Weddings

The 2024 wedding season is in full swing guys and let me tell you, I am loving it! The mix of getting to shoot at new venues along with some of my OG favorites has been so much fun. I think it’s making me want to officially market myself as a traveling wedding photographer…within the States. I’m not quite ready to deal with the stress of bringing all my camera stuff overseas 🤪

For Kristine and Christopher’s wedding, I got to travel about 3 hours North, ending up in Rockford, Illinois, for their wedding at The Standard. This venue is so cool — the lady who was working there the day of this wedding (also named Sarah- huge shoutout; she was awesome) told me that originally it was a screw factory, then a mattress factory, and then finally it was gutted and redone as an event venue.

It’s three floors of industrial beauty – technically four floors if you count the basement (aka the “man cave”). If you like the vibe of concrete floors and beams, brick walls, and floor to ceiling windows — and oh yeah, a whole entire rooftop that you can use for your ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception– then this is absolutely the place for your wedding.

When I arrived, Kristine and her bridesmaids were at a hotel finishing up hair and makeup, so I started with some detail shots of the dress and of the venue. Shortly after, Kristine arrived and then it was time to get on her dress!

And this dress… it was *stunning.* I don’t get too many weddings where the bride has a poofy, princess style dress like this and oh man was I in love with it.

After getting a few portraits of just Kristine, I left her in the bridal suite and took the guys up to the rooftop for groom & groomsmen photos. Kristine and Chris elected to not see each other before the ceremony, which just means that all full bridal party photos and family photos need to be done after the ceremony. Once we finished up the groom & groomsmen photos we did a quick reveal with Kristine and the groomsmen (after Chris was safely hidden away), then photos of Kristine and the bridesmaids, and then it was time for the full bridal party to hide away as guests began to arrive and make their way to the rooftop for the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was super short and sweet — when it was over Chris even asked me if it was the shortest ceremony I’ve ever had, and I told him without a doubt yes! No one seemed to mind since it was beautiful but also a taaaad toasty up there on the roof right under the sun mid day 😉

After the ceremony we rolled right into family formals, on the rooftop of course, because if you can have that kind of view and vibe why *wouldn’t* you use it 😏, and then bridal party photos. Then I took Chris and Kristine downstairs and out front so we could get a few husband/wife portraits of the two of them alone in a bit softer light and also get some outside shots of the venue in its entirety.

Then it was time to head inside and prep for the reception entrance! Dinner was held on the second floor, where guests were seated in the most industrial looking part of the building.

Dinner was a delicious selection of pasta and chicken, sausage, and meatballs, salad, bread… can you tell one of my favorite parts of the wedding day is dinner? 🤪 It totally is. The groom’s mom special ordered them a surprise sweetheart cake to cut, made up of the groom’s favorite flavor – red velvet – and guests enjoyed a layered cake of lemon and chocolate with a cream filling in between. They also had an adorable donut wall!

After dinner, the party moved back up to the third floor/rooftop where the Chicago based DJ, Sean Reimer, got the party going and everyone danced and visited while enjoying a rooftop view of the glowy, golden orange sunset overlooking downtown Rockford.

This was a beautiful day and well worth the drive! Thank you so much for having me, Kristine and Chris!! Congratulations!!