Ok, so I actually put this off because the task was so incredibly daunting! I mean who wants to look through thousands upon thousands of images and then narrow it down? I had a bunch that I chose then weeded out some more and apparently I can’t narrow it down from 19, so here we are! Now each and every wedding had some amazing portraits but these were the ones that stuck out to me! I’ll have a full recap of 2009 in slideshow form sometime soonish!

So now the lucky 19. And guess what? The WINNER of the best of poll gets a 16×20 gallery wrapped canvas of the image and the 2nd and 3rd place also get a prize too!  So vote away, encourage your friends and family to vote for you and whoever you want as well! Contest ends at midnight CST Friday February 5th, 2010. So let’s get it started!

#1 – Katie and Mark
Katie and Mark got married at White Pines Country Club in Bensenville, they decided to do a first look and then we did some portraits afterward before the ceremony. This was a moment when I took them near this grassy field and this is what Mark did. They were fun and truly in love and couldn’t wait for this day to come!

#2 – Lauren and Brian
Lauren and Brian got married at Winnetka Community House and their venue and the locations there were spectacular! Lauren and Brian also had decided on a first look, it was when Lauren laid her head on Brian’s shoulder that I knew this was going to be a great picture!

#3 – Nadine and Rick
This wedding was located at Hotel Baker in St. Charles and Nadine and Rick were not my typical couple, they both had families they were combining but it was positive that they surrounded themselves with people who they loved and who loved them. This image is one of my favorites, look at the way the wind swept Nadine’s hair and just how they look so relieved!

#4 - Shannon and Matt
Shannon and Matt were one of the first couples to book me for their wedding last year and I was really excited to show them their risk was going to pay off big! They also had a first look followed by some pictures at a nearby park in Oswego, it was one of those hot days but Shannon and Matt were determined to have great images and this one just really stood out to me from the hundreds! They had their reception at Riverview Banquets in Geneva.

#5 – Jessie and Mike

Jessie and Mike were the most untraditional couple that I photographed in 2009 and I welcomed it!  They wanted everyone to party and the food was pretty amazing seeing as Jessie makes gelato for a living!  They were married and had their reception at Architectural Artifacts in Chicago.  When I saw this image, I literally gasped!  What a sweet moment between Jessie and Mike that they just wanted to be together!

#6 – Jen and Scott

Oh Jen and Scott, how I love the quirkiness that Scott showed me on their wedding day, much like the first image, but knowing that they probably wouldn’t want a large canvas of Scott jokingly jumping into Lake Michigan…I decided to try number 2 instead!  They also had a first look so we can go all over Chicago to get their gorgeous images, definitely one of my favorite weddings with a reception at Maggiano’s!

#7 – Kirsten and Will

Oh Kirsten and Will!  It decided to be freezing and raining on their wedding day and their hopes of an outdoor ceremony not under a tent were dashed.  We managed to get some awesome images even with disappearing sunlight though!

#8 – Beth and Tom

Beth and Tom also had their reception at Maggianos in Oakbrook!  Their wedding was on one of those hot hot hot summer days at Wilder Park in Elmhurst.  Everyone was dripping with sweat but Beth and Tom decided to treat their guests to some ice cream and hired a cute ice cream truck!

#9 – Val and Josh

One of my favorite weddings of 2009 as well!  Val and Josh just were themselves through silliness and their love for one another.  They were brave enough to get some images outside before heading to The Seville in Streamwood for their dancing marathon reception.  And honestly, what can you not love about this picture??

#10 – Christine and John

Christine and John also got married during one of those hot summer streaks we had!  And I just love this image, love love love love love.  I love the sun peaking out through the trees and the smiles they both have!

#11 – Amanda and Steve

This was tough wedding to choose ONE image from.  I mean just one?  These were some of my all time favorites and I just loved them all.  I settled on this black and white of Amanda and Steve.  I mean what’s not to love.  We squeezed the last bit out of fall and I could’ve chosen an image with great oranges and yellows, but I love the simplicity of this black and white image.  I even could’ve chosen some of the stuff we got at Entourage where their reception was held!  But I liked this one the best!

#12 – Karen and Greg

Oh Karen and Greg!  I just love everything there is about this image!  We changed up their picture site due to disappearing sunlight and a thick cloud cover that had set in and everything just worked itself out!  I mean, how can you not LOVE this image?  Then there was some great times at Belvedere Banquets at their reception!

#13 – Traycie and Jason

Traycie and Jason were my very last wedding in 2009!  They were married on New Years Eve and wanted to brave the 10 degree or so weather for pictures!  I love the expressions between Jason and Traycie and the lights in the background!  We did get to warm up and go to Old Orchard Country Club for their reception and to ring in the new year!

#14 – Kim and Mike

Kim and Mike are just fun.  There’s no ifs ands or buts about it!  Their wedding plans were foiled by the weather but they definitely took it in stride!  After they moved their ceremony indoors and having to do pictures inside the hotel instead of outside, the sun came out after their ceremony during cocktail hour so we hit the golf course at the Arboretum Club to get this photo!  And I love how they are laughing and smiling in it!

#15 – Eleni and Mike

Eleni and Mike also got married during the heat streak in Chicago!  We even braved Millennium Park during the first weekend of the Taste of Chicago for pictures!  And really, it wasn’t that horrible and while I loved so many of the photos including Eleni dancing with some break dancers, this one we got at the Grand Piazza has been a favorite since!

#16 – Dani and Hoang

Dani and Hoang were calm on their wedding day despite some hiccups like their limo showing up about an hour late.  We still got into take pictures at Wrigley Field  but that meant our time at Millennium Park was short.  I’m pretty sure I did Millennium Park photos in 15 minutes, maybe 20 but we had to get over to cocktail hour at the Doubletree Magnificent Mile! I love this picture because it was as we were walking back to the limo and completely on their own.

#17 – Brooke and Brett

Another of my favorites!  Brooke and Brett got married before their reception at the Byron Colby Barn and Brooke told me that it rained profusely on their wedding day and the pictures they had hoped to come from it were lackluster, so that put a lot of pressure on me to get something they loved!  And I think I succeeded!  The first photo, I couldn’t not include as I feel like it’s just special and something that happened between them!  The 2nd one is the one in the contest.  I love this image.  You can just see them looking at each other and smiling as they walked into a random field we went to!

#18 – Sharon and Edgar

Sharon and Edgar (and their wedding party) were a lot of fun!  We had a relaxed day and took portraits at Cantigny in between their ceremony and reception and you know how much I love Cantigny!  This is one of my many favorites for the day because you can just see how in love they are, I mean look at Edgars face and Sharon’s eyes…Just everything about this one makes me swoon!

#19 – Sarika and Manish

And finally Sarika and Manish!  During their engagement sessions I knew I couldn’t wait for their wedding day!  They were willing to do things silly and basically would do things themselves and would be themselves so my job was pretty easy going!  I just had to capture them in that manner!  Their extravagant and magnificent day was held at the Lincolnshire Marriot and every detail was taken care of!  I love this picture.  I just do and you can see why!

Whew!  That was tough!  And really really difficult to narrow it down!

So you can only do one vote per person per day!  So vote away!!

I’m getting geared up to do some posts on different aspects of the wedding that I capture but I’m wondering what all of YOU stalkers readers would like to especially hear about! I promise to get to ALL of the questions or aspects of the wedding day that you want!

Are you wondering about first looks? Timelines? Getting makeup done? How to get those gorgeous dress shots? What are you looking for advice on? I’m there all day and usually one to help bustle up your dress!

So just leave a comment with questions!!

And come back soon for the best-of series. It’s going to be CRAZY!!

Kara

Did you end up here without seeing the first part? Well don’t worry, it’s right here! And that’s where you should start!

So now we get to the party part, and Nora and Tim and their guests know how to dance and aren’t afraid to! Nora and Tim did their entrance (which was not to the Final Countdown…tsk tsk…haha, I vetoed the same thing!) and then went straight to cut their cake (which was so cute! And I love when a couple walks right in and cuts their cake!) then went straight into their very fun first dance. Nora’s dad hates to dance but her mom obviously is all over it! I think they coaxed her dad onto the floor one more time that evening…but Tim’s parents also knew how to cut a rug! Ok, enough talking about their wedding, you just want to see the pictures don’t you?

Yay for not doing anything all day!! Wait until I send you your full gallery then you’ll really not get any work done!

Kara
kara@karaschultz.com

So you want to know who helped make Nora and Tim’s wedding this awesome?
First, Victoria in the Park was the perfect venue, they’re located at 1700 South Elmhurst Road Mt Prospect, IL 60056-5710 (847) 437-0255
Making everyone look fabulous was Cynthia Sally for makeup and Brides by Kelly made all the bridesmaids hair look fabulous!
MilleFiori! had wonderful flowers to accent the day and Rev on the Run set a tone for their wedding day with the wedding ceremony that was unique and fun!
Making dancing happen was One Stop DJ Service and really adjusting to what the crowd wanted!

So I told Nora her slideshow would be up today right around this time, she replied that she’d probably be getting nothing done. Usually that’s how it works!! Nora and Tim’s wedding was a lot of fun, their friends were up for goofy things (the boys had a wonderful time with it, I just couldn’t NOT post those!). I had a lot of fun with Nora and even curled a few strands of hair that fell before the ceremony (completely forgot about that until I was going through the pictures and remembered!). I think Nora was like, are you sure you want to do this? And I was like yeah, it’ll bother me. HAHA, what other wedding photographer will curl your hair or tell you that you should open gifts while the makeup artist is still there so she can fix any issues if you cry Oh it’s me!

So I can’t say that I didn’t have fun at Nora and Tim’s wedding at Victoria in the Park! The staff was amazing, the food delicious, and the dancing you’ll just have to wait to see! So enjoy the first slideshow and all it’s glory!

Some of Nora’s lovely vendors:
Victoria in the Park
1700 South Elmhurst Road
Mt Prospect, IL 60056-5710
(847) 437-0255 (it’s the big glass building!)
Cynthia Sally for Makeup (see how I sneak you in all the time! Cynthia doesn’t like to be photographed, but I manage to get her at every wedding we do together!)
Rev on the Run provided a FUN, entertaining and truly personal and touching ceremony, perfect for Nora and Tim
Her lovely flowers were done by MilleFiori! and they were some of the best red bouquets I’ve ever seen! Definitely on my top 10 list!!
The bridesmaids hair was done by Brides by Kelly (Nora had a friend do hers!)
The dance floor was packed thanks to the services of One Stop DJ Service and I had time to talk to the DJ and he has been doing this for years! He really knows how to keep the dance floor moving!

So after my good friend Amy put up a post on her blog about the difference in size of photos on wall prints, I knew I had to do something similar. Now my photos of this aren’t nearly as greatly organized as Amy’s, so you should check hers out too!! Plus I thought you’d want to see some of Isabelle! And I’m right aren’t I?!

But before we talk about size, let’s talk SALE! I’m having a canvas sale!! These prices are pretty ridiculous but you have to act fast! You only have until Saturday to commit! If you’re wedding is coming up and you want to reserve and lock in this price you have to let me know by Saturday! Yes, you can pre-order! How awesome is that?!

16×20 – $180
16×24 – $200
20×24 – $225
24×36 – $265

And these prices are there so you can have a giant wall of awesome canvases!!

I’ve talked with people and they think 11×14 is a BIG print, but really when you get it up on a wall, it’s really not THAT big! Actually quite small.

This is a 4×6 framed on my mantle…yikes (and yes, it’s of Isabelle!)

This is an 10×8, thought it was big now?

If this post still makes you scared of giant prints and canvases, think about doing a set of smaller prints, these are a series of 3 10×10′s!

When you order an 8×10 or larger from me, they’re mounted so you don’t even need to frame them! Just put them on the wall with some 3M velcro (yep, I said velcro! It’s easy to remove and easy to do!)

This is an 11×14 now (and a gallery mount!)

16×20 gallery wrapped canvas, now that’s looking better isn’t it?!

canvas from the edge

This is an 18×24 gallery wrapped canvas, now that could definitely stand alone above a fireplace!

2 16×20 gallery wrapped canvases (forget the fact that they’re not in the right spots and yes, I measured I could still fit a 20×20 up there!) They’re supposed to be a bit closer but my lazy wonderful husband hasn’t done that yet

This is the 18×24 on the wall it’s supposed to go on! And you can see, it’s a BIG wall, and even there it doesn’t look over bearing or too big! (and yes, the lantern is actually from Morocco, they wouldn’t let me bring back a big one so a small one had to do oh and the video tapes, I live with a coach and they just switched over to dvd’s this year…)

Here’s another example of a photo wall, I’m not 100% done with it as you can see, but it’s 4- 10×10′s, 1 11×14 and 4 – 8×10′s

And one last grouping of 2 10x10s and an 8×10 (I have these sitting on a shelf!)

So there you have it! Go home and measure your walls and then email me to get your canvas!!

Kara
kara@karaschultz.com

As promised, here’s part 2! (did you miss part 1? Don’t worry, it’s right here). Traycie and Jason really had fun and were good sports about the whole 5 degrees outside thing on their wedding day! They wanted pictures downtown Arlington Heights before heading off to the reception at Old Orchard Country Club at 700 West Rand Road Mt Prospect, IL 60056-1098 (847) 255-2025.

We had a great time and so did their guests! This is only a small sampling of the crazy dance floor! It was great to be the photographer for your wedding! Also, what’s not in here is that Traycie and Jason set up a kids room and they ate pizza and had some babysitters there! I went back to see it and got hit in the head with a foam football (no harm was done, just was funny!) so that was a GREAT way and all the kids had a blast back there!

Don’t forget to look at all the parts!
Engagement 1, Engagement 2, sneak of the whole day and of course slideshow part 1

Well that was a lot of fun and finally rounds off my 2009 weddings!! Can you believe it!? Look for a recap of the year and maybe a contest or two!

Kara
kara@karaschultz.com

Yeah, I’m breaking up all my slideshows right now into 2 parts because I can!! HA! So there! Plus isn’t it more fun not to hear the same song 8 times? That’s what I thought!

Traycie and Jason got married on New Years Eve! New Years Eve weddings I’ve decided are a ton of fun! Besides the whole middle of winter, freezing our butts off thing, everyone is in such a great mood and just wants to party!

Everyone got ready at the Hilton Northbrook located at 2855 N. Milwaukee Ave, Northbrook, Illinois, United States 60062 Tel: 1-847-480-7500 and then we headed over to the church for the ceremony!

Part 2 is some more pictures at the park in Arlington Heights and the reception at Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect!

And if you missed it:
Engagement 1, Engagement 2, sneak of the whole day!

Part Deux coming up later this afternoon!

Kara

Nora and Tim got the pleasure of being my first wedding of 2010 on the very first weekend of 2010!  No waiting for me!  Nora and Tim hired me for the sole reason that my husband coaches wrestling, no joke.  I about died laughing but I know the wrestling community and well, we’re all pretty good people.  Though I did tell Nora never to learn how you can get 4 back-points because well, then you know too much and you get to run tournaments and teach people how to take stats.  Nora and Tim were so much fun!  We had a blast together and their wedding was one big party and I was there to take pictures.  There may or may not have been some dancing going on on my part but we’ll leave that to be decided!  They had both their ceremony and reception at Victoria in the Park in Mount Prospect, IL.  These are only a few and I can’t wait to show you the slideshow!  I really ended 2009 with 2 great weddings and started 2010 with an awesome one!  I also got to see my friend and makeup artist Cynthia Sally who did all the girls makeup (and yes Cynthia, I got a shot with you in it as is always my goal when we work together).

So without further ado, this is only a few!!  Both the boys and the girls were a bit silly!

I just love these two portraits

Their ceremony was hilarious and kept everyone laughing!

I can’t choose a favorite from these:

Nora and Tim’s first dance was a ton of fun!

And they kept dancing all night long!!

Can’t wait for you to see the rest of the wedding pictures! I had so much fun photographing it!

Kara
kara@karaschultz.com

If you’re looking for a great location Victoria in the Park is located at:
1700 South Elmhurst Road
Mt Prospect, IL 60056-5710
(847) 437-0255

Traycie and Jason decided that they would get married on New Years Eve and just party until the New Year! And with only being married a few hours, they still get their tax credit! HA! (it’s tax time, can you tell what’s on my mind?) We started the day with the girls (and boys, though I didn’t see them!) getting ready at the Hilton Northbrook located at 2855 N. Milwaukee Ave, Northbrook, Illinois, United States 60062 Tel: 1-847-480-7500 and googlemaps took me to the wrong place!  But everything was fine, I found it thanks to a handy call to the Hilton staff!

Since it was so cold out, we did a lot of the girls pictures in the Hilton, this one is from an elevator ride!  You’ll never know where I’ll stop to take pictures on your wedding day!

We then headed to St. Peter Lutheran Church at 111 West Olive Arlington Heights, IL for the late ceremony!

I love this one of Jason’s mom looking at him while Traycie walks down the aisle!

After some pictures at the church, we headed down the street to a park in Arlington Heights that had a holiday lighting display!  It was quite chilly and difficult to shoot!  It was pretty much pitch black and freezing but Traycie and Jason were determined to stay outside and get a few pictures!

the next 2 are definitely my favorites!!

And Traycie (somehow) convinced Jason to do this one!!  She really wanted to make snow angels!!

We got back in our cars and warmed up to head over to Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect!  We had a great time and the staff were wonderful even though I knew they were working late!  Traycie and Jason also had the COOLEST wedding cake this year possibly, one of the tops for sure!  But you’ll have to wait for the slideshow to see it!

And look!  Traycie changed her dress!  She didn’t want to dance all night in the ballgown so she slipped into a different dress!  She told NO ONE it was going to happen!  Not even me!  Because of this, I took them for a few more pictures in the new wedding dress!  We just did these inside at Old Orchard!

And finally the New Year hit and it was 2010!

Traycie and Jason it was great to spend your wedding day with you and ring in the new year!!!  I’ve been so lucky to photograph it!

Kara

kara@karaschultz.com

Old Orchard Country Club is located at

700 West Rand Road
Mt Prospect, IL 60056-1098
(847) 255-2025

Ok, Part 2 time and well, I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed our time at The Seville. So I’m not going to lie, I cried during the father/daughter dance, so did Val. Then there was a lot of cake shoved in each others faces, lots of dancing, a video camera up WAY close (see that one??). And of course something called the hamster dance? I’m still scratching my head on that one!! Josh got out of that and I think he’s very happy he did!

Photographing Josh and Val on their wedding was easy as making boxed cake mix (because let’s face it, pie isn’t always that easy!). They were relaxed, they laughed (which was one of Val’s requests, get Josh to smile and laugh! It wasn’t hard at all either!). Val and Josh pretty much forgot I was there until I spoke up! Always a good thing! One of their ring shots is my all time favorite with the christmas lights bokeh’d (bokeh = when the background is so blurry it makes circles). I also cried with Val and her mom, I admit it this time around, I cried rewatching the slideshow and editing the pictures! I’m a big crier. Val, her maid of honor and I even had a conversation about how I cry during Sportscenter sometimes (hey, they have those touching moment stuff!) and during the ASPCA commercials (which go Val and Josh for adopting their pup!).

Their reception was located at The Seville 700 South Barrington Road Streamwood, IL 60107-2291 (630) 289-4500 and they were truly great to work with! If you’re looking for a great wedding venue go ahead and look at the Seville!

Engagement photos
Wedding Sneak
Slideshow Part 1

2 more weddings coming up then some flashback posts!!

Kara
kara@karaschultz.com