My Wedding

Life is a journey, enjoy the ride.

I know Monday is Work Smarter, Not Harder, but I am mixing it up. Why? Because today is my 2 year wedding anniversary with my biggest supporter husband, Sean! I wanted to share snippets of my engagement, wedding and honeymoon. Due to popular demand, I am attempting to get more personal on Cedar & Rush. It’s a lot, so feel free to catch the highlight section two paragraphs down or just browse the photos.

Before I dive into my own love story, don’t worry, WSNH is here to stay. I have the entire month of March lined up with some incredible women that I cannot even believe have agreed to partake. So stay tuned!

• Sean and I went to high school together but didn’t really know each other until a few years out of college.
• Sean is a twin, which made things confusing. And yes, I have mixed them up before. Ha!
• After dating, we discovered we only lived 2 blocks away from each other in high school.
• Sean proposed to me on his 30th birthday. Best present he ever got 😉
• We got engaged in Saugatuck, MI.
• We were married in 5 months. A huge thanks to Cindy for pulling rabbits out of her hat (aka my amazing mom!)
• We were married in February – the worst, but secretly the best time of year.
• The bridesmaid dresses were only $50 and picked out by Liz from Sequins and Stripes!
• We used lamps as center pieces.
• Honeymooned in Barbados for a week, where they only play Rhianna – the famous native to the island.
• We have a dog fur child, Larry – named after the famous basketball player, Larry Bird.

How We Meet:

As mentioned above, Sean and I went to high school together. He is one year ahead of me, however we weren’t familiar with each other at the time. I had almost 900 students in my graduating class, so not knowing everyone is normal. Flash forward 7/8 years after high school {3 years after graduating college} I ran into Sean at a casual lunch cafeteria in the Loop – nearby our offices. Three days later I ran into him again {late night} at a bar, English {which is no longer around}. It was after this second encounter, we swapped digits and I guess you can say, the rest is history. Our first date was at Volare which – I found out many years later – he used to take a lot of ladies here for a first date. Ha! Boy did I think I was special at the time.

The Proposal:

Sean made it clear he wanted to ditch town for his 30th birthday weekend. We decided upon Saugatuck, Michigan for the festivities and he insisted he make the plans. His boss frequented Saugatuck so it made sense for him to get the scoop and finalize the logistics. We stayed at The Belvedere Inn, a bed and breakfast estate with a five-star farm to table restaurant on the main floor. It is a gorgeous getaway from Chicago (only an hour and a half away) and we love it to this day. He was a little quiet Friday and all day Saturday. We made a reservation at the restaurant located in the bed and breakfast our last night. Funnily enough, we made friends with a table of elders sitting next to us, who kept badgering Sean why he hadn’t proposed to me yet. Little did they know it would all be going down in two shakes of a lambs tail. After a superb dinner, Sean suggested we grab our coats in our room upstairs and head downtown for a few night caps. I opened the door to our room and immediately ran for the bathroom – this girl had to go! But in the midst of running to relieve myself – I missed all the romantic candles, crackling fireplace and bottle of champagne  scattered throughout the room. Sean said it was the longest bathroom wait he’s ever had. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Sean was waiting for me right next to the door. Ummmmmm……hi Sean. Can I help you? It only took a second to FINALLY notice the smooth jazz, dim lights and beautiful candlelit ambiance and I just knew! Down on one knee he went and said the most amazing things – which surprise, surprise, we cannot remember one word. But I know it was incredible.

One thing no one tells you about getting engaged is hearing the whole story leading up to the proposal. There are so many secrets and hysterical close calls. Examples; asking my dad for my hand in marriage (which went down at Hub51) and sneaking it pass me; listening to him deciding on the perfect ring to get me (he did all on his own!) and setting up the proposal with the hotel. They were lighting candles while we were at dinner, which is why he ordered desert to prolong the time – he never asks for the dessert menu. It is hysterical and such a fun story to hear given it is all for you and you didn’t know one thing about it! Then calling my mom (the best! She had NO idea) and then Sean’s family. And then telling our friends and relatives. And then hearing the story from my dad’s point of view. One of the best days ever.

The Wedding

I am not going to bore you with all the details, but we (AKA my mother) planned our wedding in 5 months of us being engaged. It sounds crazy, but the stress of a wedding is real and ours was miniscule compared to what it could have been. I will have to confirm this with my bridesmaids, but I didn’t dwell much on the details and ensuring every single thing was just perfect. I of course wanted it to be beautiful but unfortunately with a wedding (it is inevitable) comes stress – money, time, extra things to do on top of normal life, hurt feelings, etc. I selfishly did not want to put this stress cloud on such a happy time – so making the planning process as short as possible was important to us. So we agreed to knock it out as quickly as possible. For us, it was the best decisions we ever made.

We married at The Fourth Presbyterian Church and hosted the reception at The Chicago History Museum. We chose The Public Hotel as a home base for us and our guests. The perfect hotel for the winter. Lots of cozy fireplaces and exceptional lighting for photos!

And I adore my gold tweed coat – which I wear on every anniversary. P.S. I hired Liz Schneider from Sequins and Stripes to pick out my bridesmaids’ dresses. I simply didn’t have the time and best to leave these decisions to the experts!

The Honeymoon

You have one of the best days of your life with all your family and friends – then you forget you have an incredible vacation right after the big day. Escaping the cold to somewhere tropical was a no brainer. We wanted to go somewhere different then the usual honeymoon suspects and decided upon Barbados, the farthest island in the Caribbean. The most beautiful beach (rated 10 in the world) I have ever seen and probably ever will see. Perfect R&R with lots to do downtown. Lots of upscale restaurants with surprisingly, high-end shopping. This is also where Tiger Woods got married and Rhianna’s hometown. If you ever want to hear more, let me know! We could not recommend it enough.

So that’s it folks – my love story in a nutshell! Sean and I are celebrating this weekend by dining at Volare (our first date spot and one of our favorite Italian restaurants). Then topping it off with cocktails at The Pump Room in The Public Hotel. I cannot believe it’s been two years and so lucky to have an amazing team-mate. That’s right – we are Team Regan and Larry is our mascot. If you have any questions about Saugatuck, a Chicago wedding, wedding planning in general or Barbados, please shoot me an email. Happy to share more details or give you some pointers!

A HUGE thank you to my mom and dad and my mother-in-law, Chris, for helping us make this special day happen. We couldn’t have done it without you and we love you so much. And I also cannot believe what an amazing family I married into – Chirs, Eric, Sam, Matt, Kelsey, Taylor, Payton & Emma – how did I get so lucky? And of course, our friends and other family. We cherish your friendship and support so much! And most of all, my husband Sean – who let’s me live my dream and my biggest fan. I love you so much and so excited for what’s in store. The best partner in crime I could have ever asked for. Love you! Xoxo. P.S. You’re in charge of dinner tonight 😉