So, of course being the pizza lover Mike is, we jumped on the chance to document the Wegner family’s tradition of deep dish pizza night. This is like… a dream come true. Documenting pizza being made? Score!

How did this tradition start?

“When Rob & I moved from Chicago, we missed our ‘City Dates’ a whole lot. Our favorite foods are all from where we grew up. We decided instead of missing it all, to create our own. Our first Christmas Eve together in our new apartment, we made our first ever Chicago deep dish pizza. Every Christmas Eve since then, it has been our tradition. Now that we have children, they each have contributed their own ideas, so our pizzas are always being tweaked to perfection.”

Of course, it was fun to capture all the steps in this magical pizza-making process. But the real story isn’t the pizza.

For the Rob and Michelle, the real story is in having time together with their whole family in one place, working together. A fleeting moment of cooperation instead of what three teenage girls are typically capable of. The real story is in capturing the relationships between parent and daughters, and the bond between sisters as they have fun doing something as a team. THAT is something worth capturing!

As moment seekers, every so often we find ourselves in this loop of needing the big moments, but we’ve come to love us a good underdog moment. Well, Mike and Julie… what’s an underdog moment, huh? It’s a moment that might not look significant to you or me, but to the person it was created for it’s PRICELESS. It’s the unsuspecting image that wins the day!

There are a few images from this session in particular that have become some of our favorites. For instance, we love the image of Rob in the kitchen, working on the pizza, and his two oldest daughters chillin’ alongside him. You can feel the coziness, the familiarity of this moment, can’t you? You can tell this is their rhythm. You find yourself grateful he has this image to look back on as seasons of life evolve. He’ll always remember what these moments felt like.

Another image that you might breeze over if you’re not hunting for it, is one of Michelle and her youngest daughter, Belle, giving each other ‘the look.’ It’s feisty and funny, and though you don’t know them, you can tell there’s something there. Here is what Belle texted to her mom when she saw this image, “I think this is our relationship captured in a picture.” We love that these two have this image forever!

To this master pizza-making crew, thank you for letting us capture something special for you! Here’s to all the Christmas Eve pizza nights to come, may your cheese never burn your mouth!