This Hometown Chicago Wedding Melded the Bride's Jamaican Roots With the Groom's Ethiopian Heritage

"Online dating works," Gina Lawrence affirms. Her dating profile matched with Alex Richard on Hinge in June of 2018, and the duo immediately connected over their shared love of travel. By 2020—in the midst of lockdown in Chicago—they knew they were ready to take their relationship to the next level. "Alex arranged a surprise picnic on the grass overlooking the Chicago skyline and proposed on Saturday, August 15, 2020," Gina remembers.

As longtime Chicago residents—both individually and as a couple—Gina and Alex decided that tying the knot in their hometown was a no-brainer. "We knew we wanted to embrace a tropical outdoor vibe with plants, trees, and flowers," Gina, who lived in Jamaica until she was eight years old, explains. "We looked at several spaces and came back around to Garfield Park Conservatory. It was an opportunity to bring our guests to a place that shared special meaning for us, as Alex surprised me with a visit to GPC one cold and dreary winter day in 2019."

They set the date for June 24, 2022, and invited 110 guests to join them for an elevated garden party dreamed up with the help of LOLA Event Productions. A priority when organizing the details of their big day? Working with minority- and women-owned businesses wherever possible. "We prioritized MWBE when putting together our vendor list," Gina says. "My beauty team reflected my own identity—strong and successful Black women in Chicago—and our photographer, cake designer, florist, violinist, and catering teams are all led by fierce women as well."

Another priority? Melding the bride's Jamaican roots with the groom's Ethiopian heritage throughout the day, which the pair did largely through food and drink. Here, see how their beautiful summer wedding came to life, as captured by Clary Pfeiffer.

The couple designed their custom wedding invitation suite themselves, collaborating on the monogrammed crest that sat atop their save-the-dates and invites. To further personalize their paper goods, Gina hand-calligraphed each guests' information on their envelope. "We focused our DIY on some of the more personal items that guests would literally touch," she explains.

The bride wore a strapless A-line wedding dress with a beaded corset bodice by Lace Marry, a designer she found on Etsy. In lieu of a veil, she wore an embroidered lace cape with detachable straps that sat over her gown during photos and the ceremony. "I had tried on a few different styles but always came back to a structured top with a more romantic skirt," Gina remembers. "After a few months of looking, I couldn't find a dress in the stores that seemed to check every box, so I sought out Mary of LaceMarry to create my dream idea." Her cape, she notes, was her favorite part of the outfit and something she felt she would have never found elsewhere.

Gina completed her look with jewelry from MATEO New York, whose designer was born and raised in Jamaica, just like the bride, and a pair of Jimmy Choo heels with crystal straps.

Choosing her bridal beauty look was relatively easy. Gina knew she favored a romantic makeup look with soft pink tones (her favorite color) and that she wanted to play up her eyes and lips. Siobhan Wright Beauty gave her a blushy cheek, glossy lips, and a perfectly rosy eyeshadow. Selecting her hairstyle took a bit more time. "I knew that I wanted to highlight my natural hair texture and embrace the curls," she says. "However, I also wanted some guarantees that I wouldn't spend the whole day moving hair out of my face or fighting the wind from blowing them around." In the end, she and hairstylist Dionna Nicole of Salon Sevhn chose an updo with loose tendrils that framed Gina's face; it served as the perfect base for her dramatic floral headpiece, created by Jori Foreman of Romee Willow Florals, which she added just before the ceremony.

The bride carried a petite, colorful bouquet of cascading orchids, Quicksand roses, brownie tulips, ranunculus, sweet pea, caladium, and arthurium, which was tied together with a pink silk chiffon ribbon.

Alex says he wanted "to put a spin on the traditional men's tux," so he selected an ivory tuxedo jacket from Ralph Lauren and paired it with navy blue pants. A velvet bow tie, cummerbund, and loafers tied his entire look together. He also wore a gold calligraphed "A" pin (in honor of all the calligraphy Gina did for the wedding), heirloom cufflinks, and his great grandfather's gold bracelet. His boutonnière was comprised of a single orchid.

Since pink is her favorite color, dressing her bridesmaids in the hue was the obvious choice for Gina. As a way to honor her decades-long relationship with her maid of honor, she asked her to wear a floral print in a complementary colorway. Alex's groomsmen wore blue suits from The Black Tux.

The duo chose to share their first look at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago's Loop, which served as a stately (and meaningful) backdrop for their photos. "My aunt, who officiated our wedding, retired from the Fed after decades of service. I visited the building numerous times as a child and Alex always admired the history and architecture of the financial district," Gina says.

Alex says he was "floored with excitement" during the first look, and notes that he was pleasantly surprised by Gina's wedding dress choice.

The couple wanted their big-day florals to be in the striking Japanese ikebana style, and Jori took their vision—and their preferred color palette—and ran with it. A half moon floral garland of ferns and roses was created as the backdrop for the duo's vows, which let the venue's natural greenery shine.

It was important to Gina and Alex that they emphasize the moms in their lives during the wedding, so each walked down the aisle on the arms of their mothers. Violinist Rachael Miller performed string covers of the couples' favorite tunes.

Gina's aunt, Paulette, officiated the couple's ceremony, and the pair opted to write their own vows for the occasion. "I highlighted how much Alex's presence has helped me grow and become a better person," Gina remembers. "Alex's vows were thoughtful and sweet. Both of our vows had sentimental meaning to the other person."

They further personalized the ceremony by including readings given by the bride's uncle and the groom's grandmother, making it a family affair from start to finish.

After being pronounced husband and wife, Gina and Alex left the ceremony to the sound of "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers.

After the ceremony concluded, guests found their reception seating assignments on pink tented cards with custom wax seals, all handmade by the bride and groom. Round tables were set with white linens, pink napkins, and brushed gold flatware. Minimalist centerpieces of roses, anthurium, and sweet peas were arranged in smooth white vases and framed by a mix of votive and taper candles.

The newlyweds sat at a sweetheart table that was decorated with a lush grounded floral arrangement of similar blooms in the day's signature pink palette.

For dinner, guests enjoyed a butter lettuce salad with mango, jicama, and pineapple followed by their choice of one of three entrées, which were specifically chosen in honor of the bride and groom's heritages. The first option was thyme-rubbed chicken breast, which nodded to Jamaica; the next option was grilled flat iron steak with awaze (a spicy Ethiopian barbecue sauce) demi-glace; and last but not least, the pair melded both of their backgrounds with a mitmita-crusted plantain "steak" (mitmita is an Ethiopian spice, and the plantain's nodded at Gina's Jamaican roots).

Two signature drinks were also on offer throughout the night. The "Harbour View" was named for a community in Kingston, Jamaica, where the bride groom up; it was a mocktail version of a Moscow Mule with mango juice, ginger beer, lime, and thyme, and guests were offered the option to add vodka or gin if they wanted. The second drink of the night was the "Off 95th," which was a reference to the groom's childhood days spent at his great grandmother's house in Chicago. It was a take on an Old-Fashioned with whiskey, local honey, coffee bitters, and an orange peel.

For dessert, everyone enjoyed slices of the couple's three-tiered wedding cake, with was decorated with a pink marble buttercream and a modern, geometric fondant arch design. Inside were layers of passion fruit cake with rum caramel filling and elderflower buttercream, mango cake with passionfruit buttercream, carrot cake with bourbon caramel buttercream, and red velvet cake with rose white chocolate ganache.

Gina couldn't pass up an opportunity to wear her favorite color on the big day, so the duo changed into coordinated dusty rose attire for their reception. After Gina and Alex shared their first dance to "U Move, I Move" by John Legend and Jhene Aiko, DJ Duerell Jones invited guests onto the dance floor and kept the party going all night long.

The pair, who enjoyed a delayed honeymoon in the Seychelles a few months after the wedding, advise other couples to to budget wisely ("Expect everything to be twice as expensive as you expect," Gina says) and to be fully present on the big day.