I met everyone in the morning for hair and makeup with the amazing team of Jody and Christina from Tamara Makeup and Hair Artistry. The ceremony was at the gorgeous  and historic Holy Family Parish where Emma walked down the aisle in her custom made gown by Victoria Sdoukos . From there we stopped in the West Loop area for photos and the iconic Chicago Board of Trades.  Then it was off to the gorgeous reception at Hotel Allegro. KT and her team there did an AMAZING job. The venue was perfection with flowers from Stemline Creative and cake from Alliance Bakery. Dustin with Style Matters kept the place rocking all night! Thank you to my assistant Robyn for being amazing as always!

Congratulations to Emma and Michael and thank you again for allowing me to capture your wedding day!

Meanwhile in the guys room…..

Time to put the dress on!!!

Time for the ceremony!

And then it was back on the trolley to head to Chicago Board of trades

Time for the reception at Hotel Allegro!

During Cocktail hour guests were encouraged to leave their thumbprints and sign creating leaves on the tree and a wonderful piece of art!

I’m declaring this guy the winner of the dance off…..

And lastly me and newlyweds!

I loved that Rachel chose to get ready at her parents house as it has so much more meaning. Rachel and Brian got married at the gorgeous Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Darien,IL. From there we made a stop at Lake Katherine for photos. Despite the never ending winter it was still a gorgeous setting. You would never know from these photos how cold everyone was. I need to give a big thank you to Rachel, Brian and the entire wedding party for toughing out the 40 degree weather for me!

From there it was off to the reception at The Odyssey Club in Tinley Park were we partied the night away! I’m a sucker for uplighting as I feel it changes the whole feel of the room and this one was no exception! Love all the pink!

Congratulations to Rachel and Brian! Here are some of my favorites from the day!

Time to get the dress on!  A big thanks to my amazing assistant Robyn for these next few images. I headed off to the church with the guys and she stayed with Rachel and girls:) Gotta love having 2 photographers!

In the meantime I was shooting the guys….

And the girls are on their way to the church!

Rachel is a special ed teacher and one of her students had the pleasure of announcing her about to walk down the aisle!

Time for the reception!!!

Cupcakes!!!!

Loved their table numbers. Each one had a different fun fact about their relationship!

First Dance

Partytime!!

A big thanks to the gorgeous lady below for introducing me to Rachel and Brian! Thanks Meghan!

And last, but not least me and the newlyweds!

Ceremony Venue: Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Darien,IL

Reception Venue: The Odyssey Country Club in Tinley Park

Photographer : Becky Brown Photography

Hair and Makeup: Goddess Effect

Flowers: J and H Decor

Cupcakes: Molly’s Cupcakes

Dress: Galina Signature by David’s Bridal

Bridesmaids Dresses: Vera Wang by David’s Bridal

DJ: Electric Blue DJ’s

So naturally I was thrilled when she called me about shooting her upcoming August wedding. Although they live in Cincinnati they decided to take a little weekend getaway to Chicago for their engagement session. When we planned this for mid April I wasn’t anticipating the winter that wouldn’t end. I have to give them credit for toughing out the cold and the rain (even though the forecast said 0% chance) for this session. And not only toughing it out, but laughing and having a good time as well! I’m sure the trip to Starbucks to warm us up and fill our need for caffiene didn’t hurt!

Congratulations to Barb and Ali! I can’t wait for you wedding in August!

 One of my favorites below:)

It was drizzling during most of this session, but this is when the rain really kicked it up a notch…..

We stopped in Starbucks for a quick warm up and then back to the hotel for a few to dry out!

And then it was off to Millenium Park!

And off to the bean!

Getting crazy inside the bean!

What’s a good rain session without a puddle reflection shot?

Just like with everything in life there have been amazing moments and there have been awful moments. It’s cheesy to say, but I’ve laughed and I’ve cried – heck I laughed and I cried just writing this blog post! I’ve been so happy that I thought I would explode and there have been days I wanted to throw my camera in the lake. But at the end of the day I wouldn’t change any of it. The hard times have helped me grown as a photographer and a business woman. The great moments will forever live in my memory as a reminder why I do what I do.

So I say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has let me be a part of your wedding day, let me photograph your family , or let me capture the newest member of the family coming into the world, let me take your engagement photos and share in your love.

Thank you to my friends, boyfriend, parents and family for supporting me and listening to me during the ups and downs over the years!

Thank you to all my amazing assistants that have spent hours shooting with me at weddings and held reflectors and lugged around my gear! I wouldn’t be where I am without you all!

Thank you all for an amazing 5 years of business. I look forward to the next 5!

Becky

Although I don’t have a favorite wedding or a favorite session, but rather favorite parts of every shoot I wanted to do a recap of some of the ones that stood out to me over the last 5 years! I’d love to recap them all, but this would be the longest blog post ever! Enjoy!

I have to start with that first wedding. I went back and re-edited a photo from that wedding … its amazing how far I’ve come in my editing process!

This wedding wins the award for Most Random Wedding I’ve ever shot! I was in Cancun on vacation (also 2008) with friends when I saw this couple about  to get married on the beach right near us. Of course I noticed right away that they didn’t have a photographer and I went an introduced myself to a bridemaid and offered to shoot it. I literally ran up to my room to get my camera (yes I brought my camera on vacation) and shot their wedding on the beach while I was still in my bathing suit and cover up! haha…. thanks to Emily and Darci for this photo of me in action!

I spent about 3 and half years working as a freelance photographer for Cummins in Columbus. As part of those duties I took a lot (thousands) of headshots. This was how I spent every other Monday for most of that 3.5 years!

2009 was a crazy year of weddings and personal projects. I had a show of my personal work in Bloomington and Columbus, which also landed me on the cover of the Columbus Republic’s She Magazine. I had no idea I was on the cover until it came out and that day was wild as I got calls and messages from tons of people! I felt like a mini celebrity for the day

One of my favorite venues this year was Martha’s Orchard which is on the west side of Indy. Thanks to Kristen and Derek for allowing me to shot their wedding there:) You can see the full wedding HERE. Hint, Hint…. I’d love to shoot at this venue again

2009 was also the first year I did Help Portrait which is an amazing opportunity to give back with photography. You can find out more about this event here - http://help-portrait.com/

I’ve shot at Clifty Falls Inn 3 times now – in the summer , in the fall and in the winter. Who is getting married there in the spring? I need to round out my seasons!                                                                   This is from Kelsy and Alburn’s 2009 wedding.

I started off 2010 with some snow! One of my  best friends and roommate at the time was engaged and we’d been waiting for some snow to come along for photos. Luckily she and her fiance were home when a big snow storm came through and we braved the cold for a spur of the moment session! HERE  is Lindsey and Brad’s full session.

One memory I’ll never forget is my sister’s wedding in 201o where with the help of my amazing cousin Heather I was the maid of honor and the photographer…. thank god I only have one sister because it was crazy! (I swear I don’t drink while I’m shooting, but I couldn’t resist this photo of beer in one hand, camera in the other in my bridesmaids dress!). See there full wedding HERE.

My first Brownstown wedding was in 2010 and every year since then I’ve shot a wedding there with a reception in Pewter Hall! Thanks to Becca and Phil for being the ones to kick off this tradition!See their full wedding HERE.

201o was also the year I shot Ashley and Tyler’s wedding in Bloomington, which is hands down has had the most wild weather and events of any wedding I’ve ever shot. They were amazing throughout the entire day despite the curveballs that kept being thrown their way. Between the power outage at the resort, the scorching heat during the day followed by a summer thunder storm and a trip to the hospital for one guest it’s one I’ll never forget! You can read their entire story HERE. 

I  made a stop at the B&H photography superstore while I was there …. aka…. what I imagine heaven to be like

I know I said I don’t have favorite, but this one might be the exception mostly because it’s so different than most of my “normal” images. At the end of Sarah and David’s engagement session it had started raining pretty hard and I wanted to attempt some rain shots. Luckily for me they allowed me to play with some lighting and this is the end result You can see their full session HERE.

You just don’t get this skyline in Indy I loved this e-session with Krista and Billy! See the full session HERE.

Here is a recent food photo from a project my mom and I have been working on

My favorite wedding guests Dave and JoAnn… I think we’ve been at 3 or 4 wedding together now over the years? Maybe soon they’ll be the Bride and Groom (hint hint Dave

You always know it’s going to be a good day when you get to work with great people! Diane with Just Breathe Events tranformed the reception into a gorgeous winter theme.  I got to spend the day with my friend Jesse from Love’s Reel who create an amazing video of the day that you can see HERE. The day was literally picture perfect with snow covering all the trees at Clifty Park. When I arrived I felt like I already knew the entire wedding party and families! So many people reached out to me after their engagement session (that you can see HERE) and I can truly say that Stephanie and Gary are surrounded by so many amazing people who love them. I was honored to be a part of the day!

Here are my favorites from the day!

This was Steph’s “something blue” – made by Gary’s cousin out of their Grandmother’s quilt scraps.

I LOVED this first look!!! My wonderful assistant Leslie braved the cold to get some great shots from outside while I stayed in to get the close ups.

** a note to all winter brides – keep in mind it gets dark sooo much earlier in the winter so I highly recommend a first look if you’re doing a winter wedding. By the time we left the ceremony at this wedding it was already dark so if they hadn’t seen each other beforehand we never would have gotten all these amazing snowy photos that you’re about to see:)

And then the real adventure began as we headed outside in the snow

One of my favorites ever of the girls! They were rocking the jackets!

We headed from Clifty over the church in Versailles

Seriously – how cute are these flower girls?!

The photos below were actually taken before the ceremony as well so I’m going a little out of order here but I wanted to mix it up!

And time for the reception!

Gary made this awesome card holder himself!

Yep those are “white trash wine glasses” haha… you really can find anything on the internet these days

On the left is Gary’s groom cake filled with all kinds of his favorites. It’s a chocoholics dream!

I love that Grandma hit up the photo booth!

Ceremony Venue : Versailles Baptist Church

Reception Venue : Clifty Inn at Clifty Falls State Park – Madison, IN

Event Planner : Diane Lock – Just Breathe Events

Photographer : Becky Brown Photography

Videographer : Jesse Wallace – Love’s Reel

Photo Booth: Behind the Curtain Photobooth

DJ: K-Rox DJ Service

Transportation: Xtreme Transportation Limo Bus

Hair & Makeup : Leah Handlon with Posh Salon and Spa – Greenfield, IN

Flowers : Ivy Vine Florist – Madison, IN

Cake: Nancy’s Tasteful Cakes

Invitations: McPersons via Just Breathe Events

Catering : Clifty Inn

Bridal Gown and Bridesmaids dresses: That Special Touch

Tuxes: Jim’s Formal Wear

Jill and I were  also doing a giveaway for a free engagement session me with and a glam session with her  and the winners are…… drumroll….. Lisa & Mike!!

Enjoy some photos from the show! And a big thanks to Jill Hammelman Hair Design for partnering with me and to my wonderful friend Mia for helping me man my table!

You can check out Martha’s blog for the post about this year’s NYC show - http://www.themarthablog.com/2013/02/attending-martha-stewarts-wedding-party.html

And in even better news I will be giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky bride! (A $110 value )All you have to do to enter is fill out the contact form HERE and be sure to leave a note in the comments area that you are entering for  the chance to win the pair of tickets. I will be doing a blind drawing for the winner Wednesday afternoon. All entries need to be to me by by 2pm on Wednesday March 6th! Keep in mind that the event is this Sunday so check your calendars to make sure you’re available before you enter!

REBECCA & NATHAN WON!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Welcome! I am so excited about this contest and I’ve had some great entries from some amazing couples so it’s going to be hard to predict a winner!

Below are their stories (in no particular order). I’ve decided not to include photos because I really want people to read the stories and choose based the words rather than just scrolling through the images and not reading anything. Let’s face it, we all have a short attention span these days! 

To vote you much scroll all the way to the bottom and choose your favorite and then hit “vote”. If you don’t hit vote it will not be counted. Commenting on your favorites is great, but it also does not count as a vote.

Good luck to everyone!!!  Voting continues until 7pm central time on Thursday Feb. 28th!

#1 Rebecca & Nathan – engaged on Rebecca’s birthday 10/9/12 and getting married 12/28/13!

“ The story of how we met and how he proposed are wonderfully intertwined. We had been on Ball State University’s campus together for 3 years and have created so many wonderful memories there. Nathan knew the best way to tie all those wonderful memories of our past into the promise of our future.  He sent me on a scavenger hunt on my birthday while just making me think I was getting some cheering up on an uneventful Tuesday afternoon.

I set out to the spots that were important to us and I was met at each location by people who have been important to us.  I was sent to where he first saw me, at the Scramble Light on campus when I was visiting Ball State with my parents.  He has always given me a hard time for not remembering bumping into him there.  Then I was sent to where we saw each other again and spent a large portion of our relationship, in the music rehearsal building on campus.  That has also been something he’s teased me about because I was so nervous auditioning for the University Singers that I didn’t remember seeing him again!

After that I traveled to the spot on the White River where we spent the whole night talking and finding out how much alike we were.  I know that night is when I fell in love with him. I traveled to more spots until I came to Beneficence, the statue we both love, and is a symbol of the school we love so much.  I was met there with not just a note, but also a CD which was to entertain me while I traveled to Indianapolis.  When I got there my first stop was Lucas Oil Stadium. Both of us are life-long Colts fans, making it the perfect place to begin in the city. I was met there by a friend who drove me to the canal by the Indianapolis Zoo.

There Nathan stood at the end of a walkway.  When we reached each other we walked along the canal as he told me wonderful things about how he loved me and how he wanted to make me remember all the good times they had that sometimes get buried in the day to day grind. He told me how he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and he didn’t want to forget any of the parts of our history.  As we neared the end of the walk, he turned me around to view the Indianapolis skyline.  The view was stunning and as we stood there in the lights of the city we love, he got down on one knee and made me the happiest girl in the world. “

#2 Maria & Brad – engaged on  10/28/12  & getting married on 05-04-2013

“I love a saying who’s author I do not know that goes a little something like this, “It’s so amazing when someone comes to your life and you expect nothing out of it, but suddenly…..there….right in front of you is everything you ever needed.” When we saw each other for the first time I was looking at paint colors for my new car and he was grabbing a cup of coffee. I remember seeing him, but that was all. I didn’t end up seeing him again for about a month.

I did this contest a couple years ago, but I chose the winner. This time I’m going to leave it up to you guys! You will be able to vote for your favorite couple’s love story and the one with the most votes will win a free engagement session with me!

Here are the contest rules and information:

1. You must be recently engaged, although it doesn’t matter when your wedding date is (as long as you aren’t already married)

2. You must be able to do the session in Chicago, Indianapolis or Columbus, IN or be willing to travel to one of those locations.

** or NYC if you can be available for the couple of days I’m there in the first week of Sept. for a wedding

3. I am all over the place for weddings, so I will send dates I’m available depending on who wins and where they are located.

4. You must not have already done an engagement session with another photographer (sorry I don’t want to make any of my fellow photographers mad or have them thinking I’m trying to steal clients! )

5. There must be a minimum of 5 couples sign up for this … it is a contest afterall!

6. You need to send me an email at becky@beckybrownphotography.com with the following information:

- Your names (I will only publish the first names)

- The proposal date and the wedding date (if set, if not just say TBD)

- Where you live (this is just for me) and where the wedding will be (if in a different location)

- A brief paragraph telling me your “love story”.  How you met, how he proposed and anything else that you think might win you the contest! Keep in mind I will likely be copying and pasting these paragraphs so don’t include anything you don’t want published on the blog!

- A photo of the two of you (if you have one from the day/night of proposal showing off the new ring that’s even better).

All entries must be sent to me by Sunday the 24th at 9pm!!! . The blog will go up on the following Monday and voting will end at 7pm (central time) on Thursday Feb. 28th.

Best of luck to everyone! Can’t wait to read everyone’s stories!!!

Becky

In the fall Susan found out she was being relocated to Dallas for work and couldn’t imagine going without Dan. He popped the question shortly after. Although they were planning their big wedding in Scotland in December they had a small city hall ceremony and reception in Chicago where they fell in love and allowed me to tag along!

I wish I shot more of these smaller weddings because I absolutely loved it. We were able to take our time and explore the city and just enjoy the day. They were troopers as it was freezing (literally the high was 32).  We hit some of their favorite places in the city and stopped to warm up at the Hotel Lincoln where they were staying. More people should get married on Mondays!!

Congrats to Susan and Dan! I’m going to kick this post off with their contest winning photo!

I joined them at City Hall (after basically telling them I was coming whether they liked it or not ) for the brief ceremony.

From there we walked over to the La Salle Street Bridge from some of my favorite shots of the day

From there we jumped in the car and headed to North Ave. Beach.

At this point we were all practically frozen solid so we headed to Hotel Lincoln for some coffee to warm up. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. It’s such a cool new funky hotel and the staff were AMAZING. They were so friendly and even let us up on the rooftop for a few shots!

And off to our last stop – Wrigley Field!

We parted ways for a couple of hours as the newlyweds went to and amazing lunch/dinner. I met back up with them that evening as they had a small party with some of their friends and co-workers from Chicago complete with champagne and toasts!

Group pic!!!

And lastly me and the newlyweds!!!