Here in Chicago, its easy for us to forget that most of Illinois is, well, corn. And I’m sure everyone who doesn’t live in Chicago in Illinois is rolling their eyes and saying to themselves “Typical.” But seriously, when we got to driving to Champaign-Urbana for Rachel and TJ’s wedding, we took a state highway that displayed Illinois in all of its maize glory. Almost the entire route. You may be surprised, then, when I say that is was beautiful; there was something about the glint of the sun on the drying leaves of cornstalks that left a nice sentiment.
We had a great time with Rachel and TJ on their wedding day. The boys started the day off with football, which left me feeling bummed that I wore khakis and dress shoes. The girls began the day with hair and makeup rituals, and before we knew it the ceremony was on.
One aspect of this wedding that I truly appreciated was how Rachel and TJ did their homework; they planned lots of time for photographs and chose great locations. We are not familiar with the area and Rachel and TJ knew that, so they planned accordingly with locations in mind (which were beautiful) and left lots of time for us to work it. We can’t stress enough how much we like this, but how much you will love this. Its your wedding day. You’ve spent months planning it, and at times it can feel the world is collapsing around you. Its ok to stop on the day of and just enjoy each other while we capture you. We’ve photographed weddings where the time frame for portraits is half an hour or even less, which can leave us feeling like Wild West gun slingers–fire away, and you with less variety in your portraits. So Rachel and TJ, good job. Among the locations they chose were University of Illinois Arboretum, W. Main St. in downtown Urbana, and Crane Alley. What made these locations great was depth, color, good lines, lighting (overcast weather helps), and interesting context. The reception was at Broadway 88.
