We remember it all too well: COVID derailed so many weddings for couples like Alexandra + Keenan, but that doesn’t mean they never got their happily ever after!
“This was a party over 5 years in the making!” Alexandra + Keenan share of the long road that led them to the spectacularly chic 5th anniversary party they threw at Charcoal Factory in Chicago. When the couple got engaged in 2018, Alexandra envisioned a long engagement – a 2 year long engagement, specifically. “We’d planned to celebrate at The Rourke Art Gallery & Museum, surrounded by colorful vintage furniture, orchid-filled florals and the people we loved most. If you’ve been doing the math, you may see where this is going. Our wedding date was set for June 6, 2020.”
“As early 2020 arrived, the world shifted,” Alexandra remembers. “COVID-19 cast a long shadow over everything, including our plans. We were juggling final wedding payments while watching the world shut down, and fielding texts asking ‘Are you still having your wedding?’ In March, Keenan and I made the hard decision to postpone.”
That wasn’t the end of it for these two, though. They tried a new angle. “We weren’t ready to give up,” Alexandra + Keenan say. “With a honeymoon to Rome already booked for Fall 2020, we shifted gears and planned a destination wedding in Italy instead — complete with a converted convent venue, the most delicious catering menu imaginable and a dream team of Italian planners. We even signed our legal marriage certificate during a quick trip to my hometown, keeping the ceremony a secret so our celebration abroad would still feel special. And then: another postponement. Then a full cancellation. COVID was neverending and it seemed our ‘dream wedding’ just wasn’t in the cards.”
And then? The years flew by. “Fast forward, Keenan and I moved to Chicago, both started new jobs, purchased a home, and life became busy, as it always does,” Alexandra recalls. “All of a sudden, it had been 4 years since we legally wed. And feeling comfortable and settled, we thought, why not? Let’s have a party to honor our 5 years together. And to have the ‘wedding’ we never got!”
With planning help from Amorella Events the couple created a chill, elegant, ceremony-free 5 Year Anniversary celebration that was perfectly their speed. Stunning florals. Vintage cars. A wedding cape we have a major crush on. And it was all photographed so beautifully by Berlez.
This one’s for the COVID-era couples who made the best of a terrible time – your love is worth celebrating, even years down the line!!
Let’s take a look at Alexandra + Keenan’s chic Chicago anniversary soiree!
“Keenan loves eBay and I love graphic design and arts & crafts,” Alexandra says. “So for our invitation suite, we curated a collection of vintage stamps and vintage Chicago postcards and I hand-painted “save the date” on each and made a custom stamp with the info. Then I designed the real invite myself, drawing inspiration from fashion runway invitations rather than wedding invitations (this wasn’t a wedding after all!)”
How amazing are these bridal heels by Oscar de la Renta that Alexandra found on The RealReal! “They were embroidered with a cross-stitch floral design. I myself am an avid cross-stitcher, so this felt like the perfect little personalization,” Alexandra says.
Embroidered Bridal Heels
Wedding shoes like Alexandra’s that feature delicate needlework for a feminine, hand-stitched vibe.
“My outfit is the original dress I purchased in 2019 and was planning on wearing to the 2020 wedding date!” Alexandra says. “Living in Fargo at the time, my mom and I went to Minneapolis to go dress shopping at The White Room.”
Everybody, meet Alexandra’s Persian cat Dolly who hung out in the getting-ready suite!
“I didn’t have anything specific in mind, so I just tried on different styles until something felt right,” Alexandra remembers of her dress shopping day. “I landed on the “Belmont” gown by Sarah Seven, paired with the “Leia” cape from The Law Bridal. I liked the idea of pairing two designers together so that, while not custom, my bridal look would be original to me.”
“Since I had the dress for so long, I wanted new accessories to spice it up. Looking for the perfect belt (the original one I wanted in 2019 was long-long sold out), I stumbled across one from Anne Klein that was decorated with the brand initials “A” & “K” – which obviously are our initials too. Everyone thought it was custom made!”
Check out the shoppable list of our favorite bridal accessories — capes, scarves, veils, and beyond!
VLVT FLWR has our jaws on the floor with this wearable/carry-able bridal bouquet!
“We met the old-fashioned way: Tinder. Well, technically…” the couple says of how they got together. “But the reason we swiped right and were intrigued by one another was that Tinder showed we had 3 mutual friends. And, to us, those three mutual connections seemed completely random and from different eras of life. So instead of a flirty pick-up line, we started our conversation with ‘How the heck do you know Liz, Greg, and Melissa?'”
“Turns out that Keenan and Alexandra’s brother went to the same college and were in the same graduating class and major. They knew of each other but didn’t run in the same circles.”
“At the time, we were living 2 hours apart in different Missouri cities, as Alexandra was finishing college in Columbia, MO and Keenan was stationed with the army at Fort Leonard Wood. Over the next couple of months, we spent every weekend together, alternating between who dove to see who.”
“The idea of the floral car came when we discovered Russ of Live and Let Drive on Instagram,” the couple says. “Keenan is a car guy and got excited when he saw Russ owned one of his favorite rare cars: a vintage Citroen Pallas.”
“Seeing him get excited about this got me thinking of how to incorporate it into our wedding,” Alexandra explains. “We worked with Parisa of VLVT FLWR to come up with a way to park the car in the venue courtyard and create a car + flower installation.”
“It ended up being a photo backdrop for all our guests. Everyone wanted a pic with it!”
BeautyBee is responsible for Alexandra’s moody neutral bridal makeup. Also, LOVING the curls of that bobbed bridal hairstyle for short hair!
“For Keenan, he wanted a suit that was special, but that he’d be able to wear again,” says the couple of Keenan’s anniversary party look. “He searched reddit for suit providers and found glowing reviews for Wool & Linen. He worked with the team there to custom make a gorgeous green suit.”
Finally Gathering Together
Our Favorite Memory
It really is indescribable the feeling of having all your loved ones in one space. But not just the fact that it was all our loved ones, but that it was ONLY our loved ones. Every single face I saw was someone who meant something special to us, from our various chapters of life. We have lived in 4 states together so far, plus the lives we had before knowing each other. So we have lots of friends and family that we only get to see few and far between.
Ok, we are absolutely OBSESSED with this crystal chandelier floral arrangement idea!!
The “Pollinator” signature cocktail was a nod to Keenan’s childhood hobby of bee keeping!
One of our other fave Chicago weddings — this enchanted, immersive floral wedding — was also held at Charcoal Factory!
Txa Txa provided the delicious spread that delighted Alexandra + Keenan’s guests.
Our Advice
You don't have to do all the traditional wedding things! Ultimately, we just wanted it to feel like a big house party. No ceremony, no sit-down dinner, no first dances. Just hanging out with all our favorite people.
When planning our original 2020 wedding, the part we were looking forward to least was the public ceremony. We are not overtly mushy and the idea of saying vows into a microphone was daunting. We really just wanted a short and sweet ceremony. So with this anniversary party, we didn't need a ceremony, just straight to partying!
Celebrating With Something Sweet
Gâteau Groovy embraced the party’s moody red tones with this funky, heart-shaped cake.
If there’s something sweeter + cuter than a vintage style cake, we don’t know what it is.
Two other cool things Alexandra + Keenan did for their Anniversary Celebration:
- We had a friendship bracelet-making station as our guest book, asking guests to make a bracelet with their name on it. I am a huge Swiftie and Keenan is an EDM/music festival guy where trading “Kandi” is common. It was a fun way to combine our interests and create a guestbook that wasn’t just a book.
- We didn’t want a dance floor, but we wanted good music. So we looked for DJs who played at local bars and venues in Chicago rather than wedding DJs. We went with DJ Moonlanding and were SO happy with the choice. I love me some Mr Brightside, but it was fun to play some fan favorites that were more unexpected Death Cab For Cutie throwbacks, 100 gecs, Lil Peep and Taylor Swift club remixes.
Happy anniversary, Alexandra + Keenan! We’re so glad you finally got the celebration of your dreams! Congrats from all of us at GWS!
Wedding Vendors
Venues: Parker Ranch // Photography: Berlez // Venue: Charcoal Factory Loft // Wedding Planner: Amorella Events // Florals: VLVT FLWR // Wedding Dress: Sarah Seven // Dress Boutique: The White Room // Wedding Dress: The Law Bridal // Makeup Artist: Beauty Bee // Groom Attire: Wool & Linen // Catering: TXA TXA Club // Cake: Gâteau Groovy // Music: DJ Moonlanding // VIntage Car: Live And Let Drive
