By Christy Bonstell

Last year, around this same time, I was lucky enough to have Rene standing up in my wedding. Now, I get to stand here and speak at his. Lucky is a good word to describe how I feel about my friendship with Rene. I’m lucky I met him four years ago. Lucky he was there when I made a leap of faith and moved to Chicago. Lucky to have him introduce me to the man that is now my husband, and lucky he was there for me through my pregnancy. Lucky, also, that he is my son Keagan’s loving and watchful godfather.

I’m lucky that Rene is a part of my story. But I also feel lucky to be a part of his. Lucky to have been there when he said “There’s this cute girl on my new improv team. She likes hip hop. And she has a job,” he said excitedly. “But I don’t want to be THAT guy.”

I’m glad I told him to be that guy.

I knew Rene was serious about Jaime when he started buying Zyrtec in bulk, so he could be around the cats without sneezing. And then, when he asked her to move in. And then, when he started sending me links to diamond websites.

Then, at my son’s 2nd birthday party, when he pulled me aside in the kitchen and told me how badly he wanted to propose, but couldn’t get down on one knee. I told him, this time, don’t worry about being that guy.

And he didn’t. And I guess Jaime didn’t mind much either.

I’m lucky to have Rene in my life. But now I feel doubly lucky I get to be a part of his life with Jaime.

Let’s raise a glass to Rene and Jaime and wish them all the luck in the world.

To Rene and Jaime!

By Greg Morelli

Happy couples give me hope. And gathering together to watch 2 people promise to love each other better than anyone else justifies putting on a green tie.

I’m lucky to be here today, especially because I didn’t RSVP. But some things are a given, like the love between Jaime & Rene.

I knew Jaime before I knew Rene and I can tell you Jaime is happier since she met Rene. I’ve known Rene long enough to notice he’s happier standing next to Jaime in yellow sneakers.

This is an occasion for yellow sneakers, green ties and cupcakes with more cake than frosting because let’s be honest, the cake is better than the frosting.

Follow me for a second on a metaphor...

The frosting is Jaime’s PHD, the frosting is Rene’s service to our country in the Air Force, both things Jaime & Rene accomplished for themselves, before they met.

The frosting is Dart, the frosting is Beatbox, both things Jaime & Rene find joy in doing for themselves.

The frosting is Madi, the frosting is Mia, both flying in an airplane for the first time in their lives so they could see Jaime & Rene say, "I Do."

All of that is sweet. Very sweet.

But marriage, and the vow to spend a lifetime being there for each other, is the cake.

When I stop to think about it, I have to admit, happy couples and heavy-handed metaphors give me hope.

Jaime & Rene, I want to thank you, so much, for letting me be a small part of this perfect day at the very beginning of your married life.

Written by Rene

Well, Jaime and I finally did it. We tied the knot. It was a magical ceremony that was short, funny, and touching. Hopefully, someone took a video of everything. Before I go into some pictures, we have to thanks some people.

First, we would like to thank Zach Ward for performing the ceremony with a lot of class, but also making it unique and fun. We didn't know what Zach was going to say, but we had trust that it would be golden. Zach also helped me out a lot leading up to the wedding. From printing the place seatings (with Bulls trivia!) to protecting me from meltdown, Zach was there. He is great, so say we all.

Second, our families made the trek to Chicago from all over the US (and The Netherlands!). We really appreciate everything they have done, both travel wise and monitarily. My poor mom took a 10 hour roadtrip with a sprained ankle and was in crutches the whole time. Jaime's poor dad was attacked by a flying squirrel that landed on his upper lip!

Third, the members of our wedding party were fun to spend time with, and they jumped to help us. I underestimated the difficulty of things, and they took over.

I'm a bit exhausted, as I had to jump to work today, and haven't had any time to just relax. Jaime took today off, which was the right thing to do.

Wedding rundown to come later, but here are a few fun pictures.

The scene outside with white chairs and special gifts for everyone.

Our wedding favor was customized Terrible Towels, renamed SUPES AWESOME TOWELZ!

This part was when all the groomsmen walked out. Zach had the idea to walk out in slow motion, bad ass style, to Little Green Bag, similarily to Reservoir Dogs. Real fun.

My wife and her dad. WIFE!!! Doesn't she look amazing? Hell yes!

We kissed the shit out of each other! Zach likes (I think)

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr and Mrs Duquesnoy!

Best day of my life.

by Jaime

You guys are all so lucky! Not only are you attending Jaime and Rene's awesome wed-fest. You are also spending a weekend in the best city on the planet - CHICAGO!!!

Here are few ideas of things you could do:

• See Rene do an improv show Thursday night, 8/5/10, 8 pm at ComedySportz Chicago

• See Jaime do an improv show Friday night, 8/6/10, 10:30 pm at the iO Theatre

• Catch a Cubs game (I know baseball kind of sucks, but it's summertime and it's the only sport going on); They are playing Cincinnati Friday, 8/6/10, at 1:20 pm; Saturday, 8/7/10, at 12:05 pm, and Sunday, 8/8/10, at 1:20 pm.

• Visit Millenium and Grant Parks and Navy Pier

• Sat hello to the animals at the Lincoln Park Zoo (free) or Shedd Aquarium

Public transit directions to the wedding venue: 4325 North Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago 60613:

• From the Days Inn and Inn at Lincoln Park hotels: If you don't want to walk at all, take the southbound #22 Clark bus; get off at Belmont; walk west on Belmont to the train station; take the northbound Brown line train (towards Kimball); get off at Montrose; walk east on Montrose to Ravenswood (first intersection); turn right on Ravenswood

• From downtown Chicago: You can board the northbound Brown line train (towards Kimball) anywhere in the Loop and take this train all the way to Montrose; alternatively, you can catch the northbound Red line train (towards Howard); switch to the northbound Brown line train (towards Kimball) at the Belmont station

• From O'Hare airport: a taxi ride will be the quickest and easiest method but will be $30-40; public transit will take ~ 1 hour; take the southbound Blue line train (towards Forest Park); get off at Montrose; catch the eastbound #78 Montrose bus; get off at Ravenswood

• From Midway airport: again a taxi ride will more quick and easy but expensive; public transit will take ~ 1 hour; take the northbound Orange line train (towards the Loop); transfer to a northbound Brown line train (towards Kimball) at one of the stops in the Loop; get off at Montrose

Train/bus fare is a $2.25 flat fee, one way. The CTA has 3 day passes that can be purchased. www.transitchicago.com is a useful resource for planning your trip.