i met with nikki last year as she wanted to secure a date for her wedding photography early. at the time, her fiance was living in washington d.c.  i finally met her fiance after a lot of traveling and we all connected for an engagement shoot at museum campus. nikki and john’s wedding ceremony was  held at old saint patrick’s church aka old st pats, as she was a choir member here. OSP has some of the strictest rules about restrictions for photographer that i have ever encountered. brides and grooms who marry here, are informed about their no-flash policy and the movement requirements imposed on the photographers and videographers. with their rules, it was important to have two photographer shooting so that the wedding ceremony could be documented from various angles. we could not advance past a certain pew, nor stand in the center aisle. with this in mind i knew to pack my longest zoom lens to still be able to catch close shots, and to bring fast lenses to get enough light in since we could not use flash.

a fun fact – old st. patrick’s is one of the few buildings to survive the great chicago rire of 1871 and ts survival makes it the oldest public building in the city of chicago.

before nikki and john’s ceremony began, i photographed the bridal preparations at the ambassador east hotel in chicago’s gold coast.nikki had a suite with beautiful natural light flooding through the windows where her makeup

like most modern brides, nikki chose to have a “first look,” with her fiance, and get bridal party photos out of the way before the ceremony. after all, its best to get photos done beforehand because makeup looks best (before all the tears happen during the ceremony!) by photographing before the ceremony, newlyweds don’t have to leave their guests during cocktail hour. for bridal party photos we boarded a trolley and went to the michigan avenue bridge and the chicago board of trade. louis from i do films, came along as their chosen videographer. if you’re into old-timey super 8mm inspired wedding videography, this company is who to work with.

we headed to the church for the ceremony where for much of the wedding ceremony, i shot from a pew half way between the altar and main door. with the okay from the church director i was able to sneak up to the balcony and get some shots as well.

following the ceremony, we hopped back on the trolley and without interruption, we headed to germania place where the couple was able to enjoy a full cocktail hour having already done their photos beforehand. germania place is a hidden gem in chicago with great big windows, a balcony, and two huge ballrooms holding around 400 and 200 respectively.

nikki is a spanish teacher and hired kids from her school who are in a jazz band to perform at her ceremony. they were so professional, and sounded way more experienced that i would have thought high school performers would sound.

during the reception, i noticed nikki had made moo cards with photos from their engagement shoot which were placed at each place setting. fun!

germania place uses hawthorn publications to charge for a listing in their preferred vendors brochure so you won’t find me listed with germania place.

update september 18, 2009, the bride nikki writes:

“Heather Parker is truly a professional. I hired her solely on gut–as I matter of fact I hired all of my wedding vendors that way. We really did hit the jackpot with Heather.  Of course I knew I wanted her photojournalistic style, but beyond that she seemed so..responsible, I guess would be the way to put it!  I knew that she took her profession very, very seriously and was a professional.  Therefore I knew I would be getting quality and excellent service, which every bride knows is a big added bonus.  Heather must work about a bazillion hours a day because she is also quick to respond, she is thorough with information, she is conversational, polite, knowledgeable, and more importantly;  our photos are stunning.  We got what we wanted which were very few posed, boring photos.  The shots really show us in action and highlight the beauty of both the church and reception as well as the fun of the trolley ride around town!  I am happy for Heather’s success over the past year and I wish her continued success.“