Couple: Kristina and Chris
Venue: NYE Revolution Brewery Wedding
Style/Inspiration: James Bond meets NYE
How you both met: We met while working at Northwestern University’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies. He was on the tech team, she was on the clinical team. The lab manager (Susan Kaiser, a notable guest at the wedding) – who was a good friend to each individually – introduced them. On a slow day for both of them, Kristina asked him out to lunch, and the rest is history. The couple regularly meets Susan for brunch because she is awesome and what a good friend!
Your proposal: (from our website) Every so often, the Chicago Marathon lands on Kristina’s birthday, and 2016 was one of those years. Kristina likes to celebrate this way, and Chris wanted to run his first Chicago, so they both signed up to run. Now, Chris is WAY faster than Kristina – by like 30 minutes! But he started early on talking about waiting for her at the finish line, which seemed strange. Then again, this is the kind of thing they do for fun and they like to celebrate together.
But then Chris got injured during the season, and whatever little alarm bells may have been going off for Kristina shut down is generally unlikely. Plus, she can get pretty self-focused when she has serious goals…
K+C live on the last mile of the Marathon, so its often kind of a party day. And this year was the biggest of all – Mom and Aunt Sue and Chris’ parents came for the weekend, and friends Maria + Jason and family, Sara and Trish, and Patrick and Garrett all came to cheer on runners and enjoy the day…at least that’s what Kristina thought! But basically, everyone knew the plan – even if Chris wouldn’t show them the ring. When K stopped at the house (ready to just be done already!), Chris was dressed to run her into the finish line, encouraging her to just keep going the rest of the way.
When they got there, she was super preoccupied with her watch and time, so she didn’t even notice him kneeling down until he got her attention with, “So, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while…” Thankfully, a man with a camera was there to capture the two immediately after the moment. The rest of the day was full of celebrating.
Style/Inspiration for your wedding: Chris wanted to basically wear the James Bond white tux for his wedding, so the whole thing kind of started there. Kristina said that would mean a black-tie affair, and there were only a handful of days where that was appropriate, New Year’s Eve being one of them. The rest of the details – colors (black, white, and gold-ish), favors (vintage champagne flutes and coupes).
Details that mattered to you: The only detail that matters to us is the people attending. We are throwing a big party for our family, friends, and loved ones, and it is paramount to us that they enjoy themselves – eat, drink and be merry!
What you love about your dress: I love that I chose simple, elegant, classic. The original design was beautiful, but my seamstress did an incredible job removing the train/extraneous meringue and fitting it to me. It is so delicate, yet a dress I can really have fun in, too.
Vendors:
Preparation: The Palmer House
Ceremony and Reception: Revolution Brewery
Florist: The Bouqs Company
Groom’s Attire: Surmesur
Hair: Lira Guzi
DJ/Band: Mike P Band
Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Jewelry: My mother’s mother’s diamond necklace
