Aelia's family threw a birthday barbecue at their home in Chicago

and invited me out to capture it.

Front yard set up, smoke from the grill drifting over the grass, kids running between everyone's legs (mine included, almost dropped my camera lol), the kind of party that doesn't need a venue to feel special.

The whole family showed up dressed beautifully in

traditional outfits, a soft palette of whites,

mint, lavender, and gold lacework catching

the afternoon sun.

I love sessions like this. They're not styled, they're lived in. You shoot the hugs, the small huddles of cousins laughing about something only they know.

Birthdays in big families have their own kind of comfort. Loud, warm, generous, full of food, full of love. These photos hold all of it.