KAREN + JOHN | CHICAGO
I can tell you right now, this is the most special couple I will ever EVER photograph. This bride here is my baby sister. That’s 27 years of love, 27 years of friendship, 27 years of knowing each other better than anyone. Sorry, future MTBM couples, but you can’t beat that. She will always be my #bestbrideever. This is so utterly emotional that I have no idea where to begin. What do you say about your only sibling getting married?? It’s so intense, so full of emotion, so close to your heart.
You see, Karen and John have been dating for four years, that’’s a lot of “when is it gonna happen?” but I always knew they would wait til they were more settled in life and career, it wasn’t until this past year that I was on edge…like constantly. We had a couple Yarcho weddings this year and the endless banter towards John to “put a ring on it” was pretty relentless. Little did we know that John had plans, really awesome ones.
I was at a benefit for cancer at our local Jr. High when I got the call…the phone read “Johnny John”…he never calls so it was weird. But when I answered it was my sister. I stepped out into the hallway, in a building I was practically raised in…and the exclamatory announcement of “we’re engaged” finally came. I cried, said “are you kidding” about five times and went back to my fundraiser to announce to strangers and friends that my sister was getting married! I told everybody on the planet after I was told I was allowed to…I still tell people all the time!
It wasn’t until later that I actually heard the proposal story…
About five years ago John went with some friends to a lake house in New Buffalo, Michigan. He invited Karen, they were just friends at that time, so Karen wasn’t so sure about it…she declined. They ended up starting to date that new years but John always thought about that special rejected invite:) This October Karen and John went to that same lake house, they were meeting two other couples for a fun weekend out of town. They were first going to meet everybody on the beach for a bonfire. It was freezing, the drive was terrible out of the city, and Karen was a little bit…frustrated. When they got to the beach, a pouty Karen was looking for her friends with no luck, she complained to John and just wanted to go back to the car and head to the lake house. When she turned around he was down on one knee…he told her she was the love of his life, and that he had been trying to get her to that beach for five years…and the rest is history.
In all the fury of planning, Karen and I have been trying to find a date to do engagement pictures in the city. The holidays pushed it back, and thankfully, the weather did not. On a crisp day in January we set out. I was ridiculously nervous…this was a little piece of my heart I was photographing…like omg. But I was surprisingly unemotional…I just got in the zone and let them be together and just have fun. When I got home I immediately uploaded the pictures and couldn’t stop staring…Karen and John are beautiful people…but they’re also my family, it was unreal how it felt.
The style, beauty, and love in these pictures is unmatched…this is flawless to me. It was impossible to choose my favorites, but I don't think you'll mind:) And get excited, because we’re doing a round two in the spring…and it’s going to be amazing.
