Mary Ann & Phil's Wedding: Part One of Two Epic Posts

And when I say epic, I mean EPIC. I LOVED this wedding. Beautiful hot summer day in downtown Chicago, gorgeous bride, handsome groom, outdoor ceremony, pictures on Michigan Avenue, and fun fun FUN! What's NOT to love?

The entire wedding happened at the Marriott on the Magnificent Mile, which completely exceeded all my expectations. Mary Ann & Co. got ready in rooms with floor to ceiling windows--can you say "photographer's dream"?!?!--and views of the lake. The ceremony was held on the 9th floor outdoor pool deck, so we were surrounded by beautiful tall buildings. And the reception was, hands down, the most incredible, amazing, MAGICAL indoor reception I've ever seen.

BUUUUT ... you're not going to see the reception today! Gotta keep you wanting more, and besides, there was just too much fun stuff that I wanted to share and relive with you, hence the two-parter! And it's gonna be a long one (or two, let's be honest), so let's get moving here, shall we?

Alright, I am just going to say straight up that this was a huge wedding party and I remember almost no one's names. So in the interest of fairness, I'm going to pretend like I don't know anyone's names. Don't be offended, I loved you all SO much, and I still want to make it official and be Facebook friends!

Anyway, this was the flower girl, daughter of a bridesmaid, and SO cute. She was a little camera shy, so when I caught her over on the stairs in photo-ready position (i.e., playing with her dress), I was SO excited. Isn't she a doll?

Dude, seriously, I loved this hotel room. It was so pretty and it actually even went with all the wedding colors really nicely, which is either great planning on someone's part or a happy accident that your friendly photographer thanks you for. :) Also, I want to point out that when you enter a room full of strangers, it's sometimes easier to start out taking pics of the kiddos, shoes, flowers, etc., just to get people used to the fact that, hey! There's a stranger in the room! And she's holding a giant camera! But trust me, everyone adjusts to it quicker than you think they would and all is well. :)

Now, I loved the bouquets and they were all gorgeous, and yes--I'm talking about the flower parts. So why the picture of the stems? I've just never seen such a pretty arrangement of stems, that's all. :)

What's this? We're getting closer to seeing the bride?!?! Heck yeah we are! Her bridesmaids were an incredibly efficient little assembly line who got her buttoned into her dress, not once but TWICE (because the first time, she couldn't breathe, and that will kind of put a damper on things), and they were SO fast.

Here she is! The gorgeous Mary Ann seeing herself in her wedding dress for the first time! I love her facial expressions, and Billy also commented on how expressive she is. It was VERY fun to photograph. :)

Do you see what I mean? Three people hard at work! And the other thing that I think you'll start to notice is that not only are Mary Ann and Phil supermodels, but so are all of their friends and family. Makes my job SUPER easy!

This is Mary Ann's son, Nate, and he wanted to see her before the wedding. Isn't he CUTE? And he is every bit as expressive as she is. I LOVE it. And can I also just say that Nate is one of the best behaved kids I've ever seen? He sat through our entire meeting like a champ, only tugging on Phil's sleeve once to tell him he was hungry (a problem quickly solved with some PB&J, which, coincidentally is what I'm having for lunch today--man after my own heart!). Seriously, he's awesome.

Mary Ann's room got to be a big flurry of activity sometime between when everyone was ready and when the ceremony started. People were dropping in, moms, aunts, friends, husbands picking up babies, and it felt really festive--just like here, with her happy smile and lots of loved ones in the background. :)

Well, needless to say, this is beautiful.

And seriously, pictures like these are a PRIME reason to consider getting ready in a room with a window. Just gorgeous, and so timeless. (As a sidenote, I love those earrings.)

Mary Ann gave all the girls little Coach wristlets as a thank you gift, which was super cute, and she picked out different ones for each of them. I think that this point, they all pretty much knew what was coming, so I told them to really ham it up for the posed action shot, and check out the bridesmaid in the middle! Someone hand that girl an Emmy!

Alright, here's Phil and his parents walking down the aisle, and I really liked that. And also, props to both the moms on their dresses. My own mom had a really hard time finding a mother of the groom dress, so now I have way more sympathy for that challenge, but they both looked totally smashing.

See? And look how cute Nate is here! Mary Ann's mom ended up with the flower girl basket because the flower girl had a little too much pre-game excitement and passed out for a nap before the wedding started. :)

Here's Phil giving Nate the thumbs up as he walks down the aisle. How freakin' cute is that?!?!

Love love LOVE this shot of Mary Ann and her dad. That dress is outrageously beautiful, and well ... I'm always a sucker for the dad pics. :)

SHUT UP. I am in absolute, total, complete love with this picture. I REALLY hope they want this one in the album, because wow. GREAT moment. :)

Speaking of things I'm a sucker for ... the groom's face when he sees the bride coming down the aisle!!!!!

And The Look. So basically, I'm a sucker for this entire wedding. OBVIOUSLY.

Is she not just one of the most stunning brides you have ever seen in your life? Seriously! I'm SOOOO glad you guys picked me. :)

Mary Ann's grandma! She's 97 years old and so sweet and cute! I just love the proud look on her face here. :)

I got caught again! Always fun, albeit accidental! :)

As if there weren't enough heart-melting moments, they had a small part in the ceremony where Phil gives Nate a St. Christopher pendant so he could remember that Phil is always there to love and protect him. Which is sweet on its own, but look at the look Nate is giving Phil! He loves him so much, and I love that!

Here's the flower girl! I think this is entirely how she spent the ceremony, but none of us can blame her because a.) being a flower girl is hard work and b.) I definitely felt like a nap toward the end of the evening myself, even if I WAS having a ball. :)

Mary Ann, I love your cute face! And I love how all of your thoughts are just right there for the world to see at all times. :)

I'm not sure what Nate's checking out here, but I thought this picture was way cute. Also, see all the smiley faces? It might seem excessive, but I've been smiling my way through this entire post as I write it, so I feel that my smileys are legit.

Also, do you see what I mean about the great city backdrop? HOT! Hot like that first kiss!

Now I don't mind telling you that their officiant was one of the coolest looking dudes I've seen perform a wedding. Look at that sash thing! So cool. And his beard! But if you can all just get a grip on yourselves for one second and focus on the bride and groom ... look how happy they look! Yay, they're married!

I always like seeing how people incorporate their kids into their ceremonies, because obviously they're really important and the wedding is the beginning of everyone's new life as a family! And it was so great that Nate had such a big part in this wedding and that it's obvious how much Phil and Mary Ann love him, and how mutual it is. He's a great kid and they're doing such an awesome job, and I'm glad they all held hands down the aisle! :)

In case I haven't made this point strenuously enough, I love outdoor weddings and I especially loved this one. You guys know I'm a city mouse and a bridal party in front of the buildings is such a glorious treat for me. :) But we can't just stop there ...

We had to get out on Michigan Avenue WITH the buildings! The wedding party was fabulous--all supermodel good looking, and so fun and cooperative. I am the luckiest girl alive! And before the reception started, I heard one of the groomsmen talking to someone at cocktail hour and saying that the group pictures "actually weren't that bad." WHAT!!! That's awesome--that's such a HUGE compliment in Groomsmen World! Seriously, though, we knocked out all the family pictures AND the group shots on the Mag Mile in just about an hour. I was barking out orders like a fun drill sergeant, so I'm just glad no one got to fed up with my bossiness. Seriously, I'm really glad I found a career where I can parlay my bossy personality into success. Childhood Sarah would be so proud.

I told everyone to throw their hands in the air (although I did NOT make them wave them around like they just don't care, believe it or not), and bear in mind, I'm yelling instructions at the top of my very loud lungs across like three or so lanes of traffic on one of Chicago's busiest drags, and it's already a little bit madness.


Now at this point, we're JUST outside the Marriott and I'm already starting to get a taste of what taking pictures out their is going to be like, and it's a busy weekend (the Air and Water Show), and it was one of the only really "summery" weekends that we had all year, so people are out in FORCE. Mary Ann is all, do you think it'll be okay for us to be in the crosswalk, and I'm like, girl, enjoy it, because you have no idea the things that people get away with while wearing a wedding dress, just trust me on this. And she did, which is why I love her.


So we're doing this, and having a really great time, and suddenly, whenever cars pass, there is massive honking, and the bridal party LOVES it. They're just really enjoying themselves, yelling thanks, getting attention, and it's so fun. And you know, I do a LOT of shoots out in public, and I've seen a lot of really crazy things happen, both really nice AND kind of bizarre, but there has never been anything like this. You know how in Sex and the City, the city is supposedly the fifth character? Taking these pics on Michigan Avenue was exactly like that--the city itself actually came alive and celebrated with us, and it was so funny and fun and odd and great, and so CHICAGO, you know? It was such a great and unique experience, and hard to describe, but I'll try. (You know me, of course I will.)

Alright, so this guy comes out of NOWHERE and does a dance in front of them, and you can tell from the outfit that he was kind of a nut but in the total good way, and it just cracked me up. Best part? Look at everyone's reaction in the background! They're shocked, loving it, and most importantly, just rolling with it. So thanks, dancing guy! You were memorable and made a whole bunch of bridal party members laugh. :)

I told everyone to strike a pose, and was there any doubt that they would rock it? Heck no! They were SO much fun.

Alright, this picture may seem weird at first, and this is the kind of thing that I'm really glad I felt comfortable with showing to Phil and Mary Ann, and with asking them and their friends to do, because I knew that they really trusted me and valued my work. And now, I know that people want pretty, happy wedding pictures and I also feel like I deliver on this. But I like to make some occasional art sometimes too, or at least take chances, and I feel like this one does that for me. I don't want to get into TOO much art school, self-important and self-indulgent blathering, but I loved how they were all smooshed into the train stop shelter, and I made them smoosh their faces on the glass, but you still get so much reflection, but really only here and there. And I think it's so neat that you see the bridal party all squished up and having fun and enjoying the moment, and you also see the reflection of the city in them, of what's going on at the same time, of people walking and stopping to look at them, and even of advertisements. Heck, I even love the advertisement saying they've arrived. So, there's my thought process, in case you were curious. :) (Did anyone even make it to the end of that? I probably owe you a beer if you did.)

I don't ALWAYS do a jumping picture, but it seemed like the kind of thing everyone would be game for and that Mary Ann would loooove. I only needed a couple tries to get a good one, and this one was amazing. Mary Ann is all the way off the ground and making a ninja face, Phil is like SO high in the air, there's a guy with his tongue out, and look at Nate! It was the only one where he actually timed it to be off the ground, and he looks so hilarious, like he's standing really tall, but just hanging in the air! I love it! Also, can you believe that all of those girls decided to jump in the air in high heels? Good lord, I can barely WALK in high heels, so I think we can safely say that they got skills.

So can anyone tell me how these girls all got so GORGEOUS?!?! I can't get over it, I feel like I was doing a magazine spread for Vogue or something. Also, the girl on the left end of the picture is Phil's sister, so you can see that hotness runs in the family (and I'll point out his bro in the next one).

Phil's brother is the one standing next to him on the right. Good looking bunch! And you already saw his parents, so they all come by it honest, CLEARLY.

Alright, so here we are all walking down the street back toward the hotel. Something that was pretty fun and awesome while we were out is that the street musicians were LOVING the opportunity to serenade the newlyweds. There was especially one guy who did an awesome bucket drum version of "Here Comes the Bride" with a really great beat while we were headed to the river. And when we got there, a saxophonist played while we did group shots--a nice rotation of "Here Comes the Bride" (what? It's a classic!), "Goin' to the Chapel", and of course, Beyonce's "Single Ladies", because if you liked it then you should've put a ring on it.


Anyway, on the way back, the guy on the bucket drums started back up, and since as a photographer, it's pretty much my job to provide you with a visual, I present for your consideration:

Okay, so he sees us approaching and goes straight into "Here Comes the Bride", and it was SO fun and festive, and I swear, he's VERY talented. So we JUST pass him, and he hits a beat REALLY HARD, and starts going on, "There Goes the Bride", and it was so funny ... I can't tell you how much happiness it brought, but trust me that it was a lot, okay?

Obviously, the bridesmaids who were near us agreed, because they broke out in a spontaneous dance (and those girls can DANCE--take it from one who cannot dance to save her life, but who has watched many a dance movie including the first two Step Ups and has another one in her Netflix queue). LOVE.

Well naturally, if you start a dance party and you're being followed by your friend in a wedding dress, she's gonna HAVE to join in. I loved that Phil dropped the guy a couple bucks because I had no cash on me whatsoever but I felt like he really earned it, and also, how was Phil with it enough to remember to get married, keep track of rings and people and key cards and still remember to bring ones? I'm not even joking, I've been to weddings where I forgot to bring decent SHOES. (Don't worry, Billy came to the rescue that time and I was in appropriate footwear before anyone even noticed.) Point being, he is ON it. You got a keeper, Mary Ann!

That was such a great moment, definitely one of my favorites of the day. Thanks bucket drum guy, and thank you bridesmaids for coming together and making it happen!

There is just something about this that really appeals to me, of Phil and Mary Ann walking hand in hand through a massive crowd of people on their wedding day. Really great.


Okay, so obviously, these are amazing, due entirely to the wonderful couple and their amazing friends and families. And this is just the beginning! Be sure to come back in the next day or two for the second half, which will cover the reception.


Also, the gallery is posted! Go to http://sarahbrownphotography.instaproofs.com and click on their wedding. As always, online ordering is available! I can't wait for you guys to COMMENT (hint, hint!) and hear what you think of them!


And y'all, I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH YOU! So I'm really hoping that anyone getting hitched or having a party or a baby or anything else you can take pictures of will call me, because I'd love to see any and all of you again, and I'll travel near or far to make it happen! This was a great wedding in a great city with great people, and I feel really, really fortunate that you shared it with me!


(So to recap--check out the gallery, invite me back sometime, and come back in the next couple days for part two!)