Mark and Jillian met in 2012 shortly after Mark moved from NYC to Chicago. One night after work they went out with coworkers to a karaoke bar, and when Mark sang Wonderwall sparks flew. After that day, Mark was a regular, casually swinging by Jillian’s desk. It wasn’t until Cubs Opening Day—Mark finally asked Jillian on a date. As soon as she said yes, he grabbed her hand and didn’t let go for the rest of the night.
Give us the details! When? Where? How?
Last February, Mark and I headed to Curacao to escape the Chicago winter. After a day on the island Mark proposed at sunset on our hotel room balcony with a view overlooking the beach. We took the evening to ourselves to let it sink in and enjoy each other’s company. And we celebrated with a seaside dinner of spiny lobster (which was garlic magic). The following day we called our parents to fill them in through tears of joy. It was Leap Day, so we’ll have a special celebration every 4 years to commemorate.
Melissa Cervantes Photography
My hope is that each day filled with joy will become a collection of joyful weeks, months, and years.
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
I have loved the pieces of planning that brought my friends and family together. Our engagement party where we celebrated with friends, wedding dress shopping with my mom and sister-in-laws, looking at bridesmaid dresses with my wedding party, the catering tasting with Mark and my parents – these moments have been the best part of wedding planning.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Lots of wine… just kidding! We chose to do a longer engagement, 18 months, so we could have more choices when it came to dates, times, and vendors. I didn’t want to feel the stress of making decisions right away or without doing my research, so we chose a longer engagement to ease the planning timeline.
Melissa Cervantes Photography
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It was so easy! Joy takes care of the design and layout, so all I had to worry about was getting my venue details, registries finished, and hotel information pulled together to add as features.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
As my wedding planning has progressed, I’ve been able to add more information and more features. It’s not a one-day project, but to use the site to its full potential you should keep adding details as you get them figured out.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
Forever at times can seem a little daunting, so we try to find joy in each day. Whether its waking up next to Mark, watching him do a goofy dance, or having someone to order in dinner and binge on Netflix with. My hope is that each day filled with joy will become a collection of joyful weeks, months, and years.
Melissa Cervantes Photography
