Nicole Kilday Photography

For couples here for the marriage & how it felt. I’m Nicole Kilday, an Illinois wedding photographer based in Hebron, photographing weddings across Northern Illinois, Chicago, McHenry County, Lake Geneva, and Southern Wisconsin since 2016, with travel available throughout the U.S. and abroad. Before we talk timelines or photographs, tell me how you want your wedding to feel. Everyone gathered around one long table? A slow morning with your person? Loud, a little feral, happy tears everywhere? What are you looking forward to, and who couldn’t you imagine the day without? That’s where we start. Then we make photography plans that give those things room to happen. THE WAY I PHOTOGRAPH My approach is documentary and candid, with creative, editorial portraits and room for unscripted moments. You want to actually be at your wedding. Hug your people. Belly laugh through the speeches. Sneak away when the light gets good, then come back for the song you’ve been waiting for. We’ll build your photography timeline around what you want to experience. When it’s time for portraits, you can hand me the reins. We’ll chase the light, get you moving, and try a few of my weird ideas. When your person pulls you closer or you both dissolve into laughter, I’m paying attention to that, too. The grass-stained hem is part of it. So is how tightly you were holding each other when it happened. I want to make photographs that bring you back to both. YOUR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE One collection. One photographer—me—start to finish. Your collection includes up to 10 hours of continuous wedding photography, photography timeline creation and assistance, a 30–90-minute pre-wedding session, sneak peeks within seven days, and an online gallery with high-resolution downloads and a personal print release. Wedding-day travel within two hours of Hebron, Illinois, is included. Travel beyond that area and additional celebration coverage are available. Whether your celebration runs six hours or ten, you’re reserving the same collection—and me, personally invested in how it’s experienced and remembered. I also photograph weekday elopements, Monday–Friday, and destination weddings outside the continental U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, with my travel included in the destination collection. WHO’S SHOWING UP A light chaser, mom of two feral little boys, and still in love with the boy I met at 20. After 134 weddings, I’ve learned when to speak up, when to try something a little weird, and when to quietly keep photographing. I take a small number of weddings each year because I want to know whose hand you’re holding and why it matters. Your story gets my attention, my eye, and my whole heart. Now booking 2027 and 2028 weddings. I don’t actively monitor inquiries on The Knot. Please inquire directly through my website. Tell me who you’re marrying, where we’re celebrating, and how you want it to feel. You don’t need every answer before you say hello.