Kurt & I tied the knot on October 19th in a brilliant ceremony at the historical St James Chapel at the Archdiocese Quigley Center in Chicago. The church was full (mostly because we did not tell people where the reception was so you had to go to church to find out where the party was happening) and it was truly a blessing that Bishop Robert Casey presided at the mass. He so eloquently wove in our theme of LOVE After all into his homily that fully embraced the true spirit of what our wedding day meant to us and all in attendance.
There was a 8 person choir, trumpet, violin, dramatic readings, a 15 foot train, and a subtle haze that fill the air with all the souls of our loved ones made present.
A traditional Chicago trolley took the guests to the historic Murphy Auditorium just four blocks away for an epic reception. Guests entered to a jazz quartet, plethora of appetizers served on repurposed frames made into trays with our signature accent fabric, a drink we renamed “Kurt’s Last Word” with ice cubes showing photos of the happy couple, and a huge sign on the stage proclaiming LOVE, the sweetheart table was enveloped in a table dressing fit for the Met Gala and the rest of the room filled with gold and metallic hues, candelabras, white Plumes, and flowers. Some people said it was liking walking into a “fairytale”. The guests found their table assignments from individual frames of themselves at their own wedding or in attendance of a wedding. Each frame and photo put together and selected by us.
To kick things off, we were introduced to room walking in to a mash up of the Cure’s “Plainsong” with David Bowie’s “Hero”. After all, we were the King & Queen of the night! Kurt gave a heartfelt welcome introduction and a toast to all who were there to share in the LOVE.
Throughout dinner guests dined on some of our favorite foods plus secret family recipes; all while their ears were being tantalized by the piano expertise of George Skaroulis.
My brother George, sister Maria and Kurt’s brother Warren gave the toasts. Then I said a few words of gratitude and introduced the Father-Daughter Dance which was a tribute performance by the exquisite ballet dancers from A&A Ballet to Luther VanDross “Dance with my Father Again”… needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house.
Kurt and his mother, Patricia, danced and then we took the floor for our first dance to a song the means the most to us, “I will follow you” by Toulouse.
The party was on, Greek dancing soon took over and the dance floor was in full swing until the very end. And a side note, I changed my dress three times and my shoes twice! We walked out at 1am… it was LOVE After all.
