wedding as a home base where guests could easily bounce from one event to the next, but they really envisioned the aesthetic of a gorgeous outdoor garden for their wedding day celebration. The Edgewater Hotel downtown Madison had a gorgeous patio where their dream outdoor ceremony could take place overlooking Lake Mendota, but how to make a hotel ballroom into a garden? Especially when we wanted to make sure we had room for their 250+ guests? With the help of the talented teams at HMR Designs and Frost Chicago, we turned to the ceiling and dance floor for our primary installation and decide to plant an inverted garden in the hotel ceiling! The palette of summery hues and playful greenery created the perfect focal to celebrate within all evening and into the late night, and the watercolor floral monogram custom created by Elise Brown not only made the stationery by Steracle Press the perfect introduction of the weekend’s theme to guests, but that same stunning design was absolutely transformative as the dance floor design. We then flanked the room with floral chandeliers that sat on the tabletops and reflected the whimsy in the ceiling back to guests in a way that was up close and personal!
The party itself was full of the same whimsy and fun as the décor. The dance floor was the place to be with the Gold Coast All Stars performing late into the night with confetti cannons and an electric violinist bringing some extra wow to the traditional Badger “Jump Around” at midnight, and the phenomenal Edgewater culinary team not only executed cocktail stations reflecting Ben’s East Coast background and Lilly’s Chicago roots, but they put a black tie spin on chicken and waffles for the main entrée! Of course, no late night party would have been complete without some mac n’ cheese pizza from Madison staple, Ian’s Pizza. The simple and tasty cake by Bloom Bake Shop hosted a simple floral cascade. The entire event was a perfect reflection of the “joi de vivre” that Lily and Ben bring to their life together with their friends and family. Kent Drake Photography and Vibrant Films captured the entire weekend from beginning to end and it was truly EPIC in every way. Such a dream project to be a part of for the LOLA team!
See more in Lily and Ben’s 8 page spread in the Spring 2019 issue of Inside Weddings Magazine
