adam and kristen get hitched

weddings are fun. i like them. my brother hates them. he dreads them. which is about par for the course seeing as though we are complete opposites of each other! on saturday, kristen quaine finally married adam van dyk of cmc fame. i think you all know him, right? anyways, after 7 years of dating... and a house they bought just a few blocks away from me here.... they finally tied the knot and had one heck of a party!

prior to the wedding, i was feeling a little apprehensive - i was afterall going by myself and unsure of who was on the guest list. obviously i know adam and kristen, but i don't really know their friends. so i decided that clearly i had to look as good as possible to make me feel as good and confident as possible b/c i knew i'd have to put my best networking foot forward. in the morning, i ran the race to wrigley which is a 5k near where i live and then that afternoon, i headed over to the mac store to get my make up done right. since my version of the smoky eye is only adequate, i love getting professional help! the store is in a cute shopping part of town not far from my house, but parking is annoying over there so you usually have to circle for awhile til you find a spot. well, i knew it was my lucky day when i found a spot just a couple short blocks away as the car was leaving, i pulled in and got the quarters out for the ridiculous 25 cent/15 min meters and then saw the 'out of order' sign! yes!!! parking and it was free! i had christina do my make up and i must say, she did a fabulous job and she even tried to teach me what she was doing. i walked out of there feeling pretty darn hot. i'm not gunna lie! i chose to wear a cobalt blue dress which i felt great in (it must run large b/c it is a size smaller than i normally wear) and then i slipped in to the super uncomfortable 4 inch stuart weitzman heels that are open toed and sequined. they're pretty fabulous and worked great with the dress. my feet are less than happy now, but eh, what's a little suffering to look great?!

feeling great, i walked out the door and headed to get a cab. and it started to pour. i mean dump. it'd been raining off and on for most of the day, but this was really hard. and it had cooled off by 20 degrees. brr! i got to the church and immediately ran in to mat chambers who is also a cmc grad 2000. so luckily i had someone to talk to right away. he was there with a couple other cmc 00 classers who i didn't know, but that was ok, i got to know them too. then we were all seated and a few minutes later, mr b money walked in and sat down in front of us with his girlfriend, melissa. what?! i didn't know brent and adam were that good of friends, but i guess they are! the service was held at 4th presbyterian on michigan avenue. it's a big gorgeous church across the street from the hancock building. it was a beautiful ceremony. adam couldn't have looked happier and kristen couldn't have been more gorgeous. she had beautiful hair, makeup, and the dress... amazing. the bridesmaids wore black tea length dresses and there were two ring bearers and 2 flower girls. they were all so cute!

the gorgeous 4th presbyterian church:



adam and his groomsmen:


kristen: doesn't she look gorgeous?!


after the ceremony, everyone moved to a new leaf to begin the celebrating. that should sound familiar to a lot of you as that is also where dev and patrick got married. their venue looked similar - in that the bar and dance floor were in the same places. while it was beautifully decorated, i must say that dev's personal artistic flair that she added to the space was prettier and better done. i wouldn't want to compete against devs in a beautification of a space. but in any case, if i'd have had nothing to compare it to, kristen's space would have been gorgeous.

they had a buffet of chicken and steak strips, gnocchi, green beans, and other accoutrements. the food was good and the bar was great. instead of a wedding cake, they had mini little cupcakes. i wish i'd thought to take a picture, but i didn't. they were so cute and in yummy flavors. i had three. well! they were mini! and they had a carrot cake one and chocolate with vanilla and choc with cherries. i skipped the cherries as i'm not a fan, but the other two were delicious! there was not assigned seating for the food so i found a table with the group of claremont folks and that was fun. i became besties with diana, a 2000 grad of cmc. we had a lot of fun hanging out. and brent's gf was fun too. we all took pics in the photo booth and then once they were printed out, we pasted them on to black paper and wrote with silver sharpies whatever we wanted. i thought it was the coolest guest book i'd ever seen (no offense to you other married gals - i like yours too... but you know how much i love pictures!!).

some of the claremont folk: mat, me, diana, adam:


then the dancing started. there was a downstairs and upstairs bar so no one was wanting for a drink... at one point i was talking to adam and he asked if i'd met kj. and i hadn't so he introduced us and he told me what a great guy he is. we ended up dancing the rest of the night. at some point his tie ended up around my neck and there it stayed. i had a blast. he's tall... cute... nice...

me and kristen:


adam and his adorable dad:


adam with diana, melissa (brent's gf), and me:


me and adam:


melissa and me:


me and kj:


anyways, after all the dancing and the reception was ending... the late night party started! the youngins all moved over to a bar in old town - i believe it's called the catacombs, but i have no idea. it's underground. that much i know. it was a fun little place. somehow i ended up drinking pbr from a can. oh yes.... it turned to that kind of a night. at one point i went to the bathroom and kristen was headed in as i was going out - so i got the duty of helping her hold up her dress. i don't think i've had that honor for awhile... i know i helped courtney... sarah, did i help you? i can't recall. anyways, i digress. almost everyone was out pretty late, i don't think we left until 4ish. i'm not sure b/c the night starts to blur at some point. somehow i managed to make it home with my jacket, umbrella, clutch, camera, shoes, and kj... oh yes, i did. but no ladies, he was a gentleman and i a lady... he might have stayed the night, but that was all. i gave him my number and who knows. but i did have a great time.... i love weddings!!

adam, me and kj:


i love this photo of kristen:


adam & kristen - this had to be around 3am-ish: