5 Things Your Chicago Wedding Photographer Wants You to Know Before the Big Day
What No One Actually Tells You
About Your Wedding Day
After more than a decade behind the lens — 150+ weddings, two continents, countless first looks — I still get butterflies on wedding mornings. Every single time.
And every single time, I watch the most prepared brides in the world get caught off guard by the same thing. Not the weather. Not the flowers. Not whether the seating chart is perfect (it never fully is, and it's always fine 😂). It's the moments they didn't plan for. The ones that just… happen.
So I want to talk about those. Because I think knowing they're coming makes you more present for them — and that's literally my entire job. Getting you present enough to feel it, so I can capture it.
01. The First Look with Your Dad Will Be the Most Emotional Moment of Your Day
I mean this with all the love in the world. You can prep for the vows. You can hold it together during the ceremony if you're a "composure queen." But there will be ONE moment — maybe it's when your dad sees you for the first time, maybe it's a hand squeeze before he walks you down the aisle, maybe it's him whispering something only you two will ever know — and that's it. You're done. 🥲
And you know what? GOOD. Let it happen. Don't fight it. Some of the most breathtaking images I've ever captured are tear-streaked and blurry-eyed and absolutely iconic because of it.
“The most important image from your day is one you didn’t plan for. I genuinely believe that with my whole heart.”
02. The Candid, In-Between Moments Make the Best Wedding Photos
Everyone talks about the grand gesture: the walk down the aisle, the first dance, the cake cut. And yes — we are absolutely getting ALL of those. But can I tell you what I live for? The in-between moments.
Your maid of honor adjusting your veil and then just pausing to look at you with that face — you know the one. Your partner's hand finding yours under the table during dinner without even thinking about it. The grandmother who didn't think she'd make it to your wedding, dancing anyway. These are the images my couples send me texts about years later. "Karlie, I forgot that happened. How did you see that?"
I see it because I'm watching for it. Always. 🤍
03. Every Bride Says She'll Eat on Her Wedding Day. Plan Accordingly.
LOL okay I'm being practical for a second. I have never — NEVER — photographed a bride who felt like she ate a sufficient amount on her wedding day. You will be too excited. Your stomach will be too nervous. People will keep pulling you away. So: eat a real breakfast, have your coordinator or MOH literally hand you appetizers during cocktail hour, and for the love of all things holy, eat your dinner before you start the table rounds.
This is official photographer advice. It also makes for better photos when you're not running on champagne and adrenaline alone by 8pm. 😅
04. Ask Your Chicago Wedding Photographer to Steal 10 Minutes Alone with Your Partner
This is something I actually ask all my couples to do — and some of them are skeptical at first. Ten minutes. That's all. Sometime during your reception, slip away. Find a corner, a hallway, a balcony. Just the two of you. No guests, no coordinator, no one asking you to do anything.
Just stand there and be married for a second.
I will find you. I will photograph it. And I promise you it will be one of your favorite images from the entire day — because in it, you'll look like the only two people in the world. Because for those ten minutes, you were. ☀️
“Some moments only happen once. It’s actually the most beautiful thing about them.”
05. Once You've Chosen Your Chicago Wedding Vendors, Trust Them Completely.
You did the research. You read the reviews. You had the consultations. You chose people whose work you love and who you genuinely clicked with. So on the day itself — let us work. The best thing you can do is release the logistics and just be a bride.
I've photographed enough weddings to know what light is going to look like at 6pm and where we need to be. I know how to read a room, find the angles, and make sure you look absolutely stunning even when you feel like you're making the most awkward face of your life. (You're not, by the way. You never are.)
Trust the team you built. Show up. Be present. The rest is handled. 🖤
Your wedding day is going to be a lot of things at once — chaotic and tender, loud and achingly quiet, planned and completely spontaneous. It's going to be so much more than any Pinterest board could ever hold. And I will be right there, watching for every single second of it.
That's a promise I make to every single couple I work with — and one I take very, very seriously.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a 2026 wedding season to be obsessed about. 🥰
— Karlie
