“It’s always flattering when a fellow Chicago bridal industry person contacts us about booking us to capture their engagement and wedding day photography. Aubrey is an event planning consultant at La’Di Events the Northern Illinois and Chicago area wedding planner and event coordination company.

 

Aubrey said she fell in love with our photography style after seeing a couple she went to high school with post wedding photos on Facebook ( which was Sean + Stephanie‘s wedding pictures. ) Aubrey was also slightly giggly when she mentioned that since that point, she had been a frequent stalker of our Chicago photo blog, even before her fiance Nick had proposed. Well, we were humbled to hear Aubrey’s decision in hiring us out of the number of choices in the industry. : ) For this blog post, it was extremely difficult to narrow down to these select photos from Nick + Aubrey’s Illinois engagement photography session. ( We have so many more photos options are on their way to you guys very soon. )

 

For A+N’s photo session, we visited a location in the country and then later ventured into the City. Our first stop was a vintage setting, inside an old wooden barn. ( We fell in love with this spot and could have spent a full day roaming around kicking up the dust inside this barn! We discovered a number of tattered and vintage hidden relics in the rubble ( such as the old antique sign, electric boxes, stickers and a vintage Pepsi cola can. ) The barn had a kinds of nooks and tucked away corners which were perfect in getting Nick + Aubrey to snuggle close to each other. ) With every turn in the old barn, we seemed to uncovered something new to oooh and ahhh over shooting near.

 

During our first meeting, we met up for coffee and learned a little more about Nick + Aubrey. The couple had their first date in Chicago at Navy Pier. Aubrey originally grew up in the small country town of Maple Park, but after spending a few years living and working downtown, found she loves the city too. Their love story is a a tale of city girl meets a country boy at heart. Nick is a suburban, country boy, originally from Iowa. During the meeting we also learned they had just returned from a visit to the Iowa State Fair. We had fun talking about their trip and learning about Nick’s family farm back in Iowa. If Ryan only had the jet he’s often daydreaming about, Nick would have loved for the four of us to hightail it to Iowa for an engagement shoot on the family Iowa farm. It sounds beautiful. We decided upon these local country shooting spots and in us learning their first date was in Chicago, we closed the afternoon of shooting with a drive into the city for engagement photos at Chicago Navy Pier and night photos on the pier.

 

Nick + Aubrey we had a great time! Loved spending the day with you, and enjoyed exploring all the shooting locations together. We loved the vintage barn capturing some country romantic shots, the beautiful field we stumbled upon with Fall colors, mixed wild flowers, and a towering oak trees. And thanks in putting up the fight against the cold air we encountered while at Navy Pier after the sun went down! We can’t wait for the big wedding day. Had a great time getting to know the two of you better during the few times we’ve gotten together for your save the dates, and recent headshots Nick for your entrepreneurial ventures. Enjoy!”

 

 

 

Nick + Aubrey have set a September wedding date. The ceremony will take place at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Maple Park. Following the ceremony, N+A’s family and friends are going to celebrate in the historic auditorium for the wedding reception at Northern Illinois University in Altgeld Hall in DeKalb. The Altgeld Hall building is the university campus’s oldest and first building constructed in 1899 at NIU. It’s a European-style castle and the building was “considered an architectural showpiece, not only because of its distinctive castle-like exterior, but also because of the layout of the interior.” We can’t wait to see the building and room in person.

 

Marie Pauly ( Aubrey’s mom ) is a local florist. Contact Wild Orchid Custom Floral Designs, specializing in weddings and corporate events, for your upcoming event’s needs. www.wildorchidcustomfloraldesign.com

“What a beautiful “picnic in the woods style” May wedding!! Ryan and I loved Sean + Stephanie’s wedding day. Remember when we photographed S+S at this same wooded Sugar Grove, IL Forest Preserve back in January? It was much greener this time around (and definitely warmer at close to 90 degrees plus humidity.) The wedding at the forest preserve was filled with bright colors of orange, warm touches of nature’s green and brown, and was buzzing with family and friends gathering for Sean + Steph’s wedding ceremony.

 

The picturesque outdoor ceremony spot Sean + Stephanie picked was on a rolling tree-covered hill, beneath the warm shining sun — intimate nature was all around and it was an absolutely perfect, naturally beautiful May day. S+S’s ceremony at Bliss Woods reminded Ryan and I of our own Nevada mountain wedding ceremony in a way… our favorite types of weddings to shoot are destinations or local Chicago area outdoor ceremonies.

 

Sean + Stephanie’s very personalized ceremony and “picnic-style” reception was a reflection of Sean+Steph’s relationship, engagement at the park and past visits to Bliss Woods. With the help of Mary Beth Kraft of Social Butterfly and her wedding planning & decorating expertise, the day encased numerous touches of picnic elements such as baskets, candles, cupcakes, wine bottles, wildflowers, picnic benches, picnic tables + table cloths, outdoor wooden touches brought inside, shades of oranges, and greenery. The guests enjoyed live music, everyone danced all night, it was truly a memorable and awesome time. During the ceremony the Aletheia String Quartet created a ceremonial ambiance and played “All you need is Love” as the exit song —a special request by Stephanie. Prior to dinner the Brent Shroy Recital (a live band who are friend’s of Sean+Steph) joined by Stephanie’s sister Amanda, the maid-of-honor, performed during happy hour. DJ Monty from St. Louis Missouri kept the dance floor going all night long. I fell in love with their first dance song “Can’t Help Falling in Love, Fools Rush In” a cover by Ingrid Michaelson. ( I downloaded this song myself. It’s beautiful & a perfect first dance song! ) The reception venue was a familiar place to Sean’s family and grandparents. It was a country barn style police lodge which was decorated with twinkling lights spanning the roof beams. Attached to lodge was a white tent which included picnic tables and a cocktail bar, so guests could enjoy more of the outdoors throughout the evening until the end of the reception. We loved the set up and so did the guests.

 

Thanks S+S for setting aside a little extra time in your busy wedding day for some on-location bridal coverage! It was fun photographing indoors at the restaurant & bar and getting creative with the Bride + Groom : ) Sean + Stephanie — we hope you love these fun pics and enjoy the photographed memories of your wedding day. Thanks for hiring us, we enjoyed celebrating with your family & friends and maybe we’ll see you again one day one soon at one of their weddings… if we’re lucky!!”

 

 

 

 

Revisit Sean + Stephanie’s Winter engagement photo session which also took place at Bliss Woods in Sugar Grove.

 

Sean + Stephanie’s outdoor wedding ceremony and reception were both in Sugar Grove Illinois. Their Spring wedding ceremony took place at Bliss Woods and following was the reception at the nearby Kane County F.O.P. wooden lodge and rustic barn. Wedding day planning and coordination by Mary Beth Kraft from Social Butterfly 630-631-9567. The live event music was by the Aletheia String Quartet, the Brent Shroy Recital, Stephanie’s sister Amanda and Scott Monahan of DJ Monty 618-567-6237.