If you’ve never been to Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois, let me tell you something – you need to fix that. It is genuinely one of the most beautiful parks I’ve been to in the Chicago area, and it is absolutely massive. Like, “you could spend four hours here and still not see everything” massive. When Angelina told me we were headed there for their engagement pics, I knew we had to commit to a game plan or we’d spend half the night just walking and gawking. So we picked our spots, made a plan, and made the absolute most of it.

And guys. The park was in perfect bloom. Purple and white alliums everywhere. Floral bushes & trees doing their whole thing. Lush green everywhere you looked. The kind of spring evening where the light just wraps around everything gold and warm and you want to stay outside forever. We shot all the way through golden hour and well past sunset, because Cantigny at night? Different vibe entirely. The gazebo lights and the lit fountain gave us this moody, gorgeous backdrop that honestly made me giddy.

Angelina and Jeff have been together since high school – grew up in overlapping friend groups, started dating when she was a senior, then Jeff left for the Army and they made it work! Now here they are planning a wedding together. Angelina found me through her coworker Emily, whose wedding to Sean I had the absolute pleasure of shooting back in 2024.

Their proposal story is one of my favorites. Their close friends had just gotten engaged, and the cover story was that Jeff, Angelina, and their friends were all going out to take save the date photos for their friends at a flower field. Angelina showed up fully ready to help. She was in helper mode one minute and the next Jeff was proposing amongst the wildflowers. I mean. That’s a love story.

Speaking of the ring – STUNNING. Absolutely stunning. The photos say it better than I can. Go look.

Angelina wanted to do a save the date video and brought a mirror to write the date on, so we got some really fun photos with that too. Their wedding date is 05.21.27, back at Cantigny, which means they’ll be getting married almost exactly one year after their engagement session at the same park. How cool! With a mom who’s been a florist for over 30 years and a fiancé who just wants her to be happy, Angelina has had her wedding vision locked in for a long time. I CANNOT wait to see it come to life.

Angelina, Jeff, thank you for trusting me with such sweet moments. You two are so easy to be around, so genuinely happy, and so obviously right for each other. May 2027 can’t come soon enough!