Jenica and David

Jenica and David had a french themed wedding at Marche in the West Loop. I love the french and the culture so this was a real treat.

Getting ready: W City Center Hotel
Make Up: Rachel Reiman
Ceremony: St. Francis Xavier
Reception: Marche
Flowers: Suzanne Connor Design
DJ: Elite DJs
Cigar Rolling: Cigar Catering

Not exactly what you want to happen when the maid of honor is holding the bottle! I love this shot as I wandered outside the sanctuary I caught a glimpse of the reflection of their initials through the glass windows at the front of the church framing the couple perfectly in the background! And a special treat, there was a photo booth at the wedding with real film prints so while everyone was eating, we took advantage. So big thanks to Jenica and David for some of our first family photos and my mom for bringing Ayla down during dinner :)

Molly Grace Shoots Julie & Gerald!

What fun to have a wedding on a Monday! What an awesome way to begin the week and first of day of the rest of your life. I was so anticipating photographing Julie and Gerald's wedding for the experience of witnessing the rich Chinese culture and traditions. We had such a great and full day, a ceremony, a reception, followed by a tea ceremony and a delicious twelve -course Chinese dinner. Julie and Gerald and their awesome families were so fun and welcoming to me and Arron as we joined their family for the day and celebrated with them.

Make up - by none other than the amazing Sonia Roselli
Reception - by the gorgeous and beautiful Chicago Illuminating Company
Ceremonies - by the well spoken Terrance Brady
Flowers - by the fabulous Flowers of Paradise
Music - by the jammin' Toast and Jam
Food - by the well presented Food for Thought
Love the details!

Gerald's first look at Julie!

The custom of the Bride exiting her home, Julie's grandmother giving her blessings by throwing rice and pennies on the bride.

What an amazing friends and family Julie has, everyone is helping her bustle.

The tea ceremony, Gerald's Dad got the first sip.

Ah, what a beautiful bride and an adoring groom


Julie and Gerald and their families toasted each table!

Impact Tip -7 things you can't recycle

Some of you may have noticed the missing Impact Tip last week, I do apologize. I was in Tahoe with no internet, but I am also realizing how challenging it is to have a brand new baby during the peak season so I am going to limit myself to a new impact tip every other week through the fall in order to balance being a new mom, an educator, and photographer! Thank you for your understanding!

For this week, my mom sent me an interesting article that reminded me that sometimes we think recycling is as easy as plastic, glass, and paper, but there are a lot of things that can't be recycled and tossing them into the bins can actually slow down processing at recycling plants or even cause harm to the employees so I want to share those with you.

Seven things you can't recycle:
1. Plastic bags: these can serious slow downs because they have to be removed one by one. However, many grocery stores will not recycle these for you so save them for your trips to the store and keep them out of the recycle bin.

2. Plastic bottle caps: These are a serious hazard to plant employees as the caps trap air in the bottles and they can explode. Be sure to take the caps off before you recycle but don't worry, the little plastic rings are fine.

3. Frozen food boxes: These boxes contain a plastic layer in them which prevents them from being recycled.

4. Soy milk cartons: These containers contain a layer of foil and plastic which is hard to separate and can't be recycled.

5. Random plastic items: I have been guilty of this, thinking if its plastic, its recyclable but you really have to make sure to look for the triangle logo and then be sure that the number corresponds to one that your recycling center accepts.

6. Glass not from containers: If you are recycling vases or glasses during your spring cleaning, think again. These containers are meant to be used over and over so they have glass with a higher melting point. Give them away instead of tossing them in the bins.

7. Shredded paper: Now this seems like something that should be recyclable, after all it is paper. But these little shreds most often fall through the cracks and can clog machines costing valuable time and money to repair. Shred only what you need to and recycle the rest.

I hope that is helpful and for any other questions about recycling, consult Chicago Recycling Coalition.

Colleen and Tom's green wedding in Tahoe

As many of you remember, last year in celebration of my new brand, I held a contest for the most green wedding. After several entries and thousands of votes, Colleen and Tom were chosen by popular vote. A huge thanks to Carmen Salazar who came out to help in my still-recovering state and of course Aaron for pushing himself to help cover what I could not.

Last weekend, their wedding was finally here. Here is a link to Colleen and Tom's site where they list their green ways: http://tomco.nearlyweds.com/blogs/index

For a quick review:
* Vintage postcard invites instead of the traditional multiple-cards-within-envelopes-within cards-plus-tissue-paper scenario
* Guests received DIY carbon offsets, and we are going to plant trees on our friends' property while we're there.
* Some favors are organic, ethically-traded, and a portion of their cost goes to protect species, habitat and humanity.
* The bride's engagement ring originally belonged to Tom's grandmother Edna "Teddie" Shoaf.
* The bride wore a vintage dress, vintage shoes, and a veil worn by her mother and aunt.
* Bridesmaids are choosing dresses they will wear again.
* Rehearsal dinner will be held at Mamasake, a Cal-Asian sushi restaurant, which uses an eco-friendly fish supplier, uses organic ingredients when available, and offers numerous vegetarian and vegan choices.
* Reception food: quality veg options and organic wine
* Flowers were organically grown
* They chose sustainable items for the registry.
* Bridesmaid's gifts included handmade grocery totes, seeds, and old books upcycled into journals
* Ceremony and reception were at the same venue and the ceremony was held outdoors.
And some more pics of the day, I love this shot of Colleen while she is waiting for Tom to get out of her bridal suite :)

Molly Grace Shoots Ashley & Mike's Super Fun Day!

We all were so excited to wake up and see the beautiful sunshine as the night before it poured. The thing I loved about this wedding was Ashley's excitement and humor, as she came up with funny things to say so that she didn't cry. The day had an emphasis on family, fitting since the next day was Father's Day, but anyone could clearly see by the photo's from the slideshow and the friends and families with little ones running around just how important shared times is to these too. This couple is amazing together and I am so excited for them!

Church: Our Saviors Luheran in Naperville
Reception: Arrowhead Country Club, Wheaton

I am in love with this moment here, I love the beautiful buttons of her dress and loved the hanging jewels from her necklace!

After the vows Ashley was ready to get the party started with a beer and a trip to Burger King for a cheese burger!




This is my favorite shoot of the day!

Molly Grace Shoots Emma & Jamie's E- Session

It was so fun to hang out with Emma & Jamie this past monday. You can tell this couple has a ton of fun together, over drinks and dinner they told me about their recent engagement parties and the fun weekend they had at the old town arts festival this past weekend. I loved heading down to the beach with them, and then to the famous Old Town Pub, where they met. I am so looking forward to shooting Emma & Jamie's Wedding this July because I know it will be a huge celebration with all their precious friends and family, especially those that are coming in from Ireland.

Jewel and Adam's Wedding

I will never forget Jewel and Adam's wedding day, I went into labor that night! The sad part was that I was not able to shoot the whole wedding but luckily I had a great team behind me including my great friend Chad Husar of Husar Photography and Aaron and Molly.

Jewel and Adam are incredibly thoughtful and kind people. They incorporated environmentally friendly and community supportive vendors into the planning of their wedding. I was fortunate enough that the baby waited until after the wedding to come so I could stop by and visit and shoot for a couple hours and Aaron didn't have to leave too! :)

For planning, they used So Stacy who can help you plan a green wedding.

For invitations, they used Kristie Lee Wagner of Anjenu who offers green stationary and she is an excellent designer as well which you can see below!

Other vendors include the Cake Girls, Food for Thought, Old St. Pats, and the Adler Planetarium.

I love this shot Aaron got of the dress, such a great way to incorporate the room and show a detail in a different way. I love this shot Chad got of Jewel getting ready, such beautiful light and a great moment! This is another great shot by Chad, such a sweet look by Adam when he sees Jewel for the first time I was excited to be able to come to the wedding and see Jewel and Adam and have a couple moments to get a few pics of my own I love this shot that Aaron got of Jewel and Adam, great framing using very Adler architecture I love this detail by Molly, a very Molly shot :) This is a great shot by Molly with a nice moment combined with great lines. Here are some of the details Aaron literally climbed the outside of the building to get this unique view! Nice having a climber on staff!

Impact Tip - reusable wrapping

Now that baby Ayla has finally arrived, I can think straight and back to my Impact Tips so thank you for your patience!

I found this on the Down the Green Aisle blog and thought it was a great idea! I personally love the look a beautiful package but have a hard time getting around the waste of it. This solves that problem, a beautiful presentation with a reusable package material. Perfect for any occasion but certainly for that wedding you are going to this year.

These are offered from Chewing the Cud. The 28” x 28” wrap are hand-printed on organic cotton with soy-based inks.

Enjoy!

Ayla Brianne aka Baby Danger

We are finally home and so excited to be here with our precious little girl Ayla Brianne. I went into labor Sat night after Jewel's wedding (which we will post soon!) which goes to show that little Ayla is already so kind as to wait until after a wedding to start her way out into the world! haha

Ayla means strong as an oak and we hope that she will always be strong enough to be herself. Brianne is after my sister for her nonstop love and faith in me, our hope that Ayla have that same devotion and sweetness towards her family and others. Although we didn't name her Danger, she is still our little baby danger and we will continue to push her to find life's adventures!

As some of you know, we planned a home birth and I did make it 22 hours and 8 cm at home but with some complications and pure exhaustion, I need to take advantage of our medical system and head to the hospital to get through the rest of the labor, all in all 25 hrs. I couldn't be happier with our Doctor, Dr. Munoz, and the staff at Rush University Hospital. They took all my worst fears of a hospital birth and squished them flat. They were so kind and attentive and never even mentioned interventions that weren't necessary. My midwife says this is a successful home birth story, we did as much as we could then took advantage of the technology we have. I don't think I would have been able to push her out on my own if I didn't have that option. In the end, we are all doing great and it was a life changing experience.

She was 8 lbs 13 oz and 41 weeks and 5 days past her due date! She took her time coming but we are so glad she is here now. I can't describe how much I love her, but I am trying to keep this quick (too late!) so I can get back to her.

Enjoy these first few moments of her life taken by Aaron.
I love these moments with my family as they first meet Ayla!