Want to see some sample weddings I’ve shot? Well here you go…

HEATHER AND JON

Everything started off at the Knickerboker hotel where I met Heather and her bridesmades from some getting ready. shots.  After some impromptu pictures in the hotel suite, we jumped in a limo and headed over to St James Celements. After the ceremony, we headed over to a bunch of different places… we all jumped on a trolly and headed up to Wrigley field, then over to the Kinzie street bridge for some shots on the river. After that we stopped on LaSalle street for some classic pictures looking down the financial district. And then as a final stop, we went over to Soldier field for some group shots and some casual portaits of Heather and Jon.  After about 90 minutes of taking pictures around the city, we all went back to the Knickerboker hotel for the reception. The Knickerbocker is a classic Chicago hotel and made for a great venue. The funny and strange thing about Heather and Jon is they have a strange thing in common with me and Carolyn. John went to Purdue like me, and Heather Went to Indiana University like Carolyn. 

Getting ready: Knickerboker Hotel

Ceremony: St Clement Church

Around Town Shots: Wrigley Field, Kinzie Street Bridge, Lasalle Street, Soldier Field

Reception: Knickerboker Hotel

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KRISTEN & SHAWN

This was a wedding that instantly took me back to me childhood growing up in Lake Forest. The day started off with meeting Kristen and her parents house for some getting reayd shots. It was funny to walk around their house and see all the high school poictures with Lake Forest High School jersies in all the picture. The ceremony was held in east Lake Forest at the georgeos First Presbyterian Church. They’re pretty strict with where you can photograph during the ceremony, but I had my long distance lenses with me so I was fine. After the ceremony, it started to snow pretty hard on our way To Exmoor country club. The club is a great venue for a wedding and I can remember how good it looked as we pulled up. The entrance has a great long pathway and that had it lined all the way with candles…. probably about 100 of them. Exmoor did a fantastic job with all the food and arrangements.

Getting ready: Kristen’s parents house in Lake Forest

Ceremony: First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest

Reception: Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park

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AMANDA & AARON

Amanda & Aaron’s wedding was at the Henry Ford Estate which is actually the mansion where Henry Ford had lived during the last several years of his life. The estate is stunning and is secluded in the middle of a forest. It was the perfect backdrop for this special ceremony for Amanda and Aaron. The getting ready shots at Amanda’s hotel were extra special since her wedding dress was custom made by a good friend of Amanda’s. The weather was awesome for the outside ceremony, which was held on the back deck of the mansion, which was a great backdrop. Cocktails, dinner and dancing were all held in different part of the mansion and made the entire night actually feel like you were in someone’s home.

Getting ready: Hotel in Dearborn Michigan

Ceremony: Grand Terrace at Henry Ford Estate, Dearborn Michigan

Reception: Henry Ford Estate, Dearborn Michigan

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BROOKE & DOUG

I spoke to Brooke about a year and half before her wedding so I was extra excited by the time her wedding finally was here. It also was a fun trip for me because I had never been to Kalamazoo Michigan before. This was a 2 day event for me.. the first was covering the wedding rehearsal and dinner which was held at Zazzios. Zazzios is a great venue for a rehersal dinner. They basically had the entire restaurant to themselves and the menu was completely customized. The next started pretty ealry at about 8am at Brenda Bennet salon. Brooke and about 7 of her bridesmades had their make up and hair done. I think the whole thing took about 3 or 4 hours, and yes I did have a hairspray headache after about 3 hours. I then ran over to the Radisson Plaza hotel to grab some shots of Doug and his friends at the hotel. Then after that… I quick  drive over the Kalamazoo Country Club to get some getting ready pictures. The Kalamazoo country club is a great wedding venue. Everything at the club had been customized for Brooke and Doug. After getting some of the setup shots, I went over to Brooke’s parents house to do the getting ready shots of Brooke and her bridesmaids. About an hour later, one of the most amazing Rolls Royce’s pulls up in the driveway. It was a 1974 dark blue Rolls and it was in mint condition. It turns out the owner was a friend of Brooke’s dad and he had given them his most precious Rolls to use. We took some pictures around the car along with some shots with Brooke’s parents and Bridesmaids, then headed over to First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo church. After the ceremony, Brook , Doug and I jumped in the Rolls and drove around town and did some candid shots. After doing some formal shots back at the church, everyone headed back to the country club for the reception. Once we got there, we had about 45 minutes to take some pictures on the golf course of the club. What was really cool was that the Pro Shop had arranged for about 10 golf carts for us to use to find some great pictures. We captured some really fun pictures, some of which came when I was standing on top of the golf cart taking pictures of everyone else following me. We then headed back to the club for cocktail hour on the back terrace which was accompanied by some live acoustic guitar. Then on to some speeches, a great meal, and then singing and dancing until midnight.

Rehearsal Dinner: Zazios, Kalamazoo Michigan

Hair & Makeup: Brenda Bennet Salon, Kalamazoo Michigan

Getting ready: Brooke’s parents house

Ceremony: First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo

Reception: Kalamazoo Country Club

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LISA & JEFF

The thing I remember about this wedding the most was how intimate everything was, even though there were a lot of family and friend. In the morning, I met Lisa at the Ruby room on Division to get some shots of the bridal party getting their hair and make up, followed by hanging out with the guys at Smoke Dady’s getting their “barbeque on”. We then jumped in a car and hit a couple different spots around town with Lisa and Jeff which was a great time. The ceremony and reception were at a New Leaf which made for a perfect backdrop. It’s small enough for a casual and intimate ceremony, but large enough to comfortably hold around 150.

Hair & Makeup: Ruby Room, Chicago Il

Getting ready: Suite at the Ruby Room, Chicago Il

Ceremony: A New Leaf, Chicago Il

Reception: A New Leaf, Chicago Il

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SAVITA & TIM

Every so often I get to do some amazing destination weddings, and this was certainly one of them. Savita and Tim got married in the town of Oia, which is a small town on the island of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. There are just over 1,000 people who live in the town, so you could imagine how secluded and special this village is. What’s even more interesting is that the town is situated on the side of an extinct volcanic cliff. The ceremony was breathtaking and filled with stunning views. You couldn’t help but gaze off into the Mediterranean Sea every so often and take in all the wonderful scenery. This is a wedding I will never forget!

Getting ready: The Mystique Hotel , Santorini Greece

Ceremony: The Mystique Hotel , Santorini Greece

Reception: Charisma Restaurant , Santorini Greece

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