David and Yesenia are both teachers, and figured that Winter break would be a great time to get married at St. Charles’ Pheasant Run Resort. To top it off, they created the theme of their reception around their profession………
I kinda wondered after I took this picture who had the “honor” of sitting at the Detention labeled table….turns out it was Yesenia and David’s fellow teachers!
The funny thing about this picture is David doesn’t play a lick of piano (apparantly “chop-sticks” are even a challenge), but Yesenia is actually pretty good!
I cracked up when I saw this on their kitchen whiteboard….apparently there’s already been some discussion about when to start a family!
Both of Christie’s Pup’s were ready to roll, although Jack wasn’t so keen on being relegated to the upstairs once everyone was dressed
Every groom says “Oh I’m fine, not nervous at all, just excited and ready for the big day (and they’re all lying!)” It was really refreshing that Charlie admitted “Yeah, I’m a bit freaked out right about now!” Although you wouldn’t know it from this picture….looks pretty cool….
After their ceremony, we hopped across St. Charles’ Fox River and headed to Pottawatomie Park and the timing couldn’t have been better for their wedding and bridal pictures. The cool thing about using Pottawatomie Park for wedding pictures is the large tower and pavilion make it possible to take pictures there even if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Fortunately the weather more than cooperated for Christie and Charlies pictures, and we were lucky to get there just as the sun was setting (which by the way is the beautiful thing about fall weddings….as soon as the sun is gone…it’s time for the cocktail hour to start anyway. So even though you might not have a ton of daylight for your pictures….you’ve got the best light of the day!)
This was awesome. Neither Christie or Charlie are really into wedding cake (or cake in general I guess), so they decided to hire Cold Stone Creamery to provide an ice cream bar instead of serving wedding cake! So there was no cutting of the cake, just a scooping of the first scoop! Kinda cool when the first major decision of your marriage is what type of candy topping to put on your ice cream!……
…..mmmmm, come here caramel goodness….get down with your bad – self on that waffle bowl and vanilla ice cream!
I love taking bridal parties to the Morton Arboretum for their wedding pictures. Last year I went there with Carrie & Brian for their wedding, as well as with Erin & Chris for their engagement pictures…..and this past weekend I was back there with Amber & Shaun. Every bride wants to know what’s going to happen to their wedding pictures if it rains. Well Friday it rains, and while every bride wants brilliant sunshine for their photographs, you have to play the cards you’re dealt and figure out a way to make cool pictures regardless of the weather……..
Amber’s a dentist, and I thought this was a really cool idea for a wedding reception favor for her guests……
This was definitely one of the more unique wedding reception entrances I’ve seen. Luckily the Westin Lombard has an enormous ballroom which can accomodate a backdrop like this one for a grand entrance!
The amazing decor which transformed the Westin Hotel Lombard for their wedding reception was provided by Yanni Design Studio of Glenview. Pretty easy to make a good photography with this much effort being put into the overall look of the wedding. Be sure to keep an eye on the WEtv network because Rachel & Constantine’s wedding is soon to be featured on the show Platinum Weddings!
Westin Lombard Yorktown
70 Yorktown Shopping Center
Lombard, Il.60148
(630) 719-8000
Yanni Design Studio
4316 Regency Dr
Glenview, IL. 60025
847-827-8180
This was the first wedding I took pictures at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but this cool re-creation of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street offered some pretty sweet opportunities for portrait images…..(check out the next to last one below…..)
I find it odd that people always say stuff like “here comes the paparazzi photographer” when they see me walk in to the ceremony area…..but then you see stuff like this. Excuse me…..Mr. Pot…this is Mr. Kettle…..guess what…you’re black!
Brides always worry about crying when they first see their fiance on their wedding day….but it’s always the speech by the maid-of-honor that turns on the waterworks. I don’t know exactly what Grace’s MOH said, but it made for a pretty emotional picture.
Pheasant Run Resort
4051 East Main St.
St. Charles, Il. 60174
800-474-3272
I shot Sarah & Arrick’s wedding engagement images back in June at Millenium Park in Chicago. Well this past weekend they celebrated their wedding and wedding reception at Wheaton’s Cantigny Park. Here’s a few photographs from their day…….
I’ll admit that I didn’t plan this picture at all. It just worked out that the image of their reflection showed up in the fireplace glass during their first dance! I love this picture of Sarah watching her Dad signing their Ketubah during their wedding ceremony. After Sarah and Arrick signed, and just as her Dad began to sign his name, she reached over and grabbed onto Arrick. Holding on to her new husband while watching her father provide his approval with his signature on a traditional marriage document.
Cantigny Park
1s151 Winfield Road
Wheaton, Il. 60189
So here’s the REAL wedding pictures from Amy & Steve’s wedding at The Hyatt Lodge at McDonald’s Rather than post a long line of images…I went the slideshow route on this one….Take a look below the two “normal” pictures…..
I thought Craig’s Spiderman cufflinks were pretty cool, definitely one of the more unique cufflink ideas I’ve seen this season which made for some cool pictures……
But then I realized that ALL of the groomsmen had comic book/superhero/action figure type cufflinks! In the above image are Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Transformers, something from the game Halo, and one I’m not sure about. I was a bit surprised nobody had a secret decoder ring to give to the bride!
After everyone was dressed and presentable for the ceremony, we hopped across the expressway and over to Chicago’s Botanic Gardens for the bridal party and Bride & Groom wedding photographs….
Apparently Craig really got into the whole Spiderman thing before we started his grooms portraits!
This wedding party could not stop laughing and having a great time all day. Despite the fact that it was really hot and humid outside, everyone was in a great mood!
I have no idea what was going on here…..but it’s a funny picture shot sometime after the wedding ceremony!
As if the cufflinks weren’t enough….the wedding bridal party entrance was a “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme complete with sword fighting bridesmaids!
Renaissance Northshore
933 Skokie Boulevard
Northbrook, IL. 60062
847-498-6500
Chicago Botanic Gardens
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, Il. 60022
847-835-5440
