Chicago Wedding Photographer | Elske Restaurant Wedding in the West Loop of Chicago | Kelly + Sam | Downtown Chicago Wedding Photographer
Chicago Wedding Photographer | Elske Restaurant Wedding in the West Loop of Chicago | Kelly + Sam | Downtown Chicago Wedding Photographer
I truly love photographing Wedding Days in Chicago. Kelly and Sam had the perfect blend of that downtown chicago and west loop wedding vibe for their wedding day. They started by getting ready separately at The Emily Hotel in The West Loop and then had a first look in a private room together on one of the top floors of the hotel. We then headed straight for the Chicago River for Bridal portraits, as it’s the center of all of the skyscrapers and beautiful architectural views within the city. On a side note, if you’ve never done a boat architecture tour in downtown chicago, I would highly recommend it whenever you’re in town. I’ve done it multiple times, and you see new things and hear new facts every single time. it’s such a beautiful way to see the city.
Also, a little love note to Kelly’s wedding dress, which I was absolutely in love with. her top was a bespoke corset designed by Ma Corsetière. And if you haven’t seen her custom work, I would highly encourage you to go and view her website. Not only are her corsets stunning, but she has options for ready to wear as well as being capable of designing your dream vision of a corset for your wedding day, rehearsal dinner or welcome party look.
So back to the wedding day, we strolled in and out of the streets and alleyways of downtown Chicago. And thankfully kelly and sam are so similar to me with appreciating light, textures and downtown architecture, so I was able to freely search for pockets of light to have them interact with each other in. Truly, whenever a couple has complete trust in you for portraits, the whole day is so relaxed and enjoyable for everyone. This day was exactly that, just so much joy in strolling and chatting with these two downtown before we headed off to Elske.
Now if you aren’t sure what Elske is, it’s one of the loveliest restaurants in the west loop neighborhood of Chicago. It not only is a one star michelin fine dining danish restuarant with lovely interiors, but it also has a stunning courtyard garden that is perfect for quaint ceremonies and a lovely private space upstairs for guests to relax in a lounge setting. If you’re planning an intimate wedding day in Chicago, I would highly recommend putting Elske on your list of venues to visit as an option for your ceremony and legitimately delicious full course menu for your wedding guests.
When we arrived to Elske, we took a few portraits upstairs and then in the courtyard garden before their family arrived for family portraits. And just before the ceremony, the couple hung out at the private lounge upstairs whilst the rest of the wedding guests arrived in the courtyard. They were greeted with champagne by the elske staff and the couple even had a toast with everyone in the middle of their wedding ceremony, which are the details I love on intimate wedding days. And of course, one of the best chicago wedding florist designers, Bottle and Branch, did a beautiful job of decorated the floral installation for the wedding ceremony backdrop, as well as kelly’s beautiful draping bouquet (which you can see in her bridal portraits we took in downtown Chicago below) and the mini floral designed arrangements on the reception tables.
And on a side note, just because your wedding day is intimate, doesn’t mean you want any less experiences. IT could be intimate literally for the size of wedding guests, which means that you go more “all out” on guest experiences with your closest loved ones around you that you choose to celebrate with. For this reason, it was so lovely to see everyone enjoy one of my favorite plated custom dishes from the Elske Menu while they all were able to enjoy dinner together.
There were sweet speeches, lots of film cameras passed around by loved ones, sweet chats between Kelly and her grandma, and of course lots of love filled this chicago wedding day. And as always, I’m always honored to be there to photograph naturally such meaningful and memorable moments from these once in a lifetime wedding days in Chicago. I adore you both, Kelly and sam, and cheers to a beautiful life spent together! x
“An intimate chicago Wedding day is always a favorite of mine to photograph. I love documenting weddings in the most
natural of ways for every couple.”
Chicago Wedding Venue - Elske Restaurant // Chicago West Loop hotel - The Emily hotel // Chicago Wedding photographer - Melody Joy CO. // Bespoke Bridal Corset - Ma Corsetière // Chicago Florist - Bottle and Branch //
Cuneo Mansion and Gardens Wedding | Sam AND ADAM | Chicago Wedding Photographer
Cuneo Mansion and Gardens Wedding | SAM & ADAM | Chicago Wedding Photographer
** Read this if you want to have your wedding here // The ownership of this property is in the process of being transferred to vernon hills from loyola by January 2026, so as a bride, I would wait until the new property ownership is settled before inquiring for your wedding day. the Vernon HIlls village board mentions that it should resolve by the closing on January 9th, 2026, and even then, waiting until they figure out how the management and staffing will be done after the ownership is established. They still plan on preserving the mansion for the community, so the building and gardens will still exist, it’s just waiting to see who to contact about renting this mansion for your wedding day in the future. Watch this Vernon HIlls Board Meeting to listen to the details of the ownership transfer, specifically from minutes 2-17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WjDEB7O5NI and here are some emails on the vernon hills website for asking any questions on a timeline for when they think the mansion will be ready for any renting out for events in the future https://www.vernonhills.org/Directory.aspx?DID=7 **
CUNEO MANSION IS A historic wedding venue just north of Chicago.
Sam and Adam were married in the beautiful, historic cuneo mansion and gardens. This mansion in Vernon Hills is designed in a Mediterranean style and features a stunning formal dining room with paintings on the ceiling and ornate historic details and windows throughout, a grand central hall that feels like a castle and a quaint private chapel. The mansion interior is filled with a collection of antique furniture, Renaissance paintings, historic tapestries and a lot of silver and porcelain objects that have remained within the mansion since the early 1900’s. Cuneo mansion was built in 1914 and was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of Marshall & Fox, an architectural firm based in Chicago. He also designed a handful of other iconic chicago buildings like The Drake Hotel downtown, and THe Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue. Cuneo Mansion was also the location of my best friends wedding, and that is just a sweet film to have your wedding day shared with.
sam started her wedding day morning getting ready with her best friends and family members and then arrived early at the mansion to have a few solo bridal portraits in the historic halls before having a first look with adam, at the mansion entrance. They decided to have their family photos and bridal party portraits ahead of their wedding ceremony, so that afterwards they could just head to the cocktail hour to spend the full time with all of their loved ones. Thier wedding ceremony was outside in the cuneo mansion gardens. It is a lovely space, that includes a pool, historic pillars and beautiful florals.
CUNEO MANSION and Gardens would be the perfect wedding venue for you if you love historical homes, unique archiTeCture and artful interiors.
After the ceremony, with the lovely soft pink Cuneo Mansion in the background, they had their cocktail hour on the back terrace of the mansion with musicians, a champagne tower, plated hors d'oeuvres and lots of catching up with everyone. During this time are some of the loveliest moments captured of really excited emotions as everyone is hugging the bride and groom for the first time after saying I do.
After cocktail hour on the Cuneo Mansion Garden terrace, everyone headed into the grand dining room where there was one long table that was covered in candles for every wedding guest to sit around together. It was such a magical and romantic setting for their wedding dinner. After the dinner there was a live band in the central hall for endless dancing and a designer making permanent jewelry for all of the guests. Again, I always say how I’m not the best writer, but I truly feel like you’ll be able to feel how sweet the atmosphere was on this wedding day by perusing the images below. Cheers to communicating with images over words. X
Wedding Venue // Cuneo Mansion & Gardens @loyola_cuneomansion
Photography // Melody Joy @melodyjoyco
Wedding Film // @poeticacinema with Symboll @symboll
MUA & Hair // Jazzy Beauty @_jazzybeauty5 @itshairbynina
Catering // Chic Chef Catering @chicchefcatering
Cake // Flores Cupcakery @florescupcakery
Band // Blue Water Kings Band @bluewaterkingsband
Violinist // Tony Radzik @itstony_violin
Photo Booth // Elemnt Photo Booth Co. @elemntphotoboothco
Illustrator // Kaitlyn Dornbier @kdornbier
Permanent Jewelry // Kalina Co. Jewelry @kalinacojewelry
Wedding Dress // Galia Lahav @galialahav
Reception Dress // Taller Marmo @tallermarmo
Alterations // Fifi’s Bridal & Custom Tailoring @fifisbridal_customtailoring
Groom’s Tux // Suit Supply @suitsupply
Groomsmen Tux // The Black Tux @theblacktux
Day-of Coordinator // Simply Elegant @simplyelegantxo
California Clipper Chicago | Segnatore RestAurant Chicago Wedding Reception | Chicago Wedding Photographer
A chicago wedding day that ended at the California Clipper with A Segnatore Restaurant family-style Dinner Reception | Chicago Wedding Photographer
Anna and erik ended their wedding day at the iconic California clipper in chicago. Butlet’s rewind to the morning of their wedding day. These two decided to get ready together and alone at one of the lovely suites at The Chicago athletic Association hotel in downtown chicago. their suite overlooked Millennium park and michigan avenue and this hotel is centrally located in the heart of chicago.
They both enjoyed their drink of choice, Miller High life, while lounging in their room before we headed over to the art institute for wedding portraits. the art institute of chicago is one of my favorite place for portraits and it’s so large with so many wings of artwork and the lighting changes so much throughout the day that no two sessions there ever feel the same. After roaming around the art institute we hopped in a car and drove over to Segnatore Restaurant to meet up with all of the guests.
Anna and Erik had a really unique wedding day because they told their guests that this wasn’t a wedding day and that they were just inviting everyone to a nice dinner. but out of nowhere (although, of course I knew in advance), they did a surPrise ceremony by standing at the bar once all of their loved ones were seated for dinner. They exachanged vows to each other with whispers, exchanged rings and then had a first kiss in front of everyone and the cheering and tears commenced! it was truly so special for everyone, as they all knew that the couple didn’t like to be the center of attention and thought they wouldn’t get the chance to witness their wedding ceremony, but they were able to, and in the couple’s own unique way.
The wedding dinner at Segnatore restaurant was served family style. I love how intimate the wedding dinner was and the style made it really feel like a traditional italian family dinner. The chef was amazing. I wish I was better at words to describe how amazing each dish was from the starters, to the pasta, to the meat, to the dessert, but you just need to go book a table at segnatore the next time you’re looking for a dinner spot in Chicago. They also have solid mocktails as well as cocktails.
segnatore restaurant is direclty across the street from The california clipper, one of the oldest neighborhood cocktail bar in humboldt park that does a wide range of live music to DJ nights. It really is a chicago staple and the drinks and moody interior vibes are solid. So after the italian dinner all of the wedding guests walked across the street to the california clipper to listen to music and hang out late into the night. I took a few Wedding portraits of Anna and Erik under the iconic California clipper neon sign just outside of the bar before I headed out, and left these two lovebirds to go live it up with their loved ones. x
“California clipper and segnatore restaurant are directly across the street from each
other, so are perfect Wedding venues for
an intimate chicago wedding day!”
If you want an intimate wedding day at a dive bar or restaurant in Chicago, New York City, LA, London, tokyo or anywhere in the world,
here is my Inquiry form for you to tell
me all about your wedding day.
A West Loop Wedding at Nobu Hotel and Swift & Sons | Yuliya and Matt | Chicago Wedding Photographer
A West Loop Wedding at Nobu Hotel and Swift & Sons | Yuliya and Matt | Chicago Wedding Photographer | Destination Wedding Photographer
Yuliya and Matt spent the morning of their wedding day getting ready at Nobu Hotel with all of their closest loved ones. They both had matching corner room suites that overlooking the Chicago city skyline. Yuliya wore a dress that was customized by Ellen Veli Atelier and a pair of stunning Manolo Blahnik heels. They both had a cheers with their families separately and then Yuliya had a moment alone with her father for a first look. After the embracing and a sweet quiet moment with her dad, Yuliya waited for Matt to come down to her suite for their first look together. When he came around the corner, his face was in awe of the beauty that is Yuliya in her stunning bridal look. After everyone gathered their things we all headed down to the lobby of the Nobu Hotel where a stretch hummer limo was waiting for all of the family members to ride together to the ceremony.
The ceremony took place in the center of downtown Chicago on the Chicago River. There is a Chicago river walk that runs all along the river and the has so many lovely view points with the skyscrapers, trains and bridges in the backdrop. Yuliya and Matt chose a beautiful location that incorporated all of those things behind them while they said their vows to each other and said “I Do” to spending the rest of their life together as husband and wife. It really was such a picturesque backdrop of the city that they met and fell in love in all around them. Everyone then took family photos on the river and then in front of The Wrigley Building with the river behind them.
After the ceremony and family photos, the limo dropped us off over to Chicago-Kent College of Law, to take photos where Yuliya and Matt met and went to Law School together, while it took the rest of the guests over to Swift and Sons for their intimate dinner wedding reception in Fulton Market. Yuliya and Matt went all over Chicago-Kent College of Law to take couples portraits in all of the areas where they spent time together. They even took photos in the exact elevator where they literally saw each other for the first time, which I thought was the sweetest thing. There is also a library area where they picked up books related to their law studies, and they even switched books based on the topics. Honestly, I couldn’t get enough of these two and their movie romance love story from their time in University. It was so endearing seeing them light up about memories within the campus.
After we finished with couples portraits we headed over to Nobu Hotel, where their family and friends were waiting for them and we all rode over to Swift and Sons in Fulton Market together. They had a private room and bar area rented out in Swift and Sons and their guests were able to enjoy canapés, drinks and a beautiful slideshow of film photos of them growing up as children until now. It was really sweet to watch their parents faces light up with joy at seeing how these two have grown into such the beautiful and loving pair that they are now. It was a truly beautiful and intimate wedding day in downtown Chicago and I’m so honored that they asked me document these sweet memories for them to remember forever. x
Wedding Hotel - Nobu Hotel Chicago | Wedding Reception - Swift and Sons Fulton Market | Wedding Shoes - Manolo Blahnik | Wedding Dress - Ellen Veli Atelier | Groom Tux - Ted Baker | Wedding Ceremony - Chicago River Walk | Chicago Wedding Portraits - Chicago-Kent College of Law | Destination Wedding Photographer - Melody Joy Co.