Brian & Mike 2001  

OUR CEREMONY

Program   Readings   Certificate   Place Cards

Below is a bit of journal of our planning and the events and things that happened leading up to and the day of our ceremony.

             

JANUARY- After a couple months of searching, we finally find our venue.  Being a private club, we had never even heard of the Tavern Club before.  Fortunately, our friend Scott suggested it to us because his brother had his reception there.  The space had a perfect layout to accommodate the entire evening, with beautiful views and excellent food. It is located on the 25th and 26th floors of an Art Deco building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. The room where the ceremony was held looked north, down Michigan Avenue and with direct views of the Wrigley and Tribune Buildings.  Adjacent to this room was a bar area where we would have cocktail hour.  Then there is a huge main dinig area, again window lined with great views of the city.  Upstairs was an open ballroom area for danceroom with an adjacent outdoor terrace.
MAY - We choose our officiant, the first and only one that we interviewed whom we actually learned of her through the internet.  Both of  us immediately felt that she would be perfect and she was.  We also chose our invitations and florist this month.
JUNE - This was a busy month, we found our photographer, harpist and DJ.  One of Brian's favorite DJ's in the city is Tim Cleary, so we contacted him and he agreed to do our reception.  Tim spent a lot of time with us planning/selecting music for the reception.  The do not play list was the easiest - anything played at a typical wedding reception!
JULY - Our Bachelor Party was held on the 21st at a space which was being renovated and now is home to "Felt".   Greg Drescher DJ'd the event - his very first live performance (Greg now can be heard at places like Crobar and is one of our favorite DJ's).  Yes, there was a stripper (sorry, no photos!).   This month we also picked out our tuxes, designed the dinner menu, planned our honeymoon trip and prepared/mailed our invitations.
     AUGUST - This was probably the most nerve racking month, confirming/verify all the arrangements and taking care of all the little details up until the last day!  The week before was particularly busy:
AUGUST 28 - (Tuesday)  Brian's mom and stepdad arrive.  
AUGUST 29 - (Wednesday)  We attend the Madonna concert at the United Center.  Brian's mom and stepdad get to experience their first game at Wrigley Field, a night game and with box seats (The Cubs loose in 14 innings).
AUGUST 30 - (Thursday)  Mike spends most of the morning trying to install a screen door.  Brian's cousin Amy and husband Jason arrive  and Mike and Jason take in the Cub's game on a gorgeous afternoon in the bleachers.  This is Jason's first Cub game and they actually win with a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.  That evening we all went out to dinner and then finished assembling the party favors.
AUGUST 31  - (Friday)  Most of the day is spent getting the house ready for our open house.  Brian's stepdad and Jason stringing white lights to form a lit canopy over the back yard.  Brian's mom decorating the cakes - well, except for the grooms cake.  Our next door neighbors had moved out and their space unit empty.  They offered to let us use their refrigerator and freezer for our open house.  Brian's mom had left the grooms cake on their kitchen counter.  Apparently the door was not completely closed because when she back over there was a rather large eaten portion of the cake - Abby, our Golden/Lab thought it was delicious (unfortunately we didn't think to get a picture).

Since most of Brian's family lives out of state it was their first time chance to see our house.  It was also the first time that most of our family got to meet our great friends.  
SEPTEMBER 1 - (Saturday)  We woke to a perfect September day, not a cloud in the sky, low humidity and a high of 67.  Brian's mom was putting the finishing touches and  putting together the cake, we finished packing , getting everything together that needed to be dropped off at the Tavern Club and getting the house in order - taking the lights down outside etc.  

As always, the best laid plans encountered a few bumps. One of our best couples (Steve and Michael) were going to transport the cake from our house to the Tavern Club. They have an SUV which would have made the delivery easier, but  it took Brian's mom a little longer than expected.  So we went to plan B, which was us bringing the cake along with the other items we needed to drop by before going to our hotel.  So we loaded the car with our luggage and everything else - then Brian gets in the front seat with the cake and Brian's stepdad drives us slowly and carefully down to the Tavern Club.  Brian is holding it the whole time, trying to keep the sun that's beating down through the windshield off of it, while Mike is in the backseat trying not to watch.  Once we get there we have to load it on a cart, get it in and out of the elevator and finally lifted into their refrigerator.  

We finally get checked into our room at the Fairmont, courtesy of our good friend and groomsman Kevin, but not without a little hassle from the desk clerk.  While we had hoped to have some time at the room the relax, there wasn't any to spare - all day it seemed that the clock moved faster than normal!  So we got ready and headed over to the Tavern Club.

All of the wedding party was there when we arrived, they looked fabulous and so did the club.  Shortly after we arrived we learned that Rebecca (our officiant) would be later than expected.  This was a bit worrisome since we had planned to have our only run-through of the ceremony.  Then we paniced when we couldn't find the flowers for the mothers, but once again our best men stepped in and remedied the situation.   Everyone finally arrived, our rehearsal went smoothly, and we took some of the family pictures - now we had to pass half-hour until the real thing.

We waited, in a tiny room next to where the ceremony would take place,  with wedding party and our moms. Thanks to Scott's attention to detail, there was a little Vodka to calm the nerves - even the mothers had a little!  Mike's mom laughed and said that she had never seen him so nervous.  Soon the harpist began, the guests arrived and it was time to walk down the isle.  

The ceremony went flawlessly.  Despite the fact that we designed the ceremony, there were surprises.  We had written our own vows but were hearing each others for the first time during the ceremony and we did not know what Steve and Scott's readings would be.  Another highlight was that as part of the ceremony we had our mom's come up and present us with each others ring.

Right after the ceremony we headed outside to take more pictures.  Next we went back to the Tavern Club where we all shared the champagne that Scott had for us - then we joined our guests.

Before we knew it we were sitting down to dinner, dancing, shoving cake in each others face (nicely) and it was over.  
SEPTEMBER 2 - (Sunday)  It was yet another beautiful day.  We walked around a bit, had brunch and then headed to O'Hare.  It was an unbelievably fun trip, and we made many friends - see the pictures in the photo album.  Fortunately for us, we returned on Monday September 10th.

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