Wedding Photographers Chicago | Melissa Diep Photography | Blog

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Remember the scene in Sex and the City the movie when Louise from St. Louis gives Carrie her Love charm? That’s Melissa Diep. She’s in love with Love. She’s the kind of gal who wears her heart on her sleeve and cries a little when her brides and grooms take their First Look. She loves the thrill of photographing the magic that exists between her couples, the innocence of a sleeping newborn, and the simplicity of a family in their own backyard.

Melissa is always on the hunt for the new and interesting in her hometown of Chicago, by way of Saigon, Vietnam. It is because of her family’s hardships and tenacity during their flight from the communist North––spending 10 days on a cramped fishing boat, then living in a refugee camp in Thailand for nearly two years––that have shaped who Melissa is today as a woman, wife, mother and photographer.

Armed with only a handful of pictures from her early childhood––one single baby photo and just a few as an infant in her family’s camp––it’s easy to understand why Melissa employs a photojournalistic approach behind the lens. She aims to deliver photo memories with stunning visual impact; natural and unscripted while telling your story effortlessly.

Melissa’s upbringing motivates her to live fully and to appreciate the grand, the small, and the in between. In her everyday, Melissa rocks girly dresses with blazers on photo shoots and drinks Vietnamese coffee. She believes in finding beauty in unexpected places, always doing her hair and lusting over shiny red Minis (regrettably, but dutifully, she upgraded hers to a more baby-friendly vehicle).

Melissa lives in Chicago with The Giant and Little G, also affectionately known as her husband and one year old son, of whom she religiously takes one 100 photos a day.

Meadows Club Wedding | Smitha and Justin-MARRIED!!!

August 15, 2011

It was so nice to be reunited with both Smitha and Justin again. You probably remember them from their e-session that you can seen here. Both Smitha and Justin are a very well loved couple. When they tied the knot on this day, they were surrounded by a lot of their loved ones. You can see the love their friends and families have for this couple. It was quite evident in their eyes. What a great group to be around. This day was filled with non-stop laughter. We all had such a great time. Good luck Smitha in New York! You will be missed here!

meadows club rolling meadows wedding indian catholic wedding

One of my most favorite moments of the day. I got a little teary-eyed when I saw father and daughter hug.

indian catholic wedding

Their church was held at the Holy Family , one of the prettiest churches in Chicago.

By the way, these photos will all be posted on Facebook tomorrow and can be viewed through my fan page here!

After their portrait session downtown, off we were in the party bus (and boy did everyone party!) to the Meadows Club for their reception!

Smitha and her dad surprised everyone with this ADORABLE and hilarious dance.

I seriously have never seen a dance floor this packed before. These people knew how to dance and party!!!

For friends and family that want to see more of this gallery, you can pre-register here.

Thanks Smitha and Justin for being the fabulous couple that you are! We all had such a blast!!

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melissa / wedding obsessionAugust 22, 2011 - 9:53 am

Such a colourful & vibrant wedding! Love!
Carey maynordOctober 19, 2011 - 9:27 am

Do you happen to have the vendors and details of the wedding?

TWO YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY IN ITALY- MELISSA AND MICHAEL PART 2 OF 2

August 9, 2011

I finally got around to writing part 2 of this blog post. To see part one, please go here.

Italians are big on food but not really big on breakfast. After being there for two days, we couldn’t find a breakfast place anywhere. So with the help of Google, we learned that Italians only eat sweet pastries for breakfast. Oh and they eat it standing up on the go. Lol. Neither one of us are too fond of pastries. We can maybe eat it for a day or two but not everyday. Thankfully there’s a grocery store across the street from our condo and they have fresh sandwiches. Their meat selection was mainly prosciutto or salami. We later learned that these two meat selections was the main choices for restaurants throughout Tuscany. So below is what we ate almost everyday the 14 days we were there. So imagine eating either prosciutto and salami for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the majority of our time in Tuscany!!

Sienna! My second favorite town in Tuscany!

Monteriggioni-they were celebrating their annual medieval fest the week we were there. It was so interesting seeing hundreds of these actors getting into their role. You even have to purchase food with their own currency from back in the days.

The Giant and I were huffing and puffing walking up and down these super steep steps (which is everywhere in Tuscany) so it’s so fascinating to me when I see an elderly person walking/hiking up these stairs.

Of course we can’t step foot into any country without the Giant wanting to visit any sites that’s car related. We left Tuscany for a day and drove all the way up north to Bologna to visit the Pagani factory. Although I’m not a car enthusiast like the Giant but I have to say it was a pretty neat tour. We also toured the Lamborghini factory afterwards but we weren’t allowed to take any photos. Both factories were very near each other and I have to say, it was not as boring as I thought it be.

So that’s all. We had a blast! Got sick of eating Italian food after day 4 but other than that, we loved Tuscany!

P.S. I fried my hair while in Rome. Our entire hotel room smelled like burnt hair.

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Two Year Wedding Anniversary in Italy- Melissa and Michael Part 1 of 2

July 27, 2011

I split these pictures into two separate blog posts because there are just so many pictures! For our two year wedding anniversary, we decided to go to Tuscany for two weeks. It’s kind of a long story how we ended up choosing Tuscany. Let’s just say the opportunity kinda fell in our lap. This is me and Giant’s first time in Italy so we were excited about this trip. Italy was extremely HOT the entire time we were there. It was especially hot in Rome for the two days we were there. For the rest of the time, we stayed in a small town in Tuscany called Sarteano. It’s very quiet and quaint, and the people there were extremely friendly and nice.

We found many fascinating doors and door knobs during our time in Italy. This is the door to the condo where we were staying. It was really tall and super heavy.

Sarteano. This is the quaint little where me and Giant stayed at for our two week stay in Tuscany.

Our view from our condo bedroom. It was so peaceful waking up to this every morning.

Montepulciano. Our favorite town in Tuscany. It’s also the same town where they filmed the Twilight series New Moon and Under the Tuscan Sun.

For you Twilight fans, does this door below look familiar??

July is sunflower season in Tuscany so we saw these beautiful fields everywhere.

Rome…

The famous Fontana di Trevi. It was super packed there.

They say make a wish and toss three coins over your right shoulder with your right hand. I think we each tossed only one coin. No, no we’re not superstitious.

After leaving the Trevi fountain, we ate at this beautiful pizzeria and as we were sitting outside enjoying our dinner, a guy came by and started playing an accordion. There’s just something about it that’s so romantic. It was one of my most favorite moments in Rome.

St. Peters in Vatican City.

Piazza Navona