KRISTEN + RYAN
Kristen and Ryan were married in late October at Hoosier Grove Barn, located in Streamwood, IL. If you know me, you know Hoosier has a special place in my heart - it’s one of my frequent venues that I get to work at, and my husband and I got married there in 2019. It’s just like being at home when I get to shoot there!
Kristen and Ryan met one another years ago, through Ryan’s cousin. They went to the same high school, and while they didn’t date during their school years, they did become the best of friends. It wasn’t until after they graduated that they decided to level up their relationship to see where it would take them. A couple of years into their relationship, they moved from Illinois to Georgia, where they began starting their lives together, which included starting to discuss weddings, and life goals. Kristen told Ryan that she had a goal of being proposed to by the time her birthday came around. Just before her birthday in August, they spent a day at Lake Geneva, where they spent the day on the beach. After a sun-filled day, they came back home with beach hair and some sunburn. For dinner that night, they settled on going to Lou Malnati’s, where Ryan surprised Kristen with his proposal.
After their proposal, Kristen spent months traveling back and forth between Georgia and Illinois to plan her wedding. While she lived in Georgia, they were planning for the wedding to be back at home, in Georgia. During one of their trips to Illinois, we scheduled their engagement session at Cantigny Park (view their engagement blog post here!).
Kristen and Ryan are one of the most laid-back couples I have met - and this showed true on their wedding day. Both of them didn’t have any preferences on where we did photos, and spent most of their day giggling to one another. They are obsessed with one another, which just warms my heart, seeing their love together. After Kristen had an emotional first look with her father, and a giggle-filled first look with Ryan, we went and did portraits of the two of them, where we ended up crossing one of the busier streets in Streamwood. I personally had never done this with couples in the past, but after seeing the fall colored trees and bushes across the street, I took one look at Kristen and said, “Are you feeling ambitious?” in which she laughed and responded “What do you want to do?”. I immediately knew then that these were going to be some of my favorite photos from their wedding day - and they definitely didn’t disappoint!
The rest of the day was filled with family photos, their intimate ceremony, and their reception where Kristen’s dad had the best personal speech, where he gifted both Kristen and Ryan something that was connected to an inside joke - which made the entire room fill with laughter.
While the staff at Hoosier flipped the dinner tables to make room for the dance floor, all of the wedding guests gathered outside to participate in a sparkler exit for the couple - where guests had fun lighting sparklers with one another and getting to cheer the couple on as they ran through the sparkler tunnel a few times.
Once we were back in the reception area, Kristen and Ryan danced the rest of their night away singing and dancing with their friends and family. This was definitely one of the most hyped up crew - that’s for sure!
Kristen and Ryan, thank you for choosing me to capture your engagement and wedding day! I am so honored to have worked with you both, and I can’t wait to see where your life leads the two of you!
Dream Team:
Ceremony Venue: Hoosier Grove Barn - Streamwood, IL
Reception Venue: Hoosier Grove Barn - Streamwood, IL
Linens: Hoosier Grove Barn - Streamwood, IL
Caterer: Relish Catering
Coordinator: Vicki - Hoosier Grove Barn - Streamwood, IL
Photographer: Sierra Marie Photography
Florist: Town and Country - Elgin, IL
Desserts: Relish Catering
Band/DJ: Five-O DJ Entertainment
Bridesmaids Dresses: Lulu’s
Tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse
Stationery: Zazzle
