I say this all of the time but I have the best job in the world. I get to document couples that are in love, on one of the most dynamic and energetic days of their lives and Michelle and Brian’s wedding was no exception. I couldn’t meet them beforehand but after talking to Michelle on the phone, I knew right away that she and her fiancé were going to be an awesome couple.
Michelle and Brian live in Austin, Texas but grew up in the Naperville, Illinois area. They wanted to have a wedding where all their relatives could attend, so what better place to have a wedding than in the town that you grew up in? I started off with Michelle and the girls at one of her relative’s house in Orland Park and I would have to say that their apartment complex was the most confusing network of roads that I have ever driven in. I always give myself a ton of extra time before a wedding just in case a place is hard to find for this exact reason. Walking in the door, I didn’t realize how large of a bridal party Michelle actually had.
Everyone was laughing and having a fun time in the kitchen while hitting the mimosas pretty hard, but it’s a wedding day! I always try to challenge myself at every wedding to do something a little different or to try a new technique, and for this wedding, I wanted to focus on getting a different ring shot. I ended up in the kitchen, I turned off all the lights and worked with the marble countertop, and I am pretty excited about how it turned out. Wherever I see a chance to improve any aspect of my photography, I definitely take it. Once I got there and finished photographing the details, the ladies got ready very quickly. We ended up doing a few photos at the house and I headed out early to meet the guys at Mary Queen of Heaven in Elmhurst.
The guys were pretty calm when I arrived and I sensed a bit of nervousness, but once I got to talking with Brian he definitely snapped out of it. When Michelle arrived and got ushered into the bridal room, they ended up exchanging notes which I wish couples did more of. It always provides beautiful reactions that no one could fake and their reactions were awesome!
After the notes, the ceremony started, it was a traditional mass which gave me plenty of time to try out different angles, as well as time to go up in the loft to get a full image of the church. After the ceremony, we did family photos right away and then headed outside to capitalize on the beautiful stone of the church itself. Everyone then jumped on the party bus and headed to downtown Elmhurst to get some images around the town that Brian and Michelle met.
We had nothing but time to explore Elmhurst and I was able to try out a few techniques that I have been dying to try. They were even patient enough to stand on the other side of the street while I tried to frame them in a window of a passing car, which resulted in one of my favorite photos ever!
We then headed to a forest preserve in Orland Park to get some quick photos with the full bridal party and to take advantage of the setting sun. We were only at the park for about 15 minutes and then we headed to The Riviera Country Club in Orland Park. All of the speeches were hilarious, and Michelle and Brian had a photo booth set up with a background that said, “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.” I asked them about it, and they explained that there is a wall that said this in Texas, that they would visit quite a bit. After dancing for a while, I was able to sneak them outside for a few quick night photos and then it was time for me to leave. What an incredible day with one amazing couple!
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