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Helicopters, Diamonds, Skylines oh my! The Perfect Chicago Proposal.
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Glamorous. The only word that adequately describes our shoot with Paulina & Ilya. You could nearly hear Fergie’s song playing in the background as we galavanted around the electrifying cityscape of Chicago. Paulina denies the notion that their love story is glamorous, but her engagement ring betrays her. When Marylin Monroe said, “A Diamond is a girl’s best friend”, she clearly was talking about Paulina’s engagement ring.

Paulina’s diamond ring was custom designed by Ilya’s jewelry company Ivy & Rose. The center is a three carat marquise cut diamond followed by two 40 point Cadillac cut side stones.

Our team was headed to Chicago, IL to shoot Michelle & Jeff’s intimate micro wedding when we, as fate had it, found Ilya’s vintage jewelry store Ivy & Rose. We were blown away by the eclectic and timeless pieces at the store and jumped at the bit to meet the man behind it all. When we found out that Ilya was recently engaged to the love of his life we quickly arranged a shoot.

Check out Paulina and Ilya’s steamy Adventure Session below to feel the heat.

If Ilya’s vintage store and Paulina’s dazzling ring doesn’t fit the bill for glamour, then their engagement story will.

Paulina and Ilya met for the first time at a mutual friends barn party. It wasn’t long before flirting comments turned into long meaningful conversations. When Ilya knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Paulina, he had to give Paulina the larger than life proposal that she deserved.

The evening started when Ilya casually picked up Paulina in a private helicopter to catch the breathtaking few of Chicago’s skyline before the sun disappeared over the horizon. As they approached their apartment, Paulina noticed something on the roof. She took a closer look and realized that it was a message for her. “Marry Me Paulina” was written loud and clear to declare Ilya’s love for her. She didn’t need any convincing to say yes!
Paulina will tell you with excited eyes how perfect and meaningful the proposal was. She explained how insane the logistics were to pull something like this off: “Ilya contacted the helicopter company that had to get permission from both Midway and O’hare airports so we had a very strict window of time that we could fly in. His staff at Ivy & Rose was also involved in the scheme. They helped with ordering the materials for the sign and painted each letter in red at the office. Our building engineer and another friend then helped Ilya bring up all the construction supplies in our elevator where they stapled the sign on the roof. Ilya then hurried to pick me up as I just so happen to be getting my hair done and then he said he had a surprise for me.”

Thank you Paulina and Ilya for falling in love, because the world deserves this spectacular love story. We could not be any more happier for you two!

Want to Look like Paulina???

Fur Jacket

Diamond Ring

Take a look at Michelle & Michael’s love story if you want more feels!

Don’t forget to check out our Moving Mountains Engagement and Wedding Planning Resources!

6 Simple Steps for Planning Your Perfect COVID Wedding

7 Pro-Tips on How to STUN in Your Engagement Photos

Why You Should Have Your Own Pro-Photographer

Our Top Ten BEST Wedding Venues in Charlotte

How to Budget For Your Perfect Wedding

3 Reasons You ABSOLUTELY Should Hire a Wedding Videographer!And SO MUCH MORE! We are here for you!
March 23, 2021
Intimate Chicago Micro Wedding
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We’d like to say we don’t play favorites, but…Michele and Jeff have to be one of our all time favorite couples! Ever since our Adventure Session at the Antelope Canyon in Arizona, we have been looking forward their wedding day! None of us knew 2020 was going to look like this, but Michele and Jeff simply said, “Who cares?”! Hence a beautiful micro wedding was planned!
They’ve been best friends for years! They’ve loved and supported each other as they pursued their individual ambitions and goals. On September 28, they finally made their power-couple status official in an intimate, Covid-safe, micro wedding in the beautiful city of Chicago!
Years of adventures and more to come!

The Battles love to travel and have been so many places together already! Michele and Jeff are always off on their next adventure. They’ve been all around the world and the reach of their ventures expands by the month! Jeff actually proposed to Michele off of the Amalfi Coast *swoon*!

As if you needed further proof of their A-game, these two are one of the finest dressed couples we’ve met! From the perfectly styled hair to the literal tips of their Gucci shoes, they are the epitome of uptown luxury. We’ve done multiple photo and video sessions with them now and they’ve never failed to impress!
Michele’s warm and caring heart is proof that her beauty is way beyond skin deep! At her own micro wedding, she continued to be attentive to the needs of the people around her and help out where she could. For both her and her new husband, family is everything to them. Try to stop your heart from melting when you see Michele with her adorable nephew, Wyatt! Even better, check our Jeff with his mother! Golly, it’s so freaking cute!
There are few moments as special as when you’re surrounded by everyone you love. Even more special is when you’re all rejoicing over something that is truly good. We were so honored to get to be a part of Michele and Jeff’s incredible micro wedding moment in the midst of the craziest year ever. Cheers to the beautiful power-couple, and all of your many adventures to come!

Psst! Here’s a little peak at their gorgeous photo session in uptown Chicago!
Don’t forget to check out our Moving Mountains Engagement and Wedding Planning Resources!

6 Simple Steps for Planning Your Perfect COVID Wedding

7 Pro-Tips on How to STUN in Your Engagement Photos

Why You Should Have Your Own Pro-Photographer

Our Top Ten BEST Wedding Venues in Charlotte

How to Budget For Your Perfect Wedding

3 Reasons You ABSOLUTELY Should Hire a Wedding Videographer!

And SO MUCH MORE! We are here for you!
November 25, 2020
Exquisitely Romantic Asheville Wedding
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There is a beautiful peace that comes into a home where unconditional love resides. This is the kind of love that doesn’t let you hide nor will it let you decide that you’re not good enough. It’s a love that empowers you to become your best self because you know you’ll be safe even when you fail. The love Michelle and Michael share is absolutely this kind of love: unconditional and full of peace. It may sound too good to be true, but on their picturesque wedding day in Asheville, NC, the intense devotion was able to be felt by everyone.
This exquisitely romantic, mid-October wedding commenced at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The historic gem of a church had nothing but breathtaking backdrops to every dramatically elegant moment Michelle and Michael shared with their closest friends and family. They lived their wedding day with emphasis on the most important thing: love. The unconditional love that is shared between them, but also within their family, was palpable. It was so easy to see how deeply they all care for and support one another.
Where Love is, Peace follows

Michelle told us a few of the reasons she loves and respects Michael so much. He is so patient and kind and he cares for her actively. “Unconditional love doesn’t need to be spoken,” she said, “It sometimes just says, ‘It’s okay, I’m here.’.” She added that, with him, she has an overwhelming peaceful feeling that he’s actually chosen her. He completely accepts who she is. In fact, that is why she chose to have Moving Mountains create artwork for them! She wants to wake up every morning and see the reminder that he chose her!
And what a story to have continual access to! We’re sure that after this gorgeous and heartwarming wedding, she’s got a new favorite day in the books. Beforehand, however, she told us that her favorite day ever was the day Michael proposed to her. While his proposal was a sweet moment for the two of them, he surprised her directly afterwards with an engagement celebration in Asheville with all of the people she loves!
Michael adores Michelle’s big heart and he loves how she pushes him to be spontaneous and enjoy his life to the fullest! They create safety for each other in their love and it allows them to become better and better people everyday! Where love is, every other virtue may abound.

Vendor Love

Event Planner | Shay Brown at Shay Brown Events

Hair | Erin Johnston at Cutting Edge Hair Gallery

Makeup | Leah Milan at Leah Milan Makeup

Florist | Kathryn Writesel at Eleventh Hour Designs

Cake | Fanny at the Biltmore Forest Country Club
November 13, 2020
How to Budget for Your Perfect Wedding
You’ve been dreaming of your wedding day since you were a little girl. The dress, the dance, the look in your husband’s eyes when he sees you looking like a dang princess! You’ve planned it all out…hypothetically. Now that it’s time to do the actual wedding planning, however, it seems like the devil really is in the details and it’s a little overwhelming. As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “Every journey begins with a single step,” and as my father later added, “That first step is the hardest darn one.”

So let me help you take your first step of wedding planning! What needs to be established before you make a single call? Your budget! Here’s three little pointers from the professionals on how to organize your budget in a way that will serve you well throughout your wedding planning process!

Dream up your ideal wedding & write it down

If time and money were not factors, what would your perfect wedding day look like? The bougiest princess ball gown? A seven layer ice cream cake? A venue that looks like a castle? Dream big and write it all down! What are the moments you envision when you dream up your wedding day? Those are the ones you won’t want to negotiate!

Decide what parts of your dream wedding are actually not that important to you or are simply impractical (i.e. having a fondue fountain in the bridal suite with all the fancy dresses). Either cross the items off, or move them to the bottom of the priority list!

Rank your Vendors by importance to you

Now that you know your non-negotiables, you should budget for them first! Maybe the number one thing you want at your wedding is a kickass dance party; your priorities will probably favor an incredible DJ and a venue with great dance space! Maybe your top priority is the luxurious atmosphere of your wedding. Well, if you want to get married in a mansion, write it at the top of your list! You should probably also have a space reserved at the top for photography & videography. If you’re going to invest money in a day that happens once, invest in the quality vendor who will help you relive it!

This will help you think about your vendors: the ones you absolutely have to have and the ones that are negotiable.

Leave a financial buffer

You may find, once you start making calls, that vendors have certain deals and packages that cost a small amount more than you had planned on. It’s truly in your best interest to have some wiggle room! For instance, you may plan to pay $4500 for a quality photographer, but actually have $5500 set aside in case they have a special deal or you want artwork for your home later. It’s better to set aside that money now instead of (1) going into the negative to get what you want or (2) not getting what you want!
It doesn’t have to be complicated, just get started! You’ll find that once you take that first step, the momentum accumulates and soon you’ll be enjoying planning out all of your precious details without stress! Happy Wedding planning!!

For help planning your COVID Wedding, check out our 6 Simple Steps to Your Perfect Wedding

While your planning your perfect wedding, don’t forget about your bomb engagement photos! Check out our resources on Where to Go for Your Engagement Photos and How to STUN! We’ve got you covered on all fronts, girl!

Finally, don’t forget to check out our current 14 Favorite Wedding Venues in Charlotte and see if your dream venue is on our list!
November 3, 2020
Should You Do a First Look with Your Groom? Heck Yeah & Here’s Why!
We’re all familiar with ‘Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue,” and the good fortune rain is supposed to bring on a wedding day. There are so many traditions with roots in superstition, but we hardly think about it any more! In this article, I want to answer your question of whether or not you should do a first look. There is one tradition many brides still adhere to, whether superstitious or not: The groom must not see the bride in her wedding dress before she walks down the aisle.

Take a quick gander at the history behind this one, and you’ll find its origin is in the tradition of arranged marriages. Most of us modern Americans prefer the romance of falling in love before marriage. For most of human history, however, that was simply a post-vow bonus (if it happened at all!). Marriages were often deals between the bride’s father and her groom. It was strangely common for a groom to not have met his bride prior to the wedding day. Therefore, to belittle any possibility of changing minds, it was important for the couple not to see each other! That’s also what the veil was for!! Isn’t that crazy?!

The purpose of this wedding day tradition has altered over time, as our culture has. Brides and their families still take extra precautions to be sure the groom has fresh eyes for her when she walks down the aisle. This way, every emotion is heightened and highly anticipated. All this is in preparation for the overwhelming moment of pride and joy for both of them. For some, however, the jitters can actually be a little too overwhelming!

The Upside of a First Look

Depending on your personality, you may be someone who loves the feeling of all eyes on you. There are plenty of brides, however, who are intimidated by this kind of attention! They would rather not experience an intense amount of emotion (positive though it may be) in front of so many people! For these brides, I’d absolutely say: do a first look with your groom before you walk down the aisle!

As one bride told me, “We got all the nervous wedding jitters out and had some quiet, intimate moments before. The ceremony was still so special even with seeing each other before! 10/10 would do the first look again!”

Set aside the origin of the tradition and there are actually multiple benefits to doing a first look before your ceremony! Like getting your couple’s portraits done before the ceremony! This may not seem like a huge deal, but it’s nice to know that your freshest hair and makeup are captured in your couple’s portraits and you’ve had time to really enjoy those first few moments together.

You can make this time fun and not have to worry about the opinions of your onlookers. It’s simply about you two!!

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Couples often use this time to give wedding gifts to each other, read letters to each other, or pray together. It can be a precious moment that will remind you, as you prepare to walk down the aisle, whom you are walking towards and how special they truly are.

You do you, boo!

At the end of the day, you should know that whatever you do, you’re not going to regret it! The brides I asked who didn’t do a first look still said that they’d do it the same way twice!

“I guess I’m traditional,” one bride told me, “And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. His first expression when I walked down the aisle is forever imprinted on my mind. Absolutely priceless.”

“It was really special,” another bride said, “between the crescendo of the music, all the feelings, and just the moment of our eyes locking for the first time that day…it was simply beautiful.”

There’s really no wrong way to experience your wedding day! Just be sure that when you make your plans, you allow yourself to break from tradition where you want to! That’s how cultures change and new traditions are made: people decide what’s most important to them and the world changes just a little more. Since your marriage has (probably) not been arranged by your parents, and there is no chance of you running away, go for it girl! Do a first look with your groom and enjoy the heck out of it!

Enjoy some of our favorite first looks captured in our luxury wedding films!

Rachel & Andreas

Courtney & Josh

Rae & Austin
November 2, 2020