“Ryan and I are very excited to feature these photographs of our close friends Mike + Sheila and their beautiful June wedding. We definitely had some fun with their bridal party during their group photo time and getting creative. We loved the mix of fun, modern, vintage + elegant photos we captured in between M+S’s ceremony and reception.

 

Mike + Sheila currently live downtown Chicago but didn't restrict their venue researching only to the City. They visited Chicagoland wedding venues stretching from Naperville to Lake Forest, and from Chicago to Joliet. Their search was for a truly distinctive venue with style and some historical details. Their final decision was at two venue's in Joliet both with architectural details... a vintage mansion and historical loft building creating a perfect mix of styles.

 

Mike + Sheila's ceremony took place outside the historic Jacob Henry Mansion in Joliet under the venue’s pergola in the secret garden. It was a romantic and picturesque garden setting for their outdoor wedding ceremony. Ryan worked solo on this one and did an amazing job covering this ceremony all 100% on his own with two dueling cameras, one on each shoulder. Yes, I was honored to be a bridesmaid standing up by Sheila + Mike on their wedding day, so my duties were to shared by shooting earlier in the day, followed by enjoying the events of the day. I did share with Ryan during the bridal session in posing and styling, but then we took some time in later to enjoy the party and reception festivities. It was an awesome party, great food, music, martini drink menu and fun. The Department was the perfect historical loft venue adding urban flair to their wedding day. We loved this place! Although compartmentalized, the two story venue was very unique and an awesome suburban substitute for those looking for a downtown Chicago loft reception venue.

 

A huge congratulations goes out to Mike + Sheila!! We hope you enjoy your wedding photos. Thank you for hiring us as your personal wedding photographers and allowing us to capture the memories of your wedding day with family and friends. ( Oh and it was a pleasure standing up as a bridesmaid on your wedding day. SOOOO happy for you guys! Yes... I even shed a tear or two on the day of and when editing these photos. Congrats!! )"

 

 

 

Ceremony: Jacob Henry Mansion, Joliet
Reception: The Department, Joliet
Wedding Dress: Winnie Couture Haute Bridal Fashion
Hotel Prep Location: Harrah’s Casino, Joliet
Bridal Shoes: Caparros
Bridesmaids Shoes: Bandolino
Bridesmaids Dress: Watters, Too
Tuxedos: Formally Modern
Cake: Kirsten’s Danish Bakery, Burr Ridge
Flowers: The Petal Shoppe, Joliet
DJ: Spencer from Style Matters DJs, Chicago
Hair: Total Image Bridal
Airbrushing + Makeup: Total Image Bridal

 

Revisit our engagement photos from Mike + Sheila’s July 2009 Chicago engagement photo session.

“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.