Photos:  Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Wow!  I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I had shooting Liz and Mike’s big wedding day in Chicago!  And of course, I’ve picked out way too many favorites to show and couldn’t edit them down!  The lovely couple gave me an incredible amount of creative freedom with my photography, which is always nice - thank you :)  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Liz and her bridesmaids got ready at the Intercontinental Hotel, downtown Chicago.  Fabulous room I must say!  The best part…it was huge!  It’s rare that a wedding photographer has that much room to work with.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

She wore the most gorgeous Carolina Herrera dress!  Liz, you’ll have to share where you purchased it.  I loved the color combination of her dress and sash along with the bridesmaids brown and green.  Very fall during this great October.  Thanks to Dilly Lilly for the to-die-for flowers for the entire day - amazing work!  My favorite - the yellow chestnut blossoms!

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

We had Liz’s parents wait in another room while she put her dress on to create a very extra special moment of their first sight.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography - shot by Jeanette Diaz

Mike and his groomsmen got ready at the Conrad Hotel, downtown Chicago.  I love this shot of his dad helping him :)

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

I’ve ridden my fair share of Chicago trollies, but I particularly liked the old style of Windy City Trolley.  The driver (thanks John!) even played Frank Sinatra and old jazz tunes.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography - bottom left shot by Jeanette Diaz

The ceremony was held at Holy Name Cathedral.  I’m so happy that the renovations let up for Liz and Mike to have their ceremony here.  We were worried for a while!  And how cute is the flower girl’s dress (J.Crew) and lime flower combo?!

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography - shot by Jeanette Diaz

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

I had to show how wonderful the mother of the bride looked that day!  Liz had the great idea of not doing traditional portraits at the altar but instead at Millenium Park.  Great idea - for a wedding photographer there’s nothing like great light and scenery :)

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Thank you to the bridal party for hanging in there!  It was a cool day but they were troopers - can’t even see the goosebumps :)

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

I especially enjoyed being able to explore a new location for fun portraits - sometimes you forget to pay attention to what’s in front you…in my case this great warehouse.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Ok, the top right photo here is one of my ALL time favorites!  This mustard yellow color couldn’t have fit in any better to their overall decor.  Amazing and so much fun - thanks for squeezing in there for me :)

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

River East Art Center hosted the reception.  A fabulous modern space that allows you to do just about anything you want!  I love that Liz chose white uplighting instead of the typical amber.  Still a great color but I think white translates much better in photos (looks very clean too). Also, each person had a cute bag of 5 sugared almonds at their table setting to symbolize health, wealth, happiness, fertility and long life - an Italian wedding tradition.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Again, Dilly Lilly is incredible!!!  This was the first time I had seen hedge apples used in wedding decor!  I loved it!  There used to be a few trees around my favorite childhood park that would have tons of these - bringing back memories :)  Liz stuck with a fall theme but added a modern twist to it with slightly different color choices like purples, lime greens and brighter tones - each table centerpiece was different.  I wanted to include another photo of the cactus plant that was intertwined :)

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

The ringer bearer showing me his ninja moves with the bottle opener favors!  Unique band - Maggie Speaks - they played a wide range of songs with such great energy.  Highly recommended!  Definitely not your typical wedding band.

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

Blue Plate Catering supplied the food and sweets table!  Those pumpkin soup bowls…such a good idea!

Photos: Edyta Szyszlo Photography

I received a nice note from the bride the following Monday after the wedding (I meant to include this earlier)