Kara and Chris

Kara and Chris were the last couple I did a consult with in person before the world shut down back in March. Fortunately, with a few changes, they were able to keep their original date and still get married this year! They got married in a beautiful old chapel called St. John the Evangelist in St. John, Indiana with their close family and friends. We did portraits at the flower garden that is part of the St. John the Evangelist parish. The garden was created by one of the priests at the church and it was breathtaking. The location was picked out by Chris and it was refreshing to see the groom as into doing portraits as the bride! Actually, the whole bridal party was into it and we all had a ton of fun before heading to the reception. Backyard receptions are my jam and Kara and Chris had a tent set up at her mom’s house. Kara had a vision for her wedding and to see it come to life was amazing. The flowers were done by Monarch Flowers and the rustic table and chairs were from AAYS Rental. It was perfection! There were so many great moments during their wedding. A couple of my favorites were when the priest told them to kiss and they didn’t hear him (they shouldn’t feel bad about that cause I didn’t hear him either!) and when Chris’ niece and nephews gave an emotional toast at the reception. It was such a great day!! -Jake

Huge thanks to Rachel Langlois for helping me photograph. She's such a talented photographer and I am grateful for her help on this day!! You can check out her work here.

Vendors:

Catering: Ace Catering Company out of Dyer, Indiana

Rentals: AAYS Rental- farm tables, chairs and tent , whiskey barrels, dance floor- Mishawaka, Indiana. 

Flowers: Monarch Flowers St. John , IN 

Hair: Ora & Sara from the Scissori Salon

Make up: Crystal and Kylie from Merle Norman Studio

Dj: Dan Gin

Dress: Here Comes the Dress- Justin Alexander -Venice ...Chesterton, Indiana

Photo location: St. John the Evangelist flower garden!

Reception: Debra and Newton Sewells backyard!

Engagement Portraits - Rachel and Keegan

For a while this summer it was blazing hot and it cooled off just in time for Rachel and Keegan’s engagement photos at St. James Farm in Wheaton. It was the perfect evening for portraits. I was so happy when I learned that they were bring their rescue pups Withers and Alfred to be a part of their session. Special thanks to Rachel’s sister who help wrangle the dogs when they weren’t in the photos and for getting Rachel and Keegan to laugh. I have a feeling I’m going to have a great time at their wedding in April at the Arrowhead Golf Course! -Jake

The Elsass Family

I think I’ve done four sessions for the Elsass family now and every session is alot of fun! I met with them at Ryerson woods because it had a good mix of backgrounds to use. The kiddos were getting a little tired by the end of the session but I worked my magic and got alot of smiles out of them! Here’s a few of my favorites from their session! -Jake

Sarah and Eric

I had the pleasure of photographing Sarah and Eric’s wedding the other week at one of coolest venues in Illinois, The Silver Fox. It was an old Masonic Temple that they turned into a swanky speakeasy feeling wedding venue. Seriously, everywhere you turn at this place is an opportunity to make great photos. The day started with one of the groomsmen combing through their extensive vinyl collection which set the mood of the day. Their ceremony was held upstairs in an old auditorium and the reception was downstairs in a refurbished community room. I had a wonderful time spending the day with Sarah and Eric and I can’t wait to show them all the photos!

Here’s a list of their vendors:

Venue: The Silver Fox
DJ: Shah Quaiyoom
Hair: Corpo Bello Salon
Makeup: Stef Krause
Caterer: Mark Allen’s in Peru, IL
Dessert: The Ottawa Bakery
Alcohol: Streator Drugs

Alyssa and Adam

We have always had good intentions to keep our blog updated and showcase all the beautiful weddings that we photograph but between wrangling our three awesome boys, all the (MANY) photo shoots this past year, and the work we've done with animal rescue our blog has been neglected.  Over the next couple of weeks we are going to be posting a few of the weddings we photographed this past year and, hopefully, this coming wedding season we will be able to keep things updated a little better!  

Today's post is going to showcase some of our favorite photos from Alyssa and Adam's wedding at Emerson Creek Pottery and Tea Room in Oswego, IL. We love getting some fresh air and photographing weddings that are out in the country.  Emerson Creek is one of our favorite places to shoot as it has a cute bridal coop for getting ready shots, the tented reception area that backs up to a converted shed that's perfect for cocktails, and all the beautiful scenery to take portraits in front of. But more importantly we wanted to share this wedding because Alyssa and Adam are so in love with each other and it was such a joy to photograph their sunny September outdoor ceremony.