To avoid a cliché wedding portrait, I always use distinct locations for the couples I photograph. As a Chicago wedding photographer, I am provided with tons of unique urban locations to shoot couples. The juxtaposition of beautiful and delicate formal wedding wear with industrial Chicago landmarks always make for wedding portraits that don’t fall into the typical category of staged photos. These portraits capture the couple, but also the time and location—the couples I photograph show their personality by allowing me to shoot them in some of their favorite settings.

I shot Katie and Dustin in a variety of industrial, urban settings both before and after their vows. The couple prepared and met with me at the Hotel Blake for their primary portraits, which are the most traditional of the bunch. Close up shots showcase the individuals’ personalities and the gorgeous details of the bride’s gown and jewelry.

Downtown Chicago contributed a lot to the photos of the newlyweds. The Kinzie Street bridge and the Art Institute Gardens are recognizable as local Chicago settings, but they don’t distract from the couple. They form an ideal background and don’t take the eye’s attention from Katie and Dustin; they focus the image right on the happy couple. But regular places throughout the city became the perfect backdrops for unconventional style portraits, too. A walk down a plain alley gave me the great pictures in front of the red brick wall and the garage doors. Urban materials and structures can frame a pretty and polished bride and groom perfectly, and make for unexpected wedding portraits that don’t look like everyone else’s—just yours.

The couple’s service and reception were held at the Prairie Production event space, extending the industrial chic vibe from their portraits into their event. The exposed brick and monochrome white palette made for a modern and stylish party, just like the couple and their wedding portraits!

Jenny and David gave me the opportunity to jet with them to beautiful Riviera Maya, near Playa Del Carmen on the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. The white sand beaches made for an automatically beautiful background for the wedding and wedding portraits. The classic iconography of a beach wedding is so easy and fun to photograph.

Destination weddings are currently very trendy in the wedding world. After photographing Jenny and David’s, I know why! Destination weddings are always entertaining, memorable and can actually be cheaper than a traditional wedding, contrary to popular belief. The biggest pro of an all-inclusive wedding weekend, to me, is that a destination wedding allows you to spend more time with the guests who attend. Although it will probably be a smaller number, the guests who surround you during a destination wedding will most likely be the people you care the most about sharing your wedding day with. Getting to say more than a passing hello to your guests at your reception is a definite destination bonus.  

If you plan to do things a little differently, then a destination wedding might be right for you, too. For instance, Jenny and David had the perfect casual wedding. Sandals and barefeet for the ladies, and the men just wore ties to the service.  Guests got to keep it casual, too, and enjoyed the beautiful outdoor setting of the wedding and reception.

Along with the casual feel and outdoor setting, the couple also brought the festive air of Mexico into the ceremony with color: pink, coral and green. With such a memorable wedding location and surrounded by your closest friends and family, I can’t imagine anyone’s destination wedding being any less successful than Jenny and David’s beautiful nuptials.

With the white gown and black tux, brides and grooms always photograph beautifully in black and white photos. For Meghan and Scott, this was even more true when they were photographed with the columns and other architectural detail of the History Museum. We additionally used the Michigan Avenue bridge and the Wrigley Building to show off the couple in black and white.

But the colors defined this wedding, too! The reception hall and bridal party were dressed in rich orange and pewter gray—an incredibly modern and sleek design that I loved. It was a mature, sophisticated, and most importantly, a unique look for the classy couple. It was easy to capture their personality in a setting that reflected them and their great taste. Lori at Lola Events designed the features, and Food for Thought fed the guests.

While classic locations like the Chicago History Museum make black and white photographs richer, Meghan and Scott made the color pictures even more gorgeous with their own great choices. A unique and well-crafted wedding design featuring a bold color like orange looks great in pictures and is fun to photograph as well.

When you pick the location for your wedding festivities, you should think about how it will photograph. The Burnham and Root architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright interior designs of The Rookery looked beautiful especially when shot from above and set the perfect scene for Melissa and Zak’s pictures. It didn’t overwhelm or detract from the focus of the photos, but rather made them more reflective of the couple. Plus, being located right in the Loop, the building allowed us to use the classic Chicago surroundings in the wedding portraits, too. The Rookery, with the spiral staircases and glass ceilings of its Light Court, made for a beautiful event and was a joy to take pictures of. And just outside, other Chicago landmarks, like the Bean and the Wrigley Building, showed off the couple. The architecture of the city helped turn my work into art!

Of course, the beautiful color and floral design of the wedding also made my job pretty easy. Melissa picked purple and champagne for her bridesmaids, and Amy Crum of Blumen Designs accented the bridal party perfectly with fuchsia flowers. The bride carried an especially cool bunch of flowers- a modern and interesting take on the white bridal bouquet. The table design and towering centerpieces carried the purple into the dining experience, with the catering done by Levy Events. And again, Sonia Roselli made the ladies look perfect with flawless makeup.

I would tell any couple to feature the architecture of a building or setting they love in their wedding— especially in Chicago. From Wrigley Field to the Hancock Tower, great places make your Chicago wedding photographer’s job easier and your wedding memories even more filled with the people and places you love.

With their services at the beautiful St. Alphonsus Church in Lakeview, and their reception in the heart of Lincoln Park, Jennifer and Pete expressed themselves in every choice of their Chicago wedding—from the reception site to the untraditional cake topper.

They hosted their guests at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, bringing a natural beauty to the setting. The reception was a true party, featuring a martini ice bar, a cigar rolling station, a candy buffet and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream for all. Late night snacks were provided for party goers in the form of mini-hamburgers and fries. (Levy Events did a great job with the catering.) The fun-loving couple kept their big day modern, stylish and joyful, but complete with a sense of humor. Even though I was there to work, I was having a great time along with the guests.

The bright pink and chocolate color scheme was masterfully coordinated by Scarlet Petal florists—I especially loved framing photos around the pink parasols carried by the bridal party! And Sonia Roselli once again provided beautiful bridal makeup.

At a recent wedding I photographed, the couple put their own stamp on the wedding experience by bucking tradition. Yes, the bride still wore white, rings were exchanged, and of course, pictures were taken– but Nicole and Brad expressed their personality by choosing an unusual venue. Chicago florist A New Leaf hosted Nicole and Brad’s reception and obviously provided their beautiful floral arrangements. The industrial-chic event space features an outdoor courtyard and a multi-level interior of exposed brick, concrete staircases and modern metalwork– it was certainly not your typical wedding setting. But it did provide a memorable experience, even for a Chicago wedding photographer like me, who’s attended hundreds of weddings!

The reception space also allowed me to create incredibly beautiful shots of the bride and groom. The simple decor made a unique and interesting background for the photos of the couple. Nicole and Brad also skipped another typical wedding tradition—not seeing each other the day of the service. Instead, Nicole and Brad made their day a little less stressful by allowing me to photograph them before the vows were exchanged. If you aren’t the superstitious type, this is a perfect arrangement. You can go straight from your service to your reception without taking the traditional post-service photos, and rest assured that you have a beautiful picture of you and your spouse. Plus, you can use the sights of your city to their fullest by being able to change venue for special and, more importantly, personal wedding portraits. Nicole, Brad and their wedding party were shot on La Salle Street, at the Art Institute Gardens, and at the Wrigley Building, adding Chicago’s local flair to their photos.

Makeup for the bride, which photographed beautifully and naturally, was done by Sonia Roselli, who is known for her experience in the industry and her philosophy that great makeup starts with great skin. And Nicole and Brad avoided the typical (aka terrible) wedding DJ by opting for the hip Chicago wedding DJ Toast and Jam. The music went perfectly with the innovative vibe of the event location by adding a modern pop.