The people who know me well know that I am an avid proponent of online dating. I joined Match myself for the first time years ago when I was 25, as a way to meet people while I was in the midst of a busy season of my life. I had grown up hearing stories about how generations before us had met their significant others – my parents had met through mutual friends, while others met in high school, or at a college party, or at the local bar. But I had broken up with the boy I dated in high school because he wasn’t right for me in the long run, and I had been enjoying my singledom in college and grad school, and I already had met my friends’ friends, and while they were great people, none of them were particularly the person I could particularly envision spending the rest of my life with. I was working two jobs and didn’t spend a lot of time hitting up the local bars, and when I did, I wanted to spend that time with my friends, not scoping out the men in the room for future husband material.
Online dating opened up an entirely new world of opportunities– it became a place where I could meet someone to hit up a local event with, or who would want to chat about the books or shows that my friends didn’t share my interest in, or a guy in a neighboring city whose path I would otherwise have been unlikely to cross. I’ve been in the business of love for some years now and have watched as the stigma of online dating continues to fade, as more and more of my couples come to me and say “We actually met on Tinder!” or “I messaged him on Bumble” and I continue to be amazed by how cool it is that there is a way for us to meet the people we will spend the rest of our lives with who we otherwise may never had met.
Michael had been on Match for a bit when Elise decided to join for three months to try it out, and within her first month on the app, the two of them came across each other’s profiles. After exchanging messages briefly, they decided to meet for dinner one night. What started as simply a meal turned into a six hour date of talking about their loves and their lives and getting to know this person across from them who hours before had simply been a stranger. Michael has said that within 25 minutes of their date, he already knew this was the woman he wanted to marry – because sometimes, you just do.
Their wedding day was a perfect combination of each of their qualities, which happen to be a few of the things they love about each other – Michael speaks of Elise being fun and sassy and funny, and we saw this in the way she beamed at him and lit up the room with her enjoyment of their wedding guests serenading him with a Backstreet Boys song during the reception. And Elise also speaks often of the qualities Michael possesses that bring out the best in her – she’s referred to his gentle spirit, and the way his calm nature brings her peace whenever things are feeling crazy. I truly do think I could feel this in them throughout their wedding day – the way they stabilize and chill one another out, and the way they shared quiet moments and looked at each other in a way without saying words that felt like they were communicating regardless. They both referred to the way the other person brings out the best in them, and this felt like precisely what the rest of us were in the midst of on their day.
Wedding Planner: Effortless Events, Tiffany Beales
Florist: Aberdeen’s
Church: St. Mary of Vernon
Reception Venue, Food, Decor: Hilton Chicago Northbrook
DJ: Charizma Entertainment
