A Tiny Feature: Elope to Chicago

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Hello again lovebirds! I started this blog because I enjoy doing research and I wanted to create a one-stop-shop for couples to explore their tiny nuptial options. I will do my best to bring you the most amazing vendors/wedding professionals I can find! With that being said, I am so thrilled to be featuring Elope to Chicago! I truly appreciate the opportunity to meet individuals that share the same views as I do!

I discovered Elope to Chicago via Instagram (social media is such a great tool when researching). I immediately fell in love with their photography; especially their incredible shots of my hometown of Chicago. Gee, what a city! I thought, "I have to contact them!" so I sent out an email and here we are!

Those amazing photos I found were captured by Becky Brown Photography. Becky Brown is the owner of Elope to Chicago, which caters to couples who wish to have a small wedding or elopement. I'm so happy she had the time to share her story with us! Enjoy! 

My new friend in the Midwest, Becky Brown of Elope to Chicago

My new friend in the Midwest, Becky Brown of Elope to Chicago

What inspired you to become a photographer/wedding planner? 

I was always interested in photography, even when I was a young girl. My grandma Brown was a very creative, artistic person and I loved going over there to work on projects after school. She let me play with her "fancy camera" and I was hooked. I was never without a camera in my hand all through high school. Waiting to get film back and later developing it myself is still probably one of my favorite things in the world (although I don't get to do it much these days). 

I went on to get  a BA in Fine Arts in Photography from Indiana University. Right out of college I was shooting corporate photography, but wasn't loving it. I slowly started second shooting for weddings and enjoyed the excitement and emotions of the day that didn't exist in the corporate world . It wasn't long before I made the jump to lead shooter and well, I guess the rest is history! 
 

By default, a wedding photographer has to be somewhat of a planner as well. They should to be able to let couples know how much time they need for each part of the day, when and where the best light is etc. When I started Elope to Chicago, I didn't realize how much more I would step into a role of a planner. A lot of our couples come from out of town, so I end up being tour guide and planner to help them coordinate their day.

When did you realize there was a need for your services? 

Shortly after I moved to Chicago from Indiana, my friends Susan & Dan were getting married. They are both from the UK so they were having a big bash there, but wanted something small to celebrate locally with their Chicago friends. They came to ask about photography and I started looking around to help them and I realized the lack of services available for people wanting to do very small weekday weddings or elopements.

The idea for Elope to Chicago was really born from that. I shot a few more intimate weddings and city hall elopements before I actually decided to create an entire site just for it and build a team to create packages like we have today. The site went live in April 2014 and we've already done 35 events with many more on the calendar for this year. I'm still looking to grow and add services and partner with new venues to provide our clients with everything they need.  

What do you love most about small weddings and elopements? 

I love so many things about small weddings and elopements! I think for me it comes to down to simplicity. I've shot many, many big weddings over the years and although those are great as well (I'm totally not hating on big weddings), I love that small weddings get back to what weddings are really about. It's about telling one person you love them and want to spend your life with them. 
 

I feel like some weddings lose sight of that and the couple almost gets lost in the plans and becomes more of a part of a larger show for your guests than the real reason for the gathering. They end up doing things on their wedding day that they feel like they have to do to make people happy than what they actually want to do. With a smaller group or just the two of you, it's much easier to personalize the day and not have 100 opinions influencing your decisions. 

There is something so romantic and intimate to me about saying I do with just your family there or just the two of you. One of our May couples had their ceremony in the morning and then jetted off to Paris that afternoon! Does it get better than that?! 

What's your favorite place to shoot and why? 

That's a tough one! Obviously I love the city of Chicago. It has so many amazing options for photography. With a stunning skyline and gorgeous parks and the lake; the options are endless. For elopements, I feel as though we shoot in a lot of the same locations as many of our couples want those iconic Chicago shots, so it's always a challenge to me to try to make a spot I've shot so many times seem fresh and new.  I will never get tired of shooting the Chicago skyline though! 

I guess I'd say my favorite place to shoot is a place that has meaning to the couple. Yes the skyline views are great, but I always try to get my couples to tell me something about themselves and suggest places or for my local people, pick a location that has meaning to them. Maybe it's where he proposed or your favorite local coffee shop or bar or the park where you take your dog. I'd much rather shoot at those spots than take my couples some where they've never been before. 

Planning can be so overwhelming, do you have any advice for engaged couples? 

Decide to Elope. Then call us! Haha. Planning is overwhelming. I get so many emails from couples who just don't know where to start the process. It can be as easy or as complicated as you make it. When I put together our team, I made sure to find amazing people who I knew I could trust and loved the idea of a small wedding or elopement as much as I did. I put together the main pieces I felt like most people needed or wanted : photography, officiants, hair & makeup and flowers. I wanted to make it easy on our couples to choose what they needed so that when they found our site, many of the decisions were already made!  All they have to do is pick the location and if they can't, we can help with that as well! 
 

I think the most important thing to remember when planning is to stay true to yourselves. Your wedding day should be about the two of you as a couple. So if you've never worn a dress in your life, don't feel like you have to wear a dress. If you love craft beer and want to get married in a brewery, that's awesome! And we'd love to be there. No matter what traditions, cultures, backgrounds or religious beliefs our couples have, we are happy to help make their day just the way they want it to be. 

To find out more information, please click on the links below! 

www.elopetochicago.com

www.facebook.com/elopetochicago

www.instagram.com/elopetochicago

Again, a very special thank you to Becky Brown for making this post possible! You rock!

The Consultation

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I don't think we're ever getting married. Every time we agree on a location/venue, it isn't long before I start googling again. I'm always on the hunt for something 'better'. Never fails. What is wrong with me??? Is it because I only intend on getting married once in my lifetime and I want it to be perfect?!? Ugh, the pressure! Moving along...

Since we love to travel, it would be a no-brainer to hold our nuptials somewhere other than our hometown. We currently have four options in mind. Yup, four. Selecting a location should be the easy part; finding the people to help execute our day may be a little more challenging. So, how do you make your wedding  dreams come true? You can always take it upon yourself to do the work (which can totally be done), BUT if you find yourself extremely overwhelmed, I suggest inquiring about a wedding planner or a day-of coordinator. A wedding planner? Day-of coordinator? What for? We've got this under control! Yes, but sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. 

If you want your day to run smoothly (especially if you plan to wed in another city), you'll need some guidance. We recently had a phone consultation with a wedding planner from Wyoming.  It was our first time actually speaking to a wedding consultant. The phone conversation lasted about an hour. It was the most intense hour of my life! We were so unprepared! The questions they asked were very specific."What theme are you going for? Would you like a sunrise or sunset ceremony? Musicians? What kind? What will you do after the ceremony? Candlelight dinner? What type of cuisine do you like?" Hold the breaks! What have we gotten ourselves into?!?

This consultation scared the crap out of me. I didn't want to proceed any further. We decided to postpone our planning. After my mini freak out, I realized that the planner's intentions weren't to scare me away, but to figure out exactly what we wanted. A planner needs to know your vision or else they can't meet your expectations.

Before consulting with a wedding specialist, jot down your ideas and exchange them with your partner. This will give you a little more direction. We had no idea what to expect when we called. We just thought the consultant was going to paint a pretty picture for us and we would agree with everything she had to say. I mean, she's the expert here. We've never planned a wedding before so what would we know! 

A few weeks later, the wedding consultant sent us a follow-up email to see if we wanted to move forward. I informed her that we decided to push back our wedding since we were unsure of our destination. She told me she could send me a list of vendors for a small fee. A vendor list is an awesome way to see what vendors service a particular area. You can google search, call or email these professionals to see if they meet your needs. This also helps if you want to do your own planning and just need some additional information. Like I've said before, small weddings require some sort of planning. Don't be afraid to ask an expert for help if you really need it. Who knows, you might be surprised by what you learn.