Laura & Brian

Laura & Brian

Opposites surely do attract – and Laura Bannon and Brian Hilton can attest to that! The pair met in a Crossfit class. “Brian was the quiet, cute guy in class and I was the loud, outgoing one,” says Laura. “I was convinced he’d never be interested in me because of how different we were.” Years of small talk went by until Laura finally shot her shot. One day she decided to “slide in his Instagram DMs” and the following week, Brian asked her out! ” We’ve been inseparable ever since! So, the moral of the story — that cute guy at gym — go for it!”

November 27th, 2021 rolled around – and just so happened to be Laura’s grandparents’ 55th wedding anniversary, a very special day for Laura, as her grandma is the “highlight of her world.”  “I had a feeling he was going to propose that weekend but he was so calm, cool, and collected. Remember — I’m the extrovert, loud one and he’s the introvert, quiet one in the relationship. Since he was so relaxed I completely wrote off that he was going to do it.”

Sure enough, a fantastic dinner continues at “Ever” in South Loop. That last course came along and the servers – who Laura later found out were in on it the whole time – brought out a pumpkin dish that had the ring in it. He proposed – in front of everyone!

” I was so taken back because it’s so out of character for him to do something like that in public! I’ll never forget how beautiful the display was and the smile on his face when he asked me. It was such a special, beautiful moment we shared. It felt like the entire world around us stopped at that moment.”

And now, the dress hunt begins! Laura was convinced she wanted a long sleeve lace dress. She tried on multiple, yet nothing seemed to speak to her the way she thought one would. Finally, her consultant told her to try something different – a strapless mermaid style gown by Martina Liana.

“When I put on “the one,” I felt something. EMOTIONS! I felt a sense of relief and joy that the hunt was over — like an actual bride. I couldn’t take my eyes off it in the mirror.”

And that is exactly how every bride should feel! She tried on a few more just to confirm it was the one. And it absolutely was!

“After each fitting I always had this feeling of like wow, yes this is it. I felt comfort and joy in my dress. On wedding day it was everything and more — actually seeing it all put together was incredible. You really do know when it’s the one. Even if it’s not what you pictured in your mind.”

Laura says that the key to finding the one is to keep an open mind and having an awesome bridal consultant that you vibe with.

The couples’ favorite part of the wedding was sharing one of the most important parts of their lives with 15 of their closest friends and family. Laura and Brian travel the world – they’ve been to the Philippines, Finnland, Lebanon and Portugal, just to name a few – so it was only right that they tied the knot across the pond.

“Sharing an entire week with your loved ones and bringing everyone together was the most special part of our wedding. Our families bonded in a special way and it meant so much to us to have everyone together.”

They got married at the Dunluce Castle on The Causeway Coast in Bush Mille, Northern Ireland. Their photographer, Rob Dight, captured the day perfectly, to say the least.