Ever wonder who to have as the best man or the maid/matron of honor? One clue — they figure prominently in your love story. Enjoy this love story I shared with 300 guests last weekend.
How did Amanda and Sean’s love story begin?
The met May of 2006. Kevin, the best man and the groom’s brother, owned an Italian restaurant in the northwest suburbs.
She got hired as the phone girl.
There was an art fair in Park Ridge — the restaurant sold pizza by the slice. Sean worked at the event. So did Amanda. It was really hot — 100 degrees and humid.
HER 1st impression — oh, Kevin’s little brother. HIS 1st impression — oh, the phone girl.
They exchange phone numbers that day — but with NO romantic intentions. They become friends. She thinks he is too young. He thinks she is too old.
One night, they’re with a group of friends at Nick’s Pub. It’s for her 25th birthday. He lies and says he is not coming home from college for the party. When he shows up, she is surprised — in a good way.
SHE kisses him that evening. But nothing changes between them — for 8 months.
May 2007 — a year after they first meet. He comes home from college for the summer. They spend lots of time together, constantly.
One night, at a bar, they start joking around. “You don’t really want to date me,” she says. “Yea, I do,” he replies. She is floored — she had no idea. Then he leaves — on a family vacation, for a week.
They have been dating ever since.
How did Sean propose to Amanda?
It was June 28, 2009. She had no idea the proposal was coming.
Her grandfather was in declining health. On Sunday, Grandpa is put in hospice.
On Monday, Sean takes her out to dinner. She thought it was to cheer her up. She picked the place — Eliott’s. She got crab legs.
She did not notice if he was acting different or not. He’s stalling for time. They have dinner. And dessert. Then he orders another beer. That did seem odd to her — but she was still clueless. He needs one hour. The hour has passed.
They go home. They come in the back door. Tealight candles line the back hallway. She starts to panic. In the kitchen, champagne and roses are on one counter. More candles are on another counter. On the kitchen table is an 8×10 photo of them. There are more candles around that.
This was all set up by Diana, the maid of honor, in one hour. He had drawn up a diagram — but he had put it in his bag, she could not find it. Sean says she did a better job than he drew up. Tom, her boyfriend, helped her.
In the kitchen, Sean gets down on one knee. He holds the ring box — closed and upside down! He has a speech prepared — but he’s too nervous to say it. “I love you more than you can imagine. “Will you marry me?” Immediately, she says “Yes”. Then she snatches the ring — and puts it on herself.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of laughter by their guests. (I get that all the time.)
This was shared indoors — it was supposed to be outdoors but 30 minutes before the ceremony began it rained hard with strong winds — at the Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca with the wonderful Susan Johnson arranging it all.
The couple was kind enough to invite me to stay for the reception and sit at the bride’s parent’s table. It was a lot of fun.
In the News, Pre-marital Counseling | Rev. Phil Landers | 
May 28, 2010 10:10 AM | 
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