For the LOVE of my great city and all the lovely couples I get to capture under its trees and city sidewalks- I decided to create this mini session location guide of my most favorite places to shoot Engagement Sessions around the Chicago area. This will be a continual project as I always have more awesome locations to add to this guide. But I thought it will serve as a handy little reference to send to my couples looking for Engagement Session location ideas. And no doubt that the hardest part will be choosing which beautiful part of this amazing city to visit! Click here to view more locations-thanks for taking a look 🙂 What are your favorite hidden gems to shoot in or around Chicago?!

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So excited to see Elyse + Brian’s Classic Summer Chicago Wedding featured on the Borrowed and Blue blog today! We had the most fun with these two and their families last summer at the beautifully elegant Cafe La Cave. I loved how they incorporated traditions from both their Indian and American cultures- white horse included! Check out the feature to see more from their bright and colorful wedding. xo

Wedding Reception: Cafe La Cave

Videographer: OJO Creative

Band: Upbeat Music Productions

Florist: Design de Flores

Catering: Cafe La Cave

Desserts/Sweets: Oak Mill Bakery

Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas

Bridal Gown: Diana’s Bridal Boutique

Nothing is as good as a lifestyle family photography session at home. So when Sarah reached out and invited me into her home to photograph their first family session I was beyond thrilled. It’s such an honor as a photographer to get to capture these precious first newborn moments because they just grow in the blink of an eye.  Mix in the fact that Sarah is a freelance prop stylist (hence her beautifully decorated Bucktown home)  paired with the sweetest and smallest baby flower crown created by local florist Pistil and Vine. I had the perfect backdrop for The Freel’s cozy family session.  Baby Reese is simply adorable and on her way to becoming as stylish as her mom- Congrats!!

If you would like to schedule a lifestyle family session let’s connect soon as I am only taking a limited amount of family sessions this season. xo

Baby Flower Crown: Pistil & Vine

Ally and John are THAT couple… the ones you meet with over beers and comfortably feel like you have just made a great new connection with. Which is no surprise that this laid back couple first met at a summer BBQ thrown by mutual friends. John knew that Ally was the one when they took their first vacation together to see the Cubs spring training in Arizona. After spending 4 straight days together just 3 months into their relationship he just knew that they were headed to forever.

One of their favorite first memories involved a night when John invited Ally and a few friends over to his tiny 1 bedroom apartment for dinner. Since John only owned 2 sets of silverware- his dinner guests had to BYOF (bring their own forks)! Sharing so many interests together like taking road trips, bike rides, and visiting breweries to name a few- Ally and John wanted their wedding to reflect their causal and fun natured spirit.

Which made the Illinois Beach Resort in Zion IL the perfect natural backdrop to exchange their vows to each other in a private ceremony along the shoreline of Lake Michigan surrounded by their closest family and friends. A mutual friend of Ally and John’s set the stage for officiating an intimate ceremony followed by a beautiful reception featuring floor to ceiling windows displaying panoramic views of the beach below. Named one of the Top 10 Best Outdoor Wedding Sites by The Knot Chicago Magazine I love photographing at this unique venue located only 40 mins from Chicago because it feels worlds away from all the urban hustle.

Thank you to John and Ally for inviting us to capture their amazing day and for showing us that all you need is a white glove (that lights up) and a champagne bottle to channel Michael Jackson’s sweet dance moves all while keeping the dance floor alive- cheers to many more first dances! xo

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Illinois Beach Resort

Venue Coordinator: Kim Hall

Officiant: Anuja Patel (friend of Bride + Groom)

Florist: Anemone Creative

DJ: Parker Greenlund of The Total PKG

Catering: Illinois Beach Resort

Sweets/Desserts: Sweet Discoveries

Invitations: Groom’s Design

Bridal Shop: BHLDN

Hair: Lauren Sweenor

Makeup: Simply Perfect Makeup Artists

It’s genuine and caring couples like Carissa + Doug that make life as a full time photographer worth all the sweat, hustle and happy tears!  Thank you both so much for inviting us to capture such a beautiful day at the Ivanhoe County Club. We love you guys 🙂 Here is more from the bride Carissa:

“Liz and Joe are excellent photographers! They did a wonderful job throughout the whole process of doing our wedding pictures. They were flexible and worked with our schedule and timeline. The pictures they took of us were very natural and of a high quality. They pay attention to detail too! I love the unique types of pictures they are able to capture. Liz and Joe are both great people to work with; they make you feel comfortable when planning the details and throughout the day of your wedding. If you want your wedding captured to the fullest, hire Coach House Pictures!”

To read more about what our brides are saying and to read more 5 star Wedding Reviews check them out on our Wedding Wire profile page. xo

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I love photographing families for the first time. And the Soracoe family were pros to say the least! Photographing some special memories with their one year old Caroline at the Nature Boardwalk in Lincoln Park was such a blast! The sun was out during our morning photo session as well which just added to the beautifully warm lighting. I can’t wait to photograph this family again later this year.

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It’s not everyday I get to retrace the steps to where someone proposes to spend forever with their love. That’s exactly what I did on Sunday when I met Julia and Mike at the lakefront at Belmont Harbor around sunset. Seeing how they embraced each other almost every change they had the opportunity to was such an endearing experience to be in the presence of. I can’t wait to capture and celebrate along with their family and friends at their July wedding at Volo Restaurant.

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These last few months have been a whirlwind of celebration and wrapping up another beautiful wedding season all while preparing for my biggest and most important role yet- motherhood! And I couldn’t be more excited or ready to welcome our little baby lady. I like to think that she’s already shown a few sides to her personality already like keeping most of her playtime activity during the day and letting me sleep restfully at night. Along with her resistance to punctuality- today is actually her due date (40 weeks- YAY I made it!)  She is however showing no progress or interest in making her grand debut. Which has just given Joe and I more time to enjoy our cozy nights in together.

Thank you to the many special people in my life who have filled me with so much gratitude and blessings over the last 9 months. Our baby is truly lucky and blessed to be entering into such a loving community of family and friends. Including my sweet friend Karina of Metts Photo for capturing these beautiful photos of me and baby a few weeks ago at Humboldt Park. Oh and for indulging me in my craving for pizza after our photo session 🙂 And to my family for always making me feel like the luckiest lady- I am thrilled and honored to be entering into motherhood. I can only hope to be as devoted, caring, and selfless as I have seen my 2 sisters be in raising their kids. With so much to learn, love, and laugh about I cannot wait to see what motherhood teaches me and our family.

To say that I loved putting together our baby girls nursery would be a gigantic understatement. I pulled inspiration from a few different place starting with Rifle Paper’s Wildfire wrapping paper, nature, bold happy patterns and by tapping into the girliest side of me. For those who know me well- I’m not a pink girl at all- never really have been. So taking the leap to paint the nursery this dreamy peach/pink shade- Whispering Peach was a big deal for me. But I loved using this color as a foundation to creating a calm, playful and pretty backdrop for many new memories to be created in. I am so excited to be sharing photos and DIY links/inspiration to all the many projects I had the joy in creating for her. My intention in everything I make by hand is that it will live on long past her infancy and be loved for many years to come.

(1): This IKEA egg chair (that I believe is no longer sold at the store) can still be found on Craigslist– which is where I found it a few years ago for $20. I recovered it using an old IKEA bed sheet as my fabric. I’ve used this as my desk chair for many years and now has a new life and purpose in the nursery. I crocheted this sweet baby blanket over the last few months and loved how it turned out. The only thing I changed was adding a more girly scalloped edge to finish it off.  Using 100% cotton yarn was important to me as I suspect I will be washing this blanket many times over.

(2): I spent many nights cutting out these petals and leaves before putting everything  together to create this whimsical nature inspired mobile. I took inspiration and the petal patterns from the book Paper to Petal. However instead of using paper I decided to use felt for its durability.

I had so much fun picking out the felt colors for this project. I wrapped a 14″ wood embroidery hoop with satin ribbon that I had left over from our wedding and used the same ribbon to hang from a small white hook mounted to the ceiling.  How sweet would it be to wake up to this view every morning 🙂

(3): I created these wall hangings using the Charlotte Stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and an inexpensive canvas drop cloth from Home Depot. The matching wood frames where a thrift store find that I simply sanded lightly and painted using a cream colored chalk paint.

(4): The dresser/changing station is from buybuy baby. And while I loved it for its clean lines and that it matched the crib I thought it could use a little more love and a dose of playfulness. So I added (what might be my favorite shape)  scallop edges using this tape onto the  3 front drawers and completed the final look by adding these fun Target feather drawer handles.  A complete transformation with little investment!

(5). Creating this faux taxidermy Elephant head was such a fun sewing project. I loved how easy this pattern was to follow- perfect for a beginner like me! The only thing I added was mounting the head onto an unfinished wood mount found at Jo Ann Fabrics.

(6). Crochet Cactus- what else is there to say? I’ve added to my collection over the past year and now they have a permanent home in the nursery. To get started on building your collection check out the easy to follow pattern at Little Things Blogged– thanks Tanya 🙂

(7). This stuffed fox pattern by Miranda Winslett was so easy to make- again great for a beginner. The hardest part was picking out the fabric combination. I can’t wait to make more of her patterns.

(8). Okay- so not really a DIY but I wanted to share the link to these clear bookshelves which are actually greeting card displays. I choose the 30′ long ones to fill a small nook behind the door. I love how they don’t take up any visual space and really help the book titles pop off the wall. I have to thank Sarah a recent client of mine for this find- she had them in her nursery and was where I first saw them 🙂

If you’ve made it this far then you really LOVE DIY’s as much as I do! Thanks so much for taking this nursery tour with me. And if you’re wondering what’s on the other side of the wall in the nursery- its my office! More on that at a later time. But for now wish me luck 🙂 Happy weekend friends! xox

Last week’s Olive Park/ South Pond Engagement photography session with Ashley and Sean was the sweetest. We had so much fun touring these beautiful landscapes together and getting to know one another against the Fall urban and natural backdrops.

Thats whats so great about photographing in this great city- so many perfect landscapes to compliment any couples style and sense of adventure. We can’t wait to see which photos they use for their save the dates and are over the moon excited to capture and celebrate alongside them at their downtown wedding in September 2017!  Congrats and cheers to you both!

We were so thrilled to be a part of this years Wedtoberfest event for the second year in a row.  Wedtoberfest is an alternative wedding show that includes all the fun of a beer festival within a casual and stress free wedding planning environment. Joining forces with many talented Chicago wedding vendors  at the amazing Architectual Artifacts venue in Ravenswood.  Joe and I love the kinds of couples we meet at this show simply because they are our ideal clients and we get so excited to chat with them and hear all about their unique and exciting wedding day plans.  And no doubt that Joe loves to do some beer tasting in between meeting newly engaged couples too.

The vibe of this show is unlike no other tradition bridal show in that it has a very laid back feel and we love that we only get a round table to display our photography products and portfolio. It makes for an easy setup and tear down which at the end of the night is really nice. But what we really get excited to show potential clients are all the custom print products that we love to help envision their wedding day come to life with either wood canvases, mounted prints, mini accordian books, wood box with prints and of course everyones favorite our Heirloom Wedding Albums. Thanks to everyone who signed up for our mailing list and remember we are offering a special promotion to all our Wedtoberfest couples we met. That offer is good until Oct 28th. Can’t wait for next years show!