Becky and Chris were on separate trips with friends when they first happened to meet in Brazil. After they started talking, they soon realized that they lived in the same city – and after spending time together while on vacation, they made a plan to get together again once they each found themselves back home in Chicago. I love how life leads us to people in the places and ways we’d least expect sometimes, but that in retrospect, can end up feeling so perfectly fitting for that particular set of people. Becky and Chris have spent the past few years traveling together and hanging with their friends and family and trying new restaurants and places while exploring the city they both know and love, so their wedding day felt like the perfect amalgamation of all of these parts of them.

They decided to have a smaller, more intimate wedding at St. Alphonsus in Chicago, where roughly twenty of their family members and friends watched as they said their vows on a Friday afternoon. I arrived immediately after the ceremony to take some family photos, and then we hopped in a car as Chris’ brother-in-law drove us around the city and I photographed the newlyweds. It was a quintessential summer afternoon in the city – breezy and chill and full of happy-to-see-you bystanders, watching and smiling at Chris and Becky as she carried her bouquet in one hand and the end of her dress in the other, and as he helped her over the ledge and provided his shoulder when she needed to adjust her heels. We roamed from the north side to the lakefront to the 606 trail, hitting a few of Chris and Becky’s favorite Chicago landscapes along the way. We parted ways over hugs and waves as they left for a small dinner at The Bristol with their wedding attendees. I snapped one last image as Chris helped Becky into the vehicle, and even though I only spent a few hours with them that day, I already feel like I understand the excitement for the life ahead of them.

Ceremony: St. Alphonsus Church
Reception Dinner: The Bristol