Cate & Josh | Courthouse Wedding | Libertyville Family Photographer
When I tell people I’m a family photographer, they always jump right to weddings for some reason… I don’t do weddings. Usually. I’ve done them in the past here and there, but the traditional wedding scene is really just not for me. If asked, I will consider small, non traditional, or destination weddings! ;)
When Cate, a long time loyal client of mine, texted me asking to photograph her LEAP DAY courthouse wedding, I don’t think I could reply “YESSSSS” fast enough! She’s one of my clients who just fully trusts me, has a very established style, and the most calm personality of maybe anyone I’ve ever met. She’s so gracious, kind, loving, I could go on. While I hadn’t ever met Josh before, he was a little nervous about having me crash their special wedding day and be their third wheel, which I TOTALLY understand. Luckily Cate communicated that with me, which is wonderful, I prefer transparency. She/we assured him it would be fine, and still special even having me there to be a part of their day. As the universe would have it, we actually ran into each other in downtown Libertyville the night before their wedding so Josh and I got to meet briefly before the morning!
The morning of their wedding, we met up in a nearby parking garage at 8:30am to walk over to the courthouse together. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was surprised they made everyone wait out in the freezing cold for the doors to open! HA!! I knew it was a possibility, but was like “there’s no way…” Yep, there was a way, and the line was pretty dang long when we got there! We waited probably 15-20 minutes before they let everyone in, and in that time, Cate “won the line” as Josh coined, because she got so many compliments, and even got photographed by a sweet lady passing by. I was not surprised at all by the attention she received, because well look how epic she is! Once inside, we snaked through the courthouse and it kind of felt like we were waiting to go on a roller coaster, or as Josh so eloquently put it, being booked for jail. 😂 Even the lady who collected everyone’s $10 in cash for their wedding was such a peach. Just kidding, she was basically Edna from The Incredibles. We waited about an hour in the line before we got to the judge’s office for their 3 minute wedding!! Short, sweet, and couldn’t have been more perfect!
We took some photos outside the courthouse, and were on our way to a favorite breakfast spot of theirs, Lou Mitchell’s. If you haven’t been to this place, you really need to go! They greet you with donut holes and milk duds, and the staff is classically friendly and funny !! Our waitress was adorable and amazing, and made their wedding day that much more special. The staff brought them out a chocolate cake followed by mini soft serve ice creams after our meal. This was all Cate & Josh wanted to do. I asked if there were any spots they wanted to go take more photos at, and they seemed perfectly content with everything. I forced them to let me take just a few more photos outside before we all went back home. Cate strategically ordered an Uber which gave me about 5 minutes to grab a few photos before it was all over! We ended back at the parking garage and parted ways. I felt so energized and happy about how things went, and wished I could do this every Saturday morning.
Thank you Cate and Josh for letting me in, and not only capture your day and be apart of it, but also share it here with the world!
Have you had a non traditional, a courthouse, or similarly unique wedding?! I want to hear about it! I loved this so much. Stress free, low cost, and exactly what they wanted.
And by the way, mid way through waiting in line, Josh told me that he was glad I was there, and that I was really apart of their wedding day and memory forever, which almost made me cry. Noting that even their own parents weren’t invited. This IS my “job”, so for me, it’s not uncomfortable since I’m use to being present in people’s lives for their most favorite and important days. If you may be worried about my presence taking away from your special time with your family or significant other, I can almost promise it won’t!
