Helicopters, Diamonds, Skylines oh my! The Perfect Chicago Proposal.

Glamorous. The only word that adequately describes our shoot with Paulina & Ilya. You could nearly hear Fergie’s song playing in the background as we galavanted around the electrifying cityscape of Chicago. Paulina denies the notion that their love story is glamorous, but her engagement ring betrays her. When Marylin Monroe said, “A Diamond is a girl’s best friend”, she clearly was talking about Paulina’s engagement ring.

Paulina’s diamond ring was custom designed by Ilya’s jewelry company Ivy & Rose. The center is a three carat marquise cut diamond followed by two 40 point Cadillac cut side stones.

Our team was headed to Chicago, IL to shoot Michelle & Jeff’s intimate micro wedding when we, as fate had it, found Ilya’s vintage jewelry store Ivy & Rose. We were blown away by the eclectic and timeless pieces at the store and jumped at the bit to meet the man behind it all. When we found out that Ilya was recently engaged to the love of his life we quickly arranged a shoot.

Check out Paulina and Ilya’s steamy Adventure Session below to feel the heat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmQe_-rmwzo

If Ilya’s vintage store and Paulina’s dazzling ring doesn’t fit the bill for glamour, then their engagement story will.

Paulina and Ilya met for the first time at a mutual friends barn party. It wasn’t long before flirting comments turned into long meaningful conversations. When Ilya knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Paulina, he had to give Paulina the larger than life proposal that she deserved.

The evening started when Ilya casually picked up Paulina in a private helicopter to catch the breathtaking few of Chicago’s skyline before the sun disappeared over the horizon. As they approached their apartment, Paulina noticed something on the roof. She took a closer look and realized that it was a message for her. “Marry Me Paulina” was written loud and clear to declare Ilya’s love for her. She didn’t need any convincing to say yes!

Paulina will tell you with excited eyes how perfect and meaningful the proposal was. She explained how insane the logistics were to pull something like this off: “Ilya contacted the helicopter company that had to get permission from both Midway and O’hare airports so we had a very strict window of time that we could fly in. His staff at Ivy & Rose was also involved in the scheme. They helped with ordering the materials for the sign and painted each letter in red at the office. Our building engineer and another friend then helped Ilya bring up all the construction supplies in our elevator where they stapled the sign on the roof. Ilya then hurried to pick me up as I just so happen to be getting my hair done and then he said he had a surprise for me.”