“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.”

 

“With so many photos and wedding day details, we could have several Mike + Aimeé wedding photo blog entries describing the details of their amazing wedding day. While driving home from their wedding, we kept raving about how amazing and intricately specialized every moment of their wedding day truly was.

 

To sum it all up, their Illinois Spring wedding was a Chicago wedding photographers “dream” to photograph… so many details, DETAILS, details!! To all who attended, didn’t you appreciate every single detail too? … Between the bride, groom, both of their families and wedding day coordination from Holly Coan of A Passion For Weddings, it was a dazzling designed and a “modern vintage styled” wedding day.

 

Mike and Aimeé’s elegant Chicagoland wedding, ceremony and bridal session all took place at the historic Patrick C. Haley Mansion in Joliet Illinois. The Patrick Haley Mansion is a three and one half story exquisite “Castle on the Hill” located in downtown Joliet. The historical wedding venue provided wonderful photo opportunities for us to create some overall distinctive styled pictures and the perfect location for pre-ceremony, bridal magazine editorial style photos of Aimeé in her empire style, lace 2010 Pronovias Collection wedding gown. We always love photographing our couples in unique venue’s environments, but when Aimee offered to us added time for a solo bridal session in the Mansion, we fell in love with the idea!

 

The Patrick Haley Mansion was built in 1889 and is a historical wedding venue described as stately and impressive. The Mansion is decorated with antique period furniture and includes the full use of the entire inside and the outside building’s grounds – - access is to the Mansion’s historical three floors on South side of the property and it includes to the North the grand ballroom, conservatory and outside garden. The mix of venue styles is “vintage history, plus sophistication” all-in-one for a visually impressive and memorable wedding event space! We loved it. ( And Aimeé told us she did too. ) Opting for the indoor ceremony option, as M+A’s April Spring day was sunny but a little chilly, their sun filled indoor space was ideal for indoor, ceremony photography and lighting. The conservatory’s floor to ceiling windows and the golden sun shining was magical. After dinner, the venue converted the conservatory space providing the perfect stage for their choreographed wedding’s first dance under the ceiling’s atrium skylights.

 

Just to name a few, of the many details, we loved… the handcrafted hurricane candle lit table centerpieces, subtle touches of soft pink at each table, the “Bella Rosa” gold sugar lined pink martini wedding cocktail drinks created in honor of Mike + Aimeé, the opening of the ceremony when a guest speaker spoke to Mike prior to Aimeé’s entry at the ceremony, and the various reception moments ( such as the elegant first dance, desserts and the added venue’s architectural highlights. ) There were too many beautiful individualized touches on Mike and Aimeé’s day to list – details were around every corner. We enjoyed the bridal party who as a group were dressed an a modern vintage and elegant style. For Aimeé and her bridesmaid’s, as a pleasant alternative to holding flowers, the ladies carried white satin clutches and accessorized with contrasting black gloves. Aimee’s Barcelona dress was paired with a Spanish fan and family heirloom handkerchief. Her eye catching, cathedral length veil next to Mike’s distinctive suit’s fittings, all composed their regal wedding day style. A stunning couple and fantastic bridal party group to photograph!

 

Thank you Mike + Aimeé again in choosing us as your wedding photographers! We are so happy a past client of ours Joshua + Stacy referred you to us. We loved every moment of your wedding, the personalized details, the historic venue and working with the two of you. We wish your new marriage all the best. Enjoy your Punta Cana, Dominican honeymoon trip + best wishes to a happily wedded future together.”

 

 

 

Revisit our September 2009 engagement photo session with Mike + Aimee.

 

Mike + Aimee’s bridal session, wedding and reception venue all took place at Patrick C. Haley Mansion patrickhaleymansion.com. in Joliet Illinois. Wedding day planning and coordination by Holly Coan from A Passion For Weddings apassionforweddings.com. Mike + Aimee’s first dance instructor was Elena at Tinley Park Fred Astaire Dance Studio fredastairetinleypark.com. Aimee’s arranged a week prior to her wedding a trip to New York to pick up her wedding gown from Pronovias’s New York City Flagship Store. To view more stunning dresses by the Barcelona dress designer Pronovias, visit pronovias.com.

“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.”

“Just before the winter cold set in, our close friends The Green Family, contacted us with one mission in mind… to stay away from the boring photos everyone else seems to have hanging on their refrigerators and shoot some beyond-the-norm and far-from-ordinary family portraits. We eagerly accepted – as we love creating out of the box photos! We set out upon a couple of our favorite Chicago area outdoor photo spots and captured some ultra modern family portraits.

 

Ryan “Dad” is also an artist, so he not only liked our edgy and unique portrait photo style, but also loved our photo wall art products. The Green Family recently moved into a new home so taking their artistic family photos and enlarging them on one of our huge Metal Wall Art Murals ( super mod ) was a perfect decorating solution for their home’s blank walls. They also used the photos for their Christmas cards and enlarged a few shots on Canvas Gallery Wraps for grandparent’s holiday gifts. Enjoy!”

 

 

Sarah + Ryan Miller:

“The months of October + November have been incredibly busy for Miller + Miller! Actually, the busiest we’ve been all year. While balancing a hefty schedule of photographing weddings, commercial photo shoots, engagement photo sessions and Fall family portraits, plus juggling the varying weather forecasts – needless to say our blog has suffered. Therefore, we’re a little behind in blog entries.

 

For this photo session, simply put… Sergio and Kristen are a super cool couple! Very easy going and obviously madly-in-love with each other, they put their trust in us to create some unique engagement photos and memories. For S+K’s engagement photo session, we choose to go out West exploring a few of our favorite spots within the Starved Rock area. We had an incredible Saturday afternoon with some brisk chilly wind, but a crystal-clear, crisp blue Illinois sky. The outcome, dramatic and amazing engagement pictures! The colorful sunset paired with an incredible couple, makes for some vibrant engagement photos. We love these photos!

 

Sergio + Kristen… we had a wonderful time getting to know you during your engagement session. We can’t wait for your 2010 October wedding at Timbercreek Hotel and Lodge. We hope you enjoy your engagement photos – choosing 10 favorite images for your engagement guest book will be a challenge. There are too many options!”

 

Sarah + Ryan Miller:

“We apologize for delay in new Blog entries. August has seriously been a busy month with a variety of new photo shoots and even a bit of traveling!

Before last week’s trip to Florida, we had the honor of photographing beautiful Baby Allison. Previewing to you above are a few of our favorite images from Baby Allison’s 1st of 3 portrait sessions. Mom ( Carrie ) approached us about our Newborn Life Session package. Carrie’s Life Session package includes an elegant accordion folio, a great way to display three of her favorite images – one from each session. The package is great for growing families and photo documenting a newborn’s first year. Carrie – we can’t wait for the next shoot in October! We are looking forward to seeing how Allison grows and changes over the next year. Photographing Allison throughout the season changes will also be a fun experience!”

Ryan + Sarah Miller:

“On Sunday, Laura and Doug had a wedding ceremony and reception, with their gathering of their closest family and friends, at the Founder’s Room at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. A beautiful setting, the Founder’s Room features ornate bookcases, marble fireplace, intimate alcove, and stained glass windows, is a visual step back into the early 20th century. The nail biting week prior, the weather leading up to their special day was rainy, but luck prevailed and on Sunday it was an utterly beautiful and picturesque day! We enjoyed gathering photos after the ceremony within the Fragrance Garden, along the Joy Path and outside on the Thornhill Lawn behind the Founder’s Room. Oak Brook IL Illinois Wedding Photography. Congrats Laura and Doug and we wish you all the best! Yorkville Illinois IL Wedding Photography. Take a peek at their Naperville Illinois Wedding Engagement Photography we posted to our blog back in July.”