A Magical New Year’s Eve Wedding at Dinolfo’s | Chicago Wedding Videographer

Allison Grant
May 27
4 min read

A New Year's Eve wedding is an unforgettable experience that will leave people talking for years to come. Shannon and Matt hosted a beautiful and fun New Year's Eve wedding celebration that included fresh snowfall, a church ceremony, a rocking live band, a midnight countdown, and all of their favorite people packing the dance floor. As wedding videographers, we were so excited to cover their wedding day from the moments of getting ready, all the way to the new year countdown.

Groom kisses his Bride's cheek on New Year's Eve wedding day — Shannon and Matt pose with fresh snow on their New Year's Eve wedding day.

Before Shannon and Matt's wedding day even started, Mother Nature blessed us with some fresh snow! I was so excited that they had a light coating of snow, and not too much that it was dangerous. I knew it would look so pretty in photos and videos! The wedding morning officially started with Shannon and her bridesmaids getting ready at the Hyatt Lodge Oak Brook. They had a beautiful suite where everyone was able to get their hair and makeup done and get dressed. When we arrived, Shannon was just getting the finishing touches done on her hair and makeup, which we think is the perfect time for our coverage to start. We're able to get some shots of little touch ups which looks great on camera!

It was quickly time for the bridesmaids to get dressed and Shannon to slip into her wedding dress. One tip for bridesmaids: if the getting ready area is the same area the photographer and videographers need to film the bride getting dressed, quickly clean up all of your bags, food, and drinks as soon as you're able. The cleaner the background, the better! We filmed Shannon's mom helping her with her dress and having a special moment. Then, it was time for some first looks! First, Shannon had a first look with her dad. We put a microphone on him and filmed them as the moment unfolded. Afterward, we found a quiet spot in the hotel lobby for Shannon and Matt to have their first look. Matt had a great reaction to seeing Shannon in her dress - he was blown away! Finally, Shannon and Matt exchanged private vows and they were so sweet. We love filming those moments!

From the hotel, we stopped at the Katherine Legge Memorial Park for bridal party photos and couples portraits. Since it had just snowed and it was cold outside, we took photos inside one of the buildings. It was a beautiful space! After group photos, we got some creative shots of just Shannon and Matt, and then went outside and got some shots of them with the snow. I love how these turned out.

After photos, we went to SS Cyril Methodius Church for the wedding ceremony. The church was so beautifully decorated for the Christmas season, it was so perfect for this winter wedding. The ceremony went along as expected, but as Shannon and Matt processed out of the church, they had bagpipers play! This was a really fun touch. Shannon and Matt greeted their guests, and then we decided to have them walk out of the church with their family and friends cheering. At this time, it was snowing and was a bit windy, but Charlie was able to fly the drone. He captured the moment as Shannon and Matt walked out of church hand in hand, kissed, and then Shannon's veil was whipped out of her hair by the wind! Charlie caught it on the drone, but had to quickly maneuver the drone upwards as the veil was flying directly to it! This is one of my favorite moments we've ever caught.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/8e69c0_7d35c0b7bcae463bbf1f6feaf89620ab/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Shannon and Matt leave the church and the wind whips Shannon's veil out of her hair!

There was a bit of a break in the middle of the day between the ceremony and the cocktail hour, so Shannon and Matt went to a local bar to kill time. We took this opportunity to get a lot of interviews with their bridal party and some fun shots of Shannon and Matt in the bar. We love a vibey portrait moment!

When the cocktail hour began at Dinolfo's, everyone was ready to party! People were grabbing drinks, chatting, and taking photos at the photo booth. We were able to grab a few more interviews and fun shots of Shannon and Matt. One of our favorites is the two of them on the grand staircase with their initials lighting up the wall behind them. So cool!

Dinner, speeches, and special dances flowed from one to the next, and before long it was time for open dancing. The best part about having a New Year's Eve wedding is that everyone is really ready to party! The dance floor was packed from start to finish. All night long we were anticipating the midnight countdown, figuring out our strategy for capturing the moment. We knew there would be confetti cannons and that the dance floor would be packed, so we wanted Shannon and Matt in a good position to capture all of the excitement. Charlie was on the dance floor with the photographer, we had a second camera set up on the first landing of the stairs, and then I was at the very top of the stairs getting an aerial view. I absolutely love all of the angles we were able to capture!

Overall, we had so much fun capturing Shannon and Matt's wedding day and delivering their highlight film, private vows, reception speeches, and interviews. When you're planning a New Year's Eve wedding, you don't want to miss out on the chance to have a videographer there to capture it all. It's too special to let one moment go undocumented!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK_H7HKQqSo