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Megan & Andrew – A Vintage Wedding

Andrew and I met in 2003 as Sophomores at Loras College in Dubuque, IA. Andrew held the door open for me and said it was “love at first sight” and had to find out who I was. We first became best friends which quickly grew into more. We had dated for five years when Andrew asked me to marry him. He proposed to me at our favorite Italian restaurant and had my entire family travel the two hours from my hometown to join us in the celebration. He even had my Nana picked up in Chicago by a limo to make sure she was there. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Family and friends mean so much to Andrew and I that even though we would be in a large venue, we wanted it to be an intimate gathering for those we love. What made it even easier to accomplish is that Jennifer Anderson was not only our planner through the process, but had become our friend. Without Jennifer, Vince at Kehoe Designs, and the Don Cagen Orchestra, the “vintage romance” atmosphere would have never come together into something so beautiful. At one point during the reception every single guest was on the dance floor having a good time. It was a night Andrew and I will never ever forget!

Bridal Bouquet: White Garden Roses, White Fringe Tulips, White Ranunculus, White, Freesia, Hanging Amaranthus and vintage flower buttons.

Wedding Cake: The five-tier cake featured a different pattern design on each layer including the fleur de lis, Swiss dot, leafy scroll pattern and French design influences.

Place card table: Natural Manzanita Branches with hanging crystals and hanging votive candles, white orchids and white hydrangea

Centerpieces tables: Two types of centerpieces graced the tables. The centerpieces focused on shades of burgundy, merlot, and dark red floral with accents of orange, green, cerise and mango. The Flemish inspired designs set atop antique wood urns and were highlighted with colored votives.

Megan Bowers – Bride
Andrew Bernsee – Groom
Married October 10, 2009
Old St. Patrick’s Church
Renaissance Hotel Chicago
Event Planner: Jennifer Anderson
Photographer: KingenSmith
Florist: Kehoe Designs-Vince Hart, Vice President
Cake: Take the Cake, Mary Winslow
Orchestra: Don Cagen Orchestra
Hotel: Renaissance Hotel Chicago
Wedding Dress: Rivini
Brides Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Tuxedo: Brioni

Featured Wedding – Brian & Jeff

It seems that it’s in those “chance” meetings that we are fortunate to find our life partners. For Brian & Jeff, it was a GLBT affinity group meeting at their company. It just so happened that the only seat unoccupied happened to be next to “this very handsome guy with very distinguished salt and pepper hair.”  Seven years later, they decided to take the big step and make the relationship official. For their honeymoon, they’ll wait and get out of the Chicago heat in August as they journey off for a 10-day Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Athens.

Officiate: Barbara Wyzkiewicz
Master Bridal Consultant: Frank Andonoplas
Location: James Hotel, Chicago
Tuxedoes: Calvin Klein
Rings: Tiffany
Cake: Swedish Bakery – chocolate with chocolate mousse and a yellow with raspberry and lemon mousse. All layers were covered in French buttercream with a chocolate fondant bow.
Flowers: Ann Held
Photography: Rick Aguilar

Featured Weddings – Sacha and Kevin – StrictlyWeddings.com

This is actually a fun “Harry met Sally” story …

Kevin and I walked the halls of Deerfield Highschool together 1994-1996, but because I was a senior and he a sophomore, we never met.

Although he says he recalls a glimpse of me walking down G-Hall, the only thing I recall is hearing his name when my soccer coach bragged about his star players on the boys soccer team. Years later, much after college,  we shared a cab together from the infamous late night bar, Burton Place, which only resulted in a short conversation and a 5 minute drive, dropped off outside my house with a simple thank you and a wave goodbye and without a single thought that this man I shared a cab with would one day be my husband.

Finally, about 2 years later, at a mutual friends going away party, we met again, and shared our first kiss that night. (I kissed him – I had to see if he was a good kisser!). We have been together ever since… HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

NEW YEARS EVE: December 31, 2009
VENUE: Salvage One
WEDDING PLANNER: Ryan Alexander Events
WEDDING INVITATIONS AND PAPER: U stationery Custom Boutique
FLOWERS: Jim McGuire with Bunches
FOOD: The Hearty Boys
BAND: Nicholas Barron
PHOTO: Jai Girard Photography
VIDEO: Jai Girard Photography

This Love was Heaven Sent – Featured Weddings – Dorsae & Lewis

The wedding was the natural outcome. The meeting was a message sent from above…

Her story:

Our lives crossed paths on August 21, 1999 at Sambuca’s Jazz Club and Restaurant in downtown Houston, Texas.  Little did I know that God had a divine appointment on His plate. Like many things in my life, I missed it! But God was determined!  Two days later I was running early for an appointment, I stopped at Luby’s Restaurant at Fondren and Westheimer, nothing fancy, a very plain cafeteria, not far from the manger where Jesus was born!  Lo and behold, there was this stranger that I had met two days earlier.  What a coincidence I thought to myself, still not recognizing that this was a divine appointment from God.

Well to make a long story short, it did not take me long to realize that God had His hands in this encounter.  I have had ups and downs in my life, but because of the love and support of my Lewis, the downs have been few.

His story:

I had set out for an evening of jazz performances at a new venue in downtown Houston, Texas called Sambucas. When the band began its second set, I turned to see three beautiful ladies who suddenly appeared from nowhere to sit immediately on my left. The young lady closest to me struck up a conversation that centered around medicine since she was a nurse. Her friend (Dorsae) barely noticed me because the gentleman next to her had her occupied with stories of grandeur since he was an executive with Continental Airlines, with some 20 million frequent flyer miles under his belt and a loft atop of Sambucas.

Eventually, the five of us decided to have dinner whereby the conversations at the bar evolved to the sitting area of the restaurant. My focus for most of the evening was with Dorsae’s friend and the superb jazz band that played music that a jazz enthusiast could truly appreciate. Dorsae continued to converse with “Mr. Continental Airlines” and totally missed God’s calling for her to “abandon the dude” and follow through on His assignment to meet her future husband.

Nevertheless, the evening ended with me finding out her girl friend was married to a doctor and she was also expecting a baby eight months later. Now it’s 2:00 a.m., Dorsae “dumps” the dude and I never got her personal information. I suspect she thought I was interested in her girlfriend.  Little did she know I was so through with wanting to converse with her friend once I found out she was married. So I left the club thinking that I probably wouldn’t see any of these ladies again in life, especially since I lived in Clear Lake, Texas and Dorsae lived in southwest Houston (… it was sixty miles between both of our homes). But God has a sense of humor! While visiting a client in Houston on the west side of the city, a colleague and I were having lunch at a Luby’s Restaurant on Fondren.  I was telling him about my night out two days earlier with the three ladies, but I also failed to get the number of the “gorgeous single lady” whom I should have been conversing with.

We finished lunch and were leaving for our appointment, when I turned the corner of the restaurant and there she was!  Dorsae was literally having lunch in the same restaurant!  It was though God had said,  … “If you two screw this up this time, I am through with you both!” We both were in awe of seeing each other again, and both felt that this was no coincidence, especially since we lived on opposite sides of the world.

Nevertheless, I followed through on my hunch that this was no ordinary “sister”, rather a unique, smart, statuesque, beautiful woman, that I eventually found out loved the Lord.  In fact our first date was to attend her church, and the rest is history. Yes, God does have a sense of humor!  And I am glad He brought us back together again as He did to prove to both of us, this is no accident.  “I want you two to follow through on My Divine Province for you both!  I want you married to each other!”

The Proposal:

Lewis: Wa ya ma me!!!???
Dorsae: Lewis get that bread out of your mouth, I don’t know what you’re saying
Lewis: Will you marry me?
Dorsae: What?
Lewis:  Will you marry me?
Dorsae:  I don’t see no ring!
Lewis: Rings are non-refundable! Will you marry me or not?
Dorsae:  It depends!
Lewis:  On what?
Dorsae:  Will you love and obey?
Lewis:  It depends!
Dorsae:  On what?
Lewis:  Will you submit and not ask questions?
Dorsae:  It depends!
Lewis:  On what?
Dorsae:  Are you rich?
Lewis:  Yes!
Dorsae:  No further questions!
Lewis:  Honey, I love you!  Will you marry me?
Dorsae:  I love you too honey!  Yes, yes I’ll marry you!
Lewis:  Excuse me!  Can I get a Vodka and tonic?
Dorsae:  Excuse me!  Can I have a box of kleenex?

(American Idol finalist LaKisha Jones sang at the wedding)

Dorsae Riddles and Lewis Bennett – November 29, 2009

Ceremony: Rockerfeller Chapel
Reception: The Palmer House
Flowers: Daniels Floriculture
Photography: Jai Girard Photography

A love so deep – Featured Weddings – Chicago’s Emily and Craig

Emily Miller and Craig Mandell have been together since they were 18. They met 8 years ago at college and both went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but were from nearby Chicago suburbs. They have been living in Chicago, mostly together, since school. Craig is an attorney and Emily is in Healthcare Consulting. StrictlyWeddings.com would like to thank the lovely couple for sharing their beautiful wedding with us.

Photography: Jai Girard Photography
Video: Larry Wayne Evolution Video
Flowers- Kehoe (Vince)
Planner- Barbara Moss Events
Band- Larry King Orchestra
Dress: Divina Sposa
Bridemsaid dresses- Jenny Yoo
Rings- Cy Fredricks
Makeup- Cynde Cosmetics
Hair- Jessica Gryz
Venue: Fairmont