ChicagoStyle Weddings Contest Winner Story

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Contest Winner Story

Ayrielle Bavaro & Jeff Walt
Our love story began in 1999 in high-school Spanish class. Jeff was a sophomore and I was a freshman, so I was beyond ecstatic when he asked me to the first dance of my high-school career: homecoming. The dress was bought, the hair appointment was made, and I was ready to go.

A few days before the big event, though, Jeff called me, telling me that he would be unable to take me to the homecoming dance. In the background, I heard his mom say, ''Tell her why,'' and he did: he had gotten grounded. Needless to say, I was crushed, and so ended our communication for the rest of high school. After high school I attended the University of Illinois, and Jeff left the state to attend Western Michigan University. It would seem that our paths would never cross again—until they did.

Jeff and I are both White Sox fans, so it was a fluke that we were both out with a group of friends in Wrigleyville at the bar Red Ivy. Jeff was celebrating a friend’s going-away party when he spotted me from across the bar. As he tells me the story, he made his friend make about seven laps around the bar with him, walking by me to get my attention. Out with my girlfriends and having a good time, I was totally oblivious. Finally on the eighth lap, we made eye contact, and he approached me. He asked me if I remembered him, and I thought, ''Oh yeah, I remember you all right. The guy who stood me up for homecoming!'' However, by the end of the night, I had a feeling that fate had brought us back together for a reason.

Luckily for me, Jeff spent the first year of our courtship wining and dining me to make up for any hard feelings from high school. After our first date at a sushi restaurant a week later, we were rarely seen away from each other. Needless to say, over the next three years, we fell head over heels in love.

We love to travel together, and we were about to take an upcoming trip to Napa Valley for my birthday. All my friends were convinced that he would propose on the trip, so Jeff took it upon himself to throw everyone for a curve ball.

Jeff and I went to a local winery for a romantic evening of sitting outside, enjoying some good food, and a bottle of our favorite wine. I love owls, and Jeff took a ring box (gasp!) out of his pocket. He opened it up to show an owl ring inside. He told me that he had seen it out and thought of me. He told me to close my eyes, and he would put it on me, beginning a new tradition—whenever he bought me a new piece of jewelry, I would close my eyes, make a wish, and he would put it on me. As I did this (I bet you can guess what I wished for!) I opened my eyes and looked down to a gorgeous diamond engagement ring. The rest was a blur of excitement, but when he looked up at me from his knee and asked me to marry him, my initial response was ''Are you sure!?!'' It was the best night of my life; I was engaged to be married to the man that I had been reunited with after ten years apart.

We can hardly wait for our June wedding at the Medinah Country Club. We have a fantastic husband-and-wife photography team, Gina and Tony, who will capture our day, and the up-and-coming Nick Kitsos Band, which will keep the dance floor packed all night long.

After the big day, we will head to the beautiful island of Moorea in French Polynesia for our honeymoon. We’ll stay in an overwater bungalow, complete with a glass bottom for fish watching, and spend our days exploring, swimming, and sunning as the new Mr. and Mrs. Walt. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that those two kids in Spanish class 13 years ago found each other again. Fate brought us back together, and we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.

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