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Here is the followup post to Tailor and Tom’s beautiful Danada House Wheaton, IL wedding sneak peek.  Visually, the Danada House is a top notch wedding facility.  The main part of the house is a beautiful vintage mansion accented by amazing rich colored woods and a gorgeous courtyard containing a water feature.  The grounds are kept pristine with many trees, flowers, and open expanses.  There are beautiful white stables located in front of the house that give this location vintage charm.

The only thing that gives the Danada House any more character is this wonderful couple.  Taylor and Tom are such an amazing team, and were just so wonderful to work with.  They just oozed love out of every pore.  And fun!  Lemme tell ya, these two knew how to have a great time!  They had me set up an open air photo-booth, but didn’t even get to use it themselves until the end of the night.  You couldn’t pull them off of the dance floor lol.  Their guests on the other hand took full advantage of the photo-booth. There was a line out of the door of people waiting to take some absolutely hilarious pictures.

Needless to say, my wife and I had a wonderful time laughing and celebrating this amazing day with some truly amazing people.

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If you enjoyed this wedding please feel free to comment below.  If you’d like to contact me you may either click the Contact Us icon on the bottom tool bar or click the Chicago wedding photographer contact link on the top menu.  You may also call me at Phone: 630.800.7582 or email me at Email: info@corlisgrayphotography.com.

You can view more Chicago Illinois wedding photography here Chicago wedding pictures Amy + John or here Chicago wedding photography Amy + Chad.

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Here is Lisa and Aarons stunning Chicago Botanic Gardens engagement session.  They are such a fantastic couple together!  Although Lisa was VERY camera shy in the beginning, she quickly loosened up and became really relaxed as she gazed into Aaron’s eyes.  (I know, it sounds super cheesy, but it’s true..lol)  You can see more Chicago Botanic Gardens engagement photography here, by Chicago Botanic Gardens engagement photographer Corlis Gray.

Here is a sneak peek at Kari and Brent’s amazing outdoor Oswego wedding.  Oswego, IL is about 38 miles south west of Chicago.  This couple totally rocked my socks!  Fun, energetic, and most of all, in love!!!  We had an amazing time partying the night away during this Chicago-land wedding.

You may remember Kari and Brent from their romantic Chicago engagement photography session here.  You can see more amazing outdoor Chicago wedding photography here.

Here’s a sneak peek at Taylor and Tom’s amazing early fall wedding at the beautiful Danada House in Wheaton.  I love the intimate ceremony and the vintage styling.

Here’s a sneak peak at Amy & John’s vintage chic DIY wedding It’s hard to pick my favorite details on this one! Let me know which ones are yours

See more DIY wedding photography here, and DIY wedding photographer here.

See more Patrick Haley Mansion photography here.

This wedding took place at the beautiful Patrick Haley Mansion in Joliet, IL.  Lexie was such a beautiful bride her new husband Rich was a hoot.  We had a great time together.  We started the day at Lexie’s mothers beautiful Shorewood home.  Then traveled to downtown Joliet for some fun shots near the Realto Square Theatre.  We ended the day at the Patrick Haley Mansion where the ceremony and reception took place.  It was a beautiful day and we had a blast partying the night away with an awesome bride and groom.

Thank you Lexie and Rich for the great time and the new friendship!!!

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See more beautiful Chicago engagement photography here, and Chicago engagement photographer here.

What can I say…it was 9 degrees, the wind was blowing, everyone in Chicago was bundled up (including myself), long story short…THIS WAS NOT ENGAGEMENT SESSION WEATHER!!!  Little did I know I had some troopers on my hands .  Amy and Chad were dressed for fashion…not the cold.  We met early afternoon at Chicago Union Station.  From the windows it looked like it was a pretty nice day.  Looks can be deceiving.  After getting some really cute candid shots in and around Union Station, we took a cab to Grant Park.  LOL…it hadn’t been plowed, shoveled, or salted.  Poor Amy in those cute pumps.  She maneuvered the snow like a pro.  After some beautiful shots with the sun setting behind the buildings, we took a LONG stroll towards Millennium Park.  Stopping for a beverage and to warm up at the Congress Hotel.  Chad “claimed” he wasn’t that cold.  I think he was just being tough .  Amy on the other hand was obviously cold because her feet were BEET RED!  Oh no!  Next on the list was Millennium Park.  We got to the Bean just as the sun was making it’s last peek through the buildings.  All of the Christmas lights were a-glow.  People were hustling and bustling all around taking in the sights, and skating on the ice.  It was picturesque to say the least.  Like a scene from Serendipity.  I felt like an outsider while John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale found each other in the middle of New York.  Except it was Chicago, and I think Chad and Amy are better looking .  We then headed into the Millennium Park Cafe’ to, you guessed it, warm up again, and have another cocktail.  After Amy’s feet turned from a sort of crimson color to a more manageable pink we headed out for another “short walk” down Michigan Avenue to the Tribune building.  That’s where I caught this awesome moment of the two love birds kissing while the cars whizzed by.  A little patience and a slow shutter speed and voila.  All in all it was a pretty amazing day with some pretty amazing people.

We had such a fantastic time with you guys…thank you Chad and Amy for being such good sports.  We’ll be seeing you again soon

-Corlis

When it comes to beautiful ceremonies, this one takes the cake!  This beautiful wedding began at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL.  The ceremony took place at the exquisite church Queen of the Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church which is  located  LaSalle, IL.  Finally, the reception took place at Oak Ridge Golf Club in Seneca, IL.  As a Chicago wedding photographer I get the opportunity to travel to a lot of wonderful locations all over Illinois.  These are some of the best when it comes to rustic beauty!  See more Seneca Oak Ridge wedding photographer photo’s here, and Seneca Oak Ridge wedding photography here.

The natural light coming through the stained glass in this church was simply amazing.  It allowed me to shoot without a flash and capture all of the shadow and light detail.  What I love about this photograph is stunning shimmer of the gold wall.

Shooting from the organ/choir loft here gave me a different perspective and allowed me to capture more of the detail of this beautiful wall.

The shallow depth of field in this image draws your attention to the emotion in Audrey and Marks faces without losing the beauty of the background.

Here the architectural detail of the balcony adds to the drama of this high fashion group shot.

Getting down low and using the low sun to silhouette

Thank you guys for the wonderful time!  We had a great time taking the golf carts for a ride and freezing our butts off LOL.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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I couldn’t tell you where this location was exactly.  Our initial meeting place was going to be Gebhard Woods in Morris, IL, but when I arrived there the park was closed! Oh no! As usual I showed up about an hour early, so I started driving around frantically looking for another location.  Ben and Emily had expressed to me that they wanted a nature “theme” for their engagement session.  So I immediately thought back country roads, which aren’t in short supply in Morris.  I came across this parking area in the middle of nowhere that looked as though there were hiking trails.  I took a quick stroll and surveyed the area.  This was it!  A quick call to the happy couple and some, albeit, hazy directions and we were all set.  Ben and Emily were great sports and we ended up getting some wonderful shots.  See more Morris, IL engagement photography here.

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

Wedding Photography | Naperville Wedding | Photographer | Morris, IL | Chicago

It was a beautiful day with some beautiful people.  Thanks for all the fun you guys!

-Corlis :: Contact Me!

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This amazing wedding took place at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL.  Just about an hour and a half southwest of Chicago.  Starved Rock has to be one of my favorite places for a wedding getaway.  The lodge is beautiful and the scenery is second to none.  This wedding was no exception.  I have to say, Laci and Ian are, what I like to refer to as, “beautiful people”.  We all wish we were as good looking as these two.  At least I do, lol.  It was virtually impossible for me to take a bad picture of them.  To top it all off, they were genuinely just good hearted people which made my job just that much easier.  For this Chicago wedding photographer, this is as good as it gets.  See more Ottawa, IL wedding photographer photo’s by Corlis Gray here, and Ottawa, IL wedding photography here.  You can also see Laci & Ian’s Chicago engagement session here.

I probably looked pretty silly from other people’s perspectives, but laying on the floor and adding a slight camera tilt, gave this shot a little edginess.

Here the shallow depth of field draws your attention to the groom gazing at his soon to be wife.

I love the very editorial look of this photograph.  The punchy colors ad to the drama of this photo.  Just a small note, this was NOT posed.  I just captured a really stunning moment of Laci gazing out the window of the trolley, just soaking in the days events.

Here the shallow depth of field and the sharpness of Laci really brings out her eyes.  They are almost mesmerizing.  It doesn’t hurt that she’s done some modeling either.  LOL.

In this image I placed a flash behind Laci and Ian as they were dancing to capture a silhouette of them dancing while using another flash to give a slight fill light.  With the long shutter speed I could grab some of the ambient light surrounding them and in the background.  I think it’s a wonderfully romantic image.

Ian and Laci, you are truly two very wonderful people, and I wish you all the best.  Your wedding was almost as rockin’ as you!

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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Thanks again guys for being so fun to work with.  I can’t wait until the wedding!!!

-Corlis :: Contact Me!

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So being that they have more school loans than the U.S. deficit, but all the love in the world (literally).  God was smiling on them one day and led them to me.  I just so happen to do 3 pro bono weddings per year for couples in exactly their predicament.  After reading the most heart warming email from Abby, I decided to meet with them.

We met in a little coffee shop in Morris, IL called Brewed Awakenings.  From there we sat over a couple hot cups of joe and got to know each other.  The rest is history.

See more Starved Rock engagement photographer photo’s here,  Starved Rock engagement photography here, and Starved Rock engagement photos here.

Here is their engagement session shot at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL

Thank you Abby and Ben for the great time we had!

Your Friend,

Corlis – Contact me!

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Ben is a VERY talented pianist in Chicago.  Abigail studies monkeys in Africa.  When I put it that way you might assume these two couldn’t be more different, but you’d be wrong.  Being that Ben is a musician, and his name isn’t P-Diddy or John Mayer, he isn’t exactly making billions.  Abigail is, what I consider to be a genius of sorts, holding something like 1,000,000 degrees in anthropology, so she’ll be paying off school bills until her grand-kids have grand-kids.  They don’t have all the money in the world.  What they do have in excess is LOVE.  Not just any kind of love.  Hot pink, Hollywood, roman candle, kinda love.  I thought I knew what love was until I met these two.

So being that they have more school loans than the U.S. deficit, but all the love in the world (literally).  God was smiling on them one day and led them to me.  I just so happen to do 3 pro bono weddings per year for couples in exactly their predicament.  After reading the most heart warming email from Abby, I decided to meet with them.

We met in a little coffee shop in Morris, IL called Brewed Awakenings.  From there we sat over a couple hot cups of joe and got to know each other.  The rest is history.

Here is their wedding shot in Seneca, IL.  Just a couple hours outside of Chicago.

See more outdoor DIY wedding photography here.

The shallow depth of field and the grainyness of this image really add an artistic feel to this image that I love.

There is nothing better than capturing the true happiness and excitement of a bride.

Ben and Abbi, I just can’t say enough great things about you guys.  You are two very wonderful people and I wish you all the best throughout your lives.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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This beautiful wedding took place in small town Morris, IL.  About an hour southwest of Chicago.  As you’ll see, we found a hidden treasure of this old rundown building.  While traveling to Gebhard Woods, a small community park, I got a little lost, lol, and found this great place.  It really contrasted the elegance of the wedding attire.  Here’s a small sample of this truly gorgeous wedding.  See more Morris, IL wedding photography here.

The cross process look and extreme sharpness of this image give it a very editorial feel.

I love the smooth tones and contrast of this image.  This old iron stairway gives it a really grunge/urban feel even though it was shot in a small rural town.

The shallow depth of feel gives this image a artsy feel.  While the fast shutter speed freezes the tiny candy hearts in mid air to really add to the detail in this action shot.

Here the vintage process applied to the image gives a really dramatic feel to another very urban feeling image.

In this image I wanted to give the impression of a high fashion magazine style image.  The contrast and bright colors really make it pop.

Another vintage treatment with a GQ style pose really makes this image stand out.

Thanks Joe and Ashley for not letting the weather dampen your spirits.  You were truly great sports.  We gad a great time and hope you love your pictures as much as we do.

-Corlis :: Contact Me

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