Taylor and Andrew

First off, let me just say that this was my dream wedding dress! It was the first  dress I tried on- I saw it in the window of the shop and knew it was the one  I wanted! I tried on others of course to make sure- but I knew this was it  from the start :) So, thank you so much!!!
 
How we met:

Andrew and I met in high school and we went to brother and sister single-sex schools; he was a senior and I was a junior. Our best friends were brother and sister. We started hanging out and became fast friends and the rest is history! We dated long distance through college (he went to Northwestern and I went to Michigan) and I moved to Chicago after college.
 
Our engagement story:
 
Andrew's proposal was AMAZING. In December 2016, Andrew surprised me with a trip to Europe for Christmas. He said he really wanted to go to Copenhagen because neither of us had ever been there and he had heard it was a great place to see during the Christmas season.
 
I was so excited! Before getting to Copenhagen, we were lucky enough to have a long layover and spend the day in Berlin. We get to Copenhagen and we are having an awesome time! There are so many cool Christmas markets and sites to see, and the people are really friendly. A few days into our trip, Andrew  tells me that we need to go to the airport to take the metro to get to the other side of town because we are switching hotels. Andrew's the navigator between the two of us- so, what do I know? I do what he says and I pack my  suitcase and we get to the airport. We're walking around inside, and I'm not noticing any metro signs anywhere. So, I start to think that we're lost. All of a sudden, Andrew says, "Just kidding! We're going to Paris in two hours!"
 
I was SO SHOCKED AND HAPPY! He knows Paris is my favorite city in the world  and how badly I wanted to go back since I had come back from my summer in  Tours a couple of years before.
 

So, I'm at the airport freaking out because:
1. I can't believe he surprised me with a trip to Paris.
2. I was thinking to myself, "We are going to get engaged in  Paris!"
 
And, I was right! Andrew got a room with a balcony facing the Eiffel Tower at  the beautiful Hotel La Bourdonnais and we had a romantic, classic French dinner at a cute bistro in our arrondissement. It was so fun to speak French in France again so unexpectedly!
 

So, after dinner, Andrew says he wants to take a walk, and we get to a little green area by the Eiffel Tower where he gets down on one knee and pops the  question-- with an absolutely BEAUTIFUL ring he designed himself!
 
We had two more days in Paris after that, and we spent it going to my  favorite spots and eating too many French pastries.
 
To say this was a dream proposal is an understatement- I felt like I was in a  movie! It was so amazing and I'm so lucky! Andrew is so thoughtful and sweet,  and our engagement is a memory that I'll cherish forever.
 
 
Our wedding:
Our ceremony was at Holy Name Cathedral and our reception was at Maggiano's Little Italy. These are in downtown Chicago in River North- this is the neighborhood we live in and spend a lot of time in so we figured it was the perfect spot!  

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