Abby & Drew

 LOVE the autumn trees and early sunset lighting!

 Hey, look at that, we ran into Dr. Oz!  What a friendly guy!

Abby & Drew lucked out with beautiful weather for their November wedding.  They got ready downtown at the Marriott before we drove around the city and took photos at Millennium Park.  They held their ceremony and reception at the Crystal Gardens on Navy Pier where they kept it personal by having a loved one get ordained and officiate the ceremony.  The night was great, and then we convinced the ride operator to let us on the merry go round for some late night shots!

Happy Holidays!

2010 was a great year for us at Gerber+Scarpelli.  Let's take a minute to remember some of the great times we have had this season:

-We took a road trip to New Orleans to attend the Pictage PartnerCon

-We shot more destination weddings than ever before, one of which being the wedding of our very own Belen in Washington DC

-We were the first photographers to ever shoot a wedding at Ravinia

-Kurt won the Silver Star Award at the Wish Upon a Wedding Gala

-We have new members of our team, Tim and Jeremy

-We hosted a print sale for Haiti Relief efforts and raised over $5000

-We participated in the golf outing for the One Step At a Time Camp

We wouldn't have been able to do all this cool stuff without our incredible clients.  So for that, we want to thank you all and wish you happy holidays and a peaceful new year!!

Morgan and Nathan in CS Brides!

It's always fun to see your work in a magazine. Especially one as prestigious as Chicago Social Brides. Add to that a two page spread and that it was a couple that was really fun to work with and it's icing on the cake! This May we photographed Morgan and Nathan at Ravinia Music Festival. It was the first wedding they've ever hosted at Ravinia. It was a pleasure to be a part of their day, and it's also a pleasure to have been recognized by Chicago Social Brides. Go pick up the newest issue, on newsstands now, but in the meantime here's our little piece of the pie:

And here are a couple more of our favorite pictures which weren't featured in the magazine as well as their slideshow!

Love the Love: Style Me Pretty

Check out this beautiful wedding! Shot by our very own Belen Aquino in conjunction with Jen Alders, of Alders Photography. Jen used to work for us, before moving to LA. She was one of Tracy's bridesmaids, so obviously she couldn't shoot the wedding. It was so fun working with her on this project. Also, thanks to Tracy and Scott for letting us be apart of their amazing wedding in the heart of Maine! Check out the full story on SMP's Little Black Book

Keep an eye out for the slideshow, which we will be posting soon!

Jaimie & Bob's Halloween Wedding

Jaimie & Bob got married the day before Halloween.  In spirit of All Hallow's Eve celebrations, they donned masks and partied in style!

Not only did they have a cool black and white theme, they also provided all their guests with masks to wear while cocktailing, dining, and dancing!

After Jaimie & Bob's first dance, the entire bridal party broke out into a perfectly choreographed rendition of "Thriller"!  You would have thought Michael himself taught these cats how to move!

Instead of having a traditional father/daughter dance, Jaimie and her Dad did something funky!  They personalized the tradition by dancing their own way to a special song - it was so cute and is a great idea for brides (and grooms) to do when a slow dance just isn't their style.

Jeff's Big Proposal

It's curious. As wedding photographers we depend so much on people to get engaged, but we're not usually there to see it happen. Well, Jeff called the studio a couple of weeks ago and informed us that he was looking to pop the question to his girlfriend Sarah. We were immediately excited to be there for the very beginning of this couple's engagement. After some careful planning We and Jeff came up with the perfect spot to do it - where he and Sarah had shared their first date, along the waterfront near the Waveland Clock Tower. The only thing we couldn't be sure of was if the weather would cooperate (in Chicago, it could be a gamble in July, much less December). As things worked out it happened to be a perfect snowy afternoon!

Jeff had Sarah picked up at their house in a town car, and brought to him at the Lake Front... of course not without a little anxious pacing. She finally rolled up, and he took her for a short walk up to the lake front, got down on one knee, and... well... we're pretty sure she said yes. After proposing we did a couple quick pictures and sent the newly engaged couple off on their magical evening which looked like something out of a Robert Frost poem. We're told it included wining, dining, 'Wicked' and a stay at a hotel downtown. Many congratulations to one of Chicago's newest engaged couples, Jeff and Sarah!

Check out their pictures below!

If You Missed Fall For Your Engagement Shoot - Worry Not!

This past fall G+S shot a record number of Engagement Portraits, however, not everyone was able to schedule theirs in time to take advantage of the fall foliage and warm autumn light. If you missed the boat on getting your engagement shoot in fall, don't worry we love shooting in winter too! There are still some great opportunities to get fantastic photos - even in Winter. Snow is one of the great parts of winter, but there's also all the decorations that go up for the Holidays.

Check out some of our favs from years past below!

Over here at G+S we were thinking of ideas for Winter engagement shoots that would be a little different than heading out to the Chicago landmarks and here's a list of fun things we'd like to shoot:

Sledding

Making a Snowman

Baking Cookies

Picking out your Christmas Tree

Window Shopping on Michigan Ave.

So if you haven't done your engagement shoot and were worried that you'd missed the boat on getting great pictures done, think about these ideas and give us a call! 

We love our kids!

One of the greatest parts of our job is watching our client's families grow. As with our wedding photography, we try to think outside the box for babies and kids. Why not let them run around and be kids!? They do it so well! Here are a few shots from the last couple of months to inspire you!

Goodbye, Fall - Thanks for the great engagement shoots you gave us!

As photographers fall is one of our favorite times of year to shoot. The fall foliage pops and the light turns a certain shade of yellow which gives everything a warm, beautiful glow! Add to that great wardrobe options: sweaters, scarves, boots, and coats and it makes shooting engagements a blast. It's true, Chicago may have been made for fall.

Here are some highlights!