I first met Elizabeth when I shot her father’s wedding a few years ago. She comes from a very large blended family, and if you spend any time with her, you know that her family means the world. So, when she asked me to shoot her and Jonathan’s wedding, I was so excited to work with these amazing people again! Jonathan is the perfect match for her. After just a short time around him, I learned that family means so much to him as well. Congratulations to you both! This day shot so amazingly, and I am thankful for the opportunity to capture the emotion behind it.

“A few months after I moved to Chicago, my best friend called to tell me she had met the sweetest boy that she was dying to introduce me to. He just so happened to be best friends and the golf partner of choice of her then-boyfriend (now husband!). A few months later, I finally agreed to a double date and we made plans to see Christmas Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. When the day finally arrived, it ended up being too cold for even Chicago standards, so we decided to go out for Mexican food instead. The four of us spent the next three hours laughing and having the best time over margaritas and guac. Jonny and I have talked every day since and were dating shortly thereafter.”

“I don’t think I was ever the kind of girl who dreamed about her wedding day itself. I did, however, grow up planning countless weddings between my cousins and siblings. My cousin brought this up in her toast at our rehearsal dinner saying my wedding was probably the tenth one I’d planned. All that to say, I knew family would be the most important part of my wedding. That truly was our reality. Our bridal parties were made up of mostly family and we spent the weekend surrounded by parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.”

“We got engaged the night before Thanksgiving in 2020. We had talked about getting engaged for a few months and Jonny knew how much I wanted our families there with us. With 2020 being what it was, I had kind of written off the idea of a big engagement with everyone we loved around us. The night before Thanksgiving, we were in Memphis with my family and had plans for a big dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house. Jonny coordinated for everything to be set up while we were working all day. Everyone knows I am a stickler for being on time. My aunt had told us dinner was at 6. Jonny and I were going to ride over with my sister, so at 5:30 when she still hadn’t dried her hair, I started to get frustrated about being late. She then proceeded to Facetime a few friends, lay around in a robe, and leisurely get ready. At 6:15, she came downstairs ready to leave. I was so mad and frustrated with her I sat in the back fuming on the ride over. When we got there, she told us we needed to go in the backdoor which we never did. They had set up candles and pictures in the backyard. After Jonny got down on one knee and I said “Yes,” everyone came running out to congratulate us, including his parents and sister who had come in for the surprise! It was the most magical night.”

“For my something old, I wore my grandmother’s pearl bracelet that she had passed down to my mom. It was so sweet to have a little bit of them with me.”

“I was pretty skeptical about doing a first look, but trusted Ann-Marie when she said it would be the best way to get all the pictures we wanted. And oh my, am I so glad we did it! Doing a first look allowed us to have a few minutes alone before everyone wanted our attention. We also got to then spend our actual wedding day together rather than apart. It made things way less stressful and allowed the day to flow with ease.”

“Jonny is the sweetest, most thoughtful person ever. He knows how to cheer me up on tough days, whether it’s going to get M&Ms when I’m working late or making sure to clean up the kitchen when I’m tired and want to get to bed early. He has always been so supportive of me, whether it be with my career or making sure I have time to go to dinner with girlfriends. He is one of the funniest people I know, even if I like to tell him he’s not. My favorite thing about him is how he has embraced my friends and family as his own from the start. Almost daily he says “I was talking to your sister.” He also will eat anything I cook and tell me it’s the best thing he’s ever eaten. One time I made chicken with lemon and olives – after eating his whole plate I asked what he thought only to remember olives are the only food he doesn’t like. That’s just the kind of person he is, though.”

“I make the plans and ensure we’re on time for them, and Jonny makes sure we have fun doing them.”

“We decided we would take sibling pictures on the Peabody roof right after we did our first look. This ended up being such a sweet way to get a couple of special minutes with the five people who mean the most to us. The seven of us got to spend about 15 minutes together laughing and goofing off before we rejoined the rest of the wedding party.”

“We tried really hard to make everything very clearly “us” on our big day. We spent a lot of time picking readings and scripture for the ceremony that meant a lot to us. We asked for our favorite hymn from our Chicago church to be played at communion. All the boys wore socks from their colleges and I got all the girls gold bracelets with the nicknames I call them on them. Our first dance was to a song we heard in concert very early on in our relationship and still love and listen to regularly. We rode off after our exit in a golf cart that I insisted on driving since while Jon loves golf and is constantly trying to get me to play, I usually end up just driving the cart like a mad woman. It was so special to me to see all the little parts of us peeking through during the day.”

“My by far favorite part of the entire day was walking down the aisle at the end of our ceremony. We were finally husband and wife and I had never felt happier or smiled bigger. All of our family and friends lined the pews and were giving us hugs and blowing kisses as we walked down. I don’t think I could have asked for a better moment or felt more loved.”

“Jon is a lifelong Chicago resident, and I’ve been in Chicago for 5 years now. When we decided to do a January wedding in Memphis, we thought it would be a nice break from the midwest winter. The temperature in Memphis was 10 degrees colder than Chicago on our wedding day, and even our midwestern guests were in coats. We laughed about it and agreed we had to bring a little bit of Chicago to Memphis — we just didn’t mean to bring so much.”

“We absolutely love food and spend most of our weekends either exploring new places to eat or frequenting our favorites in Chicago. We knew we wanted the food at our wedding to be a reflection of us. We worked with Chelsea at MCC to create a menu that was fun and a perfect picture of us. We had sushi like our go-to takeout on Friday nights, an array of sliders like our favorite next-door restaurant, and a whole Mexican food station since we eat Mexican food about 4 times a week. I think everyone was able to see our personality in all the stations.”

 “The only place I wanted to go trendy and fun was by adding a neon sign with our new last name. That was by far my favorite part of the decor and one of my favorite parts of the overall design.”

“I am super simple, clean, organized and classic. My friends joke that I wear all black in the winter and all white in the summer. I don’t love color or many trendy things. I knew I wanted the design of our wedding to feel like this. We were married in a beautiful old church and I wanted the flowers and attire to complement that. Pretty quickly, I knew I wanted my girls in black satin and the boys in tuxes. When I went to get my dress, my sisters helped steer me to something that was just as elegant but still me. For the overall design, I am not a super creative person, so I told Michael, Jackie and Chelsea I just wanted something simple and elegant and they ran with that. My only request was tons of candles; Michael gave me this and more by lining the halls with stunning candles and made sure there were tons on all the tables.”

“Al Paris and the Heartbreakers brought the party!! Every single person at our wedding came up to me and raved about how much fun they were. We had so much fun dancing with them and I personally loved when Al pulled me on stage with them. I can’t imagine a better group to ensure everyone was having a great time!”

Lead Shooter: Ann-Marie Wyatt | Second Shooter: Lindsay Pace | Dress: Maggie Louise | Bridesmaids Dresses: Bella Bridesmaids | Cakes: Cakes by Mom and Me | Reception Venue: Memphis Country Club | Coordinator: Estera Events | Flowers: Lynn Doyle | Invitations: Minted | Rentals: White Door | Music/Band: Al Paris and the Heartbreakers | Videographer: Lynn Productions | Caterer: Memphis Country Club | Hair + Makeup: Jess Robinson | Preparation Accommodations: Peabody Hotel