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About
Chicago based professional wedding and destination photographers for the lovers' who thrive in friendship. Now booking 2025 & 2025 photography and videography services.
To Inquire & get to know us, please reach out on our website: www.mywholeheartco.com
We're Nicole Kilday (formerly Nicole Kilday Photography) & Ashley Bowling, the owners & lead photographers behind My Whole Heart Collective. We met in 2020 and instantly became fast friends through our passion of photography & human connection. Sharing a combined 9+ years of experience in the wedding & professional photography industries, we decided to join forces in early 2022. The more the merrier!
My Whole Heart Collective is a team of artists and like minded creatives. This helps us span the distance in service area as well as be in two places at once to better serve our couples. That also means that our couples have the opportunity to not only have two amazing pre-wedding day teammates for planning, prepping, and brainstorming - but also access to our amazing team members if you opt for two photographers for your best day ever. With our collective of artists, this gives added creativity to the mix, but also added insurance in the unfortunate case of an emergency.
We want you to feel the love, we'll handle the rest. Reasons to book with us!
- You love love our art and want it plastered all over your home of you and your loves.
- You want to relive & feel every moment from your best-day ever.
- You want to feel comfortable with your third wheels without fear of the camera.
- You want a friend that invests & understands your love.
Our Mission & Promise...
... is to offer our best selves throughout this adventure with you in a way that allows us to document your story from a place of truth. This entails us being here for every step of your wedding photography experience, from start to finish. It means celebrating the sh!t out of this chapter alongside you and breaking out into dance parties when our bodies can’t help but physically feel the excitement. It means being here for you when the process feels heavy and you really just need a judgment-free space to let it all out. We are here to help you gain perspective and provide encouragement to continue ticking all the boxes and bring the wedding vision of your dreams to life. Most importantly, it means welcoming you and your partner exactly as you are, so we have the full opportunity and knowledge to tell your story exactly as it is. This is our deepest commitment to you on this journey.
- Woman-owned
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Formerly Nicole Kilday Photography
Going on year 8 of this dream (est. 2016) - I’m a full time Professional Wedding & Elopement photographer, wife, and Mama.
As a child, I grew up with cameras at every event - big or small. I can remember my Grandpa taking pictures of the new shower door being installed while I watched. My Dad teaching me Photoshop with me in his lap, editing away at my brother’s T-Ball game snapshots. If I could go back to June 11th, 2008 + tell my Grandpa one more thing, it’d be, “You’ve given me purpose. I love you.”
In 2016, I shared a family portrait of my now Husband and our three pups, Bolt, Roofus, and Kapone for Christmas. Picking up my camera that day to snap a moment in time for us and only us, threw me into this career. Waking up to messages across all social media platforms asking me to share my passion of photography and document others love for the holidays. And here I am, 7 years later. Thriving with my best friend by my side - pooling our creativity, passions, and like minded outlook on life to build our collective of art and love.
On my off days - you can find me soaking up all the time I can with my little family of 6 (including the fur babes). If I had to pick a highlight reel that described us perfectly, it’d be; 1. watching my husband complete his absolute favorite chore under the sun - mowing the lawn (-casually rides by the front window flipping me the bird as he absolutely dominates at his Midwestern dad duties-); 2. Declan’s chunky cannoli legs slapping the wood floor, all while giggling as I chase him down the hallway; 3. Laying on a blanket in the yard, post-fetch and the dogs all huddled around - tongue’s stretched out after getting in their exercise.
- Wife + Mama
- Empath who cries at just about everything
- Extroverted introvert
- Cheese + German Shepherds are my love languages
- Most days my mouth could make a sailor blush
- Someone in heaven shared his passion for photography with me + so it began
Formerly Ashley Bowling Photography
I’ve been pro third-wheelin’ on many different lovers’ adventures since early 2020. I come from a small, quiet town in Illinois called Yorkville (home of the foxes and land of the never-ending cornfields). For a good chunk of time post high-school, I was really struggling with what I wanted to do with my life. It took boat loads of trial and error, fussing with different jobs and career paths that never fully satisfied me and left me feeling empty. But when I stumbled upon photography and the wedding industry - that’s when everything clicked.
Throughout my journey of navigating adulthood, I gradually discovered and unlocked the talents, skills, and passions that drive me to be my best, most authentic self. I discovered that I’m an artist, a stylist, a designer, a photographer, a traveler, a crafter, a story teller, a DIY-er; a sucker for details and aesthetics. And it’s this combination of passions that fueled my love for photography. And now, I can say with full certainty, that I absolutely LOVE what I do, and don’t ever want to look back.
When I’m not behind camera, you can find me in an intense game of fetch with my maltipoo puppy, Charlie (Charleston Chews, Charlie Brown, Mr. Fluff Pants) - whatever you wanna call him, or playing 1,346 rounds of Mario Party with my squad. It’s also not unlikely you’ll find me at the nearest thrift store excitedly sifting through the racks and happy dancing over how many “steals” I’m finding (+ wondering how someone could seriously give up a perfectly good pair of jeans from Free People, or a super trendy Anthropologie sweater that still has the tags attached - like whaaaat!?).
World’s biggest people-pleaser, guilty of being too nice for my own good
Thrift shopping + spicy food fanatic
Pro DIY-er who’d rather spend 5,267 hours making a birthday card from scratch than buy one at the store
A deep thinker with big opinions on big life things
A gal who’s super duper happy
(+ constantly in awe!) to be doing what she does
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Nicole Kilday Photography frequently asked questions
- 2nd Shooter
- Add'l Hours
- Engagement Shoot
- High-Res Images
- Multi. Locations
- One Event / Day
- Toning
- Digital Files
- 2nd Shooter
- Add'l Hours
- Engagement Shoot
- Hand-Coloring
- High-Res Images
- Multi. Locations
- One Event / Day
- Toning
- Digital Files
- Contemporary
- Natural
- Photojournalism
- Traditional
- Additional Hours
- Destination / Travel
- Engagement Shoot
- High-Res Images
- One Event / Day
- Second Shooter
- Wedding Portraits
- Albums
- Canvas
- Digital Files
- Flush Mount
- Matted Prints
- Prints