Scenic Locations for wedding photos, in Downtown Chicago IL

The Wrigley building is located on Michigan Avenue just north of the Chicago River drawbridge at 410 North Michigan Ave. Just south of the “Magnificent mile” It is one of Chicago’s most beautiful buildings and is lit incredibly well so day or night it is a real Chicago landmark. At this location you can take photos in from of the beautiful marble building, do shots by the Chicago River, which runs past this great landmark. Also there is a huge median that can be great for a bridal party shot amongst all the beautiful buildings on the “mag mile”. Sometimes on Saturdays there are fireworks are shot off the Michigan avenue drawbridge. This location has a large curved driveway that is easy to double park on. You can leave your car there about 10 minutes without problems. This is one of the best places for parking of the downtown locations. This is a real downtown Chicago wedding photo location! Pros: different shots by river, Michigan ave; building lit at night, shade, cool architecture. Cons: Parking limited to 10 minutes. Dave & Bob’s Favorite.Click here to see more photos. http://milestonedigital.com/photogalleries/g60/

The Bean

The Bean is one of Chicago’s newest attractions and is one if it’s most popular for wedding photos. Located on Michigan & Randolph Downtown, It is a shiny aluminum modern sculpture that is basically a distorted curved mirror that can reflect the Chicago skyline (distorted) behind a Bridal couple or bridal party. One problem here is there is no shade, so the bridal party might squint if it is a sunny day. Because of this, “The bean” is better on cloudy days. You would double park on Randolph just east of Michigan avenue for a short time without being towed. (you can only double park for 5-10 minutes) There are other places for photos in Millennium Park such as the gardens behind the bean. Aside from the parking limitations and lack of shade, large crowds are a problem, because you can’t control who will be in the photos. This is a favorite of Chicago wedding photographers! Pros: cool reflected skyline shots, great gardens for photos. Cons: Difficult to park, crowd problems, little shade. Please click hereto see more photos. http://milestonedigital.com/photogalleries/Hyatt_of_Naperville/

North Avenue Beach

North Avenue Beach

North  Avenue Beach is located where north ave. (RT 64) (also known as La Salle) ends at the lakefront. It features a similar beautiful skyline shot similar to Adler, but there is no lake in the foreground of the skyline. Also there are some trees amongst the sand so you can shade the bridal party pretty easily. It also had great views of lake Michigan. Because it is not in the loop, parking is a lot easier than other downtown locations. However you should avoid this location during a Cubs games. Pros: great skyline shots, easier to park than other locations, versatile shooting areas. Cons: you need to walk a ways to get to the areas for photos, sand and cameras don’t mix. Dave’s Favorite. Click here to see more photoshttp://milestonedigital.com/photogalleries/g60/

Lincoln Park Conservatory: Is located at 2391 North Stockton Drive Chicago IL. This conservatory can be used rain or shine because it is both indoor and outdoor. It has most every kind of pretty flower or plant. There are some beautiful rose gardens just north of the building. There is a bridge south of the gardens that goes into the Lincoln Park zoo. This bridge yields an incredible view of the Chicago skyline. Just below the bridge there is a scenic spot where there is a scenic lagoon where there are paddleboats and swans.Parking is tough to find on Cannon drive. If you pay you can find a spot in the lot dedicated to the conservatory. Pros: Rain or shine use, great skyline shots, and beautiful flowers (best in Chicago). Cons: Little shade, parking headaches, Possible fees for indoor use.

Garfield Park Conservatory: Is located at 300 North Central Park Ave. Chicago IL. Similar to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Conservatory is a great place to take indoor photos rain or shine because most of the plant life is indoors in the huge greenhouse. Some of the tropical plants there can not normally grow in Illinois. There is much less outdoor plants life, unlike the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Pros: Rain or shine use, Beautiful flowers and plants. Cons: Not much outdoor plants, High humidity may cause camera lenses to fog up.

Buckingham Fountain: Buckingham fountain is a very popular attraction for wedding photos and is probably the most popular over the years. It is located where congress avenue (RT 290) ends at Columbus drive Park at Grant Park. It is the world’s largest fountain of its type. Buckingham is HUGE so a small bridal party will be dwarfed by it’s huge size. One way to cut the size difference is the have the bridal party be about 50-75 feet in front of the fountain and have the fountain in the background so it is smaller in the frame than it would usually be. There are beautiful rose gardens that flank the fountain and are even prettier than the fountain itself, for a very pretty background. One problem with this location is there is no shade around the fountain so the bridal party will probably squint a lot if it is a sunny day. It is preferable to put the bridal party on the east side of the fountain so the skyline (and the sun) will be behind the bridal party. This location is very congested, like the bean you can’t control how many strangers can get into your wedding photos. Pros: A classic Chicago landmark, great rose gardens, Cons: Crowds, no shade, no direct parking, use Grant Park garage, wind shifts can spray bridal party with water, fountain is not always running.

Copyright 2011 Robert M. Busch and Milestone Photo and Video. No part of this article may be used without written permission from Robert M. Busch.