Courtney and David had the most beautiful and intimate wedding at The Legacy Building in El Paso Illinois. Seriously this wedding is gorgeous and the venue has such a cool vintage vibe to it, there’s so much to love!

The Legacy Building

Located in Central Illinois, the Legacy Building was originally used as an opera house in the 1800’s, today it is known as one of the most popular intimate wedding venues in Central Illinois.  This intimate wedding venue can host up to 180 people and includes a getting ready space for both you and your partner, a ceremony space, a reception hall, a 4 foot stage commonly used for the head table or for your band during your reception.  The all in one setup is PERFECT for a couple who doesn’t want to be traveling a lot throughout the wedding day.

Getting Ready

The Legacy Building has two getting ready spaces within the building.  The upstairs space, commonly used by brides for getting ready, has a great amount of light, mirrors and plenty of space for you and your wedding party to get ready for your day together.  Then there is a space on the main level that actually has a garage door that can be opened for the space that is typically used by the grooms and their side of the wedding party.  This space is equipped with a bar, record player, foosball table and plenty of space to lay low with your wedding party.  

The Ceremony

Courtney and David had their ceremony in the courtyard of the Legacy Building.  They set up the courtyard beautifully for their wedding ceremony.  Courtney and David opted to wait to see one another until the ceremony, which was such a sweet moment on their wedding day.  I love when couples are able to share this first moment together surrounded by friends and family. If you’re on the fence about whether to do a first look or not for your wedding check out my blog that goes over the positives of both sides.

For their ceremony and their wedding day, they followed a number of Jewish traditions throughout their day, including their kippah’s, breaking the glass and the hora dance.  I love seeing families celebrate their wedding day with traditions that go back for centuries.  It really brings out the history of their family and the love that they have shared for so many years.

After the ceremony ended, we took some family photos and then got the wedding party together to take some photos.

Wedding Party

For the wedding party photos we were able to use the gorgeous brick walls of the legacy Building as a backdrop to many of their photos.  I love when I am able to incorporate an urban landscape to my couples wedding photos, there are so many options to play with and use for their photos.

Portraits

We started their wedding portraits out in front of the Legacy Building while everyone else in their wedding party went into cocktail hour.  It’s nice to be able to set up your timeline so that you can have your guests and wedding party at cocktail hour while you take your wedding portraits, that way you don’t feel the need to rush with your portraits.

We took pictures in front of the Legacy Building as well as in one of the most popular rooms in the Legacy Building, the green room.

Cocktail Hour

After their portraits we were able to get Courtney and David back out into their cocktail hour to spend some time with family and friends as they get ready for the rest of their reception.  David brought his intimate wedding guests together and made a really beautiful toast as a thank you to all the amazing guests who are a part of their lives together.  

The Reception

Courtney and David had their reception in the Opera Room in the Legacy Building.  They had their seating set up so that their head table was up on the stage so they were able to see all of their guests as they sat eating together.  They shared toasts, ate some really good food and then shared first dances before erupting on the dance floor. 

There was so much energy at their reception that was SO contagious.  Their friends and family all danced so hard at their reception celebrating the two of them, it was so much fun to be a part of. Congratulations Courtney and David!

Vendors:

Venue:  @thelegacybuilding

Dress:  @elitebridalchampaign

Hair/Makeup:  @girlfridaybloomington

Dinner:  @nelsonscateringil

Video:  @jurgensmith7