Roscoe, IL Wedding Photography | Jordan & La
Roscoe, IL Wedding Photography
I’m soooooo excited to share this wedding with you!! I’ve known Jordon for over 15 years, and I can’t believe he’s all grown up and married!! It was such an honor to photograph him as he wed his sweet La! Jordan and La have shared a bunch about how they met, their wedding planning process, and thoughts about their day, so I’m going to shut up, move on to the pictures, and let them tell you in their own words!
Coordinator: Lauria Johnson
Makeup: Amanda Wettstein
Florist: La’s mom
Wedding Dress: Hi Beautiful Bridal
Shoes: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaid's Dresses: Baltic Born
Groom’s Suit: Jos. A Bank
Getting Ready, Ceremony, & Reception: Bride’s Family’s Backyard
Cake: Delicious Unvailed
Caterer: Stockholm Inn
Coffee Truck: Salted Sister’s Coffee Co.
DJ: O’Dea Entertainment
Second Photographer: Victoria McDonald
How They Met:
La and I met in college at Moody Bible Institute. At our school, we pair up the men's floors and women's floors to do events, activities, etc. It was the first event of the year and we were all gathering to go out. I saw La from across the group and I immediately thought she was so beautiful! She was laughing and smiling. She was initially intimidating to me because I didn't think I was cool enough to hang out with her. As the semester went on, we started getting to know each other. We asked the basic questions about our families, our majors, and why we chose Moody. Our friendship really started when we were with a group of friends sharing about how we met Jesus and how He changed our lives. By the end of the night, neither La nor I had shared our stories. La texted me later that night to ask if we could meet up because she wanted to hear my story. Of course I said yes, and we hung out one on one for the first time sharing our stories and drinking Chai. We talked from 10 at night until 1 in the morning! She was sweet, funny, kind, thoughtful, and a great listener. I felt so comfortable with her and I loved getting to know her.
Periodically we would hang out after that. We would go on walks, grab a meal together, watch a show on Netflix, or just sit and talk. I kept on trying to trick myself into believing that I wasn't interested in La because I just didn't feel like I was ready to be in a relationship but I was only fooling myself. Everyone else around us saw it! La and I had a conversation about our feelings for each other and the feelings were mutual but we eventually decided that based on circumstance, it might be better to remain friends.
From November until the end of the Spring semester at school I really tried to stay strictly friends and control my feelings for La. I would vent to my friends after hanging out with her in a group talking about how hard it was to desire closeness with her but choosing to keep some distance. Then COVID 19 hit. We all went home and I thought, "Finally! This is the time to put some distance between me and La!" But if any of you know La, you know that she is a loyal friend. She texted me whether I wanted to or not. She always asked how I was doing and was really intentional about how she cared for me and talked with me. I saw so much beauty in the way that she loved me and showed her thoughtfulness to me. It really caught my attention and made me want to share more of my life with her.
Over the summer I was able to do an internship with my Church in Chicago so I moved back into the city. I texted La and told her that I had moved out to the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. Coincidentally she had moved into the neighborhood right next to Edgewater and was a 15 minute walk from where I was staying! She told me that since I was such a flake she was expecting that I would never hang out with her. I took that as a challenge and that next Saturday, I headed over to her place to hang out for the day.
As soon as I saw her, all of my feelings immediately rushed back and I was so drawn to her. We took a walk, made dinner, watched a movie and laughed and talked for the whole night. It was so much fun and I couldn't stop thinking about her after I had left. Over the next week or so we talked and prayed about it. We were both in better places to date and we decided to take the leap! Since then, we have grown so much individually and as a couple. I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with her and grow in love with each other and with Jesus!
The Dress:
I went with my mom and my sisters and we went to a little place called Hi Beautiful Bride in Roscoe. I tried on 30 dresses and the one I chose was the second dress I tried on! I loved that it represented my style and my personality. It wasn't what I was looking for at first but after trying on a lot of dresses I realized all of the things that I wanted were in that dress. The dress made me feel very beautiful and confident.
The Suit:
I went to Jos. A Bank with my parents, sister, and fiance. We went there and I got fitted. It was a little nerve racking at first to have to choose what to wear on one of the most important days of my life but after making the decisions and going back for a fitting, I knew it was the right choice. One thing that was really special about what I was wearing was my pocket square. It was a handkerchief that belonged to my grandmother who had just passed away the year before. I loved having that with me because I know that my grandma would do anything to be with me if she could.
The Venue:
Our venue was La's family property. It was a beautifully forested area with a barn for a reception. We chose it because it was so beautiful and we knew it would always be a special place to us because it's her parent's home.
The Photographer:
Chrissy is a family friend of the groom! Chrissy was amazing! She was so helpful, was in the background and allowed us to have a wonderful wedding without worrying about all the stress of someone taking our pictures. It was so special having someone who the groom knew take our photos because there was a special type of bond there that helped us feel even more comfortable with the person taking our photos.
The Reception:
Our reception was in the barn on the property. We chose it to be there because it fit the number of people we were trying to host and it looked so beautiful! La's parents did so much work collecting chandeliers, fixing the yard, building the pergola, planting flowers, and decorating everything! They were such a big help and we were so thankful for them and that they were so willing to help us with our special day!
The Decor:
A lot of our decor was DIY. It was a lot of vintage stuff. Her mom owns a salvaged decor store which came in handy because she is very crafty. All of our plates were thrifted and all of the flowers were done by friends and family.
The Honeymoon:
We went to Puerto Rico! It was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous! We definitely recommend spending time in old San Juan and going on a bioluminescent kayaking tour!
The Party:
The party was GREAT! We had a DJ who is Jordan's father's best friend. He is rated as one of the best DJ's in Chicago and he made sure everyone was dancing and from the beginning of dancing until the end of the night, there always were people on the dance floor. They had lights and smoke and confetti and everything else! SO MUCH FUN!
Anything you would have changed:
We had an amazing time with family and friends but we wish that we would have pushed the time of the wedding a little earlier so that we could have had more time in between the wedding ceremony and the reception to take time to soak it all in and spend more time together on that day. Things were very scheduled and we were actually behind schedule so having more time would have made it a lot calmer.
Advice for couples planning their wedding:
Definitely try to enjoy it while you can. It's not all going to play out how you thought it would but it will all work out. God will play it out in the way that it was supposed to go!
And remember that as you're taking months and months to plan, you're only planning for one day. Make sure to carve out time to plan for the rest of your lives together. That's what is most important.
...and take pictures with you and your flower girl :)
