I am getting married and having the reception in a suburb of Chicago. It is a pretty place and I know that everyone expects me to just have pictures taken there. The problem I have is that there really isn't a lot of places to go there and I would really want some city pictures. I have been in a wedding before where we took a bus downtown before the wedding to have pictures taken. I would like to do this but both moms and the florist think I am crazy. Has anyone done something like this? Am I nuts to risk my dress getting wrinkled? Help please.
Most of my friends do their bridal pictures the week before their wedding, and do them wherever. Or, you could do the pictures in the city after the wedding, like after the honeymoon, and they could be more casual, almost in the spirit of the "mess the dress" pictures that are becoming popular, but without the mess part.
Do you have a limo driver or driver that is taking you to the ceremony? Could that person drive you to the city for photos? You just don't want to get caught in traffic and miss a lot of your reception!
While Chicago is a wonderful city, it's not exactly pristine, nor is its public transportation. I would be concerned about getting married in a dirty dress. And, as others have pointed out, there's the possibility of missing your own wedding. Could you possibly do it after the wedding? Or after the reception (though this will mean paying the photographer more, as most leave right after the cake cutting.)
We don't have a limo driver because as of right now we are getting ready at the reception site. The ceremony isn't until six so I think I would have time but there is the risk of getting dirty. I just wanted pictures of me in my dress against the city background. Darn!
From the experience of my friends- I don't think its a good idea. Chicago is a crowded city and everywhere beautiful and public will be crowded. My friend tried to do this and couldn't get people from walking in the frame... Its a public park! Oops.
The numbers of people in gowns outside Buckingham Fountain at all hours of the day suggest many people do this . I think it would probably depend on which suburb and your time contsraints......
I think you can GET pictures of you in your dress against the city background easily ... do it at a different time than your wedding day.
Or, if you do have all that time before the ceremony, why not go with czacza's suggestion and rent a limo for a few hours? Leave tons of time, and be careful about staying clean if possible. Ultimately, it's a matter of your priorities. If a little dirt on your dress will ruin your day, then re-think things. If the pictures are worth the risk, then go for it.
And get a steamer and give yourself some time to possible steam the dress and get some marks out. My friend just did pics before in her back yard before the wedding and even just doing that, her dress was a mess by the time she got to the church.
A friends cousin got married at the same park my son is getting married at, and she had some great pictures of the park and at Lake MI beach, and the dress was clean. But for the wedding which ended being inside the building at the park and not at the trellis her dress was trashed (bottom 6-8 in was muddy) so I asked him what happened. Well (and here is the solution to your dilema) it rained on the wedding day. So they used the alternative site inside the building for the ceremony. She took her dress to the cleaners, and scheduled the hair dresser, photographer and bridal party for the middle of the week and they did all the pictures then! She got all the great shots she wanted, got to wear her dress twice and her hair looked better the second time! So do the wedding, and do the pictures the next day or the next week! (no worries about the dress, timing, or anything) Have fun!
When I said a bus I meant a limo bus, not public transportation. It seems the majority here also don't feel it is the best idea. Maybe I will look into doing it a different day, not in my dress. Too many decisions!
I guess I'm in the minority here. We had pictures done off-site. My ceremony was very early (9 am) and we could not get into our reception site until noon. We went into Annapolis (about 20 min from reception) and had pics done. We had the time, the limo took us, the weather was nice...I never even thought that it was weird or that something could happen. I just know that I wouldn't have been able to re-assemble everyone later on. And the hair/make up was too expensive to consider paying for it 2x.
Kim, I think the difference is that Sue is thinking of doing pictures before the ceremony. If pictures go afterwards, time isn't as important. Neither is the condition of the dress.
I had some pictures taken in downtown Kansas City after my wedding. We had our regular pictures at the church taken before the ceremony, had the ceremony and reception, and then went downtown (only my husband and I) and had several pictures taken before going to our hotel for the night.
