pete + liz | a backyard wedding

I’m so excited to finally get a chance to post Liz and Pete’s wedding!  You may remember them from their Chicago engagement session posted on the old blog back in July.  Their backyard, country wedding took place during the summer.  They had their reception in September in Chicago–that post will come later.

Liz is extremely artistic, so we knew their wedding would be great–and they did not let us down : )

A few preparation shots–everything was so relaxed and comfortable.

And then the small, intimate ceremony took place.  Liz had a super 8 video made of the day.  They played it at the reception, and it was amazing.  I definitely have put that on my to-do list for the “2nd wedding” in 2011.  You can view it here.  Here is the guy responsible for such great work:

Some lovely details:

Aren’t these cloth napkins great?  What a neat favor idea.

They served brunch after the ceremony, which we had the pleasure of eating.  It tasted as wonderful as it looked!  YUM!

Their cake was quite adorable, and I love this ring shot Eric took:

This little lady kept right on eating that hot dog during the portrait session.  I loved the fact that they just let her eat it–totally our kind of couple!  Everyone is lined up for a “formal” shot, which we took, but I just had to walk up and get a picture of her.  I love it!  The other little girl, which I’m pretty sure is “hot dog girl’s” sister, held this sign up when Eric went over to take her picture.  How adorable? : )

So Pete and Liz set aside a large chunk of time for their Private Time photos.  It definitely pays off.  Not only do you get many more shots of the two of you, (which is really what it’s all about, correct?) but you just get a better variety and overall end result.  When there’s more time, there is less stress.  You are able to relax, have fun, be yourselves… and it shows in the pictures!  So many times couples decide to cut out Private Time to save time.  We can’t stress enough how important it is to not only keep it a part of your day, but really focus on it.  Really, in the end, do you think you will frame the formal portraits at the alter with this aunt and that uncle or the 10 cousins?  Will they be a part of the album?  Coming from us, people hardly ever purchase those… they almost always go for the special candid moments we captured.  We are not against family portraits in any way–we know they can be a special part of the day.  Just don’t forget that it is your day, and pictures of the two of you are the most important.

On with the show:

Thank you, Pete and Liz, for letting us be a part of both of your big days–as well as your engagement session!  We had a great time during all three occasions : )  We hope you love the photos.  Posting to your new gallery will start on 15th!