Greek Dancing at the Intercontinental - Eleni and John

Wedding

Dec 7

The day began and ended at The Intercontinental, a landmark hotel in the whirlwind of Mag Mile. The contrast of energies between the morning and night could not have been more stark. The morning moved at an easy pace as the entire crew eased into the long day, conserving their energy for the Greek dance party set to take place 10 hours later.

Temperatures were mild relative to a typical Chicago winter day, so we braved the Wrigley building overlook after taking some time on the roof of the Intercontinental for some breathtaking skyline views. I find that, although there’s a reduced window for natural light on winter shoots, the quality of light is actually higher because it’s coming in at a more flattering angle, and is often diffused by cloud cover or even bouncing off of snow. So, although it was early afternoon, we were able to get some stunning backlit portraits at a time of day where, 6 months earlier, we would have been in direct sunshine.

From there, the St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Lincoln Park welcomed us, and it felt like home for me because I used to compete in a basketball league in their gymnasium. It was a beautiful traditional ceremony, and before we knew it, we were back at the hotel. After the heartfelt speeches, guests wiped tears from their eyes as they prepared their stack of singles for tossing. In no time, a traditional Greek dance party erupted, incorporating modern pop hits, and In all my years of documenting weddings I don’t think I’ve ever seen an environment as electric.

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