Joy & Meta, Private Residence

Where do I even start with these two amazing women? Talk about a love story through the years! They met in grade school on the same softball team, but didn’t start dating until after college. Joy and Meta chose to have a commitment ceremony in 2004 with over 200 of their family members and friends. When Illinois legalized Civil Unions in 2011, they had another celebration to celebrate their Civil Union License. Well of course that meant when the Same Gender Marriage Law was legalized on June 1, 2014, these two knew they had to have one last celebration of their love.

I had the honor of meeting Joy & Meta in early June at the Cook County Clerk’s Office. They had each brought their “witnesses” and the amazing Kent Drake Photography was also present to witness Joy & Meta signing their Civil Union license into a Marriage license. It was an emotional moment for all of us!

A week later, we gathered at Joy’s cousin’s home in Hinsdale for a beautiful reception to celebrate the last hurdle in Joy & Meta’s journey to be legally recognized as a couple. And it was beautiful…a beautiful evening, amazing food and drink, a hoppin’ dance floor and love radiating from every guest. It was such an honor to be a part of this marvelous moment.

Joy and Meta were envisioning a very relaxed celebration, but with a hint of elegance. We worked with Julie at Entertaining Company to develop the evening with rotating stations of food so that guests could meander around the property and find new food at every turn. Joy and Meta also mentioned that they were not “flower” girls, so Julie incorporated their color palette in the linens and glass vases used to accent the dining tables. Guests began arriving at 5pm and were greeted with passed wine, sparkling water and lavender lemonade for refreshments, along with Crispy Gnocchi, a Refreshing Melon and Tiny Tortilla Cups filled with Guacamole and Charred Corn.

Besides the amazing food, guests enjoyed taking photos in the Shutterbooth and dancing all night with spinning tunes from Mark from DJ-Chicago. There were also a few very heartfelt toasts that left not a dry eye in the place. Thank you, Joy and Meta, for allowing us to be a part of your very special day! We are so proud of you and your commitment to each other.

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