Chicago Botanic Garden Engagement Session

Chicago Botanic Garden Engagement Session

Chicago Botanic Garden engagement sessions are literally my favorite photos to capture for couples in the midwest.

It’s not just any experience.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is a world renowned conservatory of hundreds of floral and tree specimens that have been curated into beautiful gardens, paths and courtyards. For this reason, Chicago Botanic Garden is an ideal place for engagement photos.

At the end of this post, I have included helpful information on how to plan your engagement photos at Chicago Botanic Gardens.

Summer Garden Engagement Photos

Honestly, any season at Chicago Botanic Garden is great for engagement photos. However, the most popular are the warmer months like spring, summer and fall.

I photographed Juhi and Mustafa’s summer engagement photos at this location and they turned out amazing.

The couple had a long distance relationship so we scheduled the engagement photos a month or so before their Chicago Indian wedding at the Drake Hotel.

Because Mustafa had limited days he could fly into Chicago, Juhi planned the engagement portraits on the morning of her bridal shower.

I thought this was a great idea! Why? Because it was an efficient way to take advantage of:

1. Trial session with your Chicago makeup artist

2. Spend time with your fiancé before the bridal shower

3. Look great for both the engagement photos and bridal shower

4. Save money and time by not having to get ready twice for both engagement session and bridal shower.

Plan Your Engagement Photos at Chicago Botanic Garden

There are a couple important tips and information you need to know about before selecting Chicago Botanic Garden as your engagement photo location.

1. Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden website for the latest information about their photo permit policy: Photo Permit Information.
2. Review the garden map and decide what your favorite areas are for photos. The map can be found here: Garden Map.
3. Bring a bag with essentials to hold your keys, touch-up make up, comb, lotion, ring box and a pair of comfy slip-on shoes.
4. There is a lot of walking to get to each location of the garden. You need to allocate at least 2 hours or more for your engagement session.
5. This Chicago engagement photo location is very popular. We have to be patient and respectful of the garden patrons and visitors. Having more time allocated for the engagement photos will allow us to shoot at a more leisurely pace and avoid people in the background.
6. The garden does not allow any external camera equipment such as light stands, large soft boxes, and lighting modifiers. We will be shooting discretely and in natural light.

I hope all this information helps you plan a wonderful portrait session at this stunning Chicago engagement photo location.