Wedding Advice & Photography

Two things we are confident in: Wedding Planning & photography. Van Elk & Co is made up of a team of photographers who love to create portraits of love & happiness and share advice for wedding couples.

This isn't your typical photography blog. We share useful info for couples who are getting married and those who are heading that direction. Let us show you pretty things while you fill your head with all things wedding planning.

June 19, 2021

FILED IN: Engagements

man and woman touch noses during Lincoln Park engagement photos

Geese and ducks swam in the water, sending ripples across the harbor. In the background, monolithic buildings of stone and steel stuck up into the sky. Anna and Tyler stood in the grass, looking at each other and smiling. This Lincoln Park engagement session was one of my favorite shoots last year. One of my […]

February 3, 2020

FILED IN: Engagements

Can anyone believe we are already into month 2 of 2020! How is this possible? I’ve been going through galleries of 2019 the past few days and I can’t tell you how hard it was to narrow it down to a reasonable amount. We just adore our couples and everything they do is just photo […]

August 14, 2019

FILED IN: Engagements

a man in a suit and a woman in a dress in their robey engagement photos with the chicago skyline behind them

The wind blew a little harder at the top of the Robey. It lifted Kathleen’s hair and tossed it about. Rashad hugged her and they both smiled and looked out at the Chicago skyline in the distance. A few dark clouds hung low over the city and as it began to rain, it looked like […]

December 20, 2017

FILED IN: Engagements

an adorable young engaged couple dressed in modern chic clothing stand on top of cafe robey as the sun sets behind them over the chicago suburbs

I had so much fun capturing Lily and Zach’s engagement session in Chicago. They were so adorable together, and I absolutely loved how comfortable they were in front of the camera. Plus, they introduced me to so many interesting places in their neighborhood in Chicago. In fact, a month later when Steve and I went […]

October 24, 2016

FILED IN: Engagements

Clouds hung low over the city blurring the skyline with a gray haze of precipitation. As a result, Chicago looked less like a tangible city in the background and more like the dream of a city. Madeline and Steve stood on the deck on top of their house with the aspiration of downtown extant through […]

August 30, 2015

FILED IN: Weddings

As the sun was setting over the verdant fields surrounding the Barn at Zionsville, Julia leaned back into Dave, looking up over her shoulders and into his eyes. Dave held her in his powerful arms as the enjoyed the last rays of sunlight on their wedding day, their only company a light chestnut horse standing […]

August 15, 2015

FILED IN: Engagements

The bricks had fallen off the building in several places and may of the windows on the lower story were had sheets of plywood covering the top half while the bottom half remained naked. There was a mural fading in the sunlight on the wall of the building, but the fade was unequal as if […]

July 13, 2015

FILED IN: Engagements

Underneath a weeping willow tree, the earth slopes gradually to the waterfront of the Gompers Park Lagoon. There is not an official path back to the weeping willow, just a foot trail through the waist-high weeds that was trampled down by the many visitors the park sees everyday. After walking back there with Julia and […]

June 9, 2014

FILED IN: Published, Weddings

We are so excited to see Falisha & Daron’s Destination wedding on Intimate Weddings today! See the article at: http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/real-weddings-falisha-darons-illinois-bahai-elopement/ See their wedding story on our blog here! Don’t forget to leave lots of lovely comments & best wishes for them in the comment box!

May 1, 2014

FILED IN: Weddings

2013 was a wonderful year to get married! Congratulations to all our beautiful couples!