Ashley and Greg had been dating for 5 years before he popped the question in Miami a few nights before they boarded the Top Chef Cruise for her birthday! So romantic, right? He knew how obsessed she was with the TV show Top Chef so he bought tickets to sail away with them. They were getting ready for dinner in Miami and Greg gave Ashley a card. She could barley finish reading the card before bursting in tears! That's when she looked up and saw Greg on one knee holding the most perfect ring she'd ever seen. To this day, Ashley says she's not even sure if she said "yes, I'll marry you", she was too happy to speak! Of course as she was calling her parents to let them in on the good news, the doorbell rang and she answered it to find her beautiful mom and dad there to her surprise. She feel to her knees and buried her head into her hands "Is this really happening?" she recalls. What a perfectly beautiful night! And I have to say, kudos to Greg, for a perfect proposal and perfect evening. But it doesn't end there, on no... it gets better. After celebrating the night away, Ashley realized she was wearing her new gorgeous diamond ring but not the vintage ring that she wears everyday from her mom. She panicked and searched high and low, it was gone. But her mom told her not to worry, to ask Gramma, and it will show up. And surely she was right, the antique ring showed up in Greg's pocket. A perfect ending to an unforgettable evening!

As sweet as that story is, this amazing couple is even sweeter! I'm so excited to share their wedding on our blog. After Ashley and her mom, planned for a year and a half on all the yummy details, they hired Nicki Eisenstein from BCR Events, to step in the day of their wedding and bring all the magic together. We worked with an incredible team to bring Ashley and Greg's dream wedding to life. Their wedding took place at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton Chicago. Burt Rubenstein and his team from HMR Designs pulled it all together using gorgeous roses, hydrangea, and amaryllis flowers, candelabras, you name it, perfection! The little crystal place card frames added a special touch, not to mention how incredible Ken Arlen Orchestra was all day and night! Ashely looked gorgeous in her white Vera Wang | Katarina Gown and Greg in his black Armani tuxedo. The bridesmaids wore beautiful champagne colored long blouson Adrianna Papell dresses. And those flower girls and ring bearers... oh so cute!

Ashley and Greg, we wish you a lifetime of happiness together. We look forward to staying in touch watching life unfold for you both! We are honored to have been part of your wedding, thank you for trusting us! I very special thank you to our second shooter, Diego Ivan Martirena of Maplewood Photography who did an amazing job helping Bob document this beautiful wedding.

I know I post way to many photos on our blog, I just can't help myself. I love telling the story of our couple's day!

Enjoy!

xoxo,

~ Dawn

How fun to be part of this incredible wedding! Bravo TV Million Dollar Listing Miami star Chad Carroll marries the love of his life, Jen Stone and it was featured on People.com. This incredible wedding was planned by the talented Chicago Event Planner, Reva Nathan of Reva Nathan & Associates. They were married at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

I can't wait to share all the photos! Coming very soon....

xoxo!!!

~ Dawn and Bob

We are always so excited when one of our couple's weddings is selected to be featured in a magazine, especially Inside Weddings. It's one of the BEST resources for brides, planners, anyone who is looking for the hottest wedding trends. If you would like to subscribe to Inside Weddings, you can do that here.

Their event designer, Vince Hart from Kehoe Designs, recalls that Tracy and Chris wanted the inspiration from their wedding to come from Tracy's love of fashion, themed around a winter wonderland. Kehoe Designs did and amazing job along with their event planning team at BCR Events.

Words cannot express the gratitude we have to the publishers, Walt Shepard and Art Scangas for featuring another one of our gorgeous weddings! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

It's hard to believe it will be Fall in a couple of days. Stay warm everyone!

xoxox!

~ Dawn

I'm so in love with these images from Rocio and Cyrus's wedding. The Chicago Botanic Garden is such a gorgeous venue, especially for an outdoor wedding with beautiful flowers everywhere, which makes for gorgeous backdrops.

The first thing you need to do for your wedding day is hire the right event planner and that is exactly what Rocio and Cyrus did, they hired Claire Weller from Big City Bride to help her bring her ideas to reality. Claire is simply amazing and Bob loved working with her the day of the wedding. Rocio wanted a colorful wedding filled with the most amazing red, blue, pink and purple flowers throughout the entire day, and that is what she received. Studio AG Design was the Event Designers in charge of the lounge, draping, lighting and flowers... and wow did they bring it all together!!! Rocio's talented father hand painted the flowers for the table cards that were hung on a black manzanita tree with ribbon and crystals. During the reception, guests had an opportunity to write love notes to Rocio and Cyrus and hang them on the tree. Such a great idea!

I've been getting to know Kim Zgonena from Kustom Kreations, she has designed some pretty amazing one-of-a-kind invitations, but not just invitations... menus, table cards, programs, custom signage, and more. She's really talented and I love her work. She did a fabulous job incorporating all the colors into the printed materials for this wedding.

Rocio wore a Maggie Sottero gown with a dropped waist and soft organza and lace ruffled bottom. I loved her crystal vine necklace, it was embellished with a red heart Swarovski pendant that Cyrus gave to her as a gift on her birthday. It matched the entire theme of their outdoor wedding! And not to mention how dapper Cyrus looked in his Hugo Boss tuxedo. They make a perfect pair! They did something I have not seen at a wedding before, a "wine blending" ceremony where they blended two different wines. They also did a love letter time capsule ceremony that was sealed in a box to be opened on one of their wedding anniversaries.

They had Artstrings, a string quartet, perform the ceremony music. I really love that Rocio incorporated some of her heritage into their wedding by having Diego Alonso, a Spanish guitarist duo play during cocktail hour while guests were being served mojitos and sangrias. The reception entertainment was provided by DJ, Roberto Monastero, and did he ever keep the dance floor rockin..... all night long! So fun!

I hope you enjoy this gorgeous, colorful wedding. Let's all wish Rocio and Cyrus a lifetime of happy days together!

xoxo!

~ Dawn

We love when our weddings are featured in magazines that we adore. Ashley and Ari's wedding at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago was full of color which makes a beautiful feature for the Fall/Winter 2014 issue of The Knot Chicago. Thank you Rebecca Crumley for selecting our beautiful couple's wedding. We are truly honored to have it featured in The Knot magazine and I know their families are beyond excited too!

You can see Ashley and Ari's blog post featuring many photos from their wedding here.

This is long overdue, I'm not sure where the time goes! Lauren and Stephen's wedding at The Standard Club. Their wedding was simply amazing with the most beautiful details planned by Reva Nathan & Associates.

They are such a fun couple beginning with their engagement session with their Chicago Blackhawks jerseys in the rain! Their wedding was just as much fun with all the love in the room surrounding them. Heffernan Morgan Ronsley did a fabulous job bringing their dream wedding to life!

From the lighting by Frost Chicago to the table linens by BBJ Linens and the entertainment by Rendezvous Music there wasn't a detailed missed. I really loved that Lauren and Stephen had an artist, Diane Bronstein, sketch a scene from their ceremony and display it at the reception. Perfection!

I hope that you enjoy the photos that Bob and our 2nd shooter, Ben Pancoast captured at their wedding! Ben, you did an amazing job helping Bob, thank you!

Lauren and Stephen, thank you for inviting us in to capture your wedding day. It was magical. Bob and I wish you a lifetime of happiness together!

xoxox!

~ Dawn

I knew the minute we met with Sara and Ross that they were a perfect fit for us… they are so incredibly sweet! That is just one of the things we look for when meeting with potential couples. Not only do we need to be a good fit for them but they need to be a good fit for us as well. The photographer is the one vendor, besides the event planner, that is going to be with the couple all day, there needs to be a wonderful connection… and there definitely was!

Truly, Sara and Ross are just an amazing couple with a fantastic love for each other. Sara is gorgeous and she has a heart of gold. You can tell in every single photo that she loves life and is so in love with Ross. It makes me smile…. big time!

Ever since Sara was a little girl, she knew she wanted to get married at The Standard Club. You're always in good hands with Jill Quinn and Steve Thompson. It's one of my favorite venues in Chicago! Every wedding is so different there. The hardwood floors are gorgeous, not to mention the hanging crystal chandeliers make the room so dreamy! When Sara and Ross started getting serious, his parents knew they wanted to get married there, so they became members of the club. How sweet is that?

Sara and Ross wanted their wedding to feel like a secret garden with the color scheme being white, blush, and rose gold. And their event planner, Stacy Saltzman of So Stacy along with Tom Kehoe of Kehoe Designs did an amazing job. They completely transformed the room with 4 huge rose-gold gilded cherry blossom trees flanking the aisle. Many different shaped and sized candles down the aisle. The fabric chuppah was hanging from the ceiling and covered in white and blush flowers… a perfect secret garden feel. I love that Sara's dad came up with the idea of having all the male guests wear a boutonniere. Every place setting adorned a flower. They were laid on top of mirrored tables so the reflection would create a lush, romantic feel. Sara said she LOVED including all the men and making them feel special because they are so often a forgotten guest.

Sara wore a beautiful trumpet style Pnina Tournai gown with Swarovski crystals covering the bodice. She purchased her gown at Kleinfield Bridal boutique in NYC, which is you know anything about Mara Urshel and Ronnie Rothstein who own the store, you would want to shop there too! Sara wore a "Broadway" veil Toni Federici with Swarovski crystals as well. And of course she wore a gorgeous pair of Jimmy Choo shoes!

We hope you enjoy the images from their wedding. You can feel the love Sara and Ross have for each other, it's just beautiful. And of course, having amazing entertainment like the Larry King Orchestra to keep the dance floor packed all night long is a must.

Enjoy!!!

~ Dawn

Vince Hart from Kehoe Designs recalls that Tracy and Chris wanted the inspiration from their wedding to come from Tracy's love of fashion, themed around a winter wonderland and the feeling of being in a beautiful glass atrium with the snow falling outside. And wouldn't you know it? It snowed all day and night creating a true magical winter wonderland in Chicago.

What bride doesn't LOVE Inside Weddings magazine? And if you haven't already, you can subscribe to it here. Thank you Walt and Art at Inside Weddings for featuring another one of our beautiful weddings! For brides looking for inspiration, this is the magazine to buy!

It's always an honor to be featured in one of the BEST wedding magazines in the country! Renee and Kevin's wedding was absolutely and simply wonderful. This was our first time photographing a wedding at the incredible Venue Six10. It is perfect venue for gourmet dining and artful entertaining! It was also our first time working with working with Chrissy Magliano at Big City Bride. She was a so comforting. Chrissy has such a calm presence and made the day flow effortlessly. We look forward to working with them a lot this year and feel so blessed to do so!

Wishing you all a wonderful Spring season!!! Being in Chicago, it's amazing to have a 60 degree day today!

xoxoxo!

~ Dawn

Donte knew after his first official date with Valerie at the Irish pub, Dublins downtown Chicago, but Valerie wanted to make sure he was the real deal. A few months later, he unexpectedly arrived an hour early to a gallery opening where one of her photos was being displayed, and spent the whole evening getting to know her friends and supporting her passion for art, she knew this was a man she could spend the rest of her life with. And six months into their relationship, they went ring shopping! They were engaged 11 months before they wed.

Valerie was excited to use her creative background to plan their wedding right down to the smallest of details. She did an amazing job! We, of course, love that they both have an appreciation for photography! Their super sweet and chic wedding was at Praire Production in the West Loop of Chicago which is a commercial photography space with a modern vibe. The large windows bring is some fantastic light!

The day began with Valerie and her girls getting ready at Waldorf Astoria and Donte and his boys getting ready at Sofitel. Their first look was just beautiful… one of my favorites. They headed to the classic wing of The Art Institue of Chicago for a sweet photo walk. And the bridal party portraits were all taken at Olive Park.

Valerie and Donte jetted off to Paris, France on their honeymoon! What a dream!!!! Bob and I love you both and wish you a lifetime of happiness!!!

xx oo,

~ Dawn