In the midst of quite a busy summer/ month/ week, we’d like to share with you Bridget & Branden’s Wedding-! You may remember Chicagoans Bridget & Branden from their 2019 Engagement Session years ago when we posted their Teasers to the blog: https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/bridget-branden-sunrise-chicago-engagement-session-illinois . We captured their Engagement Session in Chicago in fall 2019 during a weekend packed with Notre Dame Engagement Sessions and the same week we got back from photographing a destination wedding in Italy (and back-to-back also another couple’s wedding in Plymouth, Indiana). It was pretty hectic around that time with wedding & engagement blogs posted every single week, so you may have missed it amidst all of that! If you didn’t catch it, you may instead recognize them from a Christmas Portrait Session for these two & their dog Wrigley that we captured: https://www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/chicago-christmas-portrait-session-with-puppy-wrigley . As you can see from both previous Sessions, Wrigley (named after Wrigley Field in Chicago) is a pretty important force in Bridget & Branden’s life as you’ll also see in at least 4 awesome homages to Wrigley the dog at their wedding-!
We feel lucky to have gotten to know Bridget and Branden (and Wrigley) over the past 2+ years and are so happy that they were finally able to have their well-deserved wedding! They were the first during the early Pandemic in 2020 to just up and push their wedding back a FULL year (rather than rescheduling by pushing back a few months and rescheduling 3 times like most had to do), so we were very thankful last year for their swift decision making skills (during such a scary & gut wrenching year) as well as their safety during the worst of the Pandemic! Anywho, let’s Fast-Forward to better times: their wedding day-!
Bridget & Branden started their day at Notre Dame’s hotel The Morris Inn. They planned for the perfect full Notre Dame wedding day with their preparations, ceremony, portraits, and reception all right there on campus. Though the forecast had called for rain for nearly all day (1 to 7 pm), they had the luck of the Irish on their side and barely had even a sprinkle (and only in the early morning before we got there)!
Bridget started her morning in the Morris Inn bridal suite while Branden and his groomsmen got ready on a different floor there at The Morris Inn. Bridget and her bridesmaids started getting ready around 5 a.m. that morning in the bridal suite so they could all get their hair and makeup finished up by 9 a.m. prior to our arrival, though they all stayed in their cute matching wedding day pajama sets!
Branden and the groomsmen were pretty much dressed and ready by the time we got to them in their room. Branden put some finishing touches in and was finally ready for his wedding!
We were only with Bridget and Branden for their preparations for about 45 minutes before it was time to head over to the Basilica there on campus (as their ceremony was at 11 a.m. and ND wants folks there a half hour before their ceremony). After they got into their own dresses, Bridget’s bridesmaids helped her into her wedding dress. Her mom finish up the laced back of her dress and it was time for final details!
Branden’s groomsmen enjoyed some drinks with him, showed off their matching cufflinks, and we finally got a glimpse of Branden’s amazing socks that had photos of their dog Wrigley all over them!
Bridget’s bridesmaids helped her with her veil & shoes, then she had her First Look with her dad! Her dad was thrilled to see his daughter and she even surprised him further by gifting him his own custom cufflinks!
Before heading out Bridget and Branden had their bridal party hand over the letters they had for each other. Branden quietly read his heartfelt card from Bridget while Bridget (a floor away in the hotel) opened Branden’s gift of a leather journal and held back tears as she read his heartfelt words.
After reading their letters to each other, each separately headed “blocks” away on campus to the Basilica for their wedding ceremony! There are 4 time slots for weddings each of the 3 weekend days at the Basilica and these two had an 11 a.m. Saturday time (meaning that they were there at 10:30 a.m.). Bridget and the ladies had a shuttle to get over to the Basilica to both hide Bridget from guests AND help the ladies not have to walk too much in their heels throughout the day. Upon getting out of the shuttle and into the Basilica, each bridesmaid and Bridget hit the “Marry like a Champion Today” Notre Dame sign held by Bridget’s dad! (This is a tradition taken from the football team who his the “Play like a Champion Today” sign before running onto the field for a game)!
Just prior to this Branden and the groomsmen got their boutonnieres on and had headed into a different part of the Basilica.
Just like that it was time for their wedding ceremony! Branden and others helped seat their grandparents, parents, and others before the bridal party headed down the aisle.
The flowergirls & ring bearer preceded Bridget and her dad… and then Bridget made her way down the aisle to Branden!
Their wedding ceremony was a traditional Catholic one with homily, eucharist, and even a Mary adoration! (Their priest was one of our favorites so far with his quick wit and good-naturedness).
Amidst the mass these two exchanged their vow and rings, then the priest let them have a First Kiss right then & there (because he said that the Catholic ceremony actually doesn’t have that built in to it specifically)!
Near the end of the ceremony (after homily, eucharist, and all), these two partook in a Mary adoration bringing flowers to the statue of Mary. Most of our couples do this and it serves as a beautiful quiet moment of reflection.
Shortly after the mass ended and these two were married! They made their way down the aisle as newlyweds to the applause of their loved ones!
The Basilica holds back-to-back weddings, so within our small half hour left inside we quickly captured the 30 formal family photos of these two with their families!
We were able to squeeze in just a few photos of the newlyweds just before heading outside!
Once outside these two were met with cheering loved ones and a final huge photo of all of their wedding ceremony attendees on the steps of the Main Building (i.e. steps of the Golden Dome)!
After their ceremony the bridal party headed over to the stadium where they had an hour booked for the field for bridal party portraits!
Bridget had in college served as a football Team Manager, so she was very familiar with being out in the stadium. We were so thrilled that it didn’t rain for all of their outdoor fun over those next 4 hours and that these two were greeted with great weather! Because of this good weather the whole bridal party charged out and immediately started playing with some footballs out on the field!
Each side of the bridal party even faced off at the 50 yard line with Branden and Bridget right at the center of it all!
After all of the fun & games we stayed on the field for some beautiful bridal party portraits.
For groomsmen individual portraits, Branden decided to face off with them football style!
Before heading out we made sure to capture some final images of the newlyweds out on the field before they headed to one spot inside.
The stadium visit wouldn’t be complete without Bridget & Branden getting to slap the “Play like a Champion Today” sign together!
After the stadium it was time for lunch and these two had something special planned for everyone!
While the shuttle took everyone over to the football stadium parking lots, Branden had gone back to the hotel to drive over and set up lunch for everyone right there outside in the parking lot-!
Since none of them had come to ND to tailgate last fall due to the Pandemic, it kind of brought back memories of feasting outside right in those same parking lots!
After lunch we had a handful of spots left that Bridget and Branden wanted to visit, so we headed right over to the Grotto.
Most of their guests were from out-of-state, so many of these views were new for a lot of them! While we captured Bridget & Branden lighting candles in the Grotto, the bridal party headed up to the Golden Dome.
We captured the final Bridal Party group photos up at the Golden Dome, then captured some final photos of Bridget & Branden there as well!
Their final couple spots for their Newlywed Portraits were by the lake as well as at Bridget’s former dorm (‘09 ND grad)!
Once finished up with their newlywed and bridal party portraits, everyone was bussed back to the hotel to relax before heading downstairs to Cocktail Hour! Everyone was able to chug water, get freshened up, then come down to enjoy hors d’oeuvres in the Morris Inn’s Smith Ballroom!
These two had so many activities for folks at Cocktail Hour! There was a fun photobooth, they let folks write on their “Marry like a Champion” sign, they had advice notes for folks to write them, they had a book for people to write well wishes, and more!
They also had servers circling with delicious trays of hors d’oeuvres, they had a massively long meat & cheese board, and had multiple bars opened for Cocktail Hour!
As you may notice in the collage above, they even had stirring sticks for drinks with their dog’s face etched into wood AND the bridal party had koozies with a cartoon drawing of their dog Wrigley’s face on them! All of these items were truly amazing and we fully approve.
Some other fun details around the reception were framed photos of many of their relatives’ (parents, grandparents, etc) wedding days!
Before long it was time for the formal part of the reception to begin! The bridal party was announced in to the reception and not far behind them were Bridget & Branden!
These two came in and cut their cake immediately (kindly feeding each other a piece of it). As you may have noticed, their cake topper was quite amazing as it was a replica of they and their dog Wrigley! (And yes actually them- facial features and all! So cool).
Prior to salads Bridget’s dad welcomed the guests and gave a little heartfelt speech (while many of us shed tears) followed by the priest’s blessing.
Salads were served and the Maid of Honor & Best Men gave their toasts/ speeches!
The speeches didn’t stop there, though! Bridget’s brother and 4 of Branden’s brothers also gave their speeches during the main course! They all had us rolling laughing.
You can tell that their siblings love them a lot and really look up to them.
After dinner and the 8 toasts were finished, the dancing began! First up was Bridget & Branden’s First Dance which was lovely.
After their dance, they they partook in the Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dances.
Folks were able to enjoy some cake & desserts, Bridget & Branden went around to greet as many tables as they could, then everyone joined in to cut a rug on the dance floor!
At one point (possibly after the anniversary dance) it seemed like ALL of the hundreds of guests were out on the dance floor!
Folks went out and enjoyed more of the photobooth, bars, and late night snacks while we wrapped up some final photos.
We captured some final group photos for these two including a photo of all of their Chicago friends as well as a portrait of their Notre Dame friends !
Before sunset we captured final Newlywed Portraits of these two just outside of their reception…
…and before we headed out we captured Bridget’s bouquet toss!
Congratulations again, Bridget & Branden! We hope that you had a safe trip to your honeymoon in Hawaii & that you two are enjoying finally being married! We’re so happy that you two were finally able to have your very deserved big day with so many of your loved ones! It was one for the books!