Stephanie Morbeck and Al Persondek experience the thrill of love in the Windy City

This summer, a carnival-theme wedding in North Idaho will be the perfect starting place for a grand adventure for Stephanie Morbeck and Alvin (Al) Persondek. Stephanie, a North Idaho native, met Al during her OBGYN residency in Chicago. They initially met through a meetup.com event, but it wasn’t until Al saw Stephanie’s profile later on an online dating site that they went out for their first date. He remembered her from the meetup.com event and decided to ask her out. After a few months of dating, things became more serious, and then exclusive in June 2013. That fall they began to talk about marriage, but with hectic schedules, school and new jobs – things would need some careful planning. Spring 2014 brought wedding plans to the table, even though Stephanie and Al weren’t officially engaged yet. Al was waiting to ask Stephanie’s father for her hand in marriage, as a true gentleman would. He received her father’s blessing in September of 2014 and then proposed the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The proposal took Stephanie by surprise: Al had enlisted the help of Stephanie’s good friend, Melissa, to help stage their apartment with thousands of candles and lights. Al had also been tirelessly working for months on a slideshow of all the photos from their two years together. When Stephanie arrived home from work, Al greeted her in his tuxedo tee, ushering her in to the glowing light ambience. He played the slide show, all the while secretly recording the entire proposal. He had her ring resting in the signature blue Tiffany’s box nestled in the middle of a heart made by candles, surrounded by flowers. When the slide show ended, just like in the movies, he got down on one knee to propose. “This was all in the presence of our cat Bitsy, who for once, was behaving,” Stephanie said. Then in true Chicago fashion, they ordered pizza from their favorite neighborhood pizza place to celebrate. Looking back at their time together, it’s been fun for them to share their love of roller coasters together. Stephanie bought Al season passes to Six Flags in 2013. They’ve visited the Six Flags in Chicago, Los Angeles and St. Louis. They’ve even been to the top-rated theme park in the U.S., Cedar Point. They’ve each had other special moments that made them realize they were meant to be together forever. Stephanie’s moment was at her senior resident graduation where Al was able to mix and mingle with the best of them. While he welcomed her company, he was able to hold his own with this entirely new crowd. Stephanie loves this about him and knew right then that he was the perfect complement to her personality. He’s compassionate, intelligent and witty. At the party she recalls one resident saying to Al, “Oh. You’re Stephanie’s new man? Good Luck.” But he didn’t need it, Stephanie knew he was a keeper right then. Al says that he knew she was his forever love right after they became exclusive and were inseparable. There were a few other key moments though that reinforced his hunch. Stephanie helped Al get to know city life when he left the suburbs and decided to live in the city. She also was a great support for him while he went through a company restructure that eliminated his position. He was blessed to find a new position in less than a month. Having someone by your side through all of your adventures is a special privilege. Al was lucky to have a beautiful, smart and hard-working woman like Stephanie by his for these ones; and many more to follow. Their one-of-a-kind wedding this summer will showcase their love of theme parks and carnivals. There will be a circus tent, ring masters instead of ring bearers and carnival food stands with fresh popcorn, hot peanuts, cotton candy and sweet snow cones. Guests will also enjoy carnival games. The cake with feature famous rope walker Nik Wallenda, walking between the two Chicago Marina Towers. Al and Stephanie got to witness this daredevil event in person last November. When Stephanie was doing something crazy as a child her mom would say, “Who do you think you are, a flying Wallenda?” So the cake topper couldn’t be more perfect. In addition to creating a wedding that highlights their shared love of theme parks, Stephanie will also get to honor her family by wearing her paternal grandmother’s wedding dress, handmade from a parachute that her grandfather sent back to the U.S. during WWII. Her veil will be a reconstructed version of her maternal grandmother’s wedding veil. These special heirlooms are a way to have her deceased grandparents with her. After the wedding the couple will enjoy a stop at Disneyland, where Stephanie plans to get Minnie Mouse wedding ears. Then they’ll head off to Bali for a beach adventure honeymoon complete with a whitewater rafting trip, elephant safari, camel ride on the beach and more. When they return from honeymooning, they will be live in Washington state.