Weddings
Bellies & Babies
Engagements
Families & Kids
Posted on September 25, 2010
Alexia (Lexie for short) is my best friend, Melaina’s daughter. This girl is cute as a button, and the giggles that you can get out of this girl would make anyone laugh until their sides hurt! She turned one in August and we decided to take her newly walking legs out to Lake Katherine in Palos Heights to let her get some practice in. Lain got her all dolled up and let her sport a few different selections from the Stella & Dot girls collection. (Thank you Tammy!) She did so great, she was so curious about everything around her. Thanks Lain, for letting me get your baby girl in front of my lens!
Posted on September 18, 2010
I first met Michael at his sister, Kathleen’s wedding. Here’s where it gets a little confusing. See if you can keep up. Michael is Kathleen’s brother. Kathleen is married to Brian. Brian is Kerri’s brother. Kerri is my husband’s cousin, Brad’s wife. Got it? I suppose it would be easier to say I was the photographer for Michael’s sister’s wedding back in May of 2007, but that wouldn’t be as much fun!
Michael and Melissa met on Match.com and they truly are the perfect match. Michael surprised her with a sweet proposal on a cruise and they set the date soon after. Their wedding was very beautiful. Simple, elegant and colorful. Melissa’s dress was gorgeous, and the flowers just made everything pop. And I love tea length dresses for bridesmaids! The food was delicious and the music was fabulous, the dance floor was packed the whole night! I have to say though, out of all the vendors (and they were all fabulous) the best was Marilyn Link, their wedding coordinator. Absolutely fabulous. At one point, Marilyn performed a last minute dress alteration so Melissa could walk in her dress without tripping!
Thank you so much to both of you, Melissa & Michael, for allowing me to be a part in your gorgeous day. I wish you both many years of happiness and love! Congratulations!
A HUGE thank you to all the amazing vendors who made Melissa & Michael’s day so fabulous!
Wedding Coordinator – Marilyn Link – 630-893-2249
Ceremony & Reception Venue - The Seville
Hair – Ann from Rock Star Salon
Makeup – Courtnie from Rock Star Salon
Wedding Dress – Veiled in Elegance
Bridesmaid Dresses – House of Brides
Florist – Jewel Osco
Cake Artist – The Seville (their supplier)
Posted on September 1, 2010
I don’t think I could ever explain how much I love this girl. Too much prettiness in her beautiful pettiskirt from KoolKloz and gorgeous jewelry from Stella & Dot. Just some sneak peeks of her 5 year session. I cannot wait to post more of these!
Posted on September 1, 2010
Just a little sneak peek of my bff, Melaina’s ADORABLE daughter, Lexie. Thanks Tammy, for the gorgeous jewelry from Stella & Dot! More to come soon!
Posted on August 9, 2010
I’m just letting you all know in advance that this is a very hard giveaway for me. I don’t think I want to give any of this away, I want to buy it all for myself. But, I’m in a sharing mood, so I’ll let you all join me in my obsession with chocolate.
Before I get to the chocolate, I need to tell you why I’m having this giveaway. “You mean it’s not about feeding my addiction?” No, it’s not.
I shot Tim & Laura Krooswyk’s wedding back in January of 2007. They recommended me to a couple of their friends, and I’ve done their weddings as well. We’ve kept in touch on Facebook and I’ve watched their adorable little man, Josiah grow. Josiah was a miracle, and he is such a blessing to them. After trying for a while and through some complications, they got pregnant with another little miracle. After 19 weeks of pregnancy, they were told that their baby had Cystic Hygroma and that condition would give their baby a 10% chance of a normal outcome. Then, they were told that their baby also had hydrops and that condition would give their baby 100% chance of mortality, and that there was no hope. Devastated, they waited to deliver the baby. Virginia Rae was born on May 3rd, 2010 and she was already dancing with the angels. You can read more of the story on Laura’s blog here. They are the reason why I decided to become a Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep affiliated photographer.
On top of this, Laura and Tim just found out they are miscarrying another baby. Which is even more heartbreaking. And because of the economy, they are not doing so well. Laura decided to pick up some babysitting jobs, which helps, but it’s not enough. So, she just started working as a Dove Chocolates Discoveries Chocolatier. Which leads me to the giveaway!
To help Laura kick off her business, I need your help! I am going to giveaway your choice of a bundle of Dove chocolates to two separate winners. All you have to do to enter is to go to Laura’s page, look around, come back and tell me which of the special bundles you would want if you won. Contest ends at 7pm CST on Friday August 13th. On Friday evening, I will pick the two winners. In addition, if you book a party with Laura, OR you order $50 worth of product from Laura (be sure to mention LilyBelle Photography in the comments in your order), you will receive a Free Session from me ($150 value)!
Want more entries? You will get an additional entry into the contest if you do any (or all) of the following and come back and comment here about it.
1. Follow LilyBelle Photography on twitter
2. “Like” LilyBelle Photography on Facebook,
3. Subscribe to the RSS feed of my blog,
4. Post about this giveaway on your own blog
5. Share about this giveaway on Facebook
6. Share about this giveaway on Twitter
You will recieve an extra entry if you do any or all of those and add an extra comment here telling me about it (make sure you provide a link to the facebook/twitter/blog post)!
Good luck!!
Posted on July 15, 2010
Rhianna and I “met” each other through an online forum for mom’s. She and her husband, Jeff and their adorable baby, Charlotte live in Colorado She contacted me through Facebook, letting me know they were coming back to Illinois to visit with both of their families and they’d like a big family picture. Two families, made up of six separate families, seven couples, and eight kids. Pretty much the largest family group I’ve done since starting my business. I had a blast! Everyone is so photogenic, it was hard not to have a great time. Plus, the land and the barn on Rhianna’s sister’s property made a fantastic backdrop for the pictures. All the blues with the textures of the barn, perfect. Thank you so much, all of you for such a fantasic shoot!
Posted on July 6, 2010
This was a lot of fun! Rhianna and Jeff met up with both of their extended families and asked me to get some shots of everyone. Six families! Love it! I was so happy to be there. Here are some sneak peeks of the shoot. More of the story and LOTS more pics coming soon!
Rhianna, Jeff, and their adorable daughter, Charlotte.
Rhianna’s Family
Jeff’s Family
Posted on June 11, 2010
One of my favorite things about my job is seeing people’s lives change, and being there to photograph it. Especially when I get to do it several times during their lives. To me, it’s an honor to be asked to come back and photograph another significant moment in their life. I was lucky enough to do Jason and Angela’s engagement pictures, and then their wedding back in 2008. Now, they just welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their life, Sydney Nicole. She was so sweet during the session! We were hoping she would stay asleep, but she was so interested in everything going on around her. Finally, during the last few minutes of the shoot, she fell completely asleep. She tried to keep her eyes open, but it was too much for her, and I was able to get a few sleeping shots.
Thanks so much, Jason and Angela for allowing me to come back and meet Sydney! And a big thank you to their older daughter, Emily for all your help!
Posted on June 4, 2010
If you’re not careful, Sydney will make your heart melt into a puddle at your feet. More pics to come soon!
Posted on June 3, 2010
LOVE this couple! A few weeks back I was fortunate to meet up with this beautiful family at Lake Katherine in Palos Heights. I did Kara’s maternity pictures two years ago when she was pregnant with the adorable Cole. This session was a LOT different! I love her last maternity session, but this was outside, natural lighting, and a lot more exercise for everyone! Especially for Kara, who sported these fantastic pink and zebra print heels around the nature preserve. I believe she is Super Woman.
Lake Katherine is a beautiful place and a favorite among some photographers in the area. So, when we got there I wasn’t too surprised to find there was not only prom pictures being taken, but a wedding going on! We were lucky enough to squeeze in after the prom pictures and while the ceremony was going on, so I got my favorite spots, and some beautiful lighting with the sun beginning to set.
So we had a wonderful time and I’m so glad I was able to meet Cole outside of the womb (haha). He is so completely adorable and I think I may have fallen in love with him. I’m betting the new baby, Ryder, will have the same effect on me. Thanks so much Kara, Mike & Cole! And thank you to Kara’s daughter, Alyssa and her boyfriend for watching Cole during the shoot!
First, a video by animoto.com. LOVE them!!
