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!

Jamie and Michael

Jamie and Michael got married on a beautiful late summer day at St. Emily’s in Mount Prospect surrounded by their families. After their church ceremony we stopped at Ryerson Woods Forest Preserve which was conveniently along the way to the reception. Ryerson is a great option for portraits in the Lincolnshire/Wheeling area as it has lots of trails, prairie views, and natural beauty. Their reception was held at the lakeside pavilion at the Lincolnshire Marriott resort. I love this venue because the reception room is all floor to ceiling windows which lets in tons of natural light. Instead of doing their dancing indoors they had music and their first dances outside on the patio which was a great alternative to the traditional dance floor. I had an amazing time capturing Jamie and Michael’s wedding and wish them a heartfelt congratulations! -Jake

Hair and makeup by Hairs2thebride.

Flowers were from Whole Foods.

Catherine and Faiz

Catherine and Faiz got married a couple of weekends ago in Catherine’s parents backyard. When I got there I was immediately greeted by their sweet pup named Bear and I knew that it was going to be a great evening. Although it started to rain a bit, the storm blew through quickly and their ceremony started only 30 minutes behind schedule! A huge shout out to Catherine’s dad who made the benches for the ceremony site and cooked the food for the dinner. It was such a perfect evening!

The following day I met up with Catherine and Faiz again downtown Chicago and spent a couple more hours with them doing portraits around the city! Some of the spots we made it to were the Art Institute, Lurie Gardens, Wrigley Building, and the Riverwalk. Thank you to Catherine and Faiz for having me be a part of their wedding weekend! -Jake

Maggie and Patrick

It’s not news that this pandemic has been difficult for everyone and Covid-19 has thrown so many couple’s wedding plans into chaos. Maggie and Patrick were originally planning on having a big party this year but had to reschedule for next June because of this mess. However, I was thrilled when they reached out to me to say they were planning on having an intimate ceremony in their Aunt’s backyard with just their immediate family on their original date. It was so sweet to be there and still be able to capture their wedding in this way and I can’t wait to photograph their larger party next year. Congrats Maggie and Patrick!

I can’t thank Nick Holstein enough for helping me out and photographing with me on this day. So many of these photos were taken by him. He’s such a talented photographer and you can check out his personal work here. -Jake

Alyssa and Cameron

Alyssa and Cameron got married a couple of weeks ago at the beautiful County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN. Their sweet ceremony took place outside in the room of trees. I got caught up in their excitement to get married and felt like one of their guests. It was truly a pleasure working for them!

I love photographing at County Line Orchard for so many reasons: there’s no shortage of places to take portraits, their ceremony spots and their barn has so much character, the food is good, the staff is amazing, and you get to go on a tractor ride! Alyssa and Cameron booked Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos for their entertainment and they rocked! You typically don’t see guests dancing to the dinner music but that’s how good they were.

I’d say it was the perfect summer wedding at an apple orchard!

Here’s a list of their vendors:

Venue: County Line Orchard (Amy was the coordinator) 

Music: Felix and Fingers (Michael Sherman and Katrina Nilsen)

Flowers: The Bonnie View (Shelly Schmelter)

Hair: Ashley Wells and Natasha Boyd (Freelance Hairstylists) 

Makeup: Pretty On Point (Dalilah Guiffra) and Lerin Johnson Bridal Beauty (Lerin)

Wedding Dress: Something Blue Bridal Boutique 

Bridesmaids Dresses: Bridesmaids Social 

Dessert: Creamery

Photobooth: Tapsnap (Fred Skeppstrom)