It was love from the first sight when Taylor Whiting met Jennifer Kelly one morning in. Taylor Whiting was beginning her first year as a teacher at a school in Chicago. Jen had worked there for four years. It was like Taylor and Jen were the only ones in the room, once they locked eyes. Taylor confesses that she was teaching social studies and Jen came in and reminded her of what I was supposed to teach. After a year of friendly, Jen decided to take the plunge and ask Taylor out on a date.
After a happy year of dating, Jen and Taylor had begun to plan a proposal without the other’s knowledge. They decided to go to a Mojave Desert lantern festival that fall. It was the perfect place to propose. The couple recalls that Taylor had written on her lantern “Will You Marry Me” and was ready to send it into the air. Jen planned to wait for the sky to fill with lanterns before she asked Taylor. The event coordinators announced at that point that the festival had to be cancelled due to rain. This was a rare occurrence in the middle desert. The two revealed that they had both created a backup plan and tried to not let each other know what was going on. It was time to plan B once they returned to the hotel. Jen recalls that Taylor, being determined and impatient, was unable to wait and fell to her knees in order to propose to Taylor. Jen also remembers that Taylor was proposing to Jen at the exact same place.
Although their original plans were canceled, they could not have imagined a better proposal. The couple says that they knew that, no matter what happened, that we would be able to handle it as long we found each other at the end. This outlook helped them through the entire wedding planning process. It also kept them grounded, even though they had to postpone. They originally planned to marry in August 2020. However, the global pandemic caused them to rethink their plans. They were able to keep their positive attitude and receive endless support from Kirstin “Kirsty” Basch, their event planner, and their families. They share that having an extra year to plan was a beautiful gift and they were able to enjoy every moment of the process. The final result? The result? A garden wedding with natural touches at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was attended by over 200 people. You can read the rest of their story to learn how it all unfolded. It was planned by Kirsty Bsch of LOLA Event Productions, and photographed by Alex Marquardt from Alexandra Lee Photography.
Photo By Alexandra Lee Photography
Jen and Taylor selected navy for their 2020 wedding date. They changed their plans after the pandemic and added wine, blush and champagne to their color scheme. They explain that they changed the decor to be lighter because the Fourth July date was very close. They used dusty rose for the start and then added deeper reds and burgundies to the mix.
