Windy City Production — Award-Winning Chicago Wedding Photography & Cinema · Aurora, IL · Since 2012
We're Sam and Katie.
We've spent 14 years figuring out how to capture wedding days well.
Some of what we've learned has earned us a Knot Hall of Fame designation, three internationally-ranked WedAwards titles, Katie's recognition among the World's Top 10 Women Photographers, and a place among the most-reviewed husband-and-wife wedding teams in Chicagoland.
Most of what we've learned, though, we couldn't tell you in a tagline.
What We Do
We're a 14-year husband-and-wife wedding photography and cinema studio based in Aurora, IL, serving the greater Chicago market.
We shoot photo, cinema, or both — including Sam's signature hybrid solo coverage, where one shooter captures the entire day across both crafts with one cohesive vision. For our Sam and Katie packages, your fully edited gallery and cinema film arrive within 14 days. Most studios take months. We've held to that two-week guarantee since we made it.
For our associate-tier packages, every wedding still passes through our hands for final editing oversight. The work that leaves our studio is the work we're willing to put our name on — regardless of who held the camera.
We've kept our pricing transparent and on its own page since the beginning. No vague "starting at" teasers. No hidden numbers. No pressure to schedule a consultation just to find out what something costs.
Elizabeth & Scott
Elizabeth & Scott’s The Venue at Goebberts Wedding
What an unforgettable day celebrating Elizabeth and Scott at the stunning Venue at Goebberts, the perfect backdrop for their fall wedding! From the very start, Elizabeth and her bridesmaids were radiant as they got ready, while Scott and the groomsmen enjoyed a relaxed morning filled with laughter. And can we talk about Elizabeth’s dress? She looked absolutely breathtaking—it was perfection!
Their sweet and heartfelt ceremony captured the essence of their beautiful relationship, surrounded by the love of family and friends.
This Wedding Gallery Teaser is a snapshot of the roller-coaster of emotions that made their day so special: applause, laughter, happy tears, and countless smiles. Elizabeth and Scott, thank you for letting us be a part of your incredible day at The Venue at Goebberts—it was truly magical! CLICK HERE TO VIEW GALLERY
What We Believe About Wedding Days
Wedding days don't have shortcuts.
They don't have second takes. They don't have the kind of margin that lets a tired or uncommitted shooter coast through them. Whoever you hire is going to be the only person standing where they're standing when your father walks you down the aisle — and either they'll be ready for that moment, or they won't.
We've spent 14 years getting ready for that moment.
Some of what that has looked like is in the About Sam page — the long road into wedding photography that started before Windy City Production existed, three full Ironmans, a cross-country bike ride, the 2015 furnace winter, the April 2020 stress test, and a refusal to ever cancel a single contracted wedding in 14 years. Some of it is in the About Our Associate Team page — a system, a Blueprint, and standards we hold ourselves to even when nobody is watching.
The simplest version of the story is this: when you hire Windy City Production, you're hiring two people who've spent more than a decade refusing to phone in a single wedding. That hasn't changed. We don't expect it to.
Ashley & Robert
Ashley & Robert’s Bluestem Farm Wedding
What an unforgettable day at the rustic and charming Bluestem Farm, celebrating Ashley and Robert! From the very start, the day was filled with love and emotion. We began with capturing Ashley and her gorgeous bridesmaids as they got ready—Ashley’s natural beauty was simply radiant and left us in awe.
The lovebirds shared the sweetest and most endearing first look, a moment full of joy and anticipation. Their ceremony was a true roller-coaster of emotion: applause, laughter, happy tears, and even a little rain, which only added to the magic of their day.
As the evening unfolded, the reception festivities were just as memorable. From heartfelt toasts to a picture-perfect sunset, every detail of their celebration at Bluestem Farm was a dream to capture. This is exactly the kind of wedding we were made for—every moment, every tear, and every frame was a joy to document.
Ashley and Robert, thank you for allowing us to be part of your incredible day. Your love story is as beautiful as the setting that surrounded it! CLICK HERE TO VIEW GALLERY
What Couples Are Saying
We have 500+ reviews from couples we've worked with over the past 14 years — across Google, WeddingWire, Facebook, and Yelp — averaging just shy of 5 stars.
Amber & Tyler
Amber & Tyler’s Lincoln Farmstead Wedding
Wow—where do we even begin? Celebrating Amber and Tyler’s special day at the charming and rustic Lincoln Farmstead was an absolute privilege! From the moment the day began, it was clear that their bond is something truly special.
Amber absolutely stole the show in her stunning wedding dress—she was breathtaking! And Tyler looked so handsome, complementing her perfectly as they shared one unforgettable moment after another.
Their wedding day was filled with a mix of emotions—exciting, sweet, and every bit memorable. We couldn’t get enough of these two lovebirds and their romantic photos! In fact, narrowing down the images for their gallery was such a challenge because there were just SO MANY that we adore.
Amber and Tyler, thank you for letting us capture the magic of your day at Lincoln Farmstead. Your love story is one we’ll cherish forever! CLICK HERE TO VIEW GALLERY
Frequently Asked Questions!
Truth be told, Sam and Katie have personally edited every wedding delivered by Windy City Production over the past five years — whether it was captured by us personally or by one of our trusted Associate Team members.
That matters because your final photos and/or films are not simply handed off and forgotten. Every wedding is carefully reviewed, curated, and edited with the same heart, attention to detail, and creative standards that have shaped the Windy City Production brand for more than 12 years.
When you choose WCP, you are not just hiring someone to show up with a camera. You are trusting us with one of the most meaningful days of your life — and we take that responsibility seriously.
Every gallery and film is edited with our signature approach: emotional, timeless, true-to-life, and deeply personal. Our goal is always to preserve not only how your wedding looked, but how it felt.
By personally overseeing the editing process, we’re able to maintain consistency across every wedding we deliver. From color, tone, pacing, storytelling, image selection, and overall feel, each project is handled with the care and intention your memories deserve.
As long as we lead this company, Sam and Katie will continue to oversee every Wedding Day Love Story edit to make sure it meets our standards, reflects the heart of your day, and feels worthy of the moments you trusted us to capture.
Your wedding memories deserve more than a quick edit.
They deserve to be handled by people who genuinely care.
Sam & Katie’s Photography Editing Style
To us, wedding photos should feel beautiful first — but never fake.
Yes, we love timeless portraits, stunning light, emotional moments, and images that feel worthy of being framed forever. But more than anything, we want your wedding gallery to feel like you. The joy. The nerves. The happy tears. The people you love most. The little in-between moments you may not have even realized were happening.
Our photography editing style is clean, romantic, emotional, and true-to-life. We want your images to feel elevated and polished while still preserving the real colors, real emotion, and real atmosphere of your wedding day.
We do not believe in over-editing your memories into something unrecognizable. Skin should still look like skin. Colors should still feel natural. Your venue, flowers, dress, details, and loved ones should look the way they truly felt in the moment — just refined with care, consistency, and our artistic eye.
Throughout the editing process, we carefully curate and polish your gallery so the final collection feels cohesive, timeless, and full of life. From emotional ceremony moments and romantic portraits to candid laughter, family hugs, dance floor energy, and quiet glances in between — every image is chosen and edited with intention.
Our goal is never to make your wedding day look like someone else’s Pinterest board.
It’s to create a gallery that brings you right back to one of the most meaningful days of your life every time you look through it.
Sam & Katie’s Videography Editing Style
To us, wedding films should feel emotional first — cinematic second.
Yes, we love beautiful visuals, thoughtful editing, and breathtaking moments. But more than anything, we want your wedding film to feel like you. The emotion. The energy. The people you love most. The moments you didn’t even realize were happening at the time.
Our editing style blends cinematic storytelling with genuine human connection, creating wedding films that feel timeless, emotional, and deeply personal rather than overly staged or trend-driven.
We’re constantly watching for the moments that matter most: tear-filled vows, nervous excitement before the ceremony, the way your parents look at you during speeches, uncontrollable laughter with your bridal party, quiet in-between moments, and the energy that makes your wedding uniquely yours.
Through intentional pacing, natural audio, thoughtful music selection, cinematic composition, and refined color grading, we craft films that allow you to relive not just how your wedding day looked — but how it truly felt.
Our goal is never to turn your wedding into a movie set.
It’s to create a film that brings you back to one of the most meaningful days of your life every time you press play.
Our Associate Team is how Windy City Production extends its calendar to dates Sam and Katie can’t personally cover — weekday weddings, Friday and Sunday weddings, and off-season Saturdays. Every WCP associate has shot at least 50 weddings inside our system before they’re trusted with a wedding as the lead. Every gallery they capture is overseen by Sam and Katie.
The full story of how the associate tier works — the system, the editing, the Blueprint Agreement, and the standards we hold ourselves to — lives on its own page.
We believe wedding pricing should feel clear, honest, and easy to understand — because the last thing you need while planning your wedding is surprise fees.
With us, the price you see is the price you pay. We keep everything as transparent as possible from the very beginning so you can feel confident in what you’re booking.
The only two wedding-day costs that may apply are:
1. Travel Fee
Travel is included within our complimentary 50-mile travel radius. If your wedding is outside that radius, a travel fee may apply.
2. Additional Coverage
Our standard packages include 8 hours of contracted wedding-day coverage. If you would love us to stay longer, we’re happy to accommodate whenever possible.
Additional coverage is available at $200 per additional hour, per service, or prorated accordingly.
We’ll always discuss any applicable fees with you upfront so there are no surprises — just clear expectations, honest communication, and one less thing for you to worry about.
We know how exciting it is to relive your wedding day, and we truly believe your memories deserve thoughtful, intentional editing — never rushed work.
Associate Services are delivered on a best-effort basis and are typically completed within approximately 4–12 weeks. Because every wedding is carefully reviewed and edited individually, this timeline is an estimate rather than a guaranteed delivery deadline.
Our goal is always to deliver work that feels timeless, emotional, and fully representative of your day — not simply “finished as fast as possible.” Final files are released once editing is complete and final payment has been received.
Every wedding gallery and film is thoughtfully curated by our team. We carefully remove duplicate images, test shots, missed-focus moments, and photos where eyes may be closed so that the final collection feels polished, intentional, and beautiful from beginning to end.
Every image and film you receive is professionally edited and prepared for printing, sharing, and reliving your wedding day for years to come.
Yes — we also maintain multiple backups of your wedding photos and videos for several months after delivery because we understand just how meaningful these memories are. That said, we strongly encourage all couples to download and back up their final files as soon as they are delivered to ensure long-term safekeeping.
We completely understand that life can be unpredictable, and sometimes wedding plans need to change. If you need to reschedule your wedding date, please reach out to us as soon as possible so we can walk through your options together.
If we are available for your new date, your original retainer will be applied to the rescheduled wedding date. In most cases, there is no additional fee to move your date, as long as the change is made within a reasonable timeframe and we are able to accommodate the new date.
Our heart is always to work with our couples whenever possible. Over the past 12 years, we have only kept one retainer due to a last-minute cancellation where the original date could not be refilled. We share that not as a rule to fear, but as a reflection of how seriously we take fairness, transparency, and taking care of our couples.
That said, retainers are what officially reserve your wedding date and turn away other couples for that same day. If a wedding is rescheduled or canceled very close to the original date, and we are unable to refill that date, the retainer may be kept. If that situation ever applies, we’ll talk through everything clearly and honestly with you.
If we are unavailable for your new wedding date, we’ll still do our best to help you find a fair solution and guide you through the next steps.
To reschedule, simply contact us by email or phone with your new wedding date. Once we confirm availability, we’ll prepare an updated agreement with the new date and details. After it’s signed, your wedding services will be officially moved to the new date.
And if you’d like real proof of how we care for couples through unexpected changes, many past clients have been incredibly kind to share honest reviews about their experience rescheduling or canceling with us. We’re grateful for that trust, and we never take it lightly.
For anyone with concerns about cancellations – Our event was cancelled and Windy City Production fully refunded our deposit without any delays or hassles. – Jim Czajka (Google Review)
Katie and Sam were amazing to work with! Unfortunately, my fiancé and I had to postpone our wedding due to unforeseen circumstances, they were very understanding and made sure to refund us. During this stressful time it was very nice to actually have a vendor that was so nice and understanding. We can’t wait to work with them in the future when we get married. – Michaela Hacaga (Google Review)
So i originally hired WCP as my wedding photography for my wedding next year. Put the deposit down and everything. My fiancé and I then decided that we were changing our whole wedding vision/theme and were wanting a more moody style of photography. I talked with Katie and let her know my situation and she was super understanding. She even offered to refund my deposit back even though in the contract it said that the deposit was non-refundable. Even though I ended up not going with Sam and Katie, Katie has been nothing short of professional and for all of the other brides looking at this right now, know that you’ll be in good hands with them! 🙂 – Ashley Kinzel (Google Review)
Mike & Paige
There’s something truly magical about witnessing two people commit their lives to one another, and Mike & Paige’s wedding day at the stunning Bridge Lemont was no exception. It was an honor to capture every heartfelt moment of their incredible love story.
From the joyful smiles to the heartfelt tears, every frame of their day was filled with emotion and beauty. We’re so thrilled to have been part of such a special celebration and to create a wedding film they can treasure forever.
This film isn’t just a documentation of their day—it’s a way for Mike & Paige to relive every laugh, every embrace, and every unforgettable moment of joy for years to come. Thank you, Mike & Paige, for allowing us to be part of your journey!
Real Wedding Feedback!
I wanted to send a MILLION thank you’s to Sam and Jaime. Words cannot even describe how amazing of a job you both did shooting our wedding on Friday. Drew and I felt so at ease, and truly felt that you captured the joy and emotion of our special day. Members of the wedding party, who have been in multiple weddings across the country, said that you were hands down the best they have ever worked with. Though I have never been in a wedding before, I can’t imagine anyone being better!
– Natalie & Drew
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