Dunne Park Elopement & Engagement Photos

Written By Jesse Leon

Looking for a scenic spot for your elopement or engagement photos without traveling too far from Chicago? Dunne Park in Rosemont might be the perfect spot for you!

I recently photographed a 2-hour elopement session here for an amazing couple and their family, and Dunne Park was a great fit for what they were looking for. It was convenient for them, offered beautiful greenery and nature-inspired scenery, and the photography permit fit comfortably within their budget.

Why I Loved Dunne Park for This Elopement

The ceremony took place underneath the park's gazebo, where the couple exchanged their vows surrounded by family. I focused on capturing candid moments throughout the ceremony, including their reactions, their families reactions, and their vows.

After the ceremony, we moved into family portraits. Before the session, I sent the couple a Google Form so they could list all of the family combinations they wanted. This made the portrait portion much more organized and helped ensure we didn't miss any important groupings.

Once family portraits were finished, we moved on to couple portraits—and this is where Dunne Park really gave us some variety.

The park has several nice areas for portraits, including a wooden bridge, a pond, greenery, and a small waterfall. We even used the waterfall area for a fun dance sequence. I brought along a small speaker so the couple could have their own little first dance, and they loved it!

Dunne Park Highlights

  • 🌿 Beautiful green, nature-inspired scenery

  • 🌉 Wooden bridge that's perfect for walking photos

  • 💦 Small waterfall and pond

  • 🌳 Plenty of space for couple portraits

  • 💍 Gazebo for intimate elopement ceremonies

  • 📸 Convenient option for couples who don't want to travel far from Chicago

  • 💰 Photography permit that can be budget-friendly

  • 🎶 Enough space to incorporate fun moments like a first dance

    What Couples Should Consider

    Of course, no location is perfect, and there are a few things couples should keep in mind before choosing Dunne Park.

    It is a local park. You may see families, children, or other park visitors during your session. Fortunately, our 11 a.m. session was relatively quiet, so this wasn't much of an issue for us.

    You will see some buildings and signs. Dunne Park isn't a remote wilderness location, so there are some man-made elements throughout the park. As a photographer, I'm always looking for angles and backgrounds that keep those distractions out of the final images.

    Weather is something to plan for. Our session was in the high 70s, but we also had some light rain and cloudy skies. Thankfully, the rain didn't last long, and we simply kept going. In fact, the cloudy weather ended up being a photographer's dream! Overcast skies create soft, even lighting and help prevent those harsh shadows underneath the eyes that can happen in direct sunlight.

    If the sun had come out, I was prepared with my flash and knew where to find shaded areas so we could still get beautiful portraits without harsh lighting.

    The park is close to O’Hare airport and every couple minutes we did hear planes taking off but to us it wasn’t too distracting, but it is something to be aware of.

    The Little Details Matter

    For their ceremony, the couple chose Mercy The Officiant, who did an amazing job bringing everything together and having a beautiful ceremony.

    One thing I always recommend for elopements with family is having a plan for the family portraits. Communication is very important to me, so knowing exactly which combinations the couple wants ahead saves time and allows us to spend more of the session getting the portraits just for the couple.

    So, Is Dunne Park Worth It?

    I definitely think Dunne Park is worth looking into if you're hoping for nature-inspired, scenic photos without having to travel far from Chicago.

    While it isn't a secluded wilderness park, it offers a reliable and convenient setting with greenery, water, a gazebo, a bridge, and plenty of opportunities for creative couple portraits.

    For couples in Rosemont or the surrounding Chicago suburbs, Dunne Park can be a wonderful alternative to a downtown Chicago elopement—especially if you want your photos to have a more relaxed, natural feel.

    I had such a great time photographing this couple here, and I can't wait to return to Dunne Park for another beautiful elopement or engagement session!



Jesse Leon

My name is Jesse Leon, and I’m originally from Woodstock, Illinois. Growing up, I always loved movies, but I never imagined working in the film industry or becoming a filmmaker myself. That changed during my sophomore year of high school when I took a multimedia production class and discovered my passion for working with cameras. I loved filming as a way to document the world around me.

One day, my professor encouraged me to start thinking about life after high school. At the time, I hadn’t considered any colleges, but she introduced me to Columbia College Chicago—a school known for its strong programs in media, film, and the arts. I was inspired by the creative freedom Columbia offered, and in December 2021, I received an email notifying me that I had been accepted for the Fall 2022 semester. I was thrilled, and I couldn’t have imagined the journey that was about to begin.

During my first semester, I enrolled in a class called Film and Television Production. For our final project, we had the choice to create a short documentary on a subject of our choice or direct a short scripted film. Directing a scripted film didn’t appeal to me as much, so I decided to make a documentary about my older brother, who had recently become a father at 19. Although I had never made or even watched many documentaries before, I was drawn to the idea of observing real life through the camera lens. That curiosity motivated me to teach myself how to film and edit a documentary.

After completing the project and sharing it with my class, I discovered a new passion—telling stories through real experiences. I realized that documentaries offer a powerful way to explore our society and humanity as a whole. Through this passion, I also began to gravitate toward photography. I hadn’t taken many photos before, but filmmaking helped me recognize photography as another way to document the world.

Through both filmmaking and photography, I’ve learned the importance of capturing the moments that define our lives—the celebrations, the milestones, the love. These memories, preserved through a photograph or a film, can live on forever. That’s what draws me so deeply to these art forms: their power to tell human stories and preserve them for generations to come.

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