“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.

“Congratulations goes out to Robert + the beautiful Lindsey. Their wedding was absolutely gorgeous and everything on their 123 acre estate and grove National historic landmark ground’s in Glenview looked amazing!!

 

When searching for a wedding and reception site, Lindsey said her hunt was for a Chicagoland mansion wedding venue, but in addition to the site having a mansion, it must offer the option for an outside ceremony, and nature if possible. Mission accomplished… Redfield Estate at The Grove is a North Shore gem of a location! And yes it was a beautiful ceremony spot. Located a few miles North of Lindsey’s family’s home town of the Naperville area, the estate’s Glenview location was a short drive for the family and their Pastor Josh Cook from Calvary Church of Naperville. The Redfield Estate is a beautiful historic landmark wedding venue that was built in 1929. Restricted to small weddings, holding up to 100 guests, this distinctive venue offers world-class charm, history and elegance. The venue’s combination of Old World charm and the majesty of the spacious outdoor lawn surrounded by woodlands offered so many photographic options. We could’ve spent hours roaming around this venue taking photos of the couple. We can’t wait for another future event at the estate.

 

Lindsey said, when her and RJ found the Redfield Estate, they fell in love with the location, it’s natural beauty and historic charm. For their spring wedding, Lindsey decorated with earth tones and the colorful Spring shades of greens, with yellow accents. Her bridesmaids wore green dresses and it was fun meeting all of Lindsey’s 6 sisters who rounded out all of her bridesmaids ( she is one of 8 kids in the family… 7 girls and 1 boy who is the youngest brother in the family, and one of RJ’s groomsmen. ) Finishing up the bridal party was RJ’s two brothers. For Lindsey, you can imagine why she didn’t assign a maid-of-honor roll… how could a sister choose between six sisters? : )

 

Taking advantage of the Redfield Estates’s very photographic grounds around the outside of the Mansion, plus looking to provide to Miller+Miller a good amount of time for creative photos, RJ + Lindsey decided upon the decision to see each other before their ceremony. We love capturing this “first glance” time and the moments they turn and see each other for the first time. A special moment… capturing pure smiles, sometimes tears and definitely many emotions of the couple’s pure happiness!! This first meeting moment is memorable and a special private experience many of our couple’s decide to incorporate into their day’s schedule – especially when one single venue hosts both their ceremony + reception at the same location.

 

After RJ + Lindsey’s “first glance”, we ventured around the estate’s exquisitely landscaped yard and snapped a few individual photos of the couple and then pre-ceremony, bridal party group photos with the bridesmaids and groomsmen. At 3:00 PM their beautiful mid-day, outdoor ceremony proceed under a gazebo which was just a short walk beyond the historic Redfield Estate home. Afterwards, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were enjoyed by guests on the lawn and the estate’s terrace. The reception, dinner and dancing continued on indoors in the first floor’s, 3 main rooms and the great room of the historic estate. With guest’s spanning the entire first floor of the estate, their 65 guests enjoyed the close, intimate, dinner party feeling during dinner. The food was amazingly delicious!

 

Closing the wedding festivities at 8:45 in the evening, RJ and Lindsey arrange for a send-off time. Departing their wedding day in style, a vintage, Rolls-Royce getaway car arrived at dusk. Under the venue’s twinkle lights, we snapped the last images of RJ + Lindsey just before leaving to the airport for their California Newport Beach and Catalina Island honeymoon.

 

RJ + Lindsey… thanks for choosing us to capture your memorable wedding day celebration with your closest family and friends! Again, congrats!! Hope you enjoy these sneak peek and favorite images of ours from your beautiful wedding. We can’t wait to show to you the rest of the image proofs which will be ready in a few more weeks. Hope you had a wonderful time on your honeymoon and are now enjoying newly-wedded life… ”

 

 

 

 

Reception + Ceremony Venue: Redfield Estate at The Grove, Glenview, Illinois
Ceremony Officiant: Pastor Josh Cook, Calvary Church, Naperville, Illinois
Wedding Cake: Chocolate Wedding Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Hors d’oeuvres: Meatballs, Tuscan Rice Fritters, Artichoke Parmesan Puffs
Dinner Featured: A Bistro Salad with Berries and Balsamic Vinaigrette, Beef Tenderloin, Roulade of Chicken, Portabella Mushrooms
DJ + Music by: Ken Murphy from AMP DJ Services
Honeymoon: Catalina Island + Newport Beach California

 

Lindsey commented how extreme temperatures both their winter engagement session at close to the teens was and for their wedding, so abnormally warm at about 90 with high humidity. Revisit those photos of Robert + Lindsey’s Winter, downtown Naperville riverwalk engagement photo session in the snow!