Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
Hilary moved by herself to Chicago after college to work as an options trader. At the time, Chris had just graduated from business school and was working as a strategy consultant in Chicago. Chris was in the process of transferring to the firm’s New York office (clearly this didn’t work out). The day Chris’s transfer request was finalized, a mutual friend gave Hilary Chris’s phone number, suggesting that they should meet.
On her birthday, Hilary gave Chris a call, starting the conversation with “You can’t handle me.” To which he replied, “And you are…?” They chatted for a few minutes over the phone and Chris asked Hilary if she’d like to grab a drink sometime. She agreed and asked when, to which he replied “how about now? If you can ‘handle’ it?”
For the record it was 11pm on a Wednesday. In retrospect, Hilary and Chris agree that they both would have been perfectly content with getting some sleep and planning to go out another time. As it was, Hilary had already spent the evening celebrating her birthday and had returned home to prepare for an early morning in the office. Chris, on the other hand, had just returned home from a blind date that was, as he puts it, arguably the most dreadfully boring two hours of his life.
Nevertheless, as neither Hilary nor Chris was willing to back down from the challenge, they agreed to meet for a first date within the hour. Why not? They discovered they lived within a few blocks of one another and agreed to meet at a bar close by. When they met, they instantly hit it off. They stayed up talking at the bar until 4am. Considering that Hilary needed to be in the office by 6am, things must have been going well.
The next morning, unbeknownst to Hilary at the time, Chris rescinded his transfer request, opting to remain in Chicago indefinitely.
Three days later, they went on their official first date and four days after that, Chris asked Hilary to move in with him. Two weeks later, Hilary invited Chris home for Christmas to meet her parents and Chris told Hilary he loved her for the first time on Christmas Day.
Another two weeks go by and Hilary and Chris are signing a lease together. They’ve been inseparable ever since.
Chris proposed to Hilary one year after they signed their first lease on the Kinzie Bridge — the bridge right next to Gilt Bar, the very spot they first laid eyes on each other.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…
Our colors were black and white — with a green earthy natural accent in the flower selection (it was Earth Day and we wanted to celebrate that). The Arco backdrop was perfect for both the ceremony and the reception.
We had a tequila theme going — guests found their tables by matching a small tequila bottle with their name tag to the larger bottle at each table.
The cigar roller added to the theme that was Chris and Hilary — as they frequently enjoy cigars and scotch at their favorite scotch bar in Chicago (Hilary’s Distillery).
Tell us about your main outfits:
We wanted to keep it classy, so Chris went with a traditional black bespoke tux and Hilary went with a platinum white gown. Chris lined his tux jacket with purple paisley print (Paisley is Hilary’s maiden name).
Hilary’s wedding gown fit perfectly when she tried it on in for the first time in the salon and immediately fell in love.
Hilary’s glitter Louboutin’s matched her jeweled-lace wedding dress and her pave diamond wedding band.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
The fireworks — Hilary’s parents surprised the bride and groom with massive and crazy fireworks.
Chris absolutely loved Hilary’s wedding dress; seeing her in it for the first time really made the marriage all the more real.
For the first dance song they chose Milky Chance, Stolen Dance because it was the song playing when Chris first realized he loved Hilary only a week after they met.
The smaller size of our wedding was nice; we had the chance to meet with everyone there, but still had plenty of time to ourselves.
We both got lost in the moment of the ceremony and our love for one another and forgot parts of our vows
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Embrace a selfish day — every Sunday we spend time together; we don’t plan anything, we don’t think, we just spend time together and go where the day takes us.
Make sure you both want the same things out of life — Chris and Hilary definitely talked about what they each wanted before committing to each other.
Don’t go to bed angry — the bedroom should be a happy place void of anger and frustration.
Photographer: Gina & Ryan | Ceremony location: The Terrace at The Cape Hotel | Reception location: The Rooftop at The Cape Hotel | Celebrant: Teo Edgerton | Ceremony entertainment: Los Mosquitoes | DJ: Alex Alanis | Styling: Bliss Events | Flora: Arete Florals | Catering and cake: The Cape Hotel | Cigar roller: The Cabo Cigar Company | Hair and makeup: Blanc Bridal Salon | Wedding dress: Nektaria | Shoes: Christian Louboutin | Groom’s tuxedo: MySuit | Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo | Rings: James Allen | Bridesmaids’ dresses: BHLDN
