Greens and golds came together putting a classic spin on Rachel and Paul’s cozy Chicago winter wedding. The beautiful bride is sharing all about their day with us along with these amazing photos by Zach Caddy. Keep scrolling and get ready to be inspired by all the winter wedding ideas they incorporated!

Green winter wedding invitations envelope: Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

Lace wedding dress with cap sleeves; Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

Embellished wedding shoes: Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

Written by the bride, Rachel:

Paul and I met in January 2017, and had our first date at the Art Institute. After two years together, that is also where Paul proposed! When we started planning our wedding, we knew we wanted our friends and family to travel to Chicago to celebrate with us. I grew up in Baltimore and Paul is from Austin, and none of our families live in town - it was essentially a reverse destination wedding!

A week after we got engaged (Thanksgiving 2018), we started looking at venues. We knew that we wanted a church ceremony at St. Alphonsus - it's down the street from our apartment, and we had been attending Mass there for about a year and a half. We saw several beautiful venues in the city but eventually landed on Salvatore's in Lincoln Park. We liked that it was not only close to the venue and in our neighborhood, but it included absolutely everything we could have needed! All the food, alcohol, tables, linens, signature cocktails, late night snacks, table numbers, etc. were included in our contract. We were sold by it's effortless, glamorous charm. The church and venue were both free for December 14, 2019, and we started coordinating our cozy winter wedding.

Since our venue included most things, all we really needed was a florist, photographer and live band. The live band was super important to us - I studied classical voice for 10 years and Paul was a saxophone player in high school. We called several bands around the city, and ended up attending a Bluewater Kings Band showcase at Chop Shop before booking them. Bluewater Kings are phenomenal, and if you're looking for a rockin' live band for your event we would wholeheartedly recommend them.

Bunches (a flower shop) was a fantastic florist. Marc helped us develop a clear vision for the centerpieces and bridesmaid bouquets, and stayed perfectly within budget. We added a few things along the way, and he was flexible, supportive and easygoing.

Zach Caddy was our photographer - since we had spent a decent amount on the band, we needed a more affordable photographer. We absolutely didn't have to sacrifice quality though - Zach was fantastic on the day, and got us our photos 3 days later. They really capture so many emotions and memories, and we are so happy with them!

Bridal portrait: Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

White wedding bouquet: Classic Chicago Winter Wedding captured by Zach Caddy featured on CHI thee WED. See more winter wedding ideas at CHItheeWED.com!

My dress was purchased from Brides by Young in Schaumburg, a salon that specializes in plus size and curve bridal. Finding a wedding dress as a size 14 woman is challenging - many stores in the city that I contacted said that their sample was a size 6 and if I couldn't fit into it I couldn't try it on. Rather than set myself up for heartbreak, I simply found salons that carried my size as a sample. I would recommend this, and I had good experiences at Lovely Bride in Old Town and at Brides by Young. The dress was by Pronovias, and featured hand beaded Spanish lace on the bodice with an illusion neckline and a-line satin skirt with a long train.

The vintage-inspired drop veil was handmade by my mother using fabric we purchased together at Mood in NYC. Appliques were hand-embellished with pearls, seed beads and sequins and then sewn on by hand. It was absolutely stunning and is an heirloom we will treasure forever!

Men's tuxes were rented from the Black Tux - they were great! Green ties for the groomsmen were purchased from Dessy Bridal. Bridesmaid dresses were purchased from Bella Bridesmaids - we loved the elegant silhouettes that each woman chose.

Our invitation suite and other paper goods were designed by Nadine at Endash Designs - she is a family friend of Paul's and is based in Dallas. Everything was beautiful and we loved them! A special touch was the custom cocktail napkins featuring our monogram logo and a few fun facts about us as a couple.

We featured custom cocktails as a nod to our hometown - the Severn River Spritz was comprised of gin, grapefruit juice and prosecco and garnished with rosemary. The Pennybacker Press was essentially a boulevardier (a Negroni with whisky instead of gin), and its bright orange shade reminded everyone of the famous Pennybacker bridge in Austin, TX.

On the day, we had zero worries and no major issues. The staff at Salvatore's set everything up perfectly, and the ceremony started on time! Dinner was delicious, and the band was AMAZING. Topped it off with a sparkler exit and it was just the best!