Jeannie and Mike - Iuliana Photography

Weeding

Our wedding was made possible by the help of my Aunt Who is like a mother to me. Aunt Cook did not get recognized because I did not want to get choked up talking about it that day. I think Aunt Cook lived for this day more than I did and it’s all she ever wanted to see in life was for me to get married. A week before the wedding, she got a brain infection from shingles and was hospitalized and had to miss my big day. It was devastating to me but I got to talk to her right before I walked down the aisle which meant the world to me.

A little bit about our story

About 12 years ago Mike and Jeannie met while working at Mellon. Although they were on different teams Jeannie always thought Mike was so cute! About a year after working at Mellon, Jeannie was moved to Mike’s team. As a fun event for their team, their boss asked if they wanted to go see “Mr. Green Jeans” at a bar called Sanctuary. Once Jeannie saw Mike there, she told her boss how she wanted to date him and when their boss talked to Mike they were both surprised that he, in fact, did not have a girlfriend! Right around that time the song ‘The King of Wishful Thinking’ came on (from Pretty Women). Soon after that night Jeannie and Mike started dating.

Jeannie had always worried about dating someone from work so after a while, they went their separate ways. They never stopped talking and always made a point to see each other at work or Jeannie would visit him at Finn’s.

In the summer of 2017, Gina (one of Jeannie’s bridesmaids) came home to Pittsburgh from Florida to visit. It just so happened to be Mike’s birthday weekend so they both went to see Mike at Finn’s. Gina, with Jeannie’s blessing, told Mike that she was still interested in him. After work, Mike called Jeannie and they met at their favorite spot, Fiori’s Pizza!

The Proposal

Mike and I planned a getaway trip to Vegas over Easter cause we love mini trips. I had to work on the day we were leaving so Mike, the nice guy that he is, dropped me off at work in the morning and then picked me up in the afternoon because I work close to the airport. We figured we would grab something quick to eat in Robinson to kill some time. We went and got Blaze pizza and then I let Mike drive us so I could just relax and soak in the fact we were leaving for Vegas!! We come down to the main intersection below Market District. Mike then goes to pull out to turn left left to take us towards the parkway and he doesn’t go on the right side of the island and we are now heading face on to 2 lanes of oncoming traffic. My life seriously flashed before my eyes, and he managed to somehow pull a quick U turn and thank god we were able to turn fully and now be going the same way as the cars coming up behind us. The rest of the evening at least was more calm haa.

Once we got to Vegas we checked in and then headed out to the bars. We first tried to go to the new Vanderpump cocktail garden in ceasars cause anyone that knows me knows I’m obsessed with Lisa Vanderpump and her shows. The line was ridiculous so I said let’s just come back another night and let’s go bar hop up to our favorite spot, Carnival Court. We made a friend at the bar with the guy sitting next to us, Neil and the bartender he knew. The night was going by so fast and my feet of course were killing me cause I had wedge shoes on. I managed to snag a seat at the bar then I noticed Mike standing really close to Neil facing him and I was thinking in my head omg Mike are you drunk? What are you doing, back up and give him some space. Then Mike turns around and asks me to stand up and come over by the railing with him. Of course I looked at him like are you kidding me, and I said No way my feet are killing, I’m not standing up. It took about 4 more tries of him asking me to please come stand with him for a minute till finally I stood up while mumbling what is the big deal about me standing up and standing by the railing with you, this is so weird. Then that’s when it happened. As I was walking over Mike Grabbed onto my hand as he got down onto 1 knee and pulled out the ring. I swear the world stopped and everything around me went silent as he said “you know you’ve always been the girl of my dreams”. That literally is all I remember him saying cause I grabbed the ring and put it on myself while screaming omg I can’t believe this!!!!! Our buddy Neil was trying to take pictures of it all and that’s what Mike was talking to him about when he was standing so close to him. The entire Carnival Court all started cheering and the bartenders were throwing napkins and banging the shaker cups on the rail to make noise to congratulate us! I was never more shocked in all of my entire life. Everyone kept coming up and hugging us and congratulating us. Then Mike finally managed to make his way back over to me and said, you never said yes, so will you? I can’t even describe the emotion I felt that night and every 2 seconds I would look at my finger with this most gorgeous ring on it and then cover my face saying omg is this seriously for real!!

I couldn’t fall asleep that night and wanted to call everyone I knew to tell them! Back home it was 3am so I called my Aunt cause I knew she was going to be ecstatic and I couldn’t hold my excitement till morning. She answered right away saying Congratulations and we both cried happy tears. SHe told me that Mike was over that morning and showed her the ring and had asked for her permission to propose to me. It was the most magical moment I will never forget as long as I live.

My dress and veil are from Bridal Begining

Shoes Badgley Mischka

Makeup ; Valariepanei

Hair; Amandaherbhairdesign

Invitations, signs, and mirrors all made by My 2 bridesmaids Anastasia and Allie and myself

Groom & Groomsmen suits; Michael korsRehearsal cake and wedding cake topper ; tastybakerypa

Wedding day cake; Olgebay

Videographer ; shofilmscinema

Venue; Olgebay.weddings

Day of coordinators; Wanderlustweddingsandevents

Bridesmaids dresses; Sorella Vita from Bridal Beginings

Flowers; Lily’s A Flower Boutique