Streets of Chicago Engagement Session

Chicago is a city that comes in at the top of my list of my favorite cities. It is where dear family lives. It is the city of deep dish pizza and the city where I first saw Wicked. The history of the city is at every turn but you can also enjoy new and modern touches like the bean in Millennium Park.

Luna Bella Photography sent over this lovely engagement session. What I love about Gina and Tom is their laid back nature. They took their time strolling their favorite streets of the Chicago. They have a sweet love that is continuous through all of their photos. It is easy to get worked up over what to do for your engagement session but these two just enjoyed one another. That is the best kind of engagement session!

{From the photographer}
Meet Gina & Tom! Gina and I met when we were working in the suburbs of Chicago as college interns and we immediately became buddies. We bonded over Sex and the City, chowing down on our favorite “popcorn of glory,” and hanging out in Wrigleyville (among LOTS of other things)! Her and Tom started dating a few months after our internship ended, giving me no opportunity to have met him. Still, and mostly in part to Facebook, we’ve gotten to know each other. Mine and Gina’s friendship has been pretty well maintained over the years, mostly long distance though. This past summer, I received a message from Tom saying something along the lines of: “When will you be heading to the midwest? We need to meet one of these days…” Well, at that time, all I was thinking was: “There’s absolutely no way we can make it up there before their wedding–October of 2013…” Literally 5 days later, Tom sent me another message. This one was TOP secret! They had started looking into getting engagement pictures taken in the fall and he just knew Gina would be thrilled if I was the one photographing them. We chatted about the details, and he presented Gina with his BRILLIANT idea and all the logistics later that week. I’m pretty sure when Gina called me, she was in tears. It was a magical moment, I could hear it in her voice. For months, we planned their session. Outfits, locations, weather, back up locations, props…everything. Their session was amazing. It was a whopping 5 hours (not including our stop for lunch and one major outfit change stop) and we were dodging lots of tourists on a Saturday–all thanks to the Chicago marathon and a ND vs. UM football game! We started out around Grant Park, then Millennium Park, their favorite Blackhawks store on Michigan Ave, headed to the spot where Tom proposed and then wrapped up in the Theatre District. (Another great tidbit: our good friend Deeya came along for the entire session, was a GREAT assistant, and had NO problem lugging around props and outfits. What a godsend!) The pictures came out so beautiful, the fall foliage was amazing, and they were such a joy to photograph! Oh, and obviously, Tom and I finally met. That, too, was pretty awesome!

{Vendors} Photography: Luna Bella Photography