October 23, 1999
Wedding Blessing By My Students
The Trolley
The First Dance
Brian,
Today (well.. it was" today" when I originally wrote this) marks ten years of marriage. What a great wedding ceremony and reception we had. It was so much fun planning our special day. I am still amazed at how well everything worked out. I can honestly say that if we did it all over again, I would not change a thing.
My favorite part of planning our reception was searching for the right band. Remember the band that we went to see at the Palmer House? (note: this is favorite wedding planning story to share) The bandleader told us to stop by about 9:00pm.....made sense to us, as we figured dinner would be over and we could hang out discreetly in the back of the room and listen to the band for awhile. Well, the two of us and my friend Michelle (who had joined us for the evening, as we had big plans to crash the Fremd High School 10th Reunion at the Union League Club!) sauntered into the Palmer House and were directed toward a large open stairwell that extended right out into the main lobby.
As we opened the door and entered the room, I quickly became aware that something was wrong. As in very wrong. People weren't up dancing, mingling, and talking, with the lights low, like we had expected at 9pm. Noooo, they were all heading toward their seats, as dinner hadn't even been served. That would be just fine, except for one SMALL detail......WE HAD NO SEATS!!!!
And the door in we had just entered appeared to be the only way in and out of the place....unless we did an about face and left, which didn't quite seem to make sense. In a controlled panic, we made a beeline for the back corner, where we spied a bar from afar. We tried to look like we belonged, although we probably stood out like sore thumbs. You nervously asked the bartender for a beer....I think you felt like strangling the bandleader instead. Everyone in the party was now seated and it would have been too obvious if we had slinked our way across the empty dance floor to the exit. So we froze, unsure of what to do. A Palmer House staff member appeared and asked us if we were with the wedding. When we told him that the band had invited us to listen to the music, he disapprovingly told us "that wasn't going to happen" and told us we were going to have to leave. Brian spoke up and said that we didn't particularly care to be escorted out in front of the 200 wedding guests....was there another way out? And that's how we got a guided tour of the Palmer House kitchen, past dozens of kitchen workers who gawked at us as we wandered by, smiling!
Needless to say, we didn't hire THAT band and we earned the title "The Wedding Crashers"!
Our next band search led us to the Dennis Keith Band. They were playing at Grant Park as part of the Summer Dance series on Thursday nights. The city of Chicago was offering free dance lessons each Thursday...and live music for the evening so that everyone could try out their new moves. I don't remember what they were teaching that evening... salsa? Anyway, we had a great time dancing to the music. We knew this was the band we wanted to hire after they played a memorable version of "Disco Inferno". I swear, half the city of Chicago got up to dance! They were great at our reception... got everyone onto the dance floor, they knew exactly what music to play and accommodated our unusual wish of making "Unforgettable" into a foxtrot. People left the reception next to ours to come and dance in our room. The band was that good!
I also loved the trolley we hired. We almost didn't have the trolley because the first one died making it's way from the city to Palatine. Luckily a replacement made it to the house on time! I love some of the pictures that were taken on the trolley!
I almost forgot about the dance lessons we took. That was a lot of fun. We never got very good at waltzing or swing dancing but our foxtrot couldn't be matched! Remember walking into the reception hall and doing our first dance? We had the whole dance choreographed by the dance instructor. Sounds kind of cheesy now, but it was fun at the time. Anyway... I was so nervous. I hate being the center of attention. I was so relieved when it was over. I could tell that you were loved having all those eyes on you! By the way, Brian, you are really good at "twinkling".
Today (well.. it was" today" when I originally wrote this) marks ten years of marriage. What a great wedding ceremony and reception we had. It was so much fun planning our special day. I am still amazed at how well everything worked out. I can honestly say that if we did it all over again, I would not change a thing.
My favorite part of planning our reception was searching for the right band. Remember the band that we went to see at the Palmer House? (note: this is favorite wedding planning story to share) The bandleader told us to stop by about 9:00pm.....made sense to us, as we figured dinner would be over and we could hang out discreetly in the back of the room and listen to the band for awhile. Well, the two of us and my friend Michelle (who had joined us for the evening, as we had big plans to crash the Fremd High School 10th Reunion at the Union League Club!) sauntered into the Palmer House and were directed toward a large open stairwell that extended right out into the main lobby.
As we opened the door and entered the room, I quickly became aware that something was wrong. As in very wrong. People weren't up dancing, mingling, and talking, with the lights low, like we had expected at 9pm. Noooo, they were all heading toward their seats, as dinner hadn't even been served. That would be just fine, except for one SMALL detail......WE HAD NO SEATS!!!!
And the door in we had just entered appeared to be the only way in and out of the place....unless we did an about face and left, which didn't quite seem to make sense. In a controlled panic, we made a beeline for the back corner, where we spied a bar from afar. We tried to look like we belonged, although we probably stood out like sore thumbs. You nervously asked the bartender for a beer....I think you felt like strangling the bandleader instead. Everyone in the party was now seated and it would have been too obvious if we had slinked our way across the empty dance floor to the exit. So we froze, unsure of what to do. A Palmer House staff member appeared and asked us if we were with the wedding. When we told him that the band had invited us to listen to the music, he disapprovingly told us "that wasn't going to happen" and told us we were going to have to leave. Brian spoke up and said that we didn't particularly care to be escorted out in front of the 200 wedding guests....was there another way out? And that's how we got a guided tour of the Palmer House kitchen, past dozens of kitchen workers who gawked at us as we wandered by, smiling!
Needless to say, we didn't hire THAT band and we earned the title "The Wedding Crashers"!
Our next band search led us to the Dennis Keith Band. They were playing at Grant Park as part of the Summer Dance series on Thursday nights. The city of Chicago was offering free dance lessons each Thursday...and live music for the evening so that everyone could try out their new moves. I don't remember what they were teaching that evening... salsa? Anyway, we had a great time dancing to the music. We knew this was the band we wanted to hire after they played a memorable version of "Disco Inferno". I swear, half the city of Chicago got up to dance! They were great at our reception... got everyone onto the dance floor, they knew exactly what music to play and accommodated our unusual wish of making "Unforgettable" into a foxtrot. People left the reception next to ours to come and dance in our room. The band was that good!
I also loved the trolley we hired. We almost didn't have the trolley because the first one died making it's way from the city to Palatine. Luckily a replacement made it to the house on time! I love some of the pictures that were taken on the trolley!
I almost forgot about the dance lessons we took. That was a lot of fun. We never got very good at waltzing or swing dancing but our foxtrot couldn't be matched! Remember walking into the reception hall and doing our first dance? We had the whole dance choreographed by the dance instructor. Sounds kind of cheesy now, but it was fun at the time. Anyway... I was so nervous. I hate being the center of attention. I was so relieved when it was over. I could tell that you were loved having all those eyes on you! By the way, Brian, you are really good at "twinkling".
Then there was the Hyatt. They went out of their way to meet our needs. What a great place for our reception.... everything was so beautiful.... from the cocktail hour in the lobby to the incredible sweet table. Too bad we never found time to eat the sweets!
There are a lot more memories I have from our wedding day... from the photographer who kept telling me not to smile so she could take photos of me "in deep thought". She never got any of those shots because I kept on smiling.
Father Joe having my students come up and give us a special blessing... there was not a dry eye in the church! I never even knew he had planned that.
I wish I could forget my scabs for eyebrows. The lady at the salon burned me with hot wax while waxing my brows. Guess she forgot to check the temperature first.
Well.... I know that we always talked about going back to Hawaii this year to celebrate our 10th. Looks like it won't be happening due to the expenses we had this year. Guess we'll just have to go outside, sit in the new car and stare at the new paint job on the house. Maybe I'll even spring for a bottle of sparkling wine to drink as we sit there and reflect on the last 10 years. I'm sure we can find a few Goldfish in the back seat to snack on. We'll have to try for Hawaii for our 25th anniversary. Actually, forget that idea because we'll be paying for college tuition at that time!
So.... "Happy Anniversary" Brian.
Here's a "high five" for surviving another year with me and the kids and the vocal dogs and the vomiting cat and the never ending chores that come with owning an OLD house.
And..., by the way, I legally changed my last name yesterday. You are now married to a "Susan Knoll Stage"... no hyphen. Surprise!
Love,
Sue
