Introducing...Mr. and Mrs. Salierno!

May 14, 2011. Chicago, IL. The wedding of two of my favorite people....Jugdish and Meeeeeeeechele....known to the rest of the world as Mark and Michele. 5 years after meeting, they tied the knot. And you just know they're a couple that will last...through anything.

But before I get to their beautiful wedding...let me take you back 5 years, and paint you a little picture of how these two crazy kids got together.

The year was 2006. Setting? Bangor, Maine. Or more accurately, Brewer, Maine. (Yeah, we didn't even live on the good side of the river) There were 14 of us consultants staffed on a 10 month project there, working with a small-ish hospital, and making the best out of the location of our work. Here we are:

(There was a giant Paul Bunyan statue in downtown Bangor, Maine...we ended up taking about a million pictures there in 10 months. The one above is us before we went to a Willie Nelson concert. We always managed to find/make fun in a less-than-desirable location.)

We lived in an old Tupperware factory (no joke), where we could all break into each other's apartments with just a credit card. Which led to much pranking (involving both the bride and the groom, among others)...the peak of which was toilet-papering the rental cars:

Anyway, I get side-tracked easily. Mark showed up about 3 months late to our project. And I'll never forget how he and Michele were drawn to each other immediately. They were very quiet about it at first...but I was super close with both of them, so they couldn't keep it from me for long. I was one of the only ones who got to see them together and hang out with them together while they were still a 'secret' to the rest of our coworkers. (I'm pretty sure more people than they thought knew all along...it was so obvious how into each other they were!)

Circa September 2006, here is me with the bride, sailing off the coast of Maine:

And August 2006, me with the groom, hiking in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine:

The funniest thing about how close I was with both of them, was that Michele thought originally that Mark and I were into each other...and was close enough to me to ask me point blank if there was anything going on. I'm pretty sure I spit out whatever I was drinking at the time. Great friend? Absolutely. Anything more? Never.

Our little team was just set up for loooooooove. There wasn't always much to do up in Maine, so we all hung out with each other CONSTANTLY. A bunch of fun, attractive, smart, 20-somethings spending way too much time together? It's like shooting fish in a barrel. That project ended up producing 3 couples...all long-term...but Mark and Michele are the only ones that lasted. And now they're married!!

It was a beautiful wedding, and oodles of fun. Here are some of my choice shots from the big event:

1. It's kind of hard to see how great these two look together in this picture because I pushed my way in-between them...but trust me. They really, really do.

2. Pretty gorgeous bride, huh?3. Three of us Maine survivors! (There were actually 6 of us at the wedding in total)4. The longer it's been since you've seen each other, the harder you hug. 5. Hanging with other super awesome couples - the McPhersons!

6. Margaret actually used to be a Radio City Rockette. How sick do you think she gets of people making her do shots like this?

7. And last, but certainly not least...I was lucky enough to have the best date ever. Not to steal attention from the bride and groom or anything, but how good did we look? :) AK, you rock.

Luckily I don't have a picture of the bottom of my feet after spending the last hour-ish of the night dancing and running around barefoot. Not pretty.

So cheers to Mark and Michele, and a lifetime of laughter and love, and nothing but the best for them! Love you both so much.