Wedding Day

Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Sycamore

Ceremony

Blumen Gardens

Reception

Our Wedding

Sean and I met in law school at Northern Illinois University in the fall of 2019, when we were separated into the same section for classes. However, the real story doesn't begin until summer of 2020. Sean had an internship with two friends of mine that year and so became a part of our larger friend group. After a few successful group hangouts, Sean asked me if I wanted to get together to play tennis with him, and after a graceful loss one day, he asked if I'd like to get dinner with him sometime, to which I said yes! That first date we sat at Hillside restaurant in DeKalb for hours talking about family, books, sports, school, everything! That first date turned into a second, third, fourth, all while navigating pandemic style dating, law school, the Bar Exam, and first jobs. But between date nights, road trips, and moving in together, we began to build the sort of life we had always dreamed of having! Flash forward to October 26, 2024. Sean had planned a surprise weekend trip to for our 4 year anniversary, destination: Door County, WI. Once we arrived at the cutest little cottage on the lake he suggested we walk out to the dock. It was out there, while we were looking at the view, that he decided to get down on one knee and asked me to marry him. So of course I said yes! The rest is history and we can't wait for what the future holds for our lives together!

Our Story 

Photos

Sabrina Dudziak 

Amanda Scarpitti 

Haley Petragallo 

Emily Quick

Lane Skuteris 

Olivia Riehle 

Laura McEachern 

Laura Kirschbaum 

Jake Totzke

Mike Hettig 

Brian Stanley 

Nick Quick 

Joey McEachern

Erik Kirschbaum 

Alex Horton-Cilley

Nikki Sullens

Wedding Party

Q + A

McEachern Thompson Wedding Booking Link (copy and paste into new browser):https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.14231.html?groupId=1Z0UR2W0

Best Western Sycamore Inn

&nbsp;McEachern-Thompson Wedding Booking Link (copy and paste into new browser):https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=RFDDKHT&amp;groupCode=CHTMTW&amp;arrivaldate=2025-09-12&amp;departuredate=2025-09-13&amp;cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,EN,DirectLink&amp;fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT

Home2 Suites by Hilton Dekalb

Travel

Visit where the story began, in Swen Parson Hall at Northern Illinois University. Take a walk around the lagoon and campus that we spent hours walking around while not in class.

NIU College of Law

Get a nice brunch at our favorite breakfast place where you will find us almost every Sunday morning!

Sycamore Parkway Restaurant

Enjoy a glass of wine at the local winery where we are members! All their wines are great, but we are big fans of their dry reds.

Prairie State Winery

Take a stroll down the bike/running path that runs right outside our apartment complex

Great Western Nature Trail

Whiskey Acres Distilling Co.

Things to Do

Registry

Shannon & Sean

Shannon & Sean

Travel

Best Western Sycamore Inn

Home2 Suites by Hilton Dekalb