Farms, Barns and Winery Weddings

We’ve been asked a few times lately about rural places for weddings such as barns, farms and vineyards. They can be lovely alternatives to traditional venues and you might even consider making near-destination weddings down-state or to neighbor states for a fun getaway weekend for your guests. They also generally make for a relaxed day, especially when ceremony and reception are both held at the venue and guests need not travel to any additional locations in these usually unfamiliar countryside areas.

Here are suggestions in the region closest to Chicago area:

Lynfred Winery (Roselle, IL)
http://www.lynfredwinery.com/priv.html

Whyte Horse Winery (Monticello, IN)
http://www.whytehorsewinery.com/winery/winery.php

County Line Orchard (Hobart, IN)
http://www.countylineorchard.com/weddings/staging/events.html

Hoosier Grove Barn (Streamwood, IL)
http://www.hoosiergrovebarn.com/

Vehe Barn (Deer Park, IL)
http://www.village.deer-park.il.us/Vehe_Barn_Rental.htm

Danada House – horse stables (Wheaton, IL)
http://www.danadahouse.com/

Millcreek and Blue Dress Barns (Southwest Michigan)
http://www.millcreekbarn.com/aboutus.html

There are a lot more vineyards that have weddings in areas throughout the region in southern IL & IN and northern MI, so if you are open to having a near-destination wedding these would be good to look into as well.

Chateau Pomije (Guilford, IN)
http://www.cpwinery.com/weddings.html

Chateau de Pique (Seymour, IN)
http://www.chateaudepique.com//index.htm

Spirit Knob Winery (Ursa, IL)
http://www.spiritknob.com/events.html

Ravissant Winery (Belleville, IL)
http://www.ravissantwinery.com/banquet.htm

Gill’s Pier Vineyard & Winery (Leelanau Peninsula, MI)
http://www.gillspier.com/banquet-room.htm

Black Star Winery and Farms (Suttons Bay/Leelanau, MI)
http://www.blackstarfarms.com/events/

Michigan’s lakeshore and Traverse City area is loaded with wineries – certainly make for a great weekend getaways for newlyweds too!

© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo Photography

Wedding Creativo’s Top 5 favorite wedding trends from 2009

Here are five of our favorite trends from 2009….and hope to see them continue in 2010! We are lucky to have such fashion forward brides!

All images © Wedding Creativo Photography / Giorgio Ventola Inc.

#1 – Birdcage Veil

#2 – Pashmina Wraps

#3 – Peacock Theme

#4 – Something Blue Shoes

#5 – Intimate/Rustic/Vintage Venues

Create your own Wedding Web Site

We have been accepted as an affiliate of Wedsite.com. They have really cool layouts and features to create your own wedding website. Email us to request a coupon code for 20% savings on your Wedsite.

Great venues for small weddings in Chicago

I’ve started a new list on Yelp for some of our recent favorite places for smaller weddings. Click here to check it out.

List of great venues for small weddings around Chicago

Le Birdcage

We absolutely adore the revival of the birdcage hat, which is a great modern-vintage swap for the traditional veil, plus it can qualify for your “something old”….even if it isn’t. There are tons of hand-crafted ones available on Etsy.

© Giorgio Ventola Inc. / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides - Madeline

© Giorgio Ventola / Wedding Creativo

One of our brides Kerrie

Katherine Heigl's birdcage veil

Offbeat Bride

Offbeat Bride, the blog/wed-site and book by Ariel Meadow Stallings is a fantastic resource for women looking to buck wedding traditions, or at least find new twists that compliment modern wedding plans. There is also an excellent discussion area – Offbeat Tribe. Apparently Ariel is in talks for her idea to possibly become a TV show….that would be awesome! This picture is from Cheri and Omar’s wedding we photographed a while back, they own Revolution Tatoo and Art Gallery.