what better way to start december than by flashing back to a wedding on the hottest day of the year?!!! it was pretty much over 100 degrees all day long…and it was an outdoor wedding. ceremony? outside. reception? outside. and honestly, it was perfect!!! only corey and margaret and all their AMAZING friends could turn this sweatbath into one of the most amazing parties we’ve ever seen…and we’re not just talking weddings! sweat was just one of the details that made this wedding more fun

did we mention that corey and margaret brought in a vintage ferris wheel for their guests to ride? oh…and an ELEPHANT?! yup. hey…if you’re going for an outdoor, vintage tent wedding, how could you not have a ferris wheel…and elephant?!!

huge hugs and thank you’s to our good friends, jayden and caroline of woodnote photography, for introducing us to corey and margaret. caroline, we know it was killer hard for you to not shoot your sister’s wedding!! so thanks for thinking of us!!

did i mention they had an elephant? oh yeah. i think i did.

it’s easy to write about the heat, the elephant, and the ferris wheel when there’s all these pictures of them. but we hope the main thing you see in the pics is how beautiful corey and margaret are. inside and out. and together. thanks you two for inviting us to be there on the best day of your lives!

this was one of those weddings that we had seriously been looking forward to for months!!!  what could be better than being flown to paris with your super hot lover to shoot an elopement of an amazing couple whom we now call friends?  not much.  when cassie (paper designer extraordinaire at pixie chicago) contacted us to shoot a reception for her in chicago (after they returned from their elopement in paris), i flippantly wrote back to tell her we traveled.  she responded with a “really?” and the next week everything was booked.  ben and i have both been to europe separately, but not together, so we decided to add on a couple of extra days (like seven) and galavant through paris together.  it was like a second honeymoon and i’m not gonna lie……. we made out A LOT!!!

back to jacques + cassie.  we met them for the first time in paris, two days before their wedding and we fell in love.  the day of their wedding was so relaxed and fabulous.  they held their intimate ceremony in some beautiful gardens under a amazing gazebo with intricate details.  after they were hitched, they kissed, drank champagne and we all hopped in a chauffeured car to hit some fabulous locations in paris that ben and i had scouted the week before.  the four hours we had to explore and shoot flew by as we were having such an incredible time with them.

one of our favorite memories was when we traveled to the top of the city in montmarte (home of the sacre coeur, aka, the fancy cathedral in the pics below).   locals and tourists FILLED the stairs every night to catch the most amazing view of the sun setting over the entire city of paris.  it would start casual with kids running around and amazing street performers.  and then the peddlers would come out with the $3 heinekens and the street performances turned into more of a concert with a lot of buzzed people singing along.   we couldn’t wait to bring jacques and cassie here to catch some shots.  we basically just asked them to stand in the crowd and kiss.  what we didn’t anticipate is that the street performer stopped his song and started to serenade these newly married lovers while everyone sang a long, cheered, and toasted with their heinekens!!  cassie wasn’t the only one with tears in her eyes.  this wasn’t just one of our favorite memories of their wedding.  it was one of our favorite memories ever!!!

jacques and cassie…thanks for letting us tag along and capture your perfect paris wedding!!!  here’s some of our faves.

handcrafted bridal bouquet brought to you by our great friends, brad and lisa, at whimwed.

drooling.
matt and liz’s wedding was…perfect!

the details defined beauty. seriously people. these are easily some of the most beautiful flower arrangements we’ve ever seen. we’ve got to send some “we’re not worthy” shoutouts to modern day floral who always know how to do it right.

cascade hills country club hit it out of the park with their service and amazing room with TONS OF WINDOWS. love that!!

and, matt and liz. you two are perfect for each other. it was amazing watching you two enjoy each other all day. the looks you kept giving each other made it clear that you two are crazy in love. and that was easily the most beautiful part of the day!

congratulations on your beautiful wedding…and marriage!!

it’s wedding flashback friday haha.
(that’s our way of saying we haven’t blogged some weddings in awhile…and we’re catching up).

for the record…we LOVE shooting weddings for designers! their attention to detail. use of colors. creativity. love it.
nick + laura…your wedding was BEAUTIFUL! and we just had to share

happy 4th everyone!!

hello derek. hello merceades.

and with these two new friends, we doubled the amount of people we know from midland michigan! nice!!

derek and merceades met at church…at least i think that’s where they met…now i’m doubting myself
but they go to the same church. and they both work at that church.
but that aside, it didn’t take us more than a minute to know that their faith is truly at the center of their lives. and the center of their relationship. we love that!!

we’re not marriage counselors or anything (though after nearly 11 years of being married — living and working together — we might have a few pointers!)…but derek and merceades, we think you’re off to the perfect start!! we love how you love each other. and we love how you share your faith.

we hadn’t met ryan + chelsea. and when she inquired, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to shoot the wedding because it was already a crazy weekend.

then chelsea said, “there’s going to be firedancers.”

SOLD!

ryan and chelsea ooze creativity and every detail of their wedding proves it. it was non-stop awesomeness…which made shooting their wedding non-stop fun! we LOVE when brides and grooms make their wedding a reflection of their style and personality. ummm…i’d dare say we LOVE ryan and chelsea’s style!!! chelsea is a chicago photographer. and ryan is a dj — needless to say there was a lot of music and the dancing went….ALL NIGHT LONG. no joke. til sunrise. but aside from their style, ryan and chelsea were incredible hosts. they wanted to make sure everything was perfect for their guests. it was!

this was also our first time shooting at ravenswood event center in chicago (just down the street from one of our favorite stores, architectural artifacts), and i’ve got to say that i hope it’s not our last.

enjoy!!!

so if you follow our blog…you might be aware that we shoot families in connecticut (new haven area) once or twice a year. anyhoo…leslie (who lives in new haven) emails us like a week before one of our last trips out there, wondering if we could connect to talk about shooting her wedding. i can’t even tell you how fun it was to say, “we’ll be in new haven next week. does that work for you?!” loved meeting them!! and loved shooting their wedding.

leslie…you did everything just right. your wedding was perfect.

the day started at The James…which is now easily one of our favorite hotels to stay at in chicago.
then came the portrait/party shots…which turned out to be like a collection of some of our new favorite locations!
then the art museum…(the wedding and reception was held in the new modern wing!)…ummm…i think this defines the perfect place to get married!!

we were just talking with some photographers the other day about shoots in chicago and how people often want a skyline shot. well, given that your ceremony was outside…on the roof of the modern wing (hello!), the whole ceremony was a skyline shot…. but that said, what i remember most about your ceremony was all the glances. the looks you and rob kept sneaking. and the way your dad simply adored you walking down the aisle. perfect.

rob and leslie…thank you so much for asking us to be a part of your day!! and next time we’re in new haven…lunch at that mexican restaurant we talked about for sure (i totally forgot what it was called…but i haven’t forgotten how amazing it is).

my family has an ongoing christmas joke based on a memory from YEARS ago.

one of the little cousins was soooo excited about the present he was giving to grandma that he couldn’t wait for her to open it. you could see him trying to hold it in…but seriously, can you really expect a three year old to hold it back?!! so with a burst of energy that made us all jump a bit, he burst out “it’s a hot dog!!!” (one of those sqeaky toys for a puppy).

i feel a lot like that little boy posting this blog…cause i’m so excited for you to see how beautiful this wedding — and couple — is. and i just…can’t…wait…for…you….to…see….the…pictures…!!!!

check out the dress. and the shoes!
and the AMAZING cathedral that makes it oh so fun to create artistic shots!
and emily tearing it up on the dancefloor.
oh..and the 10+ story blue wall with tons of colors of paint dripped down it.
and mike and emily’s first dance in the colony club.

[catching a quick breath]

and the fun random shot of mike and emily in the elevator at the end of the night?!

ugh. way too fun!! and beautiful.
we’re on mike and emily withdrawal.
hope you love the pics like we do!

the wedding was on this amazing property of a family friend.
the party pictures and portraits went down at a good friend’s barn.
isaac’s brother officiated the ceremony… renee’s mom baked all the pies.

there’s something that’s just oh so perfect when family and friends come together to host a wedding for the bride and groom they love!! it’s something you can see…but more importantly, it’s something everyone can feel.

perfect.

favorite moment of the day??? (aside from isaac and renee getting married!)…

the song isaac wrote for renee that he surprised her with at the reception (you’ll see the pics below).
i saw a few tears creeping up throughout the day….but there was not a chance in the world renee could hold it back during this song. (for that matter, neither could mindy while she was trying to take pics!!)

attention all future grooms out there….the ladies, they like it when their man sings to them just ask renee.

thank you, isaac + renee, for having us join your party. we’ll adopt your family and friends any day!!!
and here’s how we tell your story with a few of our faves

and today is the final blog post for amrita and ankush [wiping tear] featuring the portrait session and reception. oh…and for the record, amrita’s reception dress weighed around 35 pounds. that’s like more than her!! 35 pounds of beads and details is lot of jeweled wonder, let me tell you.

so we’ve written a bunch already on our previous posts, but today we wanted to shout out a few props.

first, ankush and amrita. amazing. we loved the wedding. loved the details. but most important, we love you two. we can’t wait to take a trip to chicago that’s not so crazy booked so that we can connect again. soon

and then we knew we would need a second team of photographers to help cover the day knowing that there would be no way we could do it alone. so we asked kerri banyas (kerri banyas photography) and her husband drew to shoot with us. they’re great friends, amazing photographers and we were super excited to shoot with them! go team banyas!

thanks everyone!! enjoy the pics.