They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so in this case I am saving you about 40,000 words about our wedding with pictures instead 🙂 Domenick and I got married in Chicago at the St. James Chapel where I attended mass frequently while I was still a student at Loyola and lived downtown. We were surrounded by 150 of our family members and best friends (seriously, 110 was just family- we both have pretty big families! So that plus our 22 person bridal party- only a few extra family friends made the cut!! haha). It was a perfect 75 degree weathered day, while the day before and after were both pushing 90! One of my favorite parts of our wedding was that all four of Domenick’s grandparents were in attendance, as was my Grandpa Joe who had just celebrated his 90th birthday the month prior. It is their marriages, their example, their love and dedication to family that we have to thank for our own. Their legacy is now woven into the beginning of ours, and I think that might be the most beautiful circle of life there is.

Domenick’s dad and my dad are 1 of 8 and 1 of 9 children, respectively. Our moms are both the third daughter of four. We are blessed beyond measure to have aunts, uncles, and cousins galore, and we both have families committed to spending quality time together as one big, crazy group! I told Domenick that at the end of my life, that’s what I want to have accomplished. I want to be sitting next to him and watch our kids and grandkids run wild up at the lake. I want to cook for them all and love on them all and *hopefully* set an example for them just like my own predecessors did for me. To me, that is a full, well-lived life. And July 9, 2016 was the first day of that journey.

It was a little crazy to “blog” my own wedding photos! A special shoutout to our own wedding photographer, Jodi Bodtke of Giving Tree Photography.