Mr. & Mrs. Keckley

Congratulations to Beth and Jeff! They got married this weekend and held one hell of a party to celebrate. It was such a fun weekend and I am only now starting to recover.

The wedding was awesome. Beth looked gorgeous and really was glowing all day long. The two of them did almost all the planning themselves and put a personal touch on everything. And it totally paid off. They held the wedding on the North Side at Architectural Artifacts, which is a pretty incredible place. Upstairs there was an entire gallery of artifacts ranging from chandeliers to anciet swords (Jody liked those a lot!) from a bunch of different continents. Each piece had an explanation of where the item was from and a (usually pretty hefty) price tag. During the cocktail hour, many of the guests were exploring all the treasures upstairs.

The reception itself was so much fun. The dancefloor was always packed, the band was great and the bride and groom were definitely soaking it all in. The weekend was extra special because Courtney and Jeremy and Connie and Nick all came in from out of town, so we got to have a big slumber party at our place all weekend. The three of us and our significant others are rarely all together now that Court's in Louisville and Connie's in New York, so it's always a treat when we are together.

The wedding was a total Naperville Central reunion, with a ton of the high school crew coming out to celebrate Beth and Jeff. People often make fun of me for speaking so highly of Naperville, but seriously it's all about the people we grew up with. It's a fun group and it's always a blast to hang with them. Thanks to Beth for always finding ways to bring us all together.

For many of the partygoers--namely, the crew staying at our place--the highlight was the shipment of sliders that arrived around 11.15 pm. Needless to say, Jody was thrilled. He even tipped the bartender with sliders! This was also Nick's first experience with White Castle. And he actually liked it...a lot. Personally, I'm not sure I approve of this pattern of White Castle being part of our past two visits with Courtney and Jeremy, so I may have to put a stop to this next time we see them!

For me, the best part of the entire weekend was seeing one of my oldest and closest friends so genuinely happy and in love. Seriously, I could not have imagined a better person for Beth to end up with than Jeff. He's such a sweet, fun and caring guy, and I am so happy he's officially part of our little Naperville family now. Beth has been one of my best friends for more than half my life, and she is an amazing person and a true friend. Jeff is quite lucky to have her. In the years that I have gotten to know Jeff, I know Beth's just as lucky to have him too.

Cick here to check out the album from the whole weekend.

Congrats again to the happy couple! We can't wait to hear all about your adventures in Australia when you get back.