Katie and Sean
May 4, 2002
St. Louis, Missouri

ABOUT THE BRIDE: Katie is a St. Louis native. Born and raised in St. Louis, Katie went on to get a Dual Degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.

ABOUT THE GROOM: Sean is also a St. Louis native. Sean went on to St. Louis University to receive a degree in Chemistry and is currently working towards his second degree in Computer Science.

HOW WE MET: Sean and I met in third grade at St. Catherine Laboure grade school. I thought he was cute even then! We became good friends in seventh grade and at the graduation dance in eight grade we danced together for the very first time. :) My mother still says it was then that she knew we'd be together! We didn't see each other again until halfway through high school, when Sean called me out of the blue and asked me to a dance. We dated all the way to college, stopped for all of two months and decided that yes, we really were meant to be together! We've been happily together ever since!

ENGAGEMENT: Sean had been in Atlanta for a week and said he wanted to drive up to St. Louis that first weekend after work to see me that night. So that Saturday morning I was waiting for him to call me to let me know he was on his way when my sister came up to my room and told me to come downstairs right away. I did and there was my whole family in the music room and Sean in the doorway, fully dressed in his armor! He had a treasure chest in his hands. He read me a poem/riddle, asking me to choose the best treasure. I, nervous as I was, was of course going through the fake jewelry and gems looking for the real thing. But on top was a single red rose. When I picked it, he took the rose out, had my sister turn on some music he had chosen, and read me a poem he'd written about our love. At the end of the poem, he got down on one knee and I was breathless when he asked me to "be his Queen!" The music climaxed just as I said yes and we kissed.

PLANNING: Since we'd been talking about getting married for so long, I had thought I would be well prepared for planning the wedding. :) It took so much more time than I had anticipated to get everything right! But with the help of Sean and our families, everything turned out well - despite quite a few mishaps along the way!

ATTIRE: I always knew that I wanted something that was traditional. The dress that I picked was actually the third dress I put on! It was an instant hit! The bridesmaid's dresses took a little longer. I'd picked one design, and it was discontinued! So we scrambled to find another, and ended up with a lovely, yet simple dress in a blush color. The groomsmen's tuxes were picked by my fiancé who utterly refused to wear a tie! Finally the flowergirl dresses -- aside from my dress, these were my favorites! They were little off-white dresses that had rose petals stuffed in the hem. They looked like little dolls!

THE CEREMONY: Though there were delays, the ceremony itself was beautiful. It was a traditional Catholic ceremony. Because I'd always liked little kids in weddings, we had a flowergirl walk down hand in hand with each bridesmaid (except the junior bridesmaid). I walked down with my father to "On This Day, O Beautiful Mother" -- the same song that my mother walked down to! We had the best man and maid of honor do our readings. And when the time came for the rings, my little sister (the ring-bearer/flowergirl) walked up to the altar with a little purse that had my great-grandmother's handkerchief and our rings inside.

THE RECEPTION: We had the guests entertained by the Lindbergh High School Strolling Strings (a group I'd been in during high school myself). We were introduced to the reception and then myself and my sisters and brothers (ALL of us were in this group!) were asked to actually join in! So, about half of the wedding party took instruments from the students and played a song ourselves! The guests were pleasantly surprised and we all had so much fun! Toasts were given by my father, the maid of honor, the best man, ANOTHER groomsman, and my darling husband. As the night went on Sean and I danced our first dance to "It is you I have loved all along" from Shrek (Sean had proposed to that song!!) and then had the wedding party join us for "We are Family" -- I thought this was highly appropriate since EVERYONE in the wedding party was a brother or sister! Then the floor was given to my father and myself; Sean and his mother joined in. And later all parents and the bride and groom were dancing together! Finally we opened the floor to our guests and everyone had a blast! Sean and I stayed all the way to the end and were the very last people to leave the dance floor!

HOW WE PERSONALIZED THE WEDDING:
- We had all our brothers and sisters as our attendants!
- We were married on the same day and in the same church as Sean's grandparents!
- All the flowergirls! 6 in total
- For the bouquet toss, I had three bouquets in one. I threw two and turned and tossed the third to my maid of honor!
- Because Sean so loves the Renaissance, we had a castle cake made!

THINGS WE LOVED:Sean and I loved everything from the ceremony on. We love most that we're happily married!

If you have questions or comments for Katie and Sean please e-mail them at mrskatiebeach@hotmail.com.