“As you can imagine, with freezing temperatures and bitter wind gusts, outdoor Winter Chicago engagement sessions are only occasionally featured here on our Chicago wedding photography blog. Most couples would rather shoot during warmer weather. : ) We were excited when a slight February warm up in temps came along for these guys.

 

A rare experience for us, we photographed some of Stephanie + Sean’s engagement photos at the same place their outdoor wedding ceremony will also take place. A picturesque location with a creek, tall grasses and amazing 150 year old plus towering oak trees, we can see why they love spending time at Bliss Woods Forest Preserve. The entire park is beautiful! Since they are planning a Spring wedding, they were enthusiastic about changing up the season and shooting Winter engagement photos in the snow. Located in the town where S+S grew up, Sugar Grove’s Bliss Woods Nature Preserve is a very familiar park to them with many milestones in Stephanie + Sean’s relationship. The park is a romantic reminder of their weekend biking, picnicking and hiking dates, it’s the location where Sean proposed to Stephanie, and not to mention it’s where their upcoming May 2010 wedding ceremony will reside.

 

All of our Chicago engagement sessions are a good time and we enjoy talking and getting to know better each of our couples. Ryan especially won’t be forgetting this shoot anytime soon. He was just laughing the other day telling his “Man vs. Wild” story of maneuvering around the creek, trying to get the best angle, getting a little too close to the creek bank and breaking through the ice! About a 1/4 of his leg went deep into the cold, icy water. Needless to say, he was much colder than the rest of us for the remainder of the day.

 

Stephanie and Sean we look forward to photographing you, your family and friends at Bliss Woods again in a few months! Enjoy counting down the days… your wedding is less than one hundred days from today.”

Sarah + Ryan Miller:

“When Jorie first contacted us in October, she was anxious to squeeze in an e-session before the cold, Fall weather approached. We picked a great day… the sunny, 70 degree weather in November was definitely a treat!

 

Derek + Jorie found our Chicago wedding photographer blog and fell in love with our unique style of combining nature and modern engagement photo locations for each of our couples.

 

Every photo shoot we go on seems to evolve differently. For Jorie and Derek, all of the elements aligned and we stumbled upon a hidden gem of a location! The first, softer location incorporated a bridge, creek, trees and open field providing a breathtaking, natural setting. Our next stop, provided the perfect edgy, industrial photo op! A chic contrast and ideal for Jorie’s requested modern photo style. Not only did the burned-out, rundown factory mirror exactly Derek’s profession ( being he’s a Fireman for Plainfield and Joliet ), but it also provided a grungy, mix of backdrops for some amazing engagement photos. WOW – - we just might have to return to this awesome location again.

 

Thanks Derek and Jorie in working with us, exploring and letting us get creative. The combination of romantic, modern and edgy images – we can’t say enough about these editorial-style photos! Happy planning Derek and Jorie while you are still narrowing down your plans for a Chicago to Mexico destination wedding. We love locally shooting engagement photos first and then traveling with couples on their destinations. D+J, we hope the e-session shoot and experience was a memorable one for you two. Enjoy!”

 

We are VERY happy to announce a few of Derek + Jorie’s industrial engagement photos are featured on the www.trendsettingwedding.com blog! : )