Deonna Caruso Photography

In October of 2011 My husband, Pete, and I decided to visit family in Arizona.  I wanted to show Pete the beautiful state that I grew up in!  My family moved from Arizona to Chicago in 1983 so it’s obviously been a while since I’ve lived out West.  I have paid Arizona a visit or two since then but on this trip I really got to remember what a gorgeous state I grew up in.  When you’re young you obviously take all the natural beauty for granted and upon returning this time I really appreciated how majestic that part of the country really is.  I also got to see it for the first time through my husband’s eyes since he’s never been to Arizona before.  While out there we got to explore Canyon Falls, Tortillas Flats (this old town out in the middle of literally nowhere), and the old mining ghost town (Goldfields).  Traveling and taking pictures is one of my absolute favorite things to do but when we got to take it one step further and fly to the Grand Canyon with Pete as our pilot I was so thrilled and proud of him to say the least.  We flew from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon in a little over two hours!  It was AMAZING!  With the help of our new friend and pilot instructor, Kevin, it was a day that we will never forget and cherish forever!  Being up in the sky overlooking such beauty is awe inspiring!  We also took at road trip to the Sedona area.  We went almost to Flagstaff and made our way down the mountainous area to beautiful Sedona where we once again decided to go up the air for a better view.  We took a helicopter ride over the city!  We just can’t get enough flying I guess.  We finished out our trip visiting the Unviersity of Phoenix state of the art stadium which was fun!

I’m really happy we got out there to see my grandma & grandpa too.  They are getting up there in age and I’m just happy we got to spend some quality time with family as well!  My grandpa just turned 90 in December!!  Wow!!

Here are some of the images we took on our unforgettable trip!  I hope you enjoy them!  Keep traveling and seeing the world!  I believe it truly keeps you young!

On October 23, 2011 Stephanie Sparks & EJ Farrell were married!!  What a gorgeous day it turned out to be!!  Stephanie and E.J. are such a great couple and their wedding was a joy to be a part of!

I started off with getting ready shots at the hotel with the girls and my talented second shooter, Ernst Jacobsen, met up with the guys at E.J.’s parent’s house.  The girls were watching “Bridesmaids” when I came in which made for a fun morning!  All the girls were getting their hair and makeup done and having a great time.  Stephanie’s dad, Dick, started to tear up when he first saw her in her dress which I thought was so sweet!

After that we all headed over to the gorgeous Montefiori in Lemont.  Stephanie & E.J. decided to do a first look on the bridge before the ceremony.  E.J. was thrilled to see Stephanie for the first time in her lovely dress.  His eyes just lit up when he first laid eyes on here! Then we took some time to get some beautiful pictures of the two of them on the grounds.  Montifiori has such great picturesque places that make for stunning wedding photos!

The ceremony took place outside (which I love).  It was a wonderful ceremony filled with laughter and some tears!  They couldn’t have asked for better weather for an outdoor ceremony and I’m so happy for them.  After that we took some formal family photos at the ceremony site and then headed inside for the cocktail and reception.

The reception décor was so cool with blue and white orbs hanging from the ceiling and I loved the flowers on their cake.  Such rich fall colors!!  Love Love!!  After the cake cutting, first dance and entertaining toasts the guest enjoyed dinner and dancing all night long.  There were tons of people out on the dance floor which I love and the band, Georgia Frances Orchestra was amazing!!

It was a wonderful day for two wonderful people!!  Stephanie & E.J. thank you for entrusting me to capture your beautiful wedding day.  I wish you all the love and happiness two people can handle!  Here are some of my favorites of the day.  Enjoy!!

On August 20, 2011 Megan Martin & Jonathan Meyer were married.  It was a wonderful wedding and turned out to be a beautiful day despite the rain in the morning! I started at Megan’s parent’s house in Naperville for the getting ready shots.  Megan looked amazing in her dress and her bridesmaids all had bright fuchsia dresses and these killer shoes!!  Everyone looked great!  After taking some pictures at the house we headed over to the Grace Methodist Church in Naperville.  The church was decorated with such gorgeous flowers by Yanni Design Studio.  They also did all the flowers and lighting or the reception and it was simply breathtaking!  After the ceremony we took some formal family portraits and headed over to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.  The rain cleared by that time and the sun peeked out for a great shoot.  We got some fun bridal party shots and wonderful shots of Megan and Jonathan around the grounds.  I love the Arboretum because there are so many great locations for classic wedding photos that are timeless and romantic!  After spending time at the Morton Arboretum we headed over to Meson Sabika where they ended up having their rehearsal dinner the night before.  We had a great time getting some images in the front of the restaurant.  I love the white pillars and the beautiful grounds.  We finally headed over to the beautiful Bolingbrook Golf Club for the cocktail and reception.  Like I said the reception room was amazingly beautiful with the soft pink flowers, white pearls and beautiful white flowing linens and sashes overhanging the extravagant wedding cake.  This was one of the most beautiful cakes I’ve ever seen at a wedding!  (And I see alot of weddings)  The guests all had a great time eating, drinking, toasting, smoking cigars and dancing!!  The night was so much fun and there were so many guests on the dance floor all night long.  We had such a great time shooting and being a part of this gorgeous wedding!!  Thank you Megan and Jonathan for entrusting me to photograph your beautiful day!  I wish you so much happiness in your new life together!!  I want to also thank Tracy Petersen, my second shooter, for taking such great shots throughout the day.  Take a look at some great images from the day!!!

On July 23rd, 2011 Stephanie Lucas & Steve Bledsoe were married at the awesome Hard Rock Hotel on Michigan Avenue!!  To say this was a fun wedding to photograph and be a part of is a huge understatement!  This was the most unique wedding wedding of the summer by far with such creative touches.  This wedding had drumsticks as party favors, famous guitars for fun photos, a bestman named “Waterbed”, a Harley Davidson engraved wedding cake , and their adorable dog, Tucker, all decked out with his doogie bone bow tie and shades!!  Stephanie did an incredible job with all these details!  My wonderful second shooter, Tracy Petersen, and I started at the Hard Rock Hotel taking some getting ready shots and then made our way downstairs with everyone else for the ceremony.  No string quartet for this couple… as people were waiting for the ceremony to begin they had their friend, Steve Yanula, rock out on the guitar.  He did an awesome job!  After the beautiful ceremony and a few formal portraits all of the guests went around town on the trolly for some fun and some pictures.  We went to Olive Park for some great skyline shots and then headed over to Millenium Park for more fun under the Bean!  Then we headed back to the Hark Rock Hotel where all the guests enjoyed cocktails and hor’s devours and got the chance to write special notes on records for the newlyweds.  The reception was great.  It was a nice intimate setting which I thought was wonderful.  The decor was beautiful and the food was delicious!  The rest of the night everyone danced and had an awesome time.  There was a nice outdoor balcony overlooking the city streets which was also a nice addition to the ambiance of the night! I had such a blast photographing this wedding and was honored to be a part of Stephanie & Steve’s spectacular wedding day!!  I wish them both so much joy and happiness together.  Here are some of my personal favorites. Enjoy and ROCK ON!!!!

On July 9th, 2011 Jennifer Paruch & Daniel Sochor were married!  It was a gorgeous sunny summer day with no rain!!  Yay!!  I started at beautiful Villa D’ Citta on Halsted.  Talk about a great place to get ready.  This place was stunning with dark hardwood floors, beautiful rooms and a great patio area tucked away in the city.  The Villa was literally 2 minutes away from the Church which was nice too.  All the details of the day were simply too much fun to photograph from the dress, the elaborate shoes and engagement ring to the beautiful flowers!  I loved the muted pink colors of the bouquets together with the champagne colored bridesmaid dresses.    I got some great getting ready shots of Jennifer and all the girls before heading over to St. Vincent de Paul Parish on Webster Ave.  The church was very big and ornate with a great balcony area for some great shots of the lovely and touching ceremony.  Once the catholic ceremony was done we took some shots on the steps of the church before heading to the 1936 white Packard they rented for their special day!  Wow!  This car was beautiful.  We headed to the Ravisloe Country Club for some great shots with the car and then I took the bride and groom and bridal party to the grounds of the country club for some great group shots.  The Ravisloe County Club is simply stunning!!  I love that place.  Having shot there before I was familiar with it’s gorgeous grounds and couldn’t wait to get back there and shoot there again.  It is the epitome of old world beauty and charm!  It was founded in 1901 so it has lots of history!  The reception dinner was delicious!!  Jennifer and Daniel enjoyed the toasts of family and friends before eating dinner and getting on the dance floor for their first dance.  Then the dance floor opened up for everyone and they all were having a great time!   A HUGE shout out to my second shooters, Tracy Petersen and Layla Eloa for doing a great job throughout the entire day!!  Jennifer and Daniel are such a sweet couple and I know they are going to have many years of happiness together!!  I was honored to photograph their beautiful wedding day!  Congratulations to you both!  I wish you all the happiness in the world!  Here are some of my favorite images of the day!  Enjoy!