Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center

Wedding Day

Wedding

Veterans Memorial Hall and Museum

Reception

Our Wedding

December 3,&nbsp;2016: Having&nbsp;moved&nbsp;from Arlington Heights&nbsp;to Naperville and having decided to date exclusively through Tinder,&nbsp;T.J.&nbsp;logs on to OKCupid to delete his profile. It's there that he notices a 27-year old from Schaumburg with the user name 3cmdavis has "liked" him.&nbsp;

T.J.: Good smile. Cute. Her profile felt genuine and I liked that she described herself as "annoyingly optimistic."&nbsp;Seemed like bad timing that I had just moved out of her area, though. But&nbsp;I&nbsp;ended up&nbsp;messaging&nbsp;her a few days later.&nbsp;













Chelsea:&nbsp; "You had me at annoyingly optimistic" was his opening line.&nbsp; He says that I "liked" his profile, but reading that&nbsp;message is the first memory I have of him and&nbsp;his witty profile.













T.J.: Initial&nbsp;conversation was pleasant; we set a date to play&nbsp;trivia together













Chelsea: He fell off the grid once we set the date.















T.J.: I slow played it, then sent a "Happy First Date&nbsp;Eve" text the night before our date. It was my go-to move.&nbsp;















December 14,&nbsp;2016:&nbsp;Chelsea and T.J. meet for their first date at Riley's in&nbsp;Elmhurst 















Chelsea: I had almost cancelled the date a few times.&nbsp; He didn't seem all that interested. We set a date in Elmhurst of all places and I was afraid of being seen by&nbsp;students (which did happen) and to top it all off, I spilled my lunch all over my shirt at work that day.&nbsp; Lucky for him, I had an extra shirt in my car and was left with no reason to bail on him.















T.J.: I had a funny trivia name I wanted to use.&nbsp;Feel her out a little.















Chelsea:&nbsp;He suggested a trivia name and it was the perfect way to break the ice.&nbsp;&nbsp;















Their trivia name was "This is Our First Date and If We Get Last Place There Won't Be a Second." 















T.J.: After the host read the team names the&nbsp;whole bar was rooting for us.&nbsp;It was awesome.















Chelsea: The host read the team names aloud and all of a sudden everyone in the bar was interested in our first date.&nbsp;It was super weird.



T.J.: We finished in 4th out of about 10 teams. Respectable showing for a first date.



Chelsea: The next few&nbsp;dates were also to&nbsp; play trivia, something that we still do weekly.&nbsp;

T.J.: After a few more dates I deleted my Tinder and OKCupid profiles for good.&nbsp;

The Beginning

We sort of have a thing about paint colors.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;kitchen cabinets are Chelsea Grey.&nbsp; T.J.'s Badlands wall color is actually named&nbsp;Badlands. Our living room wall is painted Smoky Mountain Grey and adorned with pictures of our trip there.&nbsp;

On Monday, September 24, T.J. took the day off of work (Chelsea thought he was golfing) and painted another wall. He decorated it with pictures,&nbsp;inside jokes, and other mementos. When Chelsea came home from work, he told her that he had redecorated. He brought her into the room and showed her&nbsp;the wall. While she was taking it all in, he handed her the paint swatch that&nbsp;showed the color he picked out.&nbsp;

The Proposal

Our Story

Details

Photos

Mr. Meyers has represented transportation and warehouse clients across a wide array of legal matters including property losses, general liability, enforcement of warehousemen liens, and contract review. &nbsp;He is the co-author of Packing on the Pounds: Warehouse Liability for Overweight Loads, which was published in the Fall 2011 issue of 3PL Americas.

He is also my best man.&nbsp;





Eric "Marv" Meyers

Amanda and I have been best friends since we were in diapers.&nbsp; We grew up together and logged many hours in the show&nbsp;barn, basketball and volleyball courts,&nbsp;swimming pool, and in our basements on roller blades.&nbsp; Amanda is family and after nearly three decades of wonderful friendship, I couldn't ask for a better woman to have as my MOH.

Areas of Improvement:&nbsp; Cardinal directions

Areas of Excellence:&nbsp; Boggle skills, Supermom,&nbsp;Kindest person I know

Amanda Shippy

Katherine and I met as Freshman at 4-H House&nbsp;Sorority.&nbsp; We were the only non-agriculture majors in our pledge class,&nbsp;had an alarming amount of&nbsp;lime green and blue dorm&nbsp;decorations, and loved to play catch&nbsp;to de-stress during exam weeks.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Area of&nbsp;Improvement:&nbsp; Sending&nbsp;the tasty treats she bakes to&nbsp; Illinois

Areas of Excellence:&nbsp; Great Netflix game,&nbsp;Funniest person I know

Katherine Kuehl

I sure am glad this pong playin’, dart throwin’, concert-goin’, nickname bestowin’, badlands-roamin’, ski-sloppin’, sally sneakin',&nbsp;meatball-makin’, late-night chattin’, atta baby houshin’, siiiimple duder joined the band.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Stephen "Gniad" Gniadecki

Nikki and I met playing t-ball, but became close friends much later while playing&nbsp;softball.&nbsp; High school brought us even closer as&nbsp;oboes were seated near the clarinets, and closer still when coach played me (a sophomore) as a forward on the freshman team.&nbsp; She always wished she lived on a farm, so it was easy to convince her to do my chores for me and I will forever be grateful for that.

Areas of Improvement:&nbsp; Favorite sports teams

Areas of Excellence: Euchre skills,&nbsp;Most caring person I know

Nicole Richter (Soon to be Mrs. Wiegartz!)

Kevin and I were middle school frenemies. We tossed rocks at each other from our adjacent backyards. He&nbsp;was accused by our 4th grade teacher of cheating off me and I didn't defend him. In 5th grade, I led our intramural indoor soccer team to a championship over his squad. We've grown closer since. He was the first one in our squad to get married, first to buy a house, and first to have kids. I admire him for leading us into adulthood.&nbsp;

Great movie line-quoter and has a stupid memory for things.&nbsp;

Kevin "OD" O'Donovan

Thanks for being my 2002 Turnabout date, Baj.&nbsp;

Shout out to Najewski, Domke, Wujick, the Lindblooms, and all the other teachers who had to endure our&nbsp;classroom high jinks.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Most likely groomsman to eat 50 eggs.



2018&nbsp;Transfusion&nbsp;Cup Record: 3-0-1



Kevin "Baj" Bajer

Jacqueline and&nbsp;I met through 4-H.&nbsp; We were not in the same club, but that's the beauty of our fair family.&nbsp; We traveled all over the state line to spend time with these fair friends and there was never a dull moment or shortage of McDonald's breakfast food.&nbsp; She's now living in Minnesota&nbsp;and whether she was trying to or not, has&nbsp;succeeded in making it one of my favorite weekend getaways.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Areas of Improvement: Maintaining her Illinois accent

Areas of Excellence: Craft Queen,&nbsp;Most supportive person&nbsp;I know

Jacqueline Valek

My first best friend and The MJ to my Pip.&nbsp;

Growing up, Matt was a better athlete than me. He was&nbsp;faster.&nbsp;He was taller. He was stronger. But we were a great team and our competitive nature made us both better. We dominated driveways, front lawns,&nbsp;backyards, parks, and anywhere else you could find a pick-up game.&nbsp;Our athletic prowess continued during our college years and from 2004-2006,&nbsp;Matt and&nbsp;I were the most explosive&nbsp;beer pong tandem at the University of Illinois. Big egos and locker room drama would eventually derail the dynasty, but we’ve remained friends off the table.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Matt is still&nbsp;better than me at&nbsp;baseball, basketball, 12-inch&nbsp;softball, 16-inch softball,&nbsp;flag football, golf, pool, darts, and bowling. I am better at bags.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Matt "Cat" Gorney

Koty is my cousin.&nbsp; We've always lived&nbsp;in different states and there is a little age gap, but we became very close as we grew up.&nbsp; She's living in Tennessee now and we don't see each other as often as we'd like, but&nbsp;we visit and don't skip a beat.&nbsp; When she does make it back to the Midwest, you will probably find her&nbsp;smuggling squeaky curds across state lines.&nbsp;&nbsp;Wisconsin girls need their cheese!

Area&nbsp;of Improvement:&nbsp; Drawing too much&nbsp;attention to her belt buckle

Areas of Excellence: Operating a showstick,&nbsp;Hardest working person&nbsp;I know

Koty Darnell

Katie is T.J.'s sister and my top pick for a Codenames partner.&nbsp; She is always up for an adventure, has the best dance moves,&nbsp;makes delicious cookies (and pie), and has made me feel like part of the family from Day 1!&nbsp; She claims she can't sing, but I think we should have her test it out at the reception.&nbsp; Karaoke with Baj, perhaps??

Area&nbsp;of Improvement: Not liking Harry Potter



Areas of Excellence:&nbsp; Use of&nbsp;Friends references, Strongest person I know



Katie Szafranski

The first time I met Chase he gave me a sock and he said, "T.J., this is so you know that&nbsp;if you ever hurt my sister I will sock you." I appreciated the pun and the care it showed for his younger sister.&nbsp;

Shalom, brother.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Chase "Chase" Davis

I&nbsp;asked Chance what he'd like me to mention on his "The Knot dot com" biography. He relayed the following points:- Single and ready to mingle- In a soon-to-be-famous band

And for my money, he's the funniest Davis sibling.

Chancelor "Chance" Davis

Wedding Party

Q + A

Registry

The Courtyard has reserved a block of rooms for our party at a set rate. Use the "Visit Website" link below to reserve online. If you reserve by phone, please&nbsp;mention the Davis-Szafranski wedding.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Courtyard by Marriott Rockford

We have both king and double rooms available at La Quinta Inn.&nbsp; Call for a reservation and make sure to say you are part of the Davis-Szafranski Wedding.&nbsp; The group rate is not available for reservations made online.

La Quinta Inn & Suites Rockford

Travel

<a href="https://rockfordroastingcompany.com/">Rockford Roasting Company</a><a href="http://www.octane.net/2016/Home.html">Octane</a> 

<a href="https://machineshed.com/rockford/">Machine Shed</a>



<a href="https://pigmindsbrewing.com/">Pig Minds Brewing</a>



<a href="http://www.carlylebrewing.com/">Carlyle Brewing Co.</a>





<a href="https://psbrewingco.com/">Prairie Street Brewing Company</a>

Restaurants and Breweries

<a href="http://klehm.org/">Klehm Arboretum</a><a href="https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/parks/pages/rockcut.aspx">Rock Cut State Park</a><a href="http://www.aldeengolfclub.com/">Aldeen Golf Club</a>

Outdoors

<a href="http://www.burpee.org/">Burpee Museum of Natural History</a> - They have dinosaurs!<a href="https://www.nicholasconservatory.com/">Nicholas Conservatory</a><a href="http://www.hunthiddentreasures.com/">Hidden Treasures Flea Market and Antiques</a>

Chelsea & T.J.

Chelsea & T.J.

Registry

Links to our registries are below.

But remember, the best gifts you can give us are love, support, and personal mix tapes.

Registry

Links to our registries are below. But remember, the best gifts you can give us are love, support, and personal mix tapes.

Links to our registries are below.

But remember, the best gifts you can give us are love, support, and personal mix tapes.