Ivana and Bati

Serbian weddings are by far my favorite to be a part of. Imagine, multiple days of celebrating and always surrounded by music and dance. The wedding day itself is day two, it starts with a parade and bartering for the bride! The groom comes with all his friends and family, along with a flag bearer. The Bride is hidden in the house with her bridesmaid who are preventing any of the grooms men getting in, and basically STEALING her or getting any of the bridesmaids shoes. Usually the best man is the one to negotiate a price for the bride. All while swapping back a flask ( buklijaš ) filled with rakija - a Serbian home made brandy. Once they’ve reached an agreed price, the bride is then brought out and the party starts. Amazing right?

Ivana and Bati are the two most fun beautiful souls and I couldn’t have wished for this kind of couple to contact me. Not only did I enjoy their day ( probably as much as they did), but I got to capture their love story.

Farris Wedding

I hope you have been keeping up with my Sarah posts in the past, that include her and her pup-Tucker. Sarah is just an all out beautiful person and I feel lucky to know her. I cried during her maid of honors speech, her best friend spoke of all the wonderful things that make her such a great person. Nick and Tucker will be well taken care of. Check out the post on their engagement because its such a wonderful story of how 4 generations of women in her family have touched one dress. Click here for that story.

Farris Chicago Skyline Engagement

Way back in the day Sarah got a dog, a cute BIG dog. We did an awesome photo shoot with her, not so little pooch. I loved every minute of it. Anytime I get a phone call and someone says “ can I bring my dog?” I get really excited, but this one was, “I just want a photoshoot with my dog”. It’s what dreams are made of. If you want to check that shoot out. Click here.

Now lets fast forward to a couple years later and Sarah gets engaged. WE DO ANOTHER PHOTOSHOOT with her awesome pooch and her other forever.

Along with this incredible couple came Sarahs mom to wrangle the not so big pooch, but there was also a surprise planned for her mom. Sarah restored her mothers wedding dress and revealed it to her on this day. Not only did her mom wear the dress but her grandma as well. Wait….there is more. Her great grandmother made this dress for her grandma 69 years ago. Are you crying yet? 4 generations of women have touched this dress. This also goes to show what a thoughtful person Sarah is.

Grandma- April 30, 1949
Mom - September 13, 1980
Sarah - May 4, 2018

Here are the before photos of Sarahs dress that has been in her family for 69 years. Her great grandmother made it from her Grandma to wear on her wedding day. Sarah has always wanted to wear the dress on her wedding day but by the time she was 11 the hem was already too short. Sarah made it in to a dress for her rehearsal dinner and revealed it to her mother and grandmother on this day. It was absolutely lovely and special day. I am so glad that I was a part of it.

The amazing alterations were done by Sew Bridal Chicago. The dress was yellow after all that time and they did an incredible job restoring the color and bringing life back to the dress.

3 Month Milestone for Brynn

Have you ever been friends with someone for so long that when you look back at how long that actually is, you realize how old you are? Nora and I have been friends since the first day of high school. Lets take a look back at how many years that is…….20 years…. More than half my life, No big deal. She had a baby just for my kids to have babies to play with ;).

Nora came by for a milestone photoshoot with her little bambino Brynn. Who will be bffs with my boys. She has no option.

Jevremovic Wedding

I'm not one for many words. I speak better in photos. The less I write the less my husband has to spellcheck for me. The immigrant in me can't spell so well or articulate what I feel with words. So here are some photos of one of my good friends getting hitched. He is a super talented  car designer and she is the voice of happiness.  Thank you to the talented Nicole Jansma for being my 2nd shooter.  If you are wondering who the master mind behind the decorating is..... there is no surprise it's Planning for Paradise. 

Gibson Wedding

I need to thank two wonderful photographers that helped me with this day. Eric Perez and Kristen Cloyd. I love having such great company for an incredibly fun day. It was hard to get this rowdy group together for photos but thank you for having patience with me and letting me do my thang. 

Marcelo and Chad plus 3

They say the first year of marriage is the hardest. These guys laughed at that and added a puppy to their family before they even got married and then decided that wasn't enough they got two more after their wedding! WHAT....? That is crazy. Wait there is more. These two are not only committed to their best friends, but on top of that, they are the busiest bunch you will ever meet.  Marcelo is a famous fitness instructor and Director at Lakeshore Sport and Fitness. All of them. Chad is a cycling instructor, literally, everywhere. Then he also cuts hair and makes you look pretty, but thats not enough, he is training for the IRONMAN! These two are not only cute and a bag of chips, they are also smart, funny, caring, loving and the greatest dog parents ever. You are thinking. How do they do it? I don't know. Im out of breath just writing this. You will have to ask them yourself. 

Puppy Love

How cute are these two bff's? I can't get over how Sarah found such a perfect dog for her. Sarah herself is a tall girl and she found a dog that when she walks with him they look like they belong together. He is a Great Dane/Lab mix with the sweetest personality. They are so sweet and kind. Enjoy these two cuties. 

Vincent

When you are a guy's guy and you finally have a son that you have been waiting for your whole life,  you can see the excitement in Tony's eyes. He has big plans for Vincent. These two will be inseparable. Not only will Vincent have an older sister to take good care of him but two loving parents and a bunch of Tony's friends to make sure he grows up to be as manly as possible. This goes for our son James as well.