Windy City Times asked readers to send in photos of their weddings to share with the community. What we received was a collection of beautiful stories of love and commitment.
All photo courtesy of subjects except where otherwise indicated.
Susana Darwin ( left ) and Amy Walsh made it official Aug. 29, 2014.
Photo by Joe Mazza of Brave Lux
Alexandre Schleider ( right ) and his husband Sean recently wed. Here's their story, in the words of Alexandre himself:
"Sean and I met in April 2008 through Match.com . Between the first email and our first date it took us a month as we were both busy with business travel. Sean moved in with me in Oct. 2009; we thought it would be the culmination of our relationship.
In Dec 2010, when I was in Europe and Sean was in Hawaii, the Illinois general assembly was taking up a vote on civil unions. As we were texting back and forth to each other about the possibility that we could be in a civil union, our hearts grew hopeful. With this landmark legislation being passed in December of 2010 we knew we were destined to be together.
On Christmas Eve in Paris, after everyone went to bed, Sean proposed to me!
We decided we would have our civil union on my birthday, June 15, 2011, but didn't tell anyone until our holiday party of 2011 when both families were present.
Then came the fight for marriage equality and we joined by supporting HRC and Equality Illinois by hosting parties and giving money.
Equality won and Sean and I converted our civil union to a marriage license on April 2, 2014, when my mother was visiting us from Paris.
But our happiness couldn't be contained in the dark basement of the city hall. We needed to have a celebration with our friends and family and we did so on Sept 2 at the Firehouse Chicago. We have been incredibly happy since.
Rosa ( left ) with and Amy Duarte ( right ) tied the knot in Kane County August 30 of last year, after a decade together.
Couple Rev. Wayne Bradley ( right ) and Rick Peterson got married last year in celebration of their 30th anniversary.
Couple Chris Verbaker ( left ) and Hugo Arrieta kicked off the new year by getting married Jan. 7 at the Cook County courthouse. The couple is planning a celebration this summer. A happily-hyphenated couple, Arrieta-Verbaker and Verbaker-Arrieta ( their new names ) live in Lake View with their seven-year-old daughter.
Kathy Guzman ( right ) and her bride Debbie Sciortino married Dec. 13, 2014, in San Diego.
Photo by Kat Fitzgerald
Joe Kozak ( left ) and Bill Collins celebrated Christmas last year by getting married.
Photo by Rick Aguilar Studios
Richard Stringer ( left ) and Donald Rolfe husbanded up Oct. 18, 2014, after 15 years as partners.
See related coverage at the link www.windycitymediagroup.com/gaynewsarticles.php .
