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Nora & Colby's Park Ridge (Chicago Suburb) Wedding Teasers!

     Nora and Colby are married-!! We met these two back in April of 2016 at an edgy wedding event at a Chicago gallery and immediately loved their personalities. We wanted to get to know them and their wedding more, so we met up with them again last summer and we hit it off chatting about our love of animals, food, and music: three things we're pretty obsessed with. Since then we've all had a lot of huge life changes including Nora starting her own mermaid business-! We'll get back to that later, but for now we'll share with you some teasers from their wedding day just a few short days ago-! 

      Nora is from Park Ridge, Illinois which is a suburb of Chicago. Though Nora and Colby live together in Chicago, they decided to head back to Nora's hometown for their wedding! We started the day off checking out the church and reception country club for a couple hours to get acquainted with the area. While that was happening, the women were getting their hair and makeup done, so Jenny headed to Nora's parents' home and began photographing the women in their cute robes, Nora getting ready, and all of that fun stuff. Nora's parents, family, and friends were very similar to Jenny's, so she felt right at home. The home and neighborhood were gorgeous, the women were extremely welcoming and intelligent, and the family was right there at her side as Nora prepared for the big wedding ceremony. 

     Jason headed over to the Hilton where the groom and groomsmen were staying. He spent some time photographing the groomsmen and Colby getting ready (always the laid back event we've found due to the nature of the clothes and lack of makeup. Men have it so easy-!) We all took a few moments to joke about the rose petals that the staff had place around the room having been told the rooms were booked for a wedding. Colby said that when he arrived at the room the night prior the staff had left rose petals and swan shaped towels around the room, which he got to enjoy to himself.  We took a few photos as everyone arrived to the room and tried their best to correctly fold their pocket squares and put on their ties.

       When everyone was fully dressed their best the limos arrived and whisked each side of the bridal party off to the wedding! Their wedding took place at Nora's old elementary school and church: Mary Seat of Wisdom (Catholic Parish). The church (similar to Abbey and Greg's St. Mary's church in April) was rounded with a low altar, beautiful, abstract stained glass, and ample light which was wonderful. The church itself was a great venue to photograph at, with plenty of bright open walls and a good amount of available light.  We captured some great photos of the couple throughout the entire ceremony, through the vows, first kiss, rose ceremony, and sacrament.

     After the ceremony we captured a few photos of the immediate families and bridal party inside the church until we had to leave as confession was starting soon. We then headed out to the parking lot, where a beautiful classic Packard was waiting to take the newlyweds off to the reception venue.  The driver greeted the two with a bottle of champagne which he popped for them to enjoy before the drive.  We then headed to Park Ridge Country Club for more photos at the reception hall. At the Country Club we took a few minutes to capture a few glamour shots with Nora and Colby in and around the amazing old car. Next we gathered the bridal party, parents, and siblings and headed off to capture some more formal photos of everyone. While photographing, guests enjoyed cocktail hour with an amazing New Orleans style band (tuba, drums, and nothing electric!) nearby, so we enjoyed listening to one of the best wedding bands we've ever heard while capturing some last photos of just Colby and Nora together. Among his other talents Colby is also a musician hailing from Louisiana, so coupled with Nora's pin-up glamour style and Colby's Southern Gentlemanly demeanor at the 120 year old country club, we definitely felt like we were back in the olden days in a great way. 

     Things sped right along after photos! Blessings were given before the meal, toasts were made, their siblings gave hilarious speeches, and before we knew it there were the tearful father-daughter dance, beautiful mother-son dance with Nora's mom and Colby, and the first dance! The two decided to cut their cake soon after dinner was served in order to enjoy the rest of their special night.

     After all was said and done, we just couldn't leave on time knowing they'd be having a sparkler exit hours later, so we went off after capturing some of the open dance and sorted through the photos while waiting for the grand exit which we'd come back for for a few minutes. It was getting to be close to the exit time after a good few hours of open dance, so we went to set up lights and gather people for sparklers. Right when we lined people up with huge lit sparklers to lead Nora and Colby to their ride, suddenly the industrial sprinklers came on at the golf course nearly 10 minutes before midnight-! A lot of us got sprayed and some sparklers went out amidst the laughter and slight panic, but we immediately moved the path in seconds to protect the bride and groom! Luckily we were still able to capture some great photos of the exit, but it was definitely a big laugh after returning after hours away coincidentally to the minute the sprinklers came on. 

       A huge congratulations to you Nora and Colby for a great wedding this past weekend and for the beginning of what we're sure will be a long and happy marriage! It was a beautiful day and we hope you two had a blast celebrating with all of your loved ones! Keep an eye out for more of their wedding photos on a complete online album within the month!

     *On a sidenote, if anyone is interested in attending a mermaid swimming class with Nora (mermaid fin provided and all!), check out her awesome business Facebook page at: facebook.com/pg/aquamermaidchicago and website at: www.aquamermaid.com/collections/chicago

     Coming up in just a few days is Kim and Chris' awesome Notre Dame Basilica wedding followed by Morris Park reception! We can't wait to celebrate these two here in town and capture their amazing day with their dogs in tow and a ton of other awesome surprises that we'll share on the blog next Wednesday! To check out their Engagement Session with them, click our blog from last September: www.jennyandjasonphoto.com/blog/kimandchrisengage . Enjoy your 4th of July weekend festivities coming up and we'll catch ya with another new wedding from this July next Wednesday!