Wedding | Champaign and Urbana wedding photographer | Holly Birch Photography

Champaign and Urbana wedding photographer | Holly Birch Photography bio picture

Welcome to my blog!

Hey! Thanks for coming to my blog! If you're here as a bride or groom, I hope you like what you see. I'd love to meet with you in person to talk about your wedding day and how I can help you. I love photographing weddings and hope that shows in my work!

Things I love: the Illini, the color orange, lobsters, my husband, my son, weddings, my Nikon D700, socks, my dogs, Johnny Cash, American Idol, my iMac, The Sound of Music, Hereford cattle, a pair of good-fitting jeans, the Food Network, & macaroni and cheese (and my Grandma Hazel wants me to add her in here too).

Scroll down to view images from recent weddings and sessions! Also, be sure to "like" my Facebook page to keep up with announcements & specials!

Category Archives: Wedding

January 5, 2012

Adrienne + Kevin | iHotel wedding Champaign Illinois

Posted in Wedding 8 comments

Kevin + Adrienne are high school sweethearts who finally tied the knot after 12 years together. They were surrounded by their closest friends and family on New Year’s Eve at the iHotel where they held both their ceremony + reception. Their ceremony ended just before sunset, so we didn’t get many photos in the daylight, but it gave me a chance to get some beautiful after-dark images with Christmas lights (with the help of my assistant for the night, Melanie). As everything was very hectic leading up to the reception, I let Melanie handle most of the detail shots that you see below, except for the ring photos, which I shot with my brand new (to me) macro lens!

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do! I especially loved being a part of their champagne toast at midnight, and was very happy that there were “2012″ props, noisemakers & hats galore.

Leave a comment below for Adrienne + Kevin, and after 50 comments, they’ll receive a complimentary 16×20″ mounted print. Thanks for looking!

Their guest favors were decks of playing cards. Such a cute and useful idea!

Adrienne’s signature “thumbs up”!

These next few images are going to give them a very unique wedding album! Can’t wait to put it together!

Adrienne definitely got some good dance genes from her dad.

Happy new year!!!

The beginning…

Vendors:
Ceremony + reception: iHotel
Cake: Cakes by Lori
Florist: Blossom Basket + UI Floral
DJ + Linens: Elite Entertainment
Officiant: Bob McCleary
Dress, bridesmaids + tuxes: Michelle’s Bridal Shoppe
Photographer: Holly Birch Photography

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Tags: 2012, iHotel, NYE, Wedding

January 2, 2012

Upcoming Package Changes | Sneak peek iHotel wedding

Posted in Wedding 1 comment

Happy new year! I am excited for all the great weddings in the works for 2012. 2011 was a year of new techniques, assistants, equipment, & products (among other things) for Holly Birch Photography, and I am hoping for even bigger and better milestones for my business for this year. I have a bunch of new ideas floating around in my head, and am eager to implement them and announce them to my clients both here and in person.

As a part of these changes for 2012, I am changing my current packages on JANUARY 15, 2012. This will mostly affect package structure, but will somewhat affect pricing as well. To lock in the current packages, I must have your contract and deposit by Saturday the 14th. Additionally, I will be exhibiting at the Elegant Bridal Expo this coming Sunday, January 8, at the iHotel. I’d love to see you there! There will be a ton of great perks, including discounts from many vendors (including HBP!), Bridal Bucks, swag bags, a fashion show, and grand prize drawings, where you could win a FREE boudoir session from Champaign Boudoir by Holly Birch Photography.

Now, to appease your photo appetite, here is a photo from Adrienne & Kevin’s wedding that I did on NYE!

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Tags: 2012, Elegant Bridal Expo, iHotel, packages, Pricing

December 21, 2011

Heidi + Matt | University of Illinois wedding photography

Posted in Wedding 3 comments

Heidi + Matt were married in mid-December, and we ended up with a pretty nice weekend considering we could have expected snow, sleet, high winds or all of the above! It was a little chilly but all in all not bad. After a little confusion, Heidi ended up joining Matt in front of the steps at Foellinger Auditorium for their first look. It was probably one of my favorite first looks ever! Matt is not really crazy about having his picture taken, and he definitely is not into the mushy stuff, so the First Look is where I got some of the best raw emotion out of him. Some of my best shots from the whole day are when Matt was just enjoying himself, and forgot that the camera was pointed at him. Heidi’s sister is a wedding photographer in Kentucky, and so the chose to hire me just for the group & formal photos, and the ceremony and then let Isabel handle the rest!

Leave a comment below the post and after 50 comments, Heidi + Matt will receive a complimentary 16×20″ print. Thanks for looking!!

Vendors:
Ceremony: Twin City Bible Church
Florist: Blossom Basket
Officiant: Shannon Caughey
Dress: Bridal Elegance (Bloomington)
Bridesmaids: David’s Bridal
Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse

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Tags: couple, love, Quad, TCBC, University of Illinois, Wedding, winter

November 29, 2011

Alicia + Billy | Packard Plaza Peoria wedding

Posted in Wedding 25 comments

I love late fall winter weddings for the fact that the season is a little slower, and the weather is cooler and thus more comfortable (for me at least!). The only drawback is that the sun sets so much earlier. Alicia + Billy chose a mid-November day for their wedding (post-harvest for her farming dad!) near my rural hometown of Mason City (or Easton if you want to get technical about it) . It was overcast and windy, but we used both things to our advantage and came away with some beautiful images. Thanks for bringing me along as you begin your new lives together!

Please leave a comment below for the bride & groom (and/or the photographer!) and after 50 comments, Alicia + Billy will receive a complimentary 16×20″ print!

Vendors
Ceremony: St. Luke’s< br>
Reception: Packard Plaza
Limo: Peoria Executive Limo Service
Cake: Cake Connections
Caterer: One World Cafe & Catering
Florist:Drughes Floral Art
DJ:Absolute Light & Sound
Dresses: Michelle’s Bridal
Suits:Seno Formal Wear
Photographer: Holly Birch Photography

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Tags: couple, love, Mason City, Packard Plaza, Peoria, San Jose, Wedding

October 25, 2011

Ashley + Steve | Decatur Scovill Golf Course wedding

Posted in Wedding 3 comments

I truly am blessed to be able to photograph such happy & loving couples who are beautiful both on the inside and out. I try to convey that through my photographs, and I hope my blog posts are evidence of that. I mean, just look at the last few weddings I’ve posted… love all of them! I am also privileged to be able to spend the day with people on one of the happiest days of their entire lives. What’s not to love about that? Ashley and Steve were no exception, and as they were surrounded by their closest friends and family throughout the day, I could just tell how important each one is to them. Ashley and Steve also made it a point to tell us a couple times throughout the reception how appreciative they were of our services (me and my assistant for the day, Misty). They were able to see some of our work from the day on the same-day slideshow I had set up just outside the ballroom. By the way, my same-day slideshows are a new staple for my 8+ hour weddings and will be included with all packages at no extra charge.

Leave a comment for Ashley + Steve below, and after 50 comments, they will receive a complimentary 16×20″ mounted print!

Now, on to the photos! Here are some of my favorites…