Jillian and Brennan’s story began in a dingy yet lovable neighborhood tavern on the northside of Chicago called Durkin’s. It was a Thursday night in late November 2018, and Brennan was just getting back from a work trip, which combined with the Thanksgiving holiday had kept him away from the city for two weeks. His excitement for being back in the city, which was just starting to feel like home, outweighed his travel fatigue, so when he heard from a friend that a group was meeting at Durkin’s for $3 pitchers, he couldn’t resist. Upon arriving home from the airport he quickly freshened up and hopped in an Uber heading north.

A couple hours earlier, upon hearing that “Brennan’s” flight had arrived, Jillian panicked and started frantically cleaning her apartment. She assumed that her brother was visiting for the weekend and she had let it slip her mind. After unleashing her inner Monica Geller, her mind was put at ease once she learned that this “Brennan” was just one of the guys they were meeting out later. She thought to herself, “Oh great, if he’s handsome and charming, this could get interesting.”

When the group arrived at the bar, they learned that not only was it $3 pitcher night, it was also “Post Office Night”. The concept was that each single and ready to mingle patron wore a sticker with a number on it, which corresponded with an envelope attached to the wall at the front of the bar. If you saw someone you liked, you could leave them a message in their “mailbox”. Luckily for Jillian and Brennan, their meeting required no courageous letter-writing since they were introduced by their mutual friends. However, not wanting to leave anything to chance, Jillian promptly spilled her drink on Brennan, which served as both a conversation-extender and a competition-repellent (Jillian maintains that this was an accident, the reader is invited to draw their own conclusions). Little did either of them know at the time that this conversation, taking place at a sticky table underneath Steelers signs (Brennan did his best to ignore them), would not be ending anytime soon. The group started heading to the next bar to continue the night with darts, pool, and songs by Frank Sinatra, and on the way out of Durkin's, neither Jillian nor Brennan bothered to check their mailbox.

Jillian and Brennan went on to spend the next 4.5 years at each other’s side, growing in their careers, taking many exciting trips, and falling in love with both each other and the city around them. Those who have been to Chicago know that it is full of amazing restaurants, welcoming bars, and fun-loving people, and these are the things Jillian and Brennan have surrounded themselves with as they’ve grown together and set their sights on the future. In May of 2023, they hopped on a train at Union Station that took them all the way to San Francisco, and it was on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean where Brennan asked Jillian to marry him. Having just spent nearly all of the 60 hour journey together in a 4’ x 7’ sleeper car, while genuinely enjoying every minute of it, they were pretty sure that they liked each other at that point.

Jillian and Brennan’s wedding date falls just a couple weeks shy of the 6 year anniversary of the night they met. While a lot has changed during that time, what hasn’t changed is their conviction that there is no one else they’d rather spend the rest of their life with. In fact, on that night back in 2018, Brennan texted one of his groomsmen saying “I met this girl from Texas tonight who is pretty good at darts and pool, should I marry her now?” And Jillian had told one of her bridesmaids that was present that evening, “I’m going to marry that guy”. It may seem like 6 years is a long time, especially with having been so certain from the beginning, but you know what happens to time when you’re having fun!

If you are reading this, that means you occupy a special place in the hearts of Jillian and Brennan, and they are so appreciative of you and the role you have played in their lives. They hope sincerely that you are able to make the trip to the Holy City on November 16th, and join the rest of their friends and family for a celebration of their love. No matter which chapter of their lives you’ve been in, they want you in this next one!