Whenever we're approached by a couple with an out-of-the-box idea for their wedding, we get so excited! We absolutely love being a part of weddings, especially when there's a super unique element to it. So when Riley reached out to us about shooting her wedding entirely on a drone, we jumped at the chance!
Riley and Billy got married on September 6, 2024 at Theater on the Lake, one of our favorite venues! Riley is all about capturing and sharing moments and she already had a photographer and content creator lined up. But, she was still looking for a wow factor. She loves drones, so she thought why not find someone to shoot the wedding with a drone? We were so happy she reached out to us.
When we met with Riley, she shared with us her vision and we began brainstorming. We decided to shoot some footage of the bridal party and the couple before the ceremony. We planned to get some epic shots of them with the skyline! We obviously planned to shoot the ceremony, and we planned to get shots of their guests mingling outside during cocktail hour. On our end, we planned to go scope out the venue and really think about the type of shots we could get. We can't state enough how excited we were!
On the wedding day, it was sunny and warm but very windy. Drones and high winds aren't friends, but thankfully it wasn't too windy to where it was really affecting the drone. But it was something we were keeping an eye on! When Riley, Billy and their wedding party arrived, they took some photos with their photographer and then we jumped in! We got some great shots of the bridal party and just Riley and Billy. We love how these turned out!
Then it was time to get ready for the ceremony. We ended up bringing along our Zoom recorder so we could get some audio from the ceremony to use in their final video. We're so happy we did this as it really added a great element to the video! The ceremony took place outside right on the lake front path, so all of the guests were facing the lake. It's such a stunning spot for a ceremony and we love shooting it. The shots we got during the ceremony turned out amazing. The bright blue of the sky, the blue-ish green of the water, and the colorful palette of the bridal party and guests worked together so well. Truly some of our favorite videos of the year!
After the ceremony, we got some shots of the family portraits and the skyline, lake, river and Lake Shore Drive. Getting these establishing shots of the surrounding area are so important to the final video and were also important to Riley! She loves Chicago and wanted to remember what it looked like on their wedding day. During cocktail hour, we were able to get some fun shots of the guests mingling. We even asked them to wave to the drone!
Once cocktail hour was over, so was our time at the wedding! We saw through social media that it was an amazing night. We couldn't wait to put the video together, Charlie started editing it right away! The result is one of our favorite videos to date. Charlie did an amazing job weaving all of the drone shots together, adding in some sound effects like waves crashing and traffic, and adding the soundbites from the ceremony. It's a truly special and unique video!
"Working with Allison and Charlie was easy throughout the whole process: pre-wedding calls, on the wedding day, and afterwards. They helped me bring to life an out of box idea for my wedding day and I'm forever grateful they took the chance!"
This entire experience is a great reminder to couples that they should ALWAYS pursue their ideas that would make their wedding day unique to them. There's nothing better or more memorable than a wedding day that has elements unique to the couple - that's what stays with your guests! It's always worth it. If you have an unique idea, please reach out to us! We'd love to help you bring it to life.