Thank you so much for visiting our wedding website! We are so excited to celebrate our special day with our family and friends. This website contains wedding day details, travel information, and much more - check back for updates! A special note for those that will be traveling to join us: Please take a look at the Travel section of our website to find useful information about transportation and hotels.

Our love story, like most, started in an interview room. Mike interviewed Cate for a position at CSIG, but we both ended up getting a whole lot more than we bargained for that afternoon. Throughout our time working together, we got to know each other both professionally and personally and realized we shared many interests and pastimes. Around Halloween of 2015, Mike finally worked up the courage to ask Cate out on a date: a trip to the haunted farm. During the haunted hay ride, Mike put his hand on Cate's leg and a spark was felt (Mike's words, not Cate's). To this day, Cate denies that Mike ever put his hand on her leg, but she still (somehow) fell for him. We are "experience over things" people, and throughout the course of our relationship, we have always opted for new experiences. It's a no-brainer to get Mike tickets to any sporting event, so we have attended Bulls basketball games, Cubs baseball games, a Bears football game, and even a Blackhawks hockey game. Cate has even dragged Mike to a few musicals! Cate, on the other hand, loves cooking. We have expanded our recipe collection and tried some pretty unique (and cheesy) dishes over the past few years. Our coworkers have always been intrigued by the lunches we bring in to the office! We also share a love for travel, both domestically and abroad, and are always looking out for our next trip. As we are sure many of you know, our fur baby, Stella, brings us so much joy and happiness! We adopted Stella as a 3 month old puppy in August 2017 and have loved watching her grow and develop into the playful pal she is today. Her personality is unparalleled; she is (almost) always up for a game of fetch or tug, and she will never turn down a cuddle session.

My proposal plans started with taking Mr. and Mrs. Khoury to dinner in December 2017 to ask for their blessing to propose to Cate. During the days leading up to that, I was as nervous as I have ever been. Shout out to the Khourys for taking it easy on me at dinner, and giving me permission to ask for their only daughter's hand in marriage. That night, I stopped at Binny's and bought a bottle of champagne; I got home and hid the bottle in our fridge behind a few rows of beers. I didn't want to wait too long, but Cate and I were in the middle of the Whole30 diet, and I knew she (we) would want to celebrate our engagement with a beverage or two. So I set the date in my head: the first Saturday after our diet was complete, February 10th. As luck would have it, a bottle of Coke exploded in our fridge one night, forcing us to clean our fridge and allowing Cate to discover the secret bottle of champagne! Being as smooth as I am, I was able to come up with some story to get her off of my trail. Dodged a bullet there. Luckily for me, Cate went on a business trip the week of February 10th. Stella and I went to PetSmart to get our supplies. Stella stood patiently while I created a custom dog tag with a special message: "Will you marry my daddy..." Of course the machine didn't have a "?". I would be lying if I said Stella and I didn't go out back and practice our plan: Stella was going to sit at Cate's feet to allow her to read the dog tag, while I would get down on one knee behind her. When the day finally came, I was surprised to find myself calm and ready. Stella, not so much. We got out back and my wingman just fell apart. She ran all over the field and almost knocked the ring out of my hand twice! Once we got back on track, Stella executed perfectly. Cate noticed the tag and turned around to see me on one knee with her ring. I can't even recall what I said, but I can tell you it wasn't very poetic. Luckily Cate said yes and the rest is history!

On a snowy Saturday afternoon, we took Stella outside to play fetch in the snow behind our apartment building. I should clarify, it wasn't a picturesque winter wonderland outside, there were multiple feet of snow on the ground and it was friggin cold. But Stella loves to hop and run through the snow; she is so fascinated by its consistency. Following a couple fetches by Stella, I noticed something on her collar. As I called Stella over and reached down to see what was on the collar, I realized there was a new dog tag around Stella's neck. I wiped the snow away from the tag, I read, "Will you marry my daddy..." Surprised and excited, I turned to Mike who was down on one knee. The moment didn't last all too long, as Stella came over to check out the ring and nearly knocked it out of Mike's hand! I of course said "yes!", unable to contain my excitement. I am so thrilled to be marrying the man of my dreams! Oh, and Stella is overjoyed that her humans are getting married!