Fine Art Wedding Photography by DWP

Winn + Yoshi | Portrait Session | Downtown Chicago

It's no secret that we are long overdue on updating our blog. We had our busiest Fall/Winter season to date. We are now starting to catch up, and are excited to be able to share the work we've done over the past few months. We'll start with Wynn and Yoshi who most likely traveled the furthest distance to be photographed by us, flying in from Hong Kong! 

They both used to work in Chicago so we spent a wonderful afternoon shooting in places that remind them of their time in the city (as well as some that were just picturesque). We also made my favorite image I've ever shot on the Wells Street bridge, and it will remain that way as the bridge is closed for the next year. I obviously see and interact with a lot of couples, and the close connection they share really stands out to me.

Be sure to read the stories of how they met and Yoshi's proposal after the pictures (which I have to say contains the most ingenious way of having your proposal photographed that I've ever heard of). 

How they met:
In 2003, Yoshi graduated from grad school in Michigan and moved to Chicago to pursue work. At the same time, Winnie's twin sister Cindy had moved from Seattle to Chicago to be with her college sweetheart Yasu after graduation. Yoshi and Yasu met through work quickly and became close buddies in and outside of work. 

When Winnie visited Cindy in Chicago to celebrate their 21st birthday, she was introduced to Yoshi and the group of friends spent a great weekend together in the city. 

The next year went by in a blur as Yoshi had moved back to Japan for half a year before returning to Chicago... meanwhile Winnie had finally decided to move to Chicago as well to be with her twin. The two got to know each other more and spent weekends hanging out with their mutual group of friends.

It was not until February of 2005 when Yoshi officially asked Winnie out for their first date on Valentine's Day. The date came as a surprise to Winnie as the two had always just been friends so unfortunatly it did not happen as she had prior plans. However, Winnie suggested to postpone the dinner to a few days later.

Winnie & Yoshi's first date at NoMi, Park Hyatt in downtown Chicago was magical. Despite Yoshi's usual cool and quiet exterior, Winn was beginning to see Yoshi in a new light as he was sweet, polite, patient and surprisingly fun to talk to. However, it wasn't until the moment where Yoshi offered all the salmon sashimi (her fave!) on his plate to Winn, she realized she could see Yoshi as more than a friend. =)

After a few months of fun and romantic dates, Yoshi confessed his love to Winnie and officially asked her to be his girlfriend on April 2nd. The two sealed their new relationship with a set of matching leather hook necklace which was actually the source of Yoshi's courage to ask Winnie out in the first place (the hermes necklace was a symbol of love and courage in a popular japanese show). 

The Proposal:
About 3 months in advance, Yoshi had already decided to propose to Winnie on their 7th year anniversary. When they decided to head to Tokyo to celebrate their special day, Yoshi knew right away where he would propose - it would be at their favorite restaurant in Tokyo which has one of the greatest views of the Tokyo Tower. 

Yoshi had wanted it to be a great surprise for Winnie so he came up with several scenarios. After weighing all options, he decided to go with the traditional way to express his love which was to get down on his knee and propose to her.

The day was initially off to a rocky start as they landed Tokyo during rush hour, the ride from the airport to their hotel took well over an hour. When they finally arrived and checked in, the two had to rush to get dressed to make their dinner reservation on time. 

Winnie and Yoshi had celebrated their Valentine's at the same restaurant the year before and unfortunately, not long into their dinner, it had started snowing hard so they had sadly watched their beautiful view of Tokyo Tower disappear from their eyes. This year, Yoshi had promised Winnie they will be able to have the same window seat with the floor to ceiling view of the Tower while they enjoy and complete their dinner. 

Living to his promise, Yoshi suggested to have their pictures taken with the Tokyo Tower as soon as they arrived at the restaurant. He handed the camera to the server and led Winnie to the center of the restaurant. As Winnie started to smile for the camera, Yoshi had shifted her towards him and begin his proposal speech. Before she realized, he had gotten down on one knee with a beautiful Tiffany's diamond ring in his hand and with the Tokyo Tower as their backdrop - he proposed. All Winnie remembered was nodding and saying yes as all the guests and servers in the restaurant had burst out clapping. The rest of the night went by magically as Yoshi had previously arranged a few more surprises at the restaurant for Winnie.  

Amy + Willy | A Destination E-Session | Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

If you read the stories below, the importance of Cornell Univerrsity to Amy and Willy's story is pretty obvious. I've said it before here, but I think upstate New York is one of the most beautiful and magical parts of this country. However, that is not the principal reason I'm glad they chose to do a destination engagement session there. At a most basic level, my job is to depict the connection between people, and sometimes to a place. I think they understood this and chose a place they had a strong connection to. I wouldn't choose to photograph most people in a gym, but to them those empty bleachers are replete with memories. Being shown and taken into those places in peoples lives is very cool - at least to me. These photos are from a chilly but fun afternoon going to a lot of those places.   

How Amy and Willy met: Willy and I met when I was a freshman and he was a junior at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

I was on the Volleyball team at Cornell, and as part of our freshman haz... -- ahem "appreciation" -- we were sent to the Track House in Collegetown as part of a scavenger hunt.

Willy and the the Track guys were some of the volleyball team’s biggest fans, so we saw each other often during the Fall semester. We celebrated an Ivy League championship together and often went to the same parties. By the time winter rolled around, I attended the annual Track Formal.

Willy wasn’t planning on joining, but when he came home, his roommates encouraged him to sit down to dinner with us. He chose a seat next to me and pathetically tried to cut his food despite a broken wrist. I took pity on him and cut his chicken for him. That led to talking, and the talking led to dancing later in the night.

The talking continued, and as Willy inaccurately remembers, I asked him out a week or two later. He took me to a dessert place in Collegetown, and we shared an apple pie, a brownie sundae, and an awkwardly excessive amount of eye contact. He paid, so I guess it really was a date.

After a long Winter break - and many late night AIM conversations - we returned to school and have been inseparable ever since!

The proposal: Three days before we were set to leave for Aruba (an annual family trip that Willy has joined for the last 7 years, and that his family has joined for the last 2), I was slammed with work and hoping to stay at the office late to wrap things up before vacation. Earlier in the week Willy had suggested that I come home early on that day, have a home cooked dinner, and start getting packed for our trip. He seemed pretty adamant about it, so I caved and let him pick me up from work and cook me dinner (tough life - I know).

After making a happy plate out of a ridiculously large Veal Chop, mashed potatoes, and green beans, I put on a pair of sweatpants (the loose/unattractive kind, not the cute Lululemon kind) and got to cleaning the dishes (Willy cooks, I clean... occasionally).

He came over to the kitchen sink, wrapped his arms around my waist, and said “I know that work has been tough and that we have a lot to get through before we leave for Aruba on Saturday, so I bought you a gift to get you excited for the trip!”

My eyes darted around the room, thinking *maybe* i will see a small jewelry box (it had been 7 years, afterall!). No dice.

He held my hand as he led me over to the other side of the room, and we stood next to the bookshelf and the pathetic, 18 inch Charlie Brown Christmas tree that stood on top of it. He handed me a book shaped, wrapped gift and, with the same youthful Willy smile that won me over 7 years ago (the one where he looks like he could still be 8 years old watching his Yankees win), asked me to open it.

I unwrapped the gift, while thinking to myself, “I didn’t know Willy knew how to wrap things.” Underneath the wrapping paper was a beautiful Moleskine notebook (I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that I have a thing for notebooks) that was monogrammed on the front: “A & W - Hopes and Dreams” (it’s an inside joke). He explained that we had a lot to look forward to and that the notebook was for planning all of those good things.

I gave Willy a hug and genuinely told him how much I loved it...

The smile on his face didn’t fade as he told me to flip to the back and look inside the pocket. I slowly turned to the last page and dug my hand into the lumpy back pocket. In pure disbelief, I screamed “What are you doing?” as I pulled out a gorgeous diamond ring (not just any diamond ring, more on that later).

Willy bent down on one knee (it was more of a one-legged speed squat) and said “Amy, I love you, will you marry me”. I picked him up (out of the squat position) and said “YES”. We hugged and kissed and one of us cried. 

The rest of the night was a whirlwind of talking to family and our closest friends! It ended with Willy, now an expert at engagement ring procurement, explaining to me the process of designing my ring to incorporate our initials into the setting! A special touch that I’m reminded of each time I see my hand :)

We then spent 2 weeks celebrating our engagement in Aruba with our families - a perfect way to cap off a perfect proposal.

Rebecca + Andrew | E-session | Northerly Island | Chicago

How Rebecca and Andrew met: Their mothers worked together before they had children; they attended each other's birthday parties as they were growing up. During the summer after college graduation, they went to Cubs games and enjoyed time together on the rooftop of the house Andrew was renting with some friends. Something "clicked" and they began dating in December of that year while Rebecca was in Knoxville, TN serving for AmeriCorps. 

The proposal: Andrew often visited Rebecca while in Tennessee; they enjoyed visiting Nashville as it was more urban that Knoxville. Rebecca craved a taste of home - Matza Ball Soup - and there was a deli called Nashville that they visited each time Andrew came to town. It was where their first "official date" occurred and it is a special place they enjoy visiting. Andrew is currently working on his PhD in Economics and described a paper he was asked to present at Vanderbilt on December 9, 2011 and inquired if Rebecca was interested in joining him for a weekend in Nashville. Excitedly Becca agreed and off they went in the morning on that Friday. Before Andrew "presented his paper" there was time for a lunch visit to Nashville. It was here that Andrew got down on one knee and proposed! Afterwards, Rebecca was still convinced that Andrew was presenting a paper but the afternoon was spent shopping and spending time outdoors together instead. 

Sarah + Ian | Engagement Session

How they met: Sarah first saw Ian at the gym and thought he was cute. After about a year of seeing him around at the gym she realized that they had a mutual friend. Sarah asked the mutual friend to help set her up with Ian. About a month later, Ian got Sarah's phone number and called her. They went for drinks on a Tuesday night and the rest was history. Ian claimed that over the course of the previous year, he noticed Sarah and thought it was odd how she was always working out next to him :-)

The Proposal:  Ian surprised me by planning a night out on the town in the middle of December. He said we were going to dinner for a date night. We took a cab downtown and got off near the horse and carriages on Michigan Avenue. Ian had reserved a horse and carriage for us. The horse took us around downtown eventually stopping at the gazebo on Lakeshore Drive and Oak Street. Once at that corner, the horse stopped and we took a walk under the gazebo which was all lite up with white hoiday lights. Ian proposed under the gazebo. After the proposal we took the horse and carriage ride to Joe's Stone Crab where both of our families and close friends were waiting in a private party room to celebrate!

Tyler + Sean | Engagement Session

How they met: We were both athletes at Northwestern University (Tyler was a cheerleader, Sean a football player) and staying in the same dormitory for pre-season training. Tyler caught my eye from afar during one of my many visits to the stadium for workouts. A few days later, during some downtime, we coincidentally left our dorm rooms at the same time to go to the hallway water fountain. I introduced myself and shook her hand - which apparently impressed her. We were dating a few weeks later and have been inseparable ever since. 

The proposal: When proposing to Tyler I had to make sure her three favorite things were there - her bed, breakfast and her family. While Tyler was still asleep on a lazy Saturday morning, I snuck out of bed and made breakfast, which was nothing out of the norm. Breakfast was nothing fancy, just bacon, eggs and toast. But when I brought it to her in bed, her soon-to-be engagement ring served as her napkin ring. I dropped down on one knee, got pretty darn emotional and asked her to marry me. She said yes and of course ate her breakfast. We then quickly made our way over to Gibson's, where we had one of our first real dates, and met her entire family for a pre-arranged celebratory champagne brunch. Yes, more breakfast. We will have our rehearsal dinner there too. 

Sasha + Kabir | E-Session | Wicker Park

Forget shoes, purses, or diamonds, a Doberman is a woman's ultimate accessory. Sasha and Kabir are to be married next month. For their engagement session, they suggested a walk around their neighborhood, Wicker Park, with their elegant Doberman. The weather and light performed a perfect swansong for these late summer nights. Read below for the story of their proposal.

We celebrated Valentine's day feasting at home. Kabir prepared Sasha's favorite, rosemary lamb-chops. We opened a dusty bottle of wine. After we finished off the chops, we both walked into the kitchen to grab some ice cream for dessert. Kabir grabbed a bare twig of rosemary off the cutting board, knelt, and tied it to Sasha's finger. Sasha was shocked. She said yes!

 

 

Katrina + Pierre | E-session | The Moon

Contrary to what it might look like, We did not shoot the begining of this session on the moon - nor mars, but on a very rare foggy and (not so rare) frigid day in Chicago. 

Straight out of a foreign-film love story, Katrina and Pierre have a very international long-distance relationship. The Fates were certainly determined to make them meet. Originally from France, Pierre attended Pepperdine while Katrina was also studying there, but somehow they avoided meeting. It wasn't until they both studied in London that they actually met and became friends. They would eventually both move to Shanghai and would then continue dating long distance when Katrina returned to the US. Now they are planning a wedding literally halfway accross the world while they continue to Skype daily.

We were thus doubly fortunate to get to shoot this e-session. Not only because we caught Pierre on one of his rare visits here, but because we photographed them just hours after he landed. The giddyness and sheer joy of lovers reunited after months appart is everywhere in these photos. We'll take credit for the formal and artistic elements in the photos, but the energy and chemistry is all them, and it was remarkable to witness, and see reflected in these photos. 

I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story, but be sure to read about Pierre's very surprising proposal below:

Pierre had previously met some of Katrina's friends in Hong Kong, so he contacted them for help to find a ring. With some friends in Shanghai, they flew to Hong Kong, looked at rings, picked one out and bought it on the same day. Katrina had no idea Pierre was in Hong Kong because he had told her he was in another province in China for a work trip.

A few months later, Pierre told Katrina he wouldn't be able to Skype with her because he had meetings to go to early the next morning (night for Katrina). She didn't think anything of it and had plans to go bridesmaid dress shopping with one of her friends whose wedding she was in. Her friend was coming to Chicago from out of town and called to let her know that she would come pick her up at her apartment. When Katrina heard a knock on her door, she was expecting her childhood friend, but instead opened it to see Pierre standing there. After the shock registered, Pierre got down on one knee and proposed. The surprises continued when Pierre and Katrina went to dinner afterwards, and Katrina's best friends from high school were all waiting at the restaurant to congratulate the two of them.

An engagement session at the Lyric Opera House | Sheila + Nik

Sheila and Nik love the Opera, and asked if they could to do a portion of their session inside the Lyric Opera House. After contacting a few people at the Opera house, we made it happen. It's not often that you have a beautiful, historic building all to yourself for a photoshoot; needless to say Dave and I were pretty excited. We are both so in love with the images that narrowing them down for the blog took kind of a long time :) Below are just a few of our favorite images. Be sure to read Sheila and Nik's story after the images!

 

How they met:

We met in business school, at Kellogg. There's a trip that most of the incoming class takes in groups of 20 or so, to various destinations around the world. Our first introductions were made on one of those trips to Venezuela. Topics off limits on these trips include: where we are from, previous jobs, schools, and any other typical conversation starters. After initial hours of awkward silence, a friendship was born. We ended up being in the same class section, and shared the same circle of friends. We became good friends over the course of the year before I finally mustered up the courage to ask Sheila out. We had our first date, unceremoniously at Pita Pete’s near campus and the rest is history…

The Proposal:

Sheila: It was a Sunday and we were just returning back from a trip to a friend’s lake house in Wisconsin where we were completely spoiled with great food. Nik kept on warning me not to have too much of the home made dumplings, guacamole and other treats on the table, because we had a “recruiting event” that night. I found it odd, but I shrugged it off. Once we drove back home to Chicago, Nik claimed that the dinner was going to be at a suite at the Blackhawks game and that we had to take a chartered bus in front of a certain restaurant. We just had to walk there. The whole event struck me as peculiar, the late time of night, on a Sunday no less, and the bus pick-up in the middle of nowhere. And he insisted we dress up. Of course, it was all a lie. And Nik is a terrible liar, which I guess is a good thing. We had for some time trying to dine at Alinea and he scored a reservation on a Sunday at 9:30 p.m. The fact that he spun an elaborate lie made me think something was afoot. But we had a fabulous dinner, and we rolled out of the restaurant around 1 a.m. in the morning. When we got back to my place, there were rose petals everywhere and all of a sudden Nik was on one knee and saying something that I could not understand. He repeated it twice, but I still couldn’t understand it. Poor Nik – he had gone online to learn how to say “will you marry me” in Korean and the site featured a girl who sported a non-native accent. Body language being what it is, I understood what he was trying to say and I said yes!

Nik: Knowing that Sheila was a foodie, she had been dying to go Alinea, one of the top restaurants in Chicago (and the world). So, I decided to call and make a reservation, and was told the next availability was two months from then, on a Sunday at 9.30 no less. I quickly accepted before the host changed her mind. I told Sheila to block the date for a work dinner. She wasn't too excited. The big weekend came, and we had plans to go to Wisconsin with some friends who owned a lake house. On Sunday, I told Sheila to save her appetite because we would be eating a big meal. She didn't understand what the fuss was about. Evening came, and we decided to walk to the restaurant. She started getting suspicious when she saw that I was dressed up for a work dinner, when I wear jeans to work everyday. As we were walking, I started getting my streets confused and with lawyer-like questions she quickly broke me (I guess I should get used to this) and I confessed that I was taking her to Alinea. She quickly got super excited...and then I think a little suspicious that a proposal was coming at the restaurant. But, to throw her off I didn't do anything at the restaurant. While we were at dinner I was texting a friend to go to her place and set up roses all over the room. We had an amazing meal that lasted 5 hrs and it was 1.30 am and we decided to walk back to her place. I think by now she had given up on getting a ring that day. So she was startled when we got there, and she saw "will you marry me" spelled in Korean with the rose petals. She turned around and saw that I was on one knee. I asked her in Korean but messed up the pronunciation completely. I blame the YouTube video I tried to learn from. Luckily the fact that I was on one knee gave it away, and she said yes, much to my relief.

Megan + Alex | E-Session

Megan and Alex are getting married this May at the Newberry Library. We spent an afternoon with them on one of those deceiving Chicago spring days when it looks warm outside, but it's actually a bit chilly. Luckily, they were up for anything and braved the cold! Here are just a few of our favorite photos along with their story below.

How Megan and Alex met: 

Alex and I met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. She was my childhood friend and Alex worked with her. Our first conversation consisted of Alex explaining, in detail, how to make an Italian meatball. We went on our first date one week later on a Friday night; I liked him so much, I asked him to go out the next night. 

Their Proposal: 

Alex proposed during a surprise vacation to the coast of Maine. The second night of the trip, Alex took me to a famous restaurant called The White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport. The restaurant is in a converted old barn, but has white table cloths and overlooks a gorgeous garden. It was everything I love – elegant, warm, cozy – Alex proposed over dessert. We spent the rest of the week exploring B&Bs on the coast, hiking through Acadia National Park, and enjoying lobster rolls. 

Cassidy + Micah | E-Session

Fall is perhaps my favorite season. Boots, jackets that don't make you look like an eskimo and that tempertature that's cool but not too cold are just a few of the reasons I love it so much. Shooting during this season is also incredibly fun because the city is transformed by these yellow and red trees for a few weeks. Today we bring you Cassidy and Micah's engagement session, a colorful, fall afternoon near Michigan avenue.

How they met

We met through a mutual friend in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day two years ago. I had just moved back to the states from London and was visiting Chicago with my close friend for a much-needed visit, who coincidentally grew up in Florida where Micah is from. We all ran into each other in a pub celebrating the holiday in true Chicago fashion. . . and well, the rest is history. Cassidy moved here two months later and we’ve been together ever since. 

The Proposal

It was a beautiful day in Chicago and Micah suggested that we spend the whole day outside. We live in Lincoln Park and love the neighborhood so we walked over to the park and spent some time lying in the grass in front of the conservatory. Eventually, we wandered into the conservatory to check out the beautiful plants and flowers. We were walking around and eventually found ourselves in a light, airy room with a new water fountain and all of sudden Micah was down on one-knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I said yes!