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Following our ceremony, we greeted every guest with a hug, and then we climbed the stairs and walked through the pool house to the lawn where everyone had gathered.

There were lots of hoots and hollers as we walked by our family and friends, and I didn’t hesitate dragging my dress through the mud. As we reached the bridesmaids and groomsmen, they popped open their red and tan umbrellas and waved them above us, forming the most fantastic arch. Again, it was a moment we couldn’t have planned, and it was one we won’t forget.

{photo credit to a guest}

Here is my most favorite photo of the day. The smiles on our faces reveal our pure happiness. (And Nick is pumping his fist!)

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Oh my wonderful!  I just viewed the photos from our engagement shoot last month and boy do I love them.  Angela Stott, our very talented photographer, did an amazing job - she found funky, interesting places to shoot and was able to capture such great shots of us.  I have to admit that on our drive home from the shoot Brian and I worried that our pictures might not turn out, not due to any fault of Angela’s, but because Brian and I just felt so silly most of the time - would our awkwardness come through in the pictures?!

Well, we spent the two hours home from Asheville worrying about nothing.  Check these puppies out (all by Angela Stott):

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There are SO many amazing photographers in the world - how do you find the one that’s perfect for you?  Well, not only do you need to blog-stalk them, see images from a full wedding, and find out all of the details about the specific packages that they offer, but you also want to ask these questions:

1. Will I receive a DVD of images from the event?
2. How many images do you post-process (the more the better!  All of those amazing images you fell in love with from their website and albums are post-processed.  If the images on the DVD you receive are SOOC (straight out of camera) you should know and understand this.)? Can I see multiple examples of before-and-after images?
3. Do you color correct all images?
4. How soon after the wedding will I receive my proofs?  My DVD of images?  My album?
5. Do you write up every event on your blog?
6. How soon after the event will you blog?
7. What types of images do you include in your blog post?
8. Do you shoot in film or digital?  Color or black and white?  RAW or JPG?
9. What is your contingency plan if you are ill or otherwise cannot attend my event? {Be sure the answer to this is specifically stated in your contract}
10. Who retains copyright to the images?  Reproduction rights?

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Bryce and Coady’s engagement session is special to me for a few reasons. First, I know the groom-to-be Bryce. He is such a smart and fun guy and these photos express his personality so well. Second, Amy from Angela Anderson Photography is just SO talented. And lastly, I just adore how my city is shown off in the places that Bryce and Coady chose for their session.

I do believe I have a new favorite photo. The lighting, the cars… just everything! Michigan Avenue photos are usually so cliche, but not this one.

The train tracks make such an awesome backdrop for photos. These few, at the Quincy stop, are fabulous.

{Just look at this one - the hair blowing in the breeze. You can’t buy perfection like that.}

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Sorry for the late post today everyone! EAD moved servers over the weekend, and if you’re seeing this post we have liftoff at our new home. It’s very exciting, as things should be faster around here. :) I have two engagement sessions to post today and they are both fabulous (even if they are late)!

The first comes from the wonderful Natalie Moser - you may remember Natalie, as she’s been on EAD before (she photographed Lyndsy and Elon’s awesome wedding) and I’m so excited to have her back! Today we’re featuring Cheryl and Ryan’s Balboa Pier engagement session, which could not be more adorable!

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While the focus of the wedding is on the bride and groom, getting fabulous photos with your family and friends is also probably high on your list of priorities. The perfect wedding party shot can be difficult, as your photographer has to contend with a very large group of people, making composition and posing more difficult, as well as some potential personalities difficulties. Here are a few quick tips to ensure your wedding party pictures are everything you hope for:

1) Acquaint your party with your photographer’s style.  While doing an engagement session with your photographer is often a great way for you to learn more about how he or she works, your girls and guys obviously generally don’t have a chance to meet with and shoot with the photographer prior to the wedding. If you are hiring a non-traditional or more artistic photographer, it may be a good idea to send your party a link to his or her site prior to the wedding. I find that when I want to do some non-traditional poses or more quirky shots, bridesmaids and groomsmen almost always are better at working with me if they have seen some of my work before and have a rough idea of what the finished product might look like. Just as great trust between you and your photographer can lead to better photographs, anything that can be done to encourage trust between your wedding party and the photographer can help immensely.

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Hello lovelies. Hope you’re all having wonderfully calm, inspired days.

I’m so excited to kick off the first of my official wedding recaps here on EAD. Just last week we got our pictures back from our amazing wedding photographers, Dave and Jo of Allegro Photography, and as I said on my own blog, they. are. phenomenal. And the slideshow movie they made is making our guests tear up left and right. I love it!

Our wedding day. How to describe it? Three words that come to mind: serene, opulent, and joyful. And special. So, so special.

Since Allegro did such a beautiful job of documenting our day, I’m going to let their pictures do most of the recapping of our “getting ready” moments. First up, my handsome groom, getting ready in our hotel room.

My pretty dress, quietly waiting for me.

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Yes, I woke up to rain on my wedding day. Every bride’s worst fear. I laid in bed for 20 minutes, listening to the raindrops hit my window, but I felt surprisingly serene.

Then it was off to Escape Salon, where all of my best girls met me for primping and pampering. The salon staff couldn’t stop talking about the weather. Three women said it rained on their wedding days, and they’re happily married. Two women said it did not rain on their wedding days, and they’re divorced. Of course everyone said it’s good luck. I always figured that was just to console the brides facing wet weather, but maybe there’s some truth to the statement after all!

Despite the many attempts to turn the weather into a positive circumstance, I could not help but pray. “Please stop raining. Please stop raining. Please stop raining.”

{photo credit to bridesmaid}

As much as I wanted to believe the rain would stop, I also knew I had to be prepared. And so I asked my bridesmaids to stop at Boscov’s on the way to Lauxmont Farms and pick up as many tan colored umbrellas as they could get their hands on. I thought these would nicely compliment the red ones we had purchased earlier that week.

And then we were off to the wedding venue! The third floor of the stone house was reserved for us, and once we reached it, the mothers and bridesmaids got to work arranging the dresses and accessories.

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After the ceremony, the wedding party headed to The Henry Clay to take some pictures before cocktail hour began…

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ack!  So I’m sorry for being MIA lately…I have good reasons…some of which I’ll share with you all very soon!  But I just COULD NOT WAIT to show you some of our Love Shoot pics!!  Khara is pretty much awesome and a half…and well…we’re kinda cute too :)

LOVE this black and white one…

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As we oh so quickly approach two full months since the wedding, I wanted to share the few photos we’ve gotten to date with many promises for so much more to come in upcoming weeks. (I also have a ton of DIY projects to share and I swear I’m working on getting those together. Newlywed life has turned out to be quite busy so far!) Without further ado, here’s a little glimpse inside our wedding weekend…

Fastening my sister’s necklace, the one I made for all my lovely ladies. This photo looks so posed, but it really wasn’t - is that a good photographer or what?

My dear dear friend, Brian, made for a very handsome bridesman. He wore the same classic black tux and champagne tie as M and the groomsmen.

I love this series…even though I hate the hair pin that managed to ruin these photos. (Luckily, we apprehended this little rebel of a hairpin so it could ruin no more photos shortly after these were snapped.)

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After being rained out during one of the apocalyptic rainstorms we’ve had recently here in Chicago, Jill, Mike and I rescheduled and thankfully had a lovely day to work with, although we did get a taste of true summer temperatures. Jill and Mike love nature, so we planned a session a bit outside of the normal urban sessions I tend to shoot. We had a delightful time wandering through beautiful fields, talking about running and the merits of city vs. country, while trying to avoid fish and snakes.

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