I love it when folks decided to do a City Hall wedding in Chicago. It’s a great way to tie the knot for a boatload of reasons! My favorite aspect is that the day doesn’t become a big production. Lots of folks enjoy keeping things simple and easy-going. You have more time to do what you want to do! This was definitely the case for Cat + Ryan. They wanted a fun, effortless day that was about them and their family.

Chicago City Hall Wedding

Since City Hall had assigned them a time slot in the middle of the day, we chatted about their options for photography. Cat wanted gorgeous golden hour photos (who could blame her?), so we decided that we would all meet later in the evening after their ceremony. This ended up being super convenient for them! The two were able to have their witnesses in the room while wearing more casual clothes, followed by a lunch. They were then able to rest a bit before getting all dressed up and meeting me! The only thing really traditional about this day was taking photos in front of the “City Hall” sign on Randolph. I love doing this with folks to signify their day. PLUS, being in the loop allowed us to run around the area for portraits! We walked over to the Riverwalk to snag some cute photos. Ryan, of course, was a classic gentleman and assisted Cat with her shoes when they came untied throughout the day.

Lakefront Photos

North Avenue Beach was next on our photo list! Again, it’s a classic spot with what I would argue are some of the best views of the city. That unobstructed skyline is *chef’s kiss* just PERFECT. Ryan’s mom followed us with her iPhone around the lakefront as we took more photos. People think that having parents or family members taking photos on their phones annoys me, but I promise that it doesn’t! I actually think it’s really charming. Plus, I totally get it. I will probably do the same thing in the future. From there we went to the Montrose Bird Sanctuary, where the sun was doing *exactly* what we wanted to it to! We got our stunning golden hour photos just in time for Cat + Ryan to make it to their dinner reservation.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I loved this session. These two made it *real* easy to capture their love. This was a truly dreamy City Hall wedding session. Congrats to these cuties! xx

Florals: Flowers for Dreams