Isabel & Arturo’s Fine Art and Mariachi Party Wedding

Are you ready to party? Isabel & Arturo both come from traditional Mexican families so to them, it’s not a wedding without mariachi music, tequila, and LOTS of singing and dancing. Their reception was held at Zhou B. Art Center in Chicago whose contemporary art exhibit provided a stunning backdrop for their celebration. Everyone had a blast and today — thanks to the artistic talents of photographer Eddie Quiñones of Luzco Photo — you’ll get to see photos to prove it!

Here’s what Eddie has to say about the wedding:

All weddings are special. Whether it’s attended by a handful of people or 200 people they’re all important days for everyone involved. Then there are those that have just a little something extra special that you can’t quite put your finger on and this was one of those weddings. At the risk of sounding like a complete cheeseball I think it was the love that everyone who was there has for Isabel & Arturo. I felt it from the moment I walked into the home of Isabel’s parents to very end of the night. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception held at the Zhou B Art Center in Bridgeport was so much fun that the world ‘fun’ doesn’t do it justice. There were mariachis, the groom being tossed in the air, the bride being hoisted up by some of her bridesmaids and more mariachis. No one wanted the night to end including me. It was fantastic.

Having just finished choosing photos to include in this feature, I completely agree — I couldn’t stop posting images myself because Eddie did a marvelous job of capturing all the raw emotion and infectious happiness that was present in this celebration. You’ll know what I mean once you scroll down.

It’s time to meet the handsome couple. The lovely Isabel is here to tell us more about her and Arturo and how they got together.

I’ve known Arturo for almost 9 years and we have dated for 8. We met through my sister and his cousin who were in college together. At the time my brother who was a student at Columbia College in Chicago was shooting a music video at an abandoned warehouse. My sister invited her friends (who all happened to be in a band) over to see the recording of the video, Arturo was the drummer in the band. Interestingly enough, the warehouse were the video was shot is one block away from our wedding venue, the Zhou B. Art Center. After years of concerts, trips and great dinners he proposed after we both ran the Chicago Marathon in 2008. Two big accomplishments in one day, we were happy and exhausted. I added a picture just for fun.

Aww, so sweet!

Isabel on their wedding’s theme:

We really didn’t have a theme when we started, but after several conversations over wine with my hubbie, my sister and great friend Zenia from Flor del Monte we decided on a green forest/elegant/traditional Mexican (if this makes any sense) wedding. Our venue was an art gallery with raw floors and white walls, I thought it would be challenging to make it look great, but Flor del Monte did an awesome job of combining the shades of pinks and greens. To our surprise the work exposed at the gallery for that month was amazing and fit perfectly with our theme.

I think it was all about the small details. Putting on a wedding is really overwhelming, no matter the size (we had about 200 guests). Although our wedding was very traditional, we had a lot of small details that made it special. Some to share:

• Arturo and I are both very close to our families (this includes our extended family), so we wanted them to be part of our wedding party.
• We featured our Mariachi to play towards the end of the night as opposed to play during the cocktail/dinner time. People feel a bit more gutsy to sing and dance rather than when the party has just started.
• When the mariachi started playing, we decided to walk in with the group and I had remembered that morning to pack (along with some comfortable flats) a handmade silk scarf that my mom had given me when I turned 13. I’ve only worn it on very special occasions and when my aunts and cousins saw me wearing it they started crying because they knew how special it was for me.
• We didn’t serve Mexican food. We instead went with catering from a close friend of the family David Jensen catering. He whipped up amazing appetizers and a fabulous dinner.
• We took into consideration everyone’s style of music when we created the playlist for the DJ. Music is really special for both of us and we wanted everyone to have a great time and they did!

Many thanks to Eddie of Luzco Photo for sending in the absolutely gorgeous images, and congratulations and thank you to Isabel & Arturo for allowing me to share their awesome wedding on the blog!

Photography: Eddie Quiñones of Luzco Photography Second photographer: Patrick Farhner Flowers: Zenia of Flor del Monte Catering: David Jensen Catering 773-456-3681 Venue: Zhou B. Art Center Bride’s dress: Weddings 826 Spinning: DJ Persist Mariachi Music: Mariachi Perla De Mexico

Image submission via Two Bright Lights