Here are a couple photos we took a week before their wedding when we hung out to talk about the two of them and the last minute wedding details.

***more than 70+ photos can be found on my facebook page. Including the prayer ceremonies at the B&G’s houses before the wedding ceremony. Feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see all the photos there***

Church
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel
190 S Prospect Ave
Elmhurst, IL 60126

Reception
The Meadows Club
2950 W Golf Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

On the wedding day, we started in Des Plaines…I love Shaina’s laugh as her friend and hairstylist, Gigi, helps put the finishing touches on the veil. Not to mention that her twin sister (maid of honor) seems to almost have the same laugh…like a mirrored reflection-

A photo of the wedding bouquet-

I loved the dress and veil-

A great makeup job was done by Lillian from Starlight Chicago.

Once at the church I grabbed these two portraits of Abin.

I love this photo of Abin…like…I wish I had my picture taken there too! =)

As she began to walk down the aisle…his eyes began to well up…ever so slightly-

The bride is escorted by her two brothers down the aisle-

I love this moment Shaina has with her father just before he presents her to Abin-

Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel was a beautiful church with wonderful natural light coming through. It is located in Elmhurst College…Shaina’s alma mater.

In an Indian Christian wedding…the priest (achin) blesses the rings at the very beginning.

He surprised his bride by singing a song for her-

The ever so important manthrakodi – as he places the sari around his bride. If you want to see photos of the necklace tying (minnu/thali) you can see those in the facebook album.

A group photo in front of Hammerschmidt Chapel-

We didn’t have too much time for creative portraits, but I did manage to get this photo after climbing onto the roof- =) In my mind, it looks like a flower-

I love this photo…Abin & Shaina were so great to work with- their connection was just so obvious to me and it made my job as their photographer so easy!

What a moment- I LOVE this-

Love this photo too! =)

He picked her up with ease!

The wedding cake with matching tiffany/baby blue colors.

The ever so important milk drinking ceremony- One of the few couples that actually drank all of it! =)

Thank you Abin & Shaina for having me as your wedding photographer! And thank you for being willing to walk all over for those creative portraits! I’m so glad we took the time for those! As you were faithful to your convictions regarding your relationship before marriage…I can only imagine the wonderful things that lie in store now that you are one- God bless you guys!

with love,

Kenny

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I did a little something unique at the beginning with the audio. It is the first time I have ever done this- and even though it’s just a little something, I think it adds so much! Enjoy the HD wedding slideshow!

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Mike & Sue went to the same college, and the same church…but they really didn’t know each other at that time. Flash forward a couple years…up in Chicago…a few sparks fly and the rest is history. =)

Heading out to Michigan City was a bit of a day trip. Round trip we probably spent over 3 hours in the car together…but talking to these two was like talking two lifelong friends. Fueled by McDonald’s sweet tea (easy on the ice) we had an awesome time shooting these creative photos in a new location.

***more photos are on my facebook page! feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see the photos!***

Before getting into the photo set, I want to share with you my favorite photo from the session. While on our photoshoot, we could see the clouds rolling in and the rain began to drizzle as we were finishing up our photos at the beach. The clouds really helped to create this awesome photo! It’s a little more on the ‘creative’ side…and I absolutely love it!

When we first arrived, the sun was shining and offering all kinds of gorgeous light!

I feel like singing the theme song from the TV show “California Dreams” when I look at this photo- it definitely doesn’t feel like Lake Michigan.

A little bit of fun-

Gotta love their smiles!

It was awesome to see them smiling and having fun in our photoshoot!

I don’t know…maybe it’s just me, but I love this lighthouse! Maybe from the fact that we really don’t have any in Chicago…

And after the sun set…we grabbed this photo next to a street lamp.

Sue & Mike: I can’t wait until your wedding!

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Wedding Ceremony & Reception: Waterford Banquets
933 B South Riverside Drive
Elmhurst, IL 60126

Decor: Shaadi Creations

***more photos are on my facebook page – check there tomorrow for more than 70+ pictures!***

A photo of Sheetal’s earrings and her Christian Louboutin shoes- Check out the detail in the silver on the shoes

Another shot of the Louboutin- =)

She wore her sari for the morning Indian ceremonies before changing into an evening gown for the reception-

Sheetal’s make up was done by Jane, a beauty specialist from Saks Fifth Avenue-

Waterford looked great as the Indian ceremony was held outside-

A fantastic set up by Shaadi Creations-

In the background…you can see Sheetal’s mom being overwhelmed with emotions

The only moment where she let her emotions in -the part of the ceremony where she says good bye to her family in Chicago.

After the ceremonies were over, she changed into an gorgeous silver evening gown – And while we didn’t have a lot of time, we were able to grab some great photos of the newlyweds!

She got her Christian Louboutin shoes…and he got to rent a Lamborghini – Pretty good deal for both sides!

Being a little creative with Dhaval’s two loves for the day…his woman and the car-

Another creative photo-

Off to the side of the waterford reception hall, there was a sweet lounge set up…I loved the decorative lighting set up.

A photo of the wedding cake

The first dance

Sheetal & Dhaval: when it was all said and done…what an awesome day! Enjoy the photos!

with love,

Kenny

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And so it began with a text message. And then some gmail/facebook chatting. More text messages. But still Damaris would not agree to meet in person. Only after much persistence did she finally agree and the rest was history! It was an Asian-Latino wedding: Indian & Puerto Rican families coming together in marriage. I love the diversity the body of Christ can bring together.

Church: Faith Alliance Bible Church (FABC)
382 S Mount Prospect Rd
Des Plaines, IL 60016

***there are 30 pictures posted here, you can see 50+ on my facebook page. Feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see them!***

I loved the lime green wall in Damaris’ room- I had to incorporate that into her wedding dress photo!

A photo of mom helping her daughter one last time before the ceremony

A portrait of the beautiful bride-

I love the natural light inside Faith Alliance Bible Church- makes for an awesome entry photo!

One of those moments that only a few people saw…I love my job as a wedding photographer!

He couldn’t take his eyes off of her…

First time I ever really got a photo of the important ring passing moment-

We headed out to Chicago, near O’hare for our creative photosession. Dennis is an amateur photographer himself and so I used a technique that I knew he would appreciate for this photo-

It took some time to get to this location, but we definitely made the most of it!

The ladies wore Tiffany blue dresses-

And I really liked how the Tiffany blue worked with the dark grey suit/tuxedo.

And then there was this photo. I’ve never been so happy after a photo before. I was as giddy as a junior high kid on Mountain Dew. So much effort pre-wedding went into this moment and to see it work was an amazing feeling. Chicago O’hare International airport…lots of airplanes flying around…the location of choice for this photo.

Add to the stress level: the intermittent thunder storms throughout the day which threatened to cancel this photo opportunity or move the airplane flight patterns.

literally…5 minutes after we took this photo…the skies opened up and the thunderstorms rolled in! It was pouring rain by the time we got to the reception just 10 minutes later.

And finally a photo of the rings on their wedding color- Tiffany Blue!

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For each wedding, I am always challenging myself to be creative and come up with a new shot or pose. It’s not always easy, but when it works out, I get a rush like no other. Bobby & Theresa let me decide where we would shoot their creative photos and they built in a lot of time into their schedule. More time = more photos!

Ceremony: St Paul Chong Hasang Catholic Church
675 Dursey Ln
Des Plaines, IL 60016

Reception: Meridian Banquets
1701 Algonquin Rd
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008

***more photos from this wedding can be found on my facebook page- feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see them***

I thought this was a fun photo of Theresa’s wedding veil being put on-

Her purple & silver wedding shoes!

Wedding dress details

A photo of the gorgeous bride!

Since we took photos before the ceremony, we had a ‘first look’ between Bobby & Theresa before we started the photo session. You gotta love the purple/lavender dresses and flowers!

Some photos in Elk Grove, near Theresa’s home

Real smiles, real laughs in this photo! Such a fun group!

A great bridal party image

Look at their smiles! It just makes you want to smile too!

As I mentioned before, Bobby & Theresa gave me a lot of time and so I was able to come up with some creative photos like the ones below

I absolutely love this photo of Theresa-

A photo of the guys-

Bobby is a huge comic book and Kung-Fu fan, and so we decided to be a little creative and have some fun with their photos- This was just too much fun to create!

The men-

One of the best shots of the day! Bobby brought one of his most coveted possessions, and we HAD to take a photo with it!

Purple/lavender flowers at St Paul’s

This was a first for me in all my years of wedding photography-

I think this photos sums up their relationship- =)

Wedding cake!

This photo could be titled: Retribution!

Thanks again for a wonderful time Bobby & Theresa! You guys are an amazing couple and thank you for your hard work in the schools and giving so much to your students!

with love,

Kenny

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Ceremony: Twin City Bible Church (TCBC)
806 W. Michigan St
Urbana, IL 61801

Reception: iHotel & Conference Center
1900 South First Street
Champaign, IL 61820

Yih-Chun & Evelyn both attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign…also my alma mater (Go Illini!). I also lived down there for four years after graduating, and I like to say that I know Champaign-Urbana pretty well. BUT I really wanted something special for their wedding photos and I stumbled upon this awesome location-

Evelyn looked stunning in her wedding dress.

He couldn’t stop smiling whenever he looked at her-

Being creative with the environment

I love this detail shot of her bouquet of lilies.

I love, love, love this photo of the two of them. There was so much chemistry between the two of them, and I think this photo captures that connection-

We also spent some time in the Japanese garden and Japan house grabbing some photos.

A park in Urbana…

I have spent so much time at TCBC through the years, I could literally walk through this place with my eyes closed. =) I was blessed to photograph a wedding here-

I LOVE this moment right before the first kiss- it happened so fast, but we got it! Look at her playful face!

The iHotel in Champaign, IL. I love this venue, full of amazing architecture and art. I also appreciated Evelyn’s choice on lighting. Those purple lights really add so much to a venue.

The wedding cake

Grabbed this photo of the handsome groom

Just look at all the expressions during this toast- makes me smile everytime

We had to grab some more photos at the iHotel before I left-

Another one of my favorite photos from the day-

Yih-Chun & Evelyn: Thanks for planning so much time for photography! I think it was worth it! =) And as wedding photographers yourselves, thank you for trusting and investing so much into having me as your wedding photographer!

with love,

Kenny

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Elyse and I have been friends for a long time now, and it was a blessing to see her with David as they shared a little bit of their love story with me. You can see it in their eyes when they talk, laugh and poke each other…that there is some obvious chemistry there- =)

I hope these photos capture that connection – enjoy!

It tends to be a little crowded at Millennium Park on the weekends, so we found a more secluded area where they could be more comfortable-

I love their expressions and the energy in the moment.

Millennium Park has a wonderful garden showcasing various flowers in bloom-

And as usual, we went a couple blocks from Millennium Park to an alley and had some fun taking some photos away from the touristy scenes…

Millennium Park also has a really cool water fountain right on Michigan Avenue-

Capturing a reflection in the photo-

Thanks you guys for really opening up! And to think…you were worried about how the photos would turn out! =) Can’t wait til the wedding!

with love,

Kenny

Nakai Photography

Now I was warned that Justine thinks she is not a photogenic person. (say it with a New Zealander’s accent, it’s way cooler) But I think these eleven photos say otherwise! =)

Justine loves architecture and so we settled on downtown Glencoe, IL as the backdrop for our engagement session photoshoot. Glencoe is a quaint town with a variety of structures and buildings. We took a lot of photos, but I tried to narrow down for the blog.

I saw the shadows on the ground and really wanted to utilize them in a shot. It’s a good thing I am six feet tall to grab a shot like this-

I love their smiles in this photos- they couldn’t keep from smiling when they were with each other-

I love this photo of Justine. The moment and her smile just make me want to smile as well. =) =D

A very real moment- I didn’t tell them to do this, I love it-

We took this photo when Jordan was telling me about his love for Justine. The smiles are all real and you can see a little sparkle in Justine’s eyes-

wow…what an unphotogenic couple! =P Jordan & Justine: you guys were great! Thank you for keeping it real and your willingness to walk around all over downtown Glencoe for these photos! Your wedding photos are due up next! =)

Here are a couple photos from their engagement session we held this past fall- You can see the rest of the images here.

***More photos are on my facebook page – Feel free to ‘friend’ me if you can’t see all 50+ images there***

Make up and jewelry were done by Julie from Poesi. Check her stuff on her website! www.ilovepoesi.com

A quick photo of the wedding shoes and wedding dress-

I love this portrait of her-

I love her smile here – it’s all in the eyes-

We headed out to The Glen for some creative shots. A big “Thank You” to the bridal party for trekking out for these pictures!

We took some photos on the bridge at The Glen-

I love this photo – capturing the flowing veil on the pier-

The Glen had a cool maze for children – it made for a fun photo!

Before the ceremony started, we grabbed this photo of Michael.

Dreaming about her own wedding someday… =)

So much is said in the eyes- love. passion. commitment.

The reception was held at European Crystal and Banquets in Arlington Heights, IL

And yes…the first dance!

Thanks you guys for having me as your wedding photographer! I’m so happy for the both of you as you begin your journey together! May you both continue to be guided by His hand and voice as you allow Him to lead your paths.

I can’t wait to hear some more fun stories over dinner sometime! =)

with love,

Kenny Nakai