Chicago Wedding Photographer | Allori Photography

Last friday was my first trip to The Elysian Hotel in Chicago. The outside is stunning. After stepping into the all brick courtyard I was immediately taken back to a trip my wife and I took to Europe a few years ago. The stone facade could have been lifted straight from France or Austria. The Elysian is a gorgeous building both inside and out, and I was pleased to find the staff there was remarkable. I have photographed weddings in a number of luxury hotels but I have yet to experience service at this level. Upon walking in the revolving doors I was greeted by three different people as I made my way to the seating area to the left of the lobby. Each of the staff offered to help anyway they could. They asked if they could store my bag, offered to help find the guests I was looking for and most importantly asked if I would like some water. It was 100 plus degrees outside and they were providing bottled water to everyone walking through their doors.

I returned to The Elysian on Saturday to photograph the wedding. As I walked up, the doorman said, “You’re back. It’s nice to see you again. How did your shoot go yesterday?” I then strolled through the revolving door and one of the staff also remembered me from the day before and and offered to take my camera bag until I was ready to shoot. I can’t imagine how many people walk in and out of The Elysian a day, especially on a wedding weekend. I was blown away that any of the staff remembered me, let alone two of them. The best part of all this, I didn’t even have a room there. I was simply at the hotel to photograph my clients. A big thank you to The Elysian for setting a new level of excellence and attention to detail.

These are a few of my favorite images of Sharon and Michael from their wedding day at the Elysian. I will of course have another blog post up next week with the details of the ceremony and reception rooms at the hotel.