Kelley and Bryan | Destination Wedding Illinois Reception (Mini Series Part 5)

Our FINAL installment of the Kelley and Bryan mini series saga! Once we returned from the chaos and beauty of their destination wedding in Curacao, we had a week to settle back in before we joined them at their Illinois wedding reception. We started the day with portraits with the couples adorable dog Alana (my dog bestie) and some of their wedding party that hadn’t been able to make the destination wedding. We shot several portraits outside and then headed to the beautiful Shelbyville Event Center for reception. To say this is a beautiful event space is the understatement of the year- it is absolutely beautiful! From fully draped walls and ceilings to uplighting that made it look like a downtown Chicago event space to the amazing head table with the sunken candles and decor this reception was top notch. Upon arriving to the hall, you enter this welcoming lobby space that is complete with stylish furniture and entry tables and then you head into the main hall where there are two large, beautiful doors welcoming you into the space. Kelley and Bryan had a beautifully decorated memory table to honor their loved ones and a series of wedding photos on display for those to see their amazing adventure. The decorations in the main hall were breathtaking completely decked out with large displays, lights, and hundreds of candles. The cake table immediately caught my eye as it had this beautiful glass table display and there were cake pops and cupcakes as far as the eye could see. It was a pure dream! Each table was meticulously decorated with an extreme attention to detail and the reception venue even offered a birds eye view of the reception with a nice and comfortable place for the wedding party to hide to wait for introductions. The reception hall also had an outdoor patio where guests could go out and mingle and get some fresh air. It is really a beautiful space, the owners did an amazing job with it!

Kelley and Bryan had their grand entrance and immediately treated guests to the video trailer of their destination wedding adventure. The couple treated their guests to delicious buffet of goodies including mac and cheese bites, bbq, fruit, and cake pops. The couple greeted their guests and talked about the wedding day adventures. After the speeches were complete, the couple enjoyed their first dance and the band, 90’s Daughter kicked off the night with some amazing music. They were a fantastic band and even yours truly was out there dancing like a mad woman for a good majority of the night. One of my favorite parts of the evening was when the couple surprised the guests with Joe’s pizza mid way through the party which provided them enough snack and energy to keep the dance floor hopping. I loved seeing the family again that I had spent time with down at the wedding and Doug and I both had a blast at the wedding reception. We love you Bryan and Kelley, we are so glad you chose us to be part of your big day!

-The Keys

PS: if you haven’t checked out the new event center in Shelbyville yet, you need to! These people and their skills are amazing! Kudos to all of you for a fantastic reception! It was a photographers dream (from the details to the lighting)!