Chicago Wedding and Elopement Photographer

Hotel Allegro Chicago Wedding : Tiffanie + John 11/15/14

March 5, 2015

This was my final wedding of 2014 (I’m behind on blogging) and it was an amazing one to end the season with! You may remember Tiffanie and John from their epic New York City Engagement session (you can see that HERE). That day was hot and humid July day in Central Park…. I wish we could have brought some of that warmth with us to their wedding day! November in Chicago is never known for being a warm month, but as their date approached it seemed we would looking at temps possbile below freezing, which is a little abnormal for that time of year. I was watching the weather like a hawk, trying to come up with back up plans if they didn’t want to shoot outside. Chicago loves to make you pay for photo permits to shoot anywhere indoors so it’s an uphill battle. I definitely lost some sleep stressing myself out about it, but in the end it all worked out!

After heading down to Hotel Allegro a few days before the wedding my nerves were calmed a bit. Even though I had shot there before I forgot just how many amazing options it provided. They are currently re-doing the lobby so it won’t look like these photos, but I can only imagine it will just as fabulous if not more so! One of my favorite hotels in the city!!

I met the girls in their suite as they were finishing up hair and makeup while my assistant Robyn joined the guys in what I call the “Man Suite” as it has a lounge area and pool table. I knew we were in good hands with the ladies of Clementine Events keeping everything on track. After Tiffanie got into her gorgeous gown we set up first look with her and John in the back part of the lobby area. A few photos around the hotel and we were off to brave the cold! And boy was it cold…. maybe in the 20’s? I have to give a HUGE thank you to this wedding party for toughing it out!!

After their ceremony at Assumption Catholic Church we made a quick stop at Kinzie Bridge for some night photos before heading back to Hotel Allegro to party the night away. They won guests over (especially the guys) with a private Koval tasting room during cocktail hour! The reception room looked amazing thanks to Four Finches and the wonderful KT and her staff were top notch as always. Stitely Orchestra was still bringing down the house when we left!

Thank you again to Tiffanie and John for allowing us to be part of your wedding day!

Getting Ready and Reception Venue : Hotel Allegro

Ceremony Venue : Assumption Catholic Church

Wedding Planner : Clementine Custom Events (Loren)

Wedding Cake : Alliance Bakery

Florist : Four Finches

Videographer : Smiling Toad Productions

Hair & Makeup : Sonia Roselli

Band : Stitely Orchestra

Transportation : Windy City Limonsuine

Cocktail Hour : Koval Distillery

Seriously how cute is her mom helping her get in her dress?!

Meanwhile in the guys room…. the never ending stuggle of how to fold a pocket ….

A quick couple of portraits and final adjustments before they went to see each other!

Ceremony time!

Tiffanie is a big Northwestern football so not even her wedding day was going to stop her from watching them upset Notre Dame!

Back to Hotel Allegro for cocktails!

How awesome is this football themed cake topper?!

I also loved the idea of guests signing the pages of a cook book instead of a traditional guestbook!

It will be so fun for them to look back through as they are cooking these meals together!

I’m pretty sure this wins for cutest ring bearer and flower girl moment of the year. Seriously how adorable is this?!

Sorority sisters and the whole Northwestern crew celebrating the victory!

And last, but not least me and the newlyweds!

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2014: Year in review

February 23, 2015

2014…. where do I even begin?! It should tell you something that it’s almost the end of Feb 2015 and I’m just now getting to writing this post. That’s how amazingly busy 2014 was! I just caught up on editing last week for the first time in almost year!! I look like I’m 95 now when I edit as I’ve had to start wearing wrist supports to survive haha.

But I can’t complain because 2014 has been the most amazing year my business has ever had 🙂 I’m smiling like a fool as I type this just thinking about all the amazing couples and families I got to work with. I always like to sit down at the end of the year and look back through my images and blogs to remind myself how truly blessed I am to do what I do and how lucky I am to be surrounded by such beauty all the time!

A couple of HUGE things happened in 2014. The first being the launch of my second business – Elope to Chicago. I started the site (www.elopetochicago.com) in April and as I’m writing this blog I’ve shot 21 elopements and weekday weddings and I haven’t even hit the year mark yet! I absolutely love elopements. They are so intimate and special – nothing compares! We’ve had couples come to Chicago from all over the US to elope or have a small ceremony with a few guests. I’ve gotten to play tour guide quite a bit and show our couples some of my favorite places in the city which has been so fun for me well!

I know 2015 is only going to be an even more amazing year for Elope as we are already getting floods of emails coming in daily. I have to thank my amazing team – Christine (Florist) , Kate (Hair & Makeup) , Marian (Officiant) and Eva (Officiant) for believing in this idea and dream and helping me make it a reality! I’ve already got new and exciting ideas brewing for 2015!

Here are some favorite elopement shots from 2014!

Don’t worry I still LOVE a big wedding as well! I’m just geting the best of both worlds now! Here’s a few random favorites from this year!

The second bit of giant news that came in 2014 was the addition of a shared studio space!!! This is something I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember! No more meetings at Starbucks next to a crying baby haha. I share the space with two wonderfully talented ladies : Christine Janda (who is also my florist for Elope) and Lindsay Brown (no we aren’t related, but we sometimes tell people we are!). Christine is a florist and planner (her website) and Lindsay designs custom invitations and paper goods (her website) . Basically I’ve just surrounded myself with talented people who create beautiful things! It’s a tough job I have!

Here are some shots of the studio and the grand opening party.

Me, Christine and Lindsay!

Me and my two wonderful assistants Sami and Robyn.

Me and my boyfriend Chris 🙂

Now it’s time to thank the people who I really would not be here with out and that is my family. Mom & Dad you are best in the world and I can’t thank you enough for your support over the years. My brother Dan and my sister Sarah – I love you both and thank you for your love and support as well. Thank you to all my family for listening to my stories and for putting up with me editing during Thanksgiving and Christmas and helping me haul all my gear around all the time. Thank you to my amazing boyfriend Chris who continually has to listen to me talk about weddings and all things wedding related…. I’m sure he loves it 😉

Thank you to my amazing assistants that I worked with in 2014. I had the chance to work with a couple new second shooters this year as I shot in different area and they were all amazing. Robyn, Sami, Allie, Jen, Regina, Renata and Naomi thank you all!! I don’t know what I would do without my second shooters. They keep me sane, make sure I stay on time, are incredibly talented photographer as well and overal just wonderful people that I’m lucky to have. Please don’t ever leave me 🙂

Here are some behind the scenes shots – it’s seems some of my assistants escaped my camera as I don’t have shots of them all!

Thank you to all the wonderful wedding vendors we got to work with this year! There are so many talented people in this city and we were lucky enough to work with many of them in 2014. From hair & makeup artists to florists to wedding planners, videographers, officiants, bands, dj’s and more our jobs are so much more fun when we get to spend them with fun and talented people. A big thank you to all the vendors we worked with in 2014!

Thank you to everyone who has liked a photo on facebook, told a friend about my business or been in front of my camera. And last but not least thank you to all the couples who trusted me to capture their wedding days!!Whether it was 2 people or 200 I treasured them all and without you I would be doing what I do!!

Cheers to 2014!!! I can’t wait to see what 2015 holds and if you know anyone looking for a wedding photographer I might know someone 😉

Love,

Becky

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Old Town & Lincoln Park Engagement Session: Ariana + Dave 11/2/14

February 12, 2015

Meet Ariana and Dave, who are quite possibly the most photogenic people in the world. I’m not sure I could take a bad photo of them if I tried! They are getting married out of state, but wanted some shots in the city so I met up with them at their apartment in Old Town and we wondered around the neighborhood with their adorable dog Obie before heading to Lincoln Park.

After a quick change we were off to North Ave Beach for sunset and some night photos. Although you might not be able to tell it was FREEZING once the sun went down. I’m talking maybe in the 20’s along the lakeshore. They toughed it out for me though!

Congrats to them and here are some of my favorites!