“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.”

 

“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.”