Stylish & Modern City Wedding Ideas with Stunning Florals

The Venue CU is an upscale urban wedding and event space located in the resurging east end of downtown Champaign, Illinois. This old historic building opened in 1906 as the Varsity Theatre as the first nickelodean in the area. The building has been completely renovated and still has the original tin ceiling. It is listed on the National Historic Landmark Registry and has recently opened as a wedding venue.

The photo shoot was created to simulate all aspects of a wedding day and launch the opening of this beautifully restored building. There are two stairways to lofts at either end of the room; one for guys to get ready and the opposite end for gals.

Miranda, the venue manager and Alisa, the photographer designed a mood board for all the vendors to collaborate and use their talents to create this styled shoot wedding day. The models were real couples who were comfortable with each other and relished playing their part of the day from getting ready, taking part in the ceremony, and enjoying the reception with food and dance! The model bride and groom (a real engaged couple) were found by Alisa who describes how she went deep into a rabbit hole on IG and was impressed by the genuine love they displayed for each other. When she reached out to ask if they would be interested in modeling, they accepted and were enthusiastic even though they lived 3.5 hours away from Champaign!

The venue has been launched! It looks like success is in their future as their 2021 calendar is full of bookings and the building is finished and ready to host.