Our Story

Picture this, Sicily….1945. Nope, not them! Their story goes back to May 2005. Brock was living in Chicago and Mary was living in San Diego. She came to Chicago for work and arrived a day early to hang out with her friend Natalie and go to a Cubs game. On the way to Wrigley Field, Natalie suggested they stop by a bar and see a few friends before the game. The girls went to this little neighborhood bar to meet up with her friends Todd and Brock to grab a beer before heading to the ballpark. The boys, however, had been there for a while and the girls quickly realized that they were not going to be able to “catch up” to them so they finished their drinks and went off to the game… Fast forward two years, when Mary’s job relocated her to the Windy City. Only knowing a few people there, Mary reached out to Natalie who introduced her to many people Mary still considers friends today, one of them being Brock. Brock and Mary started hanging out regularly, going to see shows and movies, heading out to dinner and drinks as friends. It wasn’t until nearly a year later, all dressed up and heading downtown for the Eve of the Eve party at Union Station, did either of them have any idea of what was to happen next. Fortunately, liquid courage and an unusual set of circumstances set in motion the beginning of a great relationship, a continuation of a solid friendship, and ultimately…..a wedding.

Brock and Mary had plans to head to Michigan for the day for wine tasting and antique shopping. However, the weather had other plans. Forecast for the day was sleet/rain/snow mix. Not necessarily the ideal conditions for a day trip over to New Buffalo (their favorite little getaway destination). Since the weather was supposed to be crappy all day long, Mary decided that she really didn’t want to go but Brock persisted and eventually wore her down, after all, it was still sunny in Chicago. As Mary got ready, Brock took off to fill up the tank and pick up breakfast for the road. No sooner had they hit Lake Shore Drive, did the rain start to fall, but they decided to keep on trucking. An hour and half later, they found themselves sitting at the first winery, enjoying a nice glass of vino. For the next few hours, they darted in and out of wineries and antique shops, hoping to catch a break from the rain. As the day drew to a close, they both realized they should start the trek home because Mary had a race the next morning with her friend Kirsten for her birthday (yes, that’s right….birthday party = fun run in December in Chicago!) Now, it is important to mention that there had been conversations and a wee bit of ring shopping that was done before this trip to Michigan was planned, so it was a natural assumption on Mary’s part that something might happen while they were there. But nothing happened. That assumption, coupled with maybe a bit too much wine tasting created the perfect storm. During the drive home, Mary was pressing Brock about “where is this relationship going? Aren’t we ready to take it to the next level” and “are you ever going to ask me to marry you? Blah, blah, blah” (yes, that’s right – she said it…). All to which Brock kept replying “Soon, babe. Don’t worry about it. Everything is going to work out”. Well, those of you who know Mary, know that it didn’t stop there so she continued to push, saying “Soon? Soon, like an hour from now, soon like in three weeks or SOON like another YEAR from now?” (reminder – too much wine tasting). Needless to say, it was a long hour and half trip home in the dark with rain pouring down. When they got back to Chicago, Brock wanted to stop by his house to pick up clothes for the morning (he had been recruited to drop Kirsten and Mary off for their race). He asked Mary to come upstairs to his place while he packed his bag. She was greeted with flowers that were on the countertop and when asked about them, Brock simply said “Oh those, they were there earlier”. When Mary went to grab a drink of water from the fridge, she saw a bottle of Vueve Cliquot, her favorite type of champagne, and when asked why did he have that in the fridge, Brock didn’t even answer, he just turned and walked away. Many of you at this point cannot believe that Mary had NO CLUE what was going on since the ride home had gotten her way off track. Brock went into the living room and asked Mary to come in and just relax for a few minutes so he could put his stuff together. When she got into the living room, Brock was standing next to the Christmas tree, all decorated and lit up. She walked over to him, got ready to sit down on the couch to wait for him but he dropped to one knee and asked her “Will you marry me?” After a few choice words that Mary uttered mostly to herself about her behavior (those of you who know the story know the words….) she of course said yes! Since it was so late, Mary and Brock called a few family members and some friends they knew were up to tell them the good news. They drank the entire bottle of champagne and went to bed. The rest is, as they say, history…