In mid-January, we photographed the secret elopement of our good friends Christine & Conor (we have their permission to finally post these photos – woot!). And what was supposed to be an elopement at Chicago City Hall turned into a crazy awesome adventure, ending in a quick pop-up ceremony at the Art Institute of Chicago officiated by Ed!!

The morning started with us visiting the basement of The Daley Center. Even during the ride down the escalator, you could feel the excitement and happiness radiating off these two! But they soon realized that there’s actually a 24-hour waiting period after getting your marriage license in order to get married at City Hall. OH NO!!! Luckily, the clerk mentioned that this didn’t stop a friend from marrying them (wink wink). So after a few minutes of thinking about the availability of all the officiants we knew, it started to seem like these two weren’t getting married today. But then Ed came up with a brilliant plan! He quickly did some research online, and within minutes, he became an officiant. A full-fledged officiant! Next step? Finding the perfect wedding ceremony space.

And what’s more timeless and romantic than a wedding at the Art Institute of Chicago? We bought four tickets and made our way around the museum, looking for the perfect backdrop. When we came upon “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat, Christine and Conor knew instantly that this was the spot. So right then and there, we dropped our bags to the side, and Ed began marrying these two lovebirds.

As a crowd gathered around us, Christine and Conor only saw each other. It was a moment straight out of a movie. From all the happy tears and a little surprise right before the first kiss (scroll down to see what happened!), we will be forever grateful to have been able to capture this special day for our friends.

As these two were right about to do their first kiss, the crowd that gathered behind us started yelling, “NOT YET!!” We were so confused until a security guard came running over and untucked Conor’s pant leg from his left shoe. And as everyone all laughed and cheered, she happily told these two, “Now you two can kiss!” It was the perfect moment for such an intimate elopement at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Christine and Conor are going to be celebrating their wedding at Claxton Farm in Asheville, NC, and we can’t wait to go as guests!! Time to show off those dance moves!