accolades & appreciation
thanks for making our day

paul despres, my brother, was instrumental in ensuring that our schedule was followed to the minute, courtesy of the excel itinerary provided to him during the rehearsal dinner. he took it upon himself to make sure that everyone was where they needed to be, at the time they needed to be there. thank you paul d.!

sheila, my best friend, kept laura sane and relaxed "backstage" before the ceremony and doted on makeup, shoes and the wedding gown train as needed. anything to keep laura from thinking about her nerves. it worked, laura was perfectly calm by the time she held her dad's arm to walk down the aisle. thanks sheila!

tricia, my sister-in-law, was called upon once again to entertain elaine and grace and she did a great job as usual. it was a challenge to keep their ivory dresses clean and intact and their hair flowers in place through all of the running around and screaming, but she managed to so just that. they were perfect angels when it was time to gently annoint the aisle with rose petals (and to stand quietly next to dr. grice during the entire ceremony) and we have "aunt tricia" to thank for that!

jeff simon, my best friend, was wonderfully humorous and light and reminded me constantly to relax and let everyone take care of what needed to be taken care of. thanks to jeff I was able to relinquish control of the schedule and enjoy myself. thanks jeff!

thanks to the men who came to the church the night before the wedding to move the stage. dad prowicz, uncle wayne, cousin richard - what would we have done without you? and thanks to the men who put it back after the ceremony, during pictures in the church. tim fritz, don mceachron, jeff simon, paul despres, jeff prowicz. we thank you, and so does dr. grice!

professionals who made our day

thank you to dr. grice, first congregational church of des plaines, who found such wonderful words to describe our feelings and who was able to convey the intensity of our emotions to our friends and family. we are thankful that we had dr. grice to witness and officiate the committment we made to each other on march 18, 2000. we will always treasure our memory of the very special ceremony he created for us.

thank you to barbara burshold, cellist, and to all members of the string trio that played in our ceremony. barbara and I consulted on the telephone several times before the big day, to decide on the repertoire and timing. I had some ideas of my own, and barbara had some wonderful suggestions. everyone commented on the wonderful pieces that were presented, and their execution. the ceremony came alive with the music!

thank you to michelle, a grand flower shop, franklin park, illinois, for the wonderful compendium of vibrant, springy floral arrangements. we met with michelle, the owner, a few weeks before the wedding and with no more direction from me than "wildflowers, please make them look like wildflowers...oh! and sunflowers, too", she created the perfect cascading bridal bouquet, three loosely tied (ala martha stewart) bridesmaids bouquets, a perfectly coordinated alter arrangement with unity candle surround and fresh floral wedding cake decorations. not to mention all of the corsages for the ladies and boutonnieres for the men (with plenty of extras for just-in-case). the flowers were delivered fresh and on-time to the church, and the cake was scrumptiously adorned before we arrived for the reception. great job!

thank you to our photographer, freddie, from fred fox studio in schaumburg, illinois. he did a fantastic job and managed his time well. between the ceremony pictures, the candids at the reception, and the portraits at the reception, he was one busy guy. tim, michael's groomsman, kept freddie working on the list until it seemed his finger would fall off from hitting the shutter. talk about dedication. the pictures, when we finally got them (almost a whole year later) were exactly what we had hoped for.

thank you to the phil varchetta orchestra for providing the best live jazz I've heard in a long time. his music selections and talent made the mood of our brunch reception exactly what I had hoped it would be. everyone enjoyed the music - from our friends in their twenties to my best friend Dr. Egon Kamerasy at 80. the music provided the accent and the party provided the substance. it was perfect. we especially appreciated our first dance song "it had to be you".

thank you to my seamstress, barrington, illinois, for the mastery of her craft in fashioning my mother's old wedding dress for me 36 years after she wore it in her wedding to my father.

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