Part of the Fontbonne Table

 If you guessed a wedding for the big event we went to a few weeks ago, congratulations, you win!  That Thursday we woke up early, packed up the car, dropped Ollie off at my parents for a big sleepover, then got on the road to Chicago.  Ethan was invited to be a groomsman at his old college friend, Kyle's, wedding so we wanted to get there a day before all the festivities began to pick up his suit, get situated, and ensure time for travel snafus.

We also wanted to meet up with Andrew and Juliana, which we did that evening!  They picked a cool pizza-brewery hybrid, where we ate, drank, and merrily talked for a couple hours before closing the place down.

The following day was a lazy one before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.  The venue was a short ten minute drive from the hotel.  When we arrived, the overly-enthusiastic priest lined everybody up to commence the walk-through.  Ethan's bridesmaid couldn't make it so I ended up standing in for her.  We were the best at walking in, for sure.

Once the priest was satisfied with all things ceremony, everyone made their way downstairs to a pizza restaurant for dinner, drinks, and toasts.  The Fontbonne table was quite fun, with the girls and guys telling stories and reminiscing.  It's a little strange being the only one who didn't go to college with all of them, but it's also quite fun to ask all the questions and hear all the stories.

On the big wedding day I dropped Ethan and the guys off at the venue around 1, picked up some lunch on the way back, and had a leisurely afternoon to myself before starting to get dressed.  Weddings are really the only time I get to go a little extra with makeup and a fancy hairdo, so I made a little cocktail, turned on some music, and had a grand old time.

The ceremony was nice.  The preacher threw in most of the same jokes he said the night before, but he told the story of how Kyle and McKenna met, when they knew they wanted to marry each other, and how he proposed.  Their vows were earnest and personalized, some funny and some serious, and they both looked radiantly happy.  Once the I Do's were said, the entire party moved down the hall for a cocktail hour.

A delicious three course dinner was next, complete with the grand wedding party entrance to music and several champagne toasts.  Once the dance floor opened up, that's all we did for the remainder of the evening.  Back at the hotel, everyone met up in the lobby (pre-approved by the staff, of course) to continue celebrating.  We left around 3:30am, even though the party was still raging.  They must've been up 'til the sunrise!

Overall it was a lovely event filled with so much fun and happiness.  Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs!

(photos by r.hunt, a.hunt, e.hunt, and collected from bellesandthistles)