Neil Jessel
Katiun Attarpour
Neil Jessel
Katiun Attarpour
July 13, 2024
Our origin story <3
We met on the Second Day of Fall (September 23rd, 2018). Initially, Hinge (the dating app) identified us as possible matches. Admittedly for both of us, it was the ski and mountain photos that intrigued us about one another plus a shared nostalgia of Gary Paulsen's book "The Hatchet" that led us to match positively to one another. Minimal in app exchanges were made and a date of in person meeting was set. We met at Walsh Park (East end of the 606 in Chicago) and from there went on a bike ride on the lakeshore up north towards Evanston on a most comfortable and perfection ridden sunny day. Later that evening we had part B of our first date of cooking Moroccan stew together. Since that day five years ago we have went on countless bike rides, skied from many awe inspiring mountain peaks, and cooked many different stews together. We also have lived together in our "Tree House" since January 2020. On May 21st 2023, Neil encouraged biking to our favorite spot, Promontory Point, to picnic and laze about a sunny day. Kati was deeply focused into the pages of a book when Neil tapped her legs and she looked up to see him with a ring asking her to marry him. The day commenced celebrating with friends and seeing Future Islands perform at the Salt Shedd. Together we have experienced a life rich and vibrant filled with our shared and individual interests as well as cherished and meaningful relationships with our friends and family (you all!). We also have experienced grief, tragedy, and uncertainty. All of the peaks and valleys of life have kept us turning towards one another as we continue to grow together and pursue a life of purpose. We are grateful and thank you all for being a part of our story, uplifting us and celebrating with us.
Schedule
Friday, July 12, 2024
Welcome Event
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
1630 Blue Star Highway, Fennville, MI 49408
Casual
Feel free to bring you kids and pets, we will be on the back patio with a large grassy area, chickens, and yard games. Beer on tap and appetizers provided. Laimoon Chicago will also be serving up delicious Middle Eastern cuisine for purchase.
Saturday, July 13, 2024
Ceremony and Reception
4:00 pm - 11:30 pm
1073 62nd St, Pullman, MI 49450
Come as you are comfortable! Wedding ceremony will be outdoors (weather permitting) followed by cocktail hour indoor/outdoor and reception in the barn. July can be a hot one :)
There is ample parking at Inisfree Estate and we will also have shuttle services from South Haven hotels before and after wedding. The schedule and pick up/drop off locations are the following: Hotel Pickup Location: Pickup #1: Hampton Inn: 04299 Cecilia Drive, South Haven, MI 49090 Pickup #2: Baymont South Haven 1555 Phoenix Street, South Haven, MI Pickup #3: Oak Street Beach Access 409 N Shore Dr, South Haven, MI Continuous Shuttle Start: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm (Ceremony begins at 4pm!) Continuous Shuttle Return Times: 8:00pm – 11:59pm Please respect our value and wish of no drinking and driving. **If you are staying outside of the South Haven area, please check our Transportation section on this website for area taxi services. Uber/Lyft/Ride share is not abundant/reliable form of transportation in this area ** We love our friends and families with children and love spending time with them, however our wedding will be adults only with the exception of infants.
Travel and Accommodations
Shuttle
Shuttle to Ceremony / Reception
July 13, 2024 2:00 pm - 12:00 am
We will be providing shuttles between the venue and South Haven. Hotel Pickup Location: Pickup #1: Hampton Inn: 04299 Cecilia Drive, South Haven, MI 49090 Pickup #2: Baymont South Haven 1555 Phoenix Street, South Haven, MI Pickup #3: Oak Street Beach Access 409 N Shore Dr, South Haven, MI Continuous Shuttle Start: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm (Ceremony begins at 4pm!) Continuous Shuttle Return Times: 8:00pm – 11:59pm Please respect our value and wish of no drinking and driving. **If you are staying outside of the South Haven area, please check our Transportation section below for area taxi services. Uber/Lyft/Ride share is not abundant/reliable form of transportation in this area **
Flight
Air Travel
For those coming from far away. First... Thank you, we are honored that you are joining. Second... There are a couple of airport options: - Chicago Airports (O'hare and Midway) it is about a 2 hour drive from the Chicago area. The Amtrak Pere Marquette line departs from Chicago Union Station and serves the South Haven via the Bangor, MI station. - Grand Rapids Airport is about an hour drive from South Haven and has many flight options from around the US. Unfortunately car transit is the only option from this airport.
House Or Rental
South Haven - Rent a home with friends & family
We have shared countless trips with friends renting houses together. The South Haven area has many vacation rentals available that may be a better option than hotels depending on your preference! (Air Bnb, VRBO, and the Shores Realty). Douglas, Saugatuck, and Fennville are also close options.
Hotel
Hampton Inn South Haven
Rate: $399/night (will be discounted further if the block fills up) Call the hotel and tell them you are attending the Attarpour / Jessel wedding and would like to be added to the block. Block will be released back to inventory on June 10th, 2024.
Hotel
Baymont by Wyndham South Haven
Room block rate: from $249 Room block directions: If you follow the link it should prefill dates and rate but if it does not then follow step 2-7 1) Baymont by Wyndham South Haven | South Haven, MI Hotels (wyndhamhotels.com) 2) Put Check in 07/12/2024 and Check out date 07/4/2023 (Cut Off Date-06/12/2024) 3) Go to the Rate applied Section and check mark "Group Code". 4) Put "CGGRAJ" (Above Link is already pre filled) 5) Hit "Done". 6) Hit "Update". 7) Guests will see the rate and room type to book. Minimum 2 Nights
Discount Code - CGGRAJ
Rental Car
Cyndi's Moonlight Express
Local Taxi service as we cannot verify the reliability and availability of ride share (Uber/Lyft)
Rental Car
Old Harbor Shuttle
Local Taxi service as we cannot verify the reliability and availability of ride share (Uber/Lyft).
Rental Car
Saugatuck Douglas Taxi Service
Local Taxi service as we cannot verify the reliability and availability of ride share (Uber/Lyft).
Registry
Wedding Party
Chris 'Zeke' Campbell
Best Man
Zeke and Neil have known each other since elementary school, with their friendship growing deeper over the years. They have participated in countless antics spanning the globe, from road trips, to couch surfing to camping to big cabins filled with friends. Over the years they have earned at least a dozen nicknames and alter egos. While often being bad influences on each other whilst together, they have also been there for each other throughout the trials and tribulations of adulthood. They refer to each other as 'brothers.'
David Stohrer
Groomsman
Neil and David have known each other literally their entire lives, growing a couple houses away on the small Cul De Sac (Rugby St represent!) Growing up they spent countless hours playing outside or in the basement on videogames. They continued their close friendship both attending Michigan State, and into adulthood!
Ben Fields
Groomsman
Ben and Neil have been friends for over a decade, they met while both living in Denver in the 'Brewery Scene.' As a Venn diagram of their hobbies closely resembles a circle they quickly became good friends. Activities and shenanigans ensued at brewery run clubs, skiing(snowboarding,) biking, hiking, camping, grilling and generally hangin' out. They have remained friends through each others moves, never missing a winter skiing together and often times visiting in the summer.... including a 6 week long stint crashing on his girlfriend’s (now wife) couch during covid to escape the concrete jungle of Chicago.
Joe Larocca
Groomsman
Joe and Neil became friends while starting their careers at Parker Hannifin. They both got placed in Denver, and pragmatically decided to rent a house together as at the time they were both road warriors and their respective apartments were often empty. They quickly became close friends, often partaking in karaoke, roadtrips on the 'road less traveled' and sharing a general love for traveling and sharing the details of their respective adventures. Also they once had a great Halloween costume of Hall and Oates (see photo.)
Kavon Attarpour
Groomsman
Kavon is Kati's brother. We have spent good times together in Arizona, Chicago, and also Kavon's family joined in the South Haven summer memories recently. Neil is excited to make the joining of families official and spending much more time together.
Adam Mesirow
Officiant
Kati and Neil have asked Adam to officiate their wedding. Kati has known Adam since he started dating (now married) her best friend Nicole in the earliest of their days in Chicago (before Kati even moved in! What a sly guy). Before Neil, Kati was often a welcomed and regaled third wheel (Threes Company!) with Nicole and Adam. When Kati and Neil began dating, Neil and Adam quickly became good (mischievous) friends on the numerous double dates and trips they have all taken together, which gave Nicole and Kati a welcomed relief that the boys could now entertain each other with their antics and tom foolery. Kati and Neil are honored and excited that Adam has agreed to officiate their wedding!
Nicole Ruhlman Mesirow
Matron of Honor
Nicole and I attended nursing school together at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). Although we were classmates, our friendship was not thoroughly cemented until the summer before senior year when we were both "Summer III" interns at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN having bonded over the summer of finding humor in everything, shared experiences of growing up in the "989" (Freeland and Saginaw!) and shared career goals. After graduation, Nicole moved to Los Angeles and myself to Cleveland, OH and then Washington D.C. and both of us finished graduate school to become CRNAs. We encouraged each other and vented throughout graduate school and our friendship grew and strengthened despite the many miles and scant vacation time between us. We both decided to start our careers as CRNAs in Chicago and become roommates! Together we have had countless dance parties, yoga dates, adventurous travels, dinner parties, solstice parties, all the parties, and continue to uplift one another to imagine life's biggest dreams and possibilities. Neil and I are fortunate and grateful to have Nicole, Adam, and now Lilian "Lil" as our inner circle of Chicago family. <3
Kristine Mady
Best Friend
Kristine and I met during summer league for basketball in high school (myself a freshman and Kristine a sophomore). Both of us were new students to Heritage High and both initially shy as the "newbies" and gravitated to one another sharing humor and laughing when it wasn't called for (often earning us extra running). Kristine was the ultimate high school best friend, being a year older, and driving us everywhere from practice, the mall, the movies, football games, the Y, and me also often being the third wheel to join in on her dates in her Silver Saturn. Our high school women's basketball team ended up being Class A Runner up State Champs and the next year State Champs which was both fun and often times stressful and immensely time consuming. I couldn't imagine the experience of basketball or high school without Kristine. We have remained the bestest of friends, sharing memories on the campus of Umich and Ricks American cafe, countless visits in NYC, Michigan reunions, and visits to Chicago. We can always pick up (laughing) where we left off no matter the time or distance. SYS always <3
Megan Schmidt
Best Friend
Megan and I formally met in the bathroom at Georgetown University while washing our hands during a break from Biochemistry and me cooly saying "hey girl, cool pullover...we should watch the game together sometime" (commenting on her University of Michigan attire). From there on, a friendship was forged as classmates at Georgetown during CRNA school. Megan and I spent countless (thousands?) of hours studying together, watching Michigan sports (including a whirlwind trip to Atlanta for the 2013 Final Four), encouraging one another, humoring one another and definitely finding joy during a stressful time of our lives. Megan and her husband, Bobby, very much became like family among other cherished classmates- celebrating holidays and birthdays together away from our own family. We made the most of our time in D.C. finding every free event imaginable and termed it "ballin on a budget." In our last months of school, Megan strongly encouraged (coerced) me into joining her in an opportunity at an away rotation in Shiprock, New Mexico, providing anesthesia on a Navajo Indian reservation. It was one of the best decisions of my life and while we were there, took full opportunity to hike and camp in some of the most beautiful areas of "The Four Corners." Her curiosity to explore places and cultures has inspired me since that time and is where my own love for hiking started. We continue to adventure together and she continues to be a source of inspiration and guidance in my life. <3
Keri Attarpour
Sister in law and friend
Keri is my Sister-in-law, married to my brother Kavon, and mother to my fun loving nieces Kinsley (11) and Kamryn (7). Keri and my brother have been married for 15 years together and she is thoughtful, creative, fun, and always shows up for family. A more recent post-pandemic tradition has been for Neil and I to share Christmas in Arizona with Keri and Kavon hosting which we look forward to drinking coffee and playing outside in the sunshine on Christmas Day. I am grateful to have her as a sister and friend. <3
Alyson "Aly" Jessel
Sister in law and friend
Aly is Neil's sister, married to Troy and mother of our energetic and curious niece and nephew, Mari and Max. Aly and I quickly bonded as we share many similar interests including books, funny memes, social advocacy, picking on Neil, yummy recipes and food, and more recently...roller skating! She is someone I can laugh with and also discuss deep topics with. We have enjoyed many holidays together, annual Boyne family ski trips, Chicago family visits, and of course always our summer slice of heaven in South Haven. I feel so lucky to have Aly as both a sister and a friend. <3
Gallery
Things To Do
South Beach
A beautiful white sand family beach. Kati and Neil have spent many days by the beach and evenings on the bluff watching the sunset. Bring a picnic! You can also rent stand up paddle boards and kayaks.
Kal Haven Trail
Beautiful bike path that is contiguous between South Haven and Kalamazoo. As many of you know, a bike ride on the Chicago Lakefront was Neil & Kati's first date, we love to ride bikes together! Also great for roller blading! (Kati favorite). Area bike shops do both E-bike and regular bike rentals with rates by the hour or full day.
South Haven Farmers Market
Produce in Southwest Michigan is bountiful and delicious and at its prime in the summer! *Open from 8am-2pm Wednesdays and Saturdays. *Located downtown at the Huron St. Pavillion ** Kati favorite vendor (and Aly and Lynn): Cheese People of Grand Rapids
Salt of the Earth (favorite restaurant)
A true hidden gem. Great farm-to-table food and wonderful drinks in an inviting, minimalist setting. Recommend reservations in advance.
Breweries
Several breweries! Here is a shortlist: *Virtue Cider *Guardian Brewing * Waypost *Saugatuck Brewing *Three Blondes Brewery
Wyncroft Winery
This one was a delightful and humbling surprise to us! Peggy and Bruce (the owners of our wedding venue and B&B) shared this wine with us from the winery down the road and we particularly enjoyed the Blaufrankisch. We also learned that their wine is served in several Great Lakes restaurants including Daisies in Chicago (one of our favorite restaurants!) and Websters Wine bar in Logan Square where we had a date early in our relationship. Must call to reserve a tour/tasting-no walk ins.
Saugatuck Dunes State Park
A real stunner! Saugatuck Dunes State Park is home to 2. 5miles of sandy Lake Michigan shoreline, coastal dunes, forested areas, and 13 miles of trails. Four trails take visitors over rolling terrain and sandy trails to Lake Michigan. There is also a 2 mile mountain bike trail, disc golf course and other outdoor recreational opportunities. Also dogs allowed. Check out All Trails or simply google for more information on the various trails.
Tallmadge Woods and Crows Nest Nature Preserve Hike
2.6 mile loop trail in Saugatuck. Hike (or trail run) through wooded dunes (the path is firm versus sandy). The trail hovers above Kalamazoo River and meanders along dune ridges. You will eventually come across an overlook that offers incredible views of the Oxbow Lagoon, Lake Michigan, and the Kalamazoo River. Park at Mt Baldhead park and then walk about 0.5 mile along Park street to the trailhead. No/limited parking directly at trailhead! Optional: add on Mt Baldhead stair climb after! ** For someone looking for a longer running route-Kati has options to make this into a longer scenic beautiful run!
Mount Baldhead Park
Only one mile roundtrip but the loop starts with a 200 foot climb up the steps to Mount Baldhead before descending onto the grassy, coastal sand at Oval Beach. Gorgeous views from the top! Do the hike in your swimsuit and enjoy a refreshing dip in Lake Michigan. Consider adventure sandals :)
The Farmhouse Deli & Pantry
Everything here is tasty! Baked goods, deli sandwiches, pastas, fresh juices, full coffee menu. Try the strawberry rhubarb scone! Excellent grab and go options for the beach or hike or picnic. Disclaimer: gets very busy on the summer weekends-if ordering sandwiches order online ahead.
J. Petter Galleries
Curated collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and glassworks from over 140 artists complemented by wine, artisan cheeses, and hand poured chocolates in the wine bar and shop.
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