Brandon and Eleni had been dating for over 8 years, but opted for a whirlwind wedding!  Though the wedding was planned in only a few weeks/months, not one detail was missed.  Actually, it had more details than many weddings planned years. From beautiful preparations at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel, to an intimate wedding and reception at the swanky Marble Room in downtown Cleveland.

From the couple…”Brandon and I have been together for eight years.  Our first date was at FlipSide in Chagrin Falls, OH.  After dinner, he met my entire family on the same night and it has kind of been history.  We have been long distance for the majority of our relationship, while I completed Law School and Brandon completed Medical School, with any breaks being spent traveling and enjoying time together.  In July we moved in together and got a puppy named Bova, named after our favorite Italian bakery in Boston.  We had decided to elope and have a match day party, where Brandon will find out where he matched for residency.  We are very excited to see where the next chapter in life takes us and where we will be moving in the upcoming months!”

Walking into Eleni’s hotel room at the Renaissance Hotel, I was instantly in love with beautiful details Eleni and her mother Effie had displayed in the room.  From beautiful little French Limoges boxes with a Paris theme, to the Jimmy Choo shoes, Dom Perignon, Waterford Champaign glasses and bouquets of roses everywhere, this room was the perfect backdrop for a bride to begin her wedding day.  Oh and of course they had pictures from their recent engagement session to really top it off!  🙂 After preparations, we photographed their “first look”, along with family groups, wedding party and bride & groom in the beautiful lobby of the Renaissance Hotel.

After the formals at the Renaissance Hotel, Eleni selected the Cleveland Museum of Art, not only because it’s always a beautiful location for photos, but also because her parents had also had their wedding pictures there! After pictures there, we stopped off at the Cleveland Western Reserve for pictures with the Bentley car and then we were off to the Marble Room for the wedding and reception. The Marble Room was such a nice location for an intimate wedding!  They exchanged vows on the beautiful staircase that was adorned with hundreds and hundreds of white roses. I really loved the entrance Eleni had as she came down the candle lit staircase!  It was just as beautiful from behind (thank you John for catching that!).  As beautiful as the ceremony was, it was not the only highlight of the evening!  After a fabulous raw-bar cocktail hour and their first dance, Eleni and Brandon were presented with the match that Brandon had for his medical school residency!  Wow was that an exciting moment! They were thrilled and so excited and it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the evening!  But that wasn’t the last of the excitement!  Just as dinner was finishing and everyone was getting ready for a night of dancing, a special guest appeared at the top of the stairs!  Once Cher started down the stairs there was no denying who the guest was!  Well, they might have been tricked at first, but everyone soon realized, it was a Cher impersonator! Everyone was laughing and singing and soon began to dance along!  It was an undeniable way to break up the formalness of the wedding and get everyone out on that dance floor!

I could write on and on about this couple, the family and everything that made this wedding so very special.  Without getting sappy, lets just say we felt so fortunate to be part of this very special wedding! Getting to know Eleni & Brandon, along with Effie (Eleni’s mother) was really something special that I will be looking back on for many years.  Congratulations Brandon and Eleni, I hope your French honeymoon was perfect!!

Wedding Preparations-Cleveland Renaissance Hotel

Wedding Dress Shop-Lux Redux

Makeup & Hair-clevelandglamsquad

Invitations-Cotton Ink 

Florist-The Flower Petal

Wedding Ceremony & Reception-Marble Room Steaks & Raw Bar

Cigar Bar-Rock Paper Cigars

Cakes Extraordinaire-White Flower

Music-Cleveland Music Group

Video-Cleveland Video Pro

Brandon and Eleni learn where they will be going for Brandon’s medical residency!!

And just for fun to shake up this formal wedding they had a guest drop in…….