Wedding: Jessica and Michael

Let the wedding season begin!

Weddings are long days hour-wise, but I can't help but love them. It's an entire day full of love and happy people.

How could I not want to take pictures of that?

The day dawned beautiful, sunny, and mild. An absolutely perfect day to kick off one of my favorite times of year.

Jessica and Michael kept their wedding local- all within the city limits. We started at the Tremont Suites to get photos of the ladies getting ready. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find all the bridesmaids dressed and ready to go! I'm not quite sure I've ever witnessed the bridesmaids being ready ahead of schedule. A quaint park across the road set the scene for a beautiful first look moment. This was something I hadn't done before, but it really is a neat thing to do. I got so wrapped up in the moment, I had to make sure to keep my focus!

Their ceremony was at the chapel on Loyola University's campus. We took the majority of our formal pictures here because the backdrop was perfect. Having some goofy groomsmen made this part particularly fun.

The Belvedere Hotel hosted their reception. If you've never been there, it's an incredibly charming historical hotel with amazing details. Talk about photo opps!

The reception began with sentimental, touching moments like the speeches and the first dance, and then moved on to quite a party. It was clear everyone had their line dances down!

One thing was constant throughout the day- just how happy Jessica and Michael are. I loved capturing their big day and can't wait to share the rest of the photos.