Photographer
Creative Director
Chaos Coordinator
Friend First
Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday / Meet Nicole Kilday /
Illinois & Wisconsin Wedding Photographer Nicole Kilday
True-to-life Wedding & Family Photography
I started Nicole Kilday Photography as a place to celebrate the intricacies of love in all its forms; the quirky, honest, grand & mundane memories that tell the whole damn story. + I really wanted to make my Grandpa proud. After all, he started this.
I wanted the unfiltered version of love stories. The chaos. The true-to-life moments. The raw-hearted reality. A way to see a photo and immediately feel that day again.
It’s never the same love twice – your photos shouldn’t be either. Copy, paste isn't my style. & that's okay if it's yours; but I'm aiming for nostalgia in vivid detail & all it's glory.
Me at Work
My Boys
My Honey
This Is About Me, Nicole
Third Generation Photographer / Wife / Mom
I pride myself on my friendship, my empathy, and my desire to truly understand the people in front of my camera on a bone-deep level.
I believe there is never the same love twice. Love is wild — it ebbs and flows, grows and surprises you. Your photos should be uniquely and undeniably yours. Just like the souls, the history that built your love, & the emotions that were fueling the whole scene.
I want you to remember all of it. But most importantly — how it felt.
Estd.
2016
I spent my entire life being surrounded by or holding a camera. What began as a family hobby and the belief to "never leave the camera behind" turned into my purpose — and honestly, it's kind of a funny story how it happened.
In 2016, I shared my family's Christmas card on social media and it spiraled from there. I've been photographing weddings and families ever since.
My gift? Seeing the good in all things. Even the most mundane of moments to everyone else — feels like magic to me.
What you can expect from me
Being a wedding and family photographer means stepping into roles nobody put in the job description. Professional crier, emergency seamstress, backup timeline wrangler — often without being asked. It suits me & I love to be more than a hired hand with all of couples & families.
Your memories matter to me like they're mine too
I don't pick one style and stick to it. I read the moment first — and reach for whatever it needs. Documentary, candid, or editorial. Sometimes that's disappearing completely. Sometimes it's slowing everything down and directing every detail.
A mix of documentary-driven truth & editorial photography you can feel
Chaos is kind of where I thrive. I love to host, the rush of the wedding industry & timelines colliding, and did I mention I'm a wife & a mom? The chaos just comes with it. I love a good plot-twist & navigating them. It's the empath in me.
The calm in the chaos
“I’m not a mess but a deeply feeling person in a messy world. I explain that now, when someone asks me why I cry so often, I say, ‘For the same reason I laugh so often—because I’m paying attention.’ I tell them that we can choose to be perfect and admired or to be real and loved. We must decide.”
— Glennon Doyle Melton, Love Warrior
Words I Live By
10
Years in Business
124+
Weddings Photographed
∞
Happy Tears Cried
180+
Families Documented
