Let’s begin this love story with two truths and a lie:

Sasha’s big splurge was her bridal bouquet
Chris + Sasha fell in love on a cruise ship
Sasha loved her elopement so much, she joined Charming in Love

So, which one’s the lie? I guess you’ll have to keep reading... ;)

Chris emailed Charming in Love about a courthouse elopement just before Christmas 2016. His fiancée, Sasha, had just moved to Chicago from Russia, and they were beyond ready to seal the deal. I mean, have you seen her?

Now, before you start making any assumptions, Chris and Sasha met while working on cruise ships together for years — yep, you read that correctly. Sasha was a dancer, and Chris was a singer/performer. Pretty crazy, huh? (So if you’re feeling unlucky in love, perhaps you should hop on a boat...)

I met with Sasha for the first time at Summer House Santa Monica in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. It was a chilly Wednesday evening in December, just two weeks before she and Chris hoped to elope.

We decided to dive in the very next day. *Cue movie shopping montage* Sasha tried on every dress at Rent the Runway’s Chicago storefront. We literally gathered every woman into the store’s fitting room to watch… but we found nothing, nada. Sasha is fiercely unique, and we needed an outfit to match.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, friends! We scrounged the streets of Chicago, trying on dresses at every store in the city. A few long days and a million shopping trips later, Sasha found the perfect crop top from BHLDN, as well as a pink feather mini skirt and coat to match at Club Monaco. A Christmas miracle!

By this point, Chris might’ve had some competition — Sasha and I were inseparable. Victory vino was shared at Nico Osteria, and BFFs were born.

The night before Chris and Sasha’s wedding (December 22nd), we visited Asrai Garden. With the help of Adina, we created the most gorgeous bouquet, EVER (for under $75!).

On December 23rd, we took over city hall. With the help of my intern Caitlin and our friend Julian (creative genius and owner of Indirap), we were able to capture some saucy behind-the-scenes footage:

Post-nuptials, Sasha and I decided that we had way too much fun planning her whirlwind elopement, so we’ve worked together on Charming in Love ever since. Two love stories in one ain’t bad, eh?

xo,

Rebel Rose

P.S. City hall pro tip: If you choose to park, you can take the underground tunnel and never step a silhouette-ed foot outdoors.