At a mutual friend’s party back in 2009, Kate and Chris first met and spent the evening talking and bonding over their love of soccer. With season tickets to Chicago Fire, Chris invited Kate to an upcoming game against the LA Galaxy–David Beckham’s team–and she could not pass up a chance at seeing him play.
It was just her luck that he didn’t even end up playing! 

I may not have gotten to see David Beckham play, but we had such a great time together–even when it took us nearly an hour to get out of the parking lot after the game due to some crazy traffic…it gave us a chance to get to know each other!

Kate loves Chris’s dedication and loyalty to the people and the things that he loves.

I love his goofy side and the way he makes me laugh…and the way we balance each other out.

Chris loves Kate’s passion for adventure, the way she helps him see other perspectives, and the way they tackle challenges together.

Kate knew that he was planning to propose when he planned a night out for the two of them.

Chris has a lot of strengths, but keeping secrets is not one of them.

The two of them went to dinner at an Italian restaurant and followed that with a walk around Lincoln Park. When they reached The Honeycomb pavilion in Lincoln Park, Chris got down on one knee and proposed. Of course, Kate said yes!

We celebrated with drinks at the North Pond, and then on our way home, we stopped at our favorite bar, which is about a 30 second walk from our apartment. The bartenders, whom we had seen and talked to on many occasions in the time we have lived here, were really excited for us and brought us a little bottle of champagne to celebrate. They also busted out some candles to put on our table. It was a really fun night!

When they began looking at wedding venues, Kate asked Chris what he wanted in their venue and his one answer was exposed brick.

We definitely got that at The Haight! But when it came down to it, we loved that The Haight was different than any wedding venue we had been to and allowed us the freedom to make the space our own.

The Haight was warm and inviting and we really just felt like the space fit us. Not to mention, the staff at The Haight were amazing from our first meeting with them all the way through to our wedding day.

Kate never really dreamed about her wedding day and the whole idea of planning a wedding seemed extremely daunting and overwhelming.

Kate was anxious at the thought of being in the center of attention and at times during the planning process, the two of them questioned why they were putting together such a big event.

But when our wedding day came, it was the most amazing feeling to be surrounded by all of our family and friends who had supported our relationship for the past 9 (!) years and we would not trade for anything the love and the joy we felt in that room from all of our loved ones as they celebrated with us.

Kate’s advice is to try not to stress about the small details and know that it will all come together. At the end of the day, what’s important is that you are marrying the person you love and celebrating you as a couple.

Wedding Vendors

Photographer: Hazelton Photography

Florals: Town & Country Gardens | Hair & Makeup: Vanessa Rose Makeup

Catering/Late Night Sweets: True Cuisine Catering  | Cake & Sweets: True Cuisine Catering

 DJ: DJs For You| Alcohol: Drinks On Me Catering