St Mary Star of the Sea

Wedding Day

Wedding

Cascades Manor House

Reception

Our Wedding

It all began when I was still living in the Akron area &amp; started getting serious about wanting to find someone Catholic to date &amp; hopefully marry. Meanwhile, Nick was thinking along the same lines &amp; we both wound up on Catholic Match. I was pretty sure I wanted to move back to Michigan within the next few months, so I was looking at guys that were in Michigan &amp; Ohio. I came across Nick's profile &amp; thought he looked cute, went to Miami, so had to be smart, &amp; was a practicing Catholic. He approached me &amp; we began to talk in October 2015. He asked me out for a date on November 1. The night before I stayed at my good friend, Deona's place to celebrate Halloween after work. I showed her Nick's picture &amp; she was very encouraging and thought he was quite good looking, too. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I proceeded to get ready at her place &amp; went on our first date, not getting my hopes up too much.Nick planned a nice tour of Stan Hywet, the former estate of the Seiberlings, who founded Goodyear. The grounds are beautiful including multiple gardens &amp; historic buildings in the English tudor style. After we walked &amp; talked through the manor house, we left for a bite to eat at the Merchant. The food was delicious, &amp; I ate more than he did ; ) But I didn't feel a spark of chemistry, so I went home thinking there wouldn't be a second date. I called Deona to let her know I was safe &amp; of course she asked how it went. So I told her &amp; she encouraged me to go on a second date.I decided to invite him to mass. This was followed by brunch (where I again out-ate him) before one of my shifts in the Emergency Department at Akron City Hospital. About 1 week later we had our second date. I began to feel more comfortable around him. Needless to say, the third date was even better as we watched When Harry Met Sally &amp; ate Middle Eastern food from Aladdin's including their delicious garlic sauce. We were fairly serious, both being 30, having dated enough to know what we wanted &amp; didn't want in a spouse. We had made long-distance work, spent holidays with each other's family, met each other's friends, &amp; been through hills &amp; valleys. So almost 14 months after we started dating, I was in Akron to celebrate Christmas with the DelMedicos. On Friday the 23rd, Nick said he was going to help his family prepare for their Feast of the Seven Fishes. Meanwhile, I had made plans to take Deona out for her birthday with her 2 kids, Scott &amp; Kennedy. She had never been to Stan Hywet, so she requested we go there. I thought nothing of it because Nick had previously told me that with Christmas being so hectic, not to feel bad if "it" didn't happen that weekend. So there we are, running almost an hour late (unbeknownst to me) after dealing with multiple delays. Deona requested to go to the English Garden first. I was thinking, it's cold, so I'd rather go inside first, but we were celebrating her birthday…so I just played along. We walked around the back of the house &amp; were slipping on the ice, trying not to fall. Her kids were helping me &amp; saw Nick through the opening in the wall enclosing the garden. They waved &amp; laughed silently as I was reading the plaque telling about the history of the garden, none the wiser. I turned to look inside &amp; saw someone sitting on a bench across the reflecting pond. Then I noticed that he had a hat &amp; jacket similar to Nick's. He stood &amp; I knew it was him! Then I knew he was going to propose, and walked over to him. He was SO cold, with white fingers, having waited out there in the cold &amp; snow for about an hour. I began to cry. He said he didn't have a long speech prepared, but that there was no one he'd rather be his wife &amp; the mother of his children. Then he got down on one knee, began to cry, and proposed. Of course I said "yes." I don't think he could have done a better job &amp; look forward to our future together!

Monica's version (edited down from War & Peace to Great Expectations)

If you haven't figured it out yet, I am in charge of editing our website...I hope you enjoyed my beautiful fiancé's story. For your viewing pleasure now you have the distinct privilege of reading my version of events..: Monica and I had our first date at Stan Hywet, so, I thought Stan Hywet would be the logical choice for asking her to spend the rest of her life with me. I recruited her good friend Deona and her kids to help me. On Dec. 23rd, Monica was supposed to go on a friend date with Deona to celebrate her birthday at, of all places, Stan Hywet. I planned to propose outside in the English Garden there that day. I arrived around 12:45 expecting them to show up around 1:15pm and surprise Monica. 1:30 came around...then..1:45...then 2pm and they finally arrived! Mind you, Monica was under the impression I was busy running errands for Christmas. Also, mind you, I chose to propose outside when it was 35 degrees in Ohio (I never claimed to be the smart one). When they finally arrived outside the garden entryway, Monica was excitedly reading the plaque with the history of the garden to the kids (oblivious to the fact that I am inside and can see her). The kids were behind her looking at me waving and silently laughing with Deona. After she was ushered in the front entrance to the walled in garden, she saw "a guy" standing on the other side of the garden. As she got closer, she realized it was me and asked what I was doing there through some tears (it was pretty obvious by then why I was there at that point). After some hugs and wiping away tears, I got down on 1 knee made the smartest decision I've made thus far when I asked her to be my wife. I couldn't be happier and we are very much looking forward to celebrating our day with all of you in October.

Nick's Condensed Cliff-Note Version

Our Story

Details

Peter DelMedico

Deona Chavez

Andrea Berkemeier

Patrick VanAuker

Shannon Quinn

Max Bedell

Ryan Arman

Gretchen Berkemeier

Colin Gorey

Krista Berger

John Holcomb

Geraldine Berkemeier

Chloe Robinson

Ella Treichel

Ava Treichel

Wedding Party

Monica and Nick (click for more pics if mobile)

Photos

Q + A

Registry

This is the closest "big airport" to Jackson

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

We have a block of 60 rooms here. This is our main hotel where most of the wedding party will stay. he website link will have our special block rate of $115/night attached. All you need to do is key in the dates you want to stay. In order to get the $115 rate you must schedule before 9/10/17.

Holiday Inn Jackson Nw - Airport Road

This airport is slightly closer but a bit smaller. If you can get a good deal, fly into this one!

Capital Region International Airport

We only have a small block of rooms here for overflow from the first hotel. These rooms will be priced at $109. The link should work with our discount if you key in the dates.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Jackson

For those of you driving into Jackson from Akron: it's a little over a 3hr drive mostly on I-80 and 23. (Watch out for Dundee...it's a speed trap...not that Nick would know anything about that...)For those coming from Cinci area, It will mostly be I-75 and is about 4-4.5hr. WE TRULY APPRECIATE ALL OF THOSE THAT ARE MAKING THE EFFORT TO COME FROM FAR AWAY TO CELEBRATE WITH US!

Driving 

The bus will pick guests up for the RECEPTION at 5:30pm at the HOLIDAY INN and take them to the reception. It will do at least 1 more pickup after that. Starting at 10pm, the bus will pick up guests from the reception venue and take them back to the hotel. They will run until aprox 11:15pm.

WEDDING DAY TRASPORTATION

Travel

Great place for lunch or dinner. Lots of TVsfor sports fans. Great pizza!

Klavon's Pizzeria & Pub

Old fashioned steakhouse. Also a nice place to just get a drink.

Knight's Steakhouse & Grill

Great atmosphere (especially if the weather is nice).

Sandhill Crane Vineyards

Grand River Brewery

Museum about daily life during the Civil-War Era.

Ella Sharp Museum

The Cascades

Cell Block 7

Nick's favorite restaurant in Jackson.

AKA Sushi

Monica's favorite place for icecream.

The Parlour of Jackson

Falling Waters Trail

Ask for Ron Beurmann (Director of Golf). $75 for 18 holes. Mention our wedding.

Country Club of Jackson

$40 on Friday, $45 the rest of the weekend.

Grande Golf Club

Good Italian restaurant downtown.

Nick & Monica

Nick & Monica

Registry

What we really want is all of our friends and family together for our big day, but for the traditional gift-giver out there we are registered at: