Adam and Julia Adler Planetarium North Ave Beach and West Loop Chicago Illinois Engagement Session

This was not just Adam and Julia’s awesome engagement session around Chicago, this was also a little reunion! We had not seen Adam since mid march and probably Julia in January. So when I double checked in on them to see if they were still up to do their engagement session this summer I was also hoping we could spend some time hanging out.

We decided to meet at Adler at 7am that Saturday to get some of the golden hour light from the sunrise as well as interact with less people. While it was definitely less busy than it probably would have been in the evening, I was still amazed at how many people were out and about like we were at 6:30am. 5am wake up calls may not be my thing but I could see getting up and exploring the city. The lighting was GORGEOUS.

We had Skyped with Adam and Julia a few weeks before to discuss their location game plan. Julia mentioned she wanted to do photos at Adler where Adam had proposed last December which was a great idea. I love it when we can go back to the spot where you got engaged :) Adam had set up this fake party the night he proposed with some of Julia’s friends. Little did she know when she got in the limo to go to the party, that she would be heading to her proposal. Her friends were good decoys and kept up with the party rouse so Julia had no idea! We then tried to go to the Walking Statues at Grant Park but due to zero parking and not wanting to waste time walking several blocks we made out way to North Ave Beach. It was so fun to get 2 different views of the skyline in their photos. After that, we made out way to the West Loop to hangout in the urban jungle. I knew there would hardly be anyone around in this location so we could bust out the smoke bombs!

Guys, my answer to any of these questions will ALWAYS be yes: can I bring my dog, can we use smoke bombs or sparklers, can we pop champagne, or get beers, or stop for donuts. I love when we can add fun little elements like this to a session.

It honestly was the best morning! We could not have asked for better weather and like I mentioned above it was perfect catching up with Adam and Julia in person. Face to face is just soooo much better than a zoom chat!

I’m glad this was a little bright side to their crappy 2020. They had to postpone their wedding to next year but I think it was a unanimous vote that doing their engagement session this year helped feel like a little celebration :)