Archive for June 2018

The Weston Hotel in Itasca was the setting for the wedding I officiated for Leo and Mary on June 15, 2018.  I had not been at this venue and is it ever a beautiful setting for a wedding.  Attached to the hotel is a giant air conditioned/heated tent that overlooks the lake and is a wonderful place for a wedding and/or reception.  There is a great patio outside the tent and then a walkway down to the lake.  The bridal party walks down the walkway with guest seated on either side for a lakeside wedding with a great giant fountain off to the left.  Both Leo and Mary were easy to work with.  We did not have a rehearsal but everything went flawlessly in this relaxed wedding.  The wireless microphone I was using kept cutting out and the sound guys immediately ran a wired mike up to me from their sound booth about 100 feet away & all was good.

I officiated the ceremony for Robert and Rachel in a forest preserve on Saturday, June 16 which was a day that came close to setting the record high temperature and the wedding was in the full sun at 1:00 PM.  Guest had to park about ¼ mile away and they had a golf card shuttling them to the remote campground where the ceremony took place.  Robert and Rachel got engaged at this very spot and it was an ideal location for their wedding.  The bride and bridesmaids all had lanterns instead of flower bouquets.  The guests waited under the trees in the shade before the wedding started.  There were coolers of cold water and hand held fans for all the guests.  Robert and Rachel wrote their own vows and both got an applause from their family and friends when they were done.  It was a very warm day but we all acclimated to the heat and it was not as bad as you would think it could be.  This was a very fun wedding with a very down to earth group of people.

Michael and Tina choose me as their wedding officiant for their June 23, 2018 wedding at Venuti’s Italian Restaurant & Banquet Hall.  I had the opportunity to attend the rehearsal dinner in the restaurant and it was a wonderful meal and what a friendly family to meet!  Michael and Tina wrote their own vows and when they read them to each other it was very emotional for both of them.  Their guests and family were very fun loving and they had a great ceremony filled with family involvement.

I officiated the wedding for Johnny and Rabiya at Chateau Ritz in Niles on Milwaukee Road on June 23, 2018.  It was my first time at this venue and it is a great setting for a wedding,  There is plenty of parking, a great upstairs room for the bride to prepare and it is big enough that they took lots of pictures in it before the wedding.  The hall was very large and they can actually handle two events at the same time.  This was a fun wedding.  We did not have a rehearsal but things were very well organized and it was a flawless ceremony.  In Rabiya’s heritage is a tradition in which the bride’s family accompanies her down the aisle and they hold a large veil above her as they walk in.  It was really cool to see and they both have fun families.