The Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca|Katy and Brendan | Westin Itasca IL Wedding
I was so looking forward to shooting Katy and Brendan’s wedding, and I must say it did not disappoint. The day started with some rain, but by the time the ceremony rolled around the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining. After checking in with Katie, I decided to take the dress for a little walk. And I must say I’m pretty proud of this shot, we had to kick some people out of the elevator, but it was worth it 😉 (yes, I am joking)
The getting ready, the ceremony and the reception all took place at the The Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca. They are pet friendly, so Katy could bring her baby to enjoy part of the day with them 🙂
For future Brides please take note, it’s super helpful if you have the rings with you while you’re getting ready. Since I’ll be there taking photos of you anyway, I can shoot the rings at the same time!
The ‘A’ is for her maiden name and the ‘C’ is for her married name.
But I like this shot better.
Once again I had the pleasure of working with Patti Herioux who made sure everything went off without a hitch. She even had super glue when I needed it for my shoes.
Favorite! Katie, you looked stunning 🙂
Flowers by http://www.homewoodflorist.com/
It’s so cute how 2 of the guys are looking at Brendan to see his reaction to Katy walking down the isle.
And the closer she got the bigger his smile got 😀
The ceremony was beautifully performed by Toni Hassett http://tonihassett.com/
After ceremony photos… I LOVE this one, it reminds me of this one from their engagement session.
Oh long veils how I love thee….
Another favorite, WOW!
…back to my veil obsession.
Everyone in the bridal party was super nice and very cooperative, and it’s very much appreciated, thank you!
They went from the intros right into the first dance.
(It’s always a very good idea to go right into the first dance after the intros…everyone’s attention in on you and the air is charged with excitement. It’s really hard to get everyone focused back on the dance floor if they are chatting/eating/standing in line at the bar.)
Music and lighting by MDM, super great DJ highly recommended.
When the dancing started it never stopped, Katy and her friends tore up the dance floor it was so great to see everyone have blast.
Ready….
…JUMP! (can someone e-mail me the background on this dude please? He must be a professional dancer or something.)
Charlie came down to the party for a few portraits he was just so cute! Not only did he have a bow tie, he had a little doggy tuxedo.
Last slow dance, the perfect ending to a perfect day!
From Katy…
Oh Hilda, I could go on and on and on with my favorite moments…. How do I choose? I loved everything about our night! If I could, I would say every moment was my favorite 🙂 But to help you narrow it down, some of my favorite wedding moments included:
-Seeing my Dad and Brendan’s face for the first time.
-Standing in our suite looking out the window at our ceremony setup with everyone sitting there waiting for me to walk down the aisle. It made me realize that all those people were there for us. That was truly amazing.
-Standing in the middle of the dance floor looking at the setup of the tent trying to take a mental picture of it all before anyone came in. I want to never forget that tent.
-Sitting at the sweetheart table with my new husband staring out at all our guests realizing this was the best party we have ever had and these people are the ones that mattered most in our lives. I loved seeing all our friends and family finally in one place together.
-Father daughter dance, and first dance, with the two men I love most in this world!
-One of my other favs was having my little pup Charlie there at the end of the night to take pics with his now official mama and papa on their wedding night. Thanks Hilda!
Brendan said his favorite moments including seeing me for the first time walk down the aisle and also seeing me dancing and enjoying myself. He loves to watch me dance. He also said he enjoyed walking around seeing all of our ideas put together as a whole in the room. He really enjoyed that the dance floor stayed full all night long. I agreed 🙂
Our best wedding related purchase was Patti! If it wasn’t for her I could have never had the wedding I did. I would have never found my dress, and for super cheap! I would have never met the majority of my vendors including my amazing photographer and DJ 🙂 She kept me sane and was always there to add such great input and offer so many different ideas. She was organized, timely, patient, kind and amongst many other things very dedicated and passionate about what she does. She was always there to help even if it meant gluing paper together to letting me borrow her paper slicer to removing the buttons off her wedding dress to sew onto mine the night before the wedding.
Patti was worth every cent invested because aside from business we became close friends. I talked with Patti about more than just wedding planning. She’s a great person and I can honestly say she was truly there for me every step of the way.
Overall, Brendan and I agree that it was by far the best night of our lives. My fairytale wedding has come and gone and It couldn’t have been more perfect! The reception pavilion was gorgeous! The ceremony was unique and specific to us, which is exactly what we wanted. The food was amazing; the music kept everyone dancing and wanting more; the photo booth was a blast that kept people coming back; the weather was perfect and the best part of all of it was that at the end of the day we were finally, after 10 years, husband and wife and we were able to spend our magical day with the people we loved most, our closest friends and family.
Hilda Burke, Chicago IL Wedding Photographer