The Rest of our Lives Began Here

It was finally our turn, and we all filed into the inner chambers. Turns out the judge was a lady judge and super awesome. The Ceremony itself only lasted about Five minutes, short but sweet. It is a little hard for me to remember the exact vows because i was concentrating very hard on not crying, but they were traditional, "to have and to hold... for richer or poorer, (and my personal favorite) till death do us part"...  

The Whole Cast of Characters

Some obligatory group shots

We're Almost There

So we finally arrive in the outer chambers, where you gather with all the other couples and wait for your name to be called, grouped together for the common purpose of joining your life to some one else's forever. The atmosphere is surprisingly calm and jovial. No one appears nervous, and i  myself was most astonished that throughout the day i had no jitters. All that was in my heart was assurance and excitement, not to mention a boat load of love. 

Views from Across, Above and Underneath the Stairs.

We stumbled upon a magnificent staircase that looked as though it is never used. The view of Love Park was stunning, and we spent a fair amount of time dancing, posing and generally frolicking about.

A quiet moment together, in a Room we weren't supposed to be in

and yet some more Hall of Infinity, it just goes On and On

Hall of Infinity cont.

Hall of Infinity

Wrought Iron Gates both in Black and White

Mere Moments of Candid Conversations

After a few shots, Daniel pointed out that we might wisely utilize this time to explore the luxurious settings that City Hall had to offer and take formal portraits, so off we went.

Gaining Entrance

 Did you know the City Hall to this day remains to the tallest masonry building? Well its true. But back to the narrative here we are signing in to get past security with our entourage on our heels. Hopefully no one will try and sell our signatures for money, but i am keeping an eye on the Ebay auctions... 

 We all crowed into one elevator and rode to the fourth floor, The Orphans Court as it's called, this is were the marriages take place. There were about six other couples that had the same date as we, and they ranged in dress and style from full blown wedding attire to jeans and t-shirts. I'd have to say that we were the most dandy by far. 

 Unfortunately the judge performing the ceremonies on this particular date was held up in court and all in all we had to wait for almost an hour. After about fifteen arduous minutes into the postponement my Father turned to me and asked, "How long do we have to wait till we go outside and I marry you myself?"...

 

Meet and Greet

Upon safe arrival at our destination we found that our well wishers had already gathered and it was time to greet our dearest. In attendance for the ceremony were my Father(Steve) and his Wife(Mildred), Eric's Father(John) and Mother(Robin), Brother(Jeff), my Mother(Beth), Eric's Sister(Stephanie) and her new husband(Jason). Oh, let's not forget our lovely and talented massage therapist(Jessica) and our newly acquired photographically gifted mate(Daniel). Got all that straight? Good. let us continue...

P.S. I forgot to mention that this was the First Time that many of these people had ever met.