“Jeff + Chrissie were another awesome couple to work with. ( How do we get so lucky with our couples. ) For these two, we enjoyed meeting up with them on a warm, early June Thursday afternoon, shooting engagement photos, exploring new locations, getting to know each other, and learning about their upcoming destination wedding plans. Because we’re located in the Naperville area, and they are in Peoria we didn’t actually meet until the day of the shoot, except on Facebook.

 

For J+C’s shoot, we first stopped at a VERY unique location – with lots of urban grungy style. When I proposed this abandoned factory shooting location idea, which is just west of our Naperville area home studio to Chrissie, she said her and Jeff loved it. After the decaying building, we then mixed in a few Chicagoland nature locations and a quick stop in town for a fun “fine dining here!” pic. LOL!! One of our nature stops was in front of a picturesque, canyon at Starved Rock State Park. Although the canyon was a little crowded with kids playing in the canyon’s water, we were able to sneak in a few quick shots from a cliff above the waterfall. Next, we grabbed some pics along the river, in the tall grasses, and wow the evening sunset Jeff + Chrissie had on their day was seriously epic. The blazing night sky colors were unreal and unlike anything the four of us had ever seen. Ryan previewed the shots to us in the viewfinder and said nobody is going to believe the sky was really this colorful.

 

Jeff + Chrissie’s love story started a state away… they are originally from central Missouri and they met while Chrissie was in college. At the time Jeff was starting his own business and Chrissie and her twin sister auditioned for a commercial he was creating for the company. After J+C met, the rest is history. Currently they are both currently living in Peoria Illinois. Jeff + Chrissie mentioned they searched for the perfect wedding and engagement photographer that was basically anywhere in between St. Louis and Chicago. And gratefully they found Miller + MIller! We know there are thousands of wedding photographers to search through on the web and we are so glad they found our photo blog + fell in love with our unique photography style. The week of their shoot, J+C planned for an event filled, long weekend mini-vacation planning first a creative engagement session with us! Following our engagement session, they booked a couple of nights downtown Chicago and to close the weekend, skydiving! Chrissie was definitely showing a little hesitation when talking about jumping out of the plane, even with it being three days away from our shoot… I don’t blame her. We’ve talked since the photo session and learned she jumped – And had a great time. Jeff already had jumped previously, but was looking forward to another jump together this time with Chrissie.

 

We had a great time getting to know the two of you Jeff + Chrissie. Ryan and I enjoyed talking about your upcoming Cancun Mexico destination wedding plans, growing up in Missouri, boating, and talking a little about the perks of running a small business. Hope you enjoyed our tour of Starved Rock. As mentioned, we’d suggest heading back sometime on your own…. there are so many beautiful parts of the park to explore! Enjoy the rest of your Mexico destination wedding planning. You’ll have to let us know after you receive your disk of all the photos, how many of the pictures you decide enlarge and put on your new home as wall art. It will be difficult to choose just a few. Talk to you soon!!”

 

 

 

Jeff + Chrissie are planning their January 2011 wedding at the Royal Solaris Marina Resort & Spa all-inclusive in Cancun, Mexico. How exciting! We love destination weddings.

“Donovan + Brianna were a fun couple to work with. Their chemistry, edgy ideas, awesome trendy clothes, and pure comfortability with each other in front of the camera made them extremely easy to work with. Not to mention, wow they are a beautiful couple. After learning more about these two while out on the shoot, we determined Brianna’s camera comfortability comes from her former experience as an actress in LA and later here in Chicago on stage and screen. It’s no wonder they are planning for their wedding at the Chicago Lyric Opera House. Brianna loves the stage and is planning for her reception just like that, front + center on the Opera house’s stage.

 

During D+B’s Chicago engagement photography session, we also learned of their unique “falling in love” story. Donovan + Brianna met in LA while out + about at Halloween costume party in 2002. During this first meeting time, their timing was a little off, but they never lost touch or stopped thinking about one another. In 2006, they reconnected and Brianna says “they have been crazy in love ever since.”

 

A couple years later, D+B decided they were done with LA and couldn’t wait to get back to their midwestern roots. So Donovan accepted a senior level position at the Nationally known, Inland Real Estate Auctions and they relocated back to Chicago in 2008. Brianna has transitioned away from the limelight and is enjoying being an entrepreneur who owns and operates her own organic and nutritious baked goods company called Brianna’s Heathy Fare. I sampled a gluten free brownie, which was delicious. Brides and mom’s… she’s accepting orders for a variety of cakes, muffins, cookie, cupcakes and more which are great for events, parties, showers and even weddings. : )

 

For more information about Brianna’s Heathy Fare and her nutritious products, visit her web site www.briannashealthyfare.com.

Be sure to check her September 2009 video clip and feature of Brianna’s Heathy Fare on Chicago’s 190 North television show .

 

When discussing ideas for their engagement session, Donovan and I were discussing locations. He mentioned that he proposed to Brianna ( did you see her gorgeous sapphire engagement ring? ) at The Elysian Hotel in Chicago. We have been long awaiting a look inside this hotel, and were very excited about this opportunity. In addition, to their proposal Donovan mentioned that few days after the proposal, D+B also hosted an celebratory engagement party at The Elysian’s second-floor Bernard’s Bar, so it was fitting that he requested and we returned to the Elysian Chicago hotel for their engagement session. We enjoyed shooting at Bernard’s Bar with it’s sueded lounge decor and velvet covered couches. The Elysian hotel lobby and their courtyard entrance creates a new definition in a Chicago luxury hotel. This hotel is SO VERY impressive and we couldn’t have asked for a more spectacular place to shoot at. We’d love to have had the luxury to spend more time within the hotel and especially in the lobby during our next visit… with only time for a few quick shots underneath the amazing, lobby chandelier “brooch” ( unfortunately with Donovan + Brianna it was a busy guest’s check in time ) we’d love to capture more photos here. : )

 

Thanks Donovan + Brianna in choosing us as your photographers! We had a great time spending the day with the two of you. Remember how super cold for like the last 45 minutes during the night photos on the beach, Brianna thanks for being such a trooper … you sure can’t tell from the photos how chilly it was. Good luck in the rest of your wedding day planning. Hope your family and friends in Chicago and LA love the photos as much as we do!!”

 

 

 

 

 

Donovan + Brianna are planning their May 2011 wedding at the Chicago Lyric Opera House which is owned and operated by the world-renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago. The venue is considered a hybrid of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architectural designs and considered to be one of the world’s most beautiful opera venues! Built in 1929 and fully restored today, the Civic Opera House is majestic and will be an excellent, dramatic Chicago wedding venue for Donovan + Brianna to host their fairytale wedding. Visit the venue’s web site for more information www.civicoperahouse.com.

 

Searching for a glamourous, luxury Chicago hotel wedding venue, the Elysian Hotel is definitely one to pursue. Visit the Elysian Hotel web site www.elysianhotels.com for more information and of course, we look forward to you contacting Miller + Miller about your wedding photography.

“When we first met with Mark + Michele, it was a bitter cold and snowy January Chicago Winter day. Over a cup of coffee, we all instantly bonded and talked about the exact opposite weather — the Summer, beach, vacationing in Michigan & Wisconsin, and boating!! So we instantly decided to wait until warm weather and planned for a Summer time Chicago beach engagement session. For their shoot, although it was sunny, the beach wind was a little cold… but the chill didn’t seem to bother Michele + Mark. M+M we’re awesome still up to getting their toes wet in the sand and then they cuddled up in their beach blanket afterwards. They are a cute couple, with a lot of love for each other.

 

During our first meeting, we discovered Michele is a graphic designer ( as are Miller + Miller in addition to being photographers. ) So we bonded about this too… sorry Mark for talking too long about our business card, fun papers and type. : ) Michele currently works downtown Chicago and says she loves working in the creative field, designing with typography and too funny today as I was writing this blog entry I received their invite – an awesome mix of metallic papers and typography design. LOL

 

Michele + Mark’s love story + “how they first met” was during a group of mutual friend’s get together. ( They both attended the same middle and high schools, but didn’t actually talk until many years after high school – this is nearly identical to Ryan and my how we first met story. ) After the first night of great conversation and keeping in touch afterwards through Facebook, it wasn’t until both Mark + Michele were in London that the start of their relationship fully developed. Mark was studying in London finishing up his Masters Degree and Michele’s was visiting her sister who was working overseas. The rest is history and now they are busy planning their wedding.

 

Incorporating a prop to personalize our engagement sessions are always a fun touch couple’s bring to the session. Michele was telling us how her and Mark have had many of picnics together… And even in the colder months! Rather than picnicing outside in the Winter, they even have had a picnic in their living room ( which was actually how Mark proposed to her last November! ) When Michele ask if we could incorporate the picnic element, we put our creative heads together and decided a picnic on the beach and capturing a lighthouse shot would be perfect match for them. We love how these creative sandy, beach photos turned out!! Thanks Michele in bringing along the basket and extra sand toys! Hope you both enjoy the photos. We had fun strolling around the City with the two of you. We can’t wait for your wedding – talk to you soon and enjoy the rest of your Summer wedding day’s planning.”

 

 

 

Mark + Michele currently live in Palatine, but are originally from Crystal Lake Illinois. They are getting married in their home town this August, a Summer wedding at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Crystal Lake with their reception following at the Crystal Lake Country Club.

“WOW… what a SMOKIN’ HOT COUPLE! Not to mention, the natural love, affection and chemistry Brad + Lauren had for each other during the shoot was astounding + inspiring. B+L photographed like true professional models on their engagement photo session. Wouldn’t you agree?

 

We had an amazing time shooting Brad + Lauren’s Chicago style high-fashion engagement photography session in a contrasting country, small town and nature park setting. ( We loved heading out to the country to shoot — a much needed break for us, after numerous consecutive urban city engagement shoots. ) We loved everything about this photo shoot –- the weather, fun locations, Brad’s smokin’ turbo Mini Cooper, plus the vibrant + trendy clothing style B+L brought… it all came together quite nicely.

 

Brad + Lauren’s relationship started out as high school sweethearts. Brad decided to propose and soon after their wedding planning had begun. And with wedding planning, there comes finding a wedding photographer. We were so happy Brad and Lauren found us on FACEBOOK through mutual friends. When we met B+L for the first time, they came to us with one mission in mind — to create some bad-ass engagement & wedding photos that uniquely represents exactly who they are. Needless to say we gladly accepted this proposal and had a blast getting creative with them. Thanks for letting us put our creativity to the test with the smoking car for this one. B+L you both looked amazing and we can’t wait for your wedding in less than a month. ( Hope we’re lucky to catch some bombs bursting in the air during your Fourth of July weekend wedding! ) Enjoy the photos and thanks again!!”

 

 

 

Brad + Lauren’s Summer July Chicagoland wedding ceremony is planned at America’s Historic Roundhouse (formally known as Walter Payton’s Roundhouse) in Aurora, Illinois. Their outdoor ceremony is set to take place underneath the venue’s outdoor, courtyard gazebo. Following the ceremony is their reception proceeding indoors also at The Roundhouse in their Grand Ballroom. We are looking forward to a fun wedding day celebration with Brad, Lauren, family, friends and bridal party. A number of guests may be familiar faces to Miller + Miller, Brad and Lauren are from our hometown of Oswego, Illinois, so we’re looking forward to seeing a few friends at the celebration as well.

 

“Busy wedding season is here and we have several new, fun couple’s wedding + engagement blog entries coming soon to our photo blog! ♥ Up first is last week’s Chicago engagement photography session with Chip + Tina. We had a beautiful Spring day and enjoyed the walk and talks with each other while moving from one shooting spot to the next around Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor. We really enjoyed talking to Tina and Chip learning about them and their upcoming wedding. Tina was a referral to us from one of our favorite boutique wedding dress, bridal shops in Chicagoland ( also where I purchased my wedding dress ) called White Satin Bridal. I can’t wait to see the dress she decided upon in a few days!

 

Chip has recently moved to the City from Tinley Park. Season ticket holders to the Bears, they watch many games and enjoy tailgating at Soldier Field. We learned Tina has lived in the Bridgeport neighborhood all of her life ( which isn’t too live far from both the Sox and Soldier fields. ) It was fun learning how Tina and Chip first met a few years ago at a friend’s backyard bbq party. Thanks guys in spending the afternoon with us! We are so excited for your wedding – in just over one week!! We hope you enjoy the final days of your planning and love the photos.”

 

 

 

Chip + Tina’s June Chicago wedding ceremony is at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church located within Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood. Their reception will follow at the elegant banquet hall Venuti’s located in Addison. We are looking forward to meeting all of Chip + Tina’s family, friends and 10 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen. We’re going to definitely have some fun during group photos with their big, bridal party.

 

“We loved spending the day with Ian + Erica. For their extremely unique, urban Chicago engagement photos session. I+E were so awesome to work with, we loved their trendy high-fashion style and had a great time exploring some crazy City shooting spots.

 

When we met Ian + Erica last Winter, we learned Ian is a talented, Chicago DJ who’s spins at some serious National music venues. Check out his Facebook page or blog. Last year alone, Big Once “Ian” rocked crowds from LA to Brooklyn, opened for Cypress Hill and Z-Trip in the same night, recorded with members of the Wu-Tang Clan, and has played nearly every live venue and club in Chicago at least once, including Lollapalooza. Places which his bio refers to as the slickest downtown clubs, or the grimiest hip-hop dives. Once our schedule lessens up a bit, we can’t wait to head out for a night out to listen in person. In the meanwhile, we enjoy streaming his mixes.

 

Ian + Erica said once they found our wedding photo blog, they knew our edgy photographic style was a perfect match for their personalities. Miller + Miller enjoys putting individually a style for each of our couples in their own preferred photo environments. I+E’s love our pics that incorporate graffiti and the raw decay, urban location settings – we had no problem working with that. ( With Ryan’s early artistic start as a slightly rebellious teen + graffiti artist, he and Ian instantly bonded about graffiti. ) Not to mention, we love Ian’s eclectic mix of dub step, drum and bass and hip-hop music style that Big Once spins and felt inspired while listening to it up until their shoot last week. After talking with Erica, we found both of our relationships ironically started with music in common early in both of their relationships and also their connection because of mutual friends. We couldn’t live without music… a huge inspiration for our art, creativity + life.

 

Many thanks to you Ian + Erica in exploring the City and hiring us as your engagement and wedding day photographers. It was fun putting all of our artistic, brains altogether coming up with unique shooting spots and unique, urban engagement photos of the two of you. We have so many favorite images from your session. Looking forward to your upcoming wedding – in only a little over two weeks!! Can’t wait to hear your comments about the pics!”

 

 

Ian + Erica’s June Chicago wedding is at The Stan Mansion located within Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. The venue is described as an idyllic place to host a storybook wedding. The mansion features ornate décor and an auditorium which includes a stage. Erica was describing the place, colors and the lighting they’ve planned for their day. We can hardly wait to for their wedding day and are looking forward to meeting all of Erica + Ian’s family, friends and other music industry friends… not to mention, we can’t wait for some unique out of the norm wedding day music to help celebrate with.

 

“We had a blast shooting Mike + Valerie’s engagement photography in Wheaton at Cantigny Park and in downtown Naperville. The shoot was on another windy, warm Spring day. In fact, it was so windy that a branch at Cantigny park broke and fell to the ground about 100 feet from us. The wind can be a challenge to work with ( Mike + Val’s hair-do’s were blowing everywhere ), however we always love the motion and drama it creates in pictures.

 

We first met Mike + Val in January and as of then, Mike hadn’t technically proposed yet. So when we met up for their shoot, we got to see Val’s amazing engagement ring and learn how the big proposal night went down. Let’s just say Mike’s a romantic who surpised Val with a candle lit, hallway leading to a rose petal decorated bedroom. Hearing the stories of each of our couple’s proposals is great, no two are the same. When discussing ideas and location ideas for M+V’s engagement photo session, we talked about a downtown Chicago shoot in Lincoln Park and @ Second City, where M+V had their first date. But Mike couldn’t resist going to Cantigny and the Tank Park. So we planned a trip to Cantigny’s First Division Tank Museum – we loved using the army tanks as a prop. For the softer and nature side of the shoot, we enjoyed the mix of architecture, gardens, lush landscaped grounds and sprawling, 500-acre park of Cantigny www.cantigny.org. Towards the evening, we captured sunset photos in nearby downtown Naperville and planned for a few “secret shooting spots” and brought a few unique photo ideas to close the night.

 

Mike + Valerie are tying the knot over Fourth of July weekend at St. Patrick’s Church in Lemont and their reception is at the luxury, boutique Renaissance Oak Brook Hotel. As I speak, we are designing M+V’s engagement photo guestbook and have already started talking about their wedding day photo bridal session… M+V are very excited about the big day. We know their wedding is going be a great time! M+V we hope you enjoy the blog preview pictures… it was a lot of fun working with you. We can’t wait to meet each of your families and be there on your wedding day photo documenting the celebration.”

 

Beauty + Vibrant Color + Antique Style, Mixed with Hot Locations = A Miller + Miller Vintage ♥ Love Story in Chicago with Shaun + Julia

 

“During our Chicago engagement photo session discussion, Julia mentioned she’d love to take her engagement session “vintage”. And WOW, do we LOVE how fabulously vintage this engagement session got!

 

Julia and Shaun definitely took a little time shopping, researching and ordering antique items online in preparation for their shoot. Lauren Le Pine of Ryan Alexander Events added a few vintage accessories for Julia and not to mention, did an amazing job styling Julia’s hair and make up. She looked stunning, straight out of the 40’s ! We’re looking forward to working with Lauren again ( she’s also J+S’s wedding day coordinator.) How do we get so lucky to work with such wonderful engaged couples? When we paired together our vintage inspired Chicago location stops with J+S’s 1940’s era clothing, we really couldn’t have asked for anything more… well except for maybe a little bit of a warmer day. : )

 

Both Shaun + Julia work downtown in the Chicago Loop, but outside of their 9-5 jobs, they each definitely have artistic sides and creative interests. Julia currently works for a Chicago property management firm, but is also a graduate from pastry school and has aspirations to evolve her passion for baking with the possibility of creating her own online business. We can’t wait to see her selection of tasty sweets the day of. Shaun is an accountant and Julia says he’s far from beyond the usual accountant stereotype, as he’s also a very talented artist.

 

S+J’s ceremony and reception are set for this June in Chicago at Salvage One www.salvageone.com – which from what I hear is one ultra, unique wedding space! Nearly every event at Salvage One is different because they allow reinventing of the event space uniquely for every wedding. For example, we learned that Julia + Shaun get to “go shopping” a couple weeks before the wedding to pick out what items we want to use for their day and plan out the space. It’s an awesome concept, where Salvage One let’s the couples stage their space with handpicked chandeliers, furniture, chairs, etc. – how cool is that making it your own? : ) I love this idea and of course Julia and Shaun will definitely be incorporating their own individualized pieces and adding some vintage flair into the space.

 

Shaun + Julia are originally from North Carolina and they met in high school. After attending college at the University of North Carolina, they decided to venture to Chicago a little over two years ago. They say they enjoy Chicago, living in the city and are excited to bring many out of state guests into Chicago for their wedding. As you know, Julia loves all things vintage and has chosen her wedding day’s theme colors to be of a yellow + gray palette. The bridesmaid’s will be dressed in yellow, Shaun in a grey suit, and his groomsmen suited in gray vests – we can’t wait! We’re definitely excited and ready to get vintage-y again working with these two for their wedding. Shaun + Julia we hope you enjoy the photos and in addition your family + friends away from Chicago viewing the blog in North Carolina!”

 

“After a few weeks of several downtown Chicago engagement shoots, we were happy to switch things up and head out West of Chicago to LaSalle County for an Jonathan + Tamara’s Starved Rock engagement photo session. Plus, we love the small town feel of Ottawa and Illinois River Valley area. Although Jon + Tamara’s October 2, 2010 wedding day was already taken by another couple, J+T booked us for their creative engagement session and are planning on using the photos for their Save the Dates.

 

For Jon + Tamara’s engagement photo session, they decided upon a Spring “nature” focus, so we started their day early and hiked into “The Rock’s” canyons. A beautiful day, awesome for an outdoor photo session, we saw so much wildlife, deers, birds, an owl and even a quick glimpse of a bald eagle. On the ride out to the park, Jon was actually hopeful to have a bald eagle appear in the woods behind them for a photo! Unfortunately we weren’t so lucky, but seeing one was awesome enough. We had mentioned we could always Photoshop one in there if he’d like. LOL

 

As always, we have a great time getting to know our couples. Jon + Tamara work together at a nearby Insurance agency and met while working at the office. Tamara grew up in the Chicago area, while Jon as one of eight kids has lived in New York, Michigan, and currently now resides in Wheaton. It was fun learning both J+T drive the latest rivalry in 2010 muscle cars. On the day of the shoot when they arrived at our house in Jon’s shy of 1 month old, 2010 black Camaro, my jaw dropped!! I wanted to hop into it vs. our Xterra to travel out to Starved Rock. Tamara was quick to show me in her phone, her equally as awesome cherry red, Challenger. Seriously we were jealous!! : )

 

While hiking, Tamara was telling us of her eight years in the National Guard and her position as a drill sergeant. ( So don’t let Tamara’s petite stature fool you. She’s little, but one tough girl! ) The hiking reminded of her basic training and some seriously, strenuous hiking days. Tamara was telling us of her experiences while attending the US Army’s combat training center of Fort Jackson … which was especially interesting to us, because In fact as I write this very blog post – Fort Jackson just so happens to be the same location Ryan’s brother Brandon is currently training! Small world.

 

Jon + Tamara, we hope you had a great first time at Starved Rock State Park and enjoyed the photo session!! Please put us on your Save-the-Date mailing list, so we can see how you incorporate the images!!”

 

“Above is a preview to our latest unique and urban Chicago engagement photography session we created this week for Justin + Elisha. J+E were great and super easy to work with, as they had SOOO much chemistry! It was cute. ♥ Perhaps that’s because J+E are working with a long distance relationship, so when they are around each other they can’t help but smile and flirt with each other.

 

This past Winter when we first met with Justin and Elisha, Justin was in Chicago only for short visit taking a long weekend to finalize the details of their Spring Chicago wedding. Justin lives on the East Coast and works on an Air Force base in Washington D.C. ( He’s working on secret stuff helping to protect the us from the bad guys — nuff said. ) Elisha has an equally interesting career and has travelled to many countries completing medical research and educating. Currently finishing up her last few years as a med student, she will soon be an anesthesiologist. At one point during the night… Ryan and I looked at each other and felt overwhelmed by the serious accomplishments of these two — truly amazing people.

 

Prior to us meeting, Elisha emailed us saying she fell in love with our “emotionally provocative and intense wedding photography” style. And when discussing their engagement session, the really liked several of our past Chicago engagement couple’s shoots … but especially loved last November’s industrial and high-fashion engagement photo session with Derek + Jorie … so with that in mind, we brought some of those M+M concepts to their session.

 

Thanks Justin and Elisha in venturing around the City with us stopping at a few, new shooting locations. We were excited to hear that after meeting with seven other wedding photographers you choose Miller + Miller! J+E enjoy the final days of your planning and we’ll see you again soon! We can’t wait to hear which pic you decide is your favorite.”

 

Justin + Elisha’s Chicago May wedding is at The Ivy Room at Tree Studios just off of Michigan Avenue in River North, Chicago. We’re looking forward to it! In addition, we can hardly wait to see the anticipated stylings and details to J+E’s decor, lighting, and floral details to come from the Chicago event firm of Kehoe Designs.