Neighbors Team Up To Turn Block Party Into Adorable Wedding
Susie Osei grew up in Mount Prospect, Illinois, her parents still live there, and it’s also the place where she met the man who recently became her husband. So, when it came time to celebrate her big day, Osei told the Huffington Post that Mount Prospect seemed like the only logical venue.
We had our first kiss playing spin the bottle at my parents’ house on Pine Street, and Mount Prospect is where we grew up together. My block had always thrown block parties for other events. It just seemed so much more meaningful to be home for our big day than anywhere else.
There was another factor in the decision to hold the wedding in the neighborhood. Osei’s mother suffers from Alzheimer’s, a disease that can be unpredictable. So, Osei wanted to have her wedding as quickly as possibly to guarantee her mother would not just be physically present, but also mentally capable of enjoying what was happening on the special day.
Knowing full well that a quick wedding would present challenges, Osei and then-fiance, Miles, forged ahead. The first step was sending letters to the neighbors to make sure they were on board with a block party wedding. Responses soon came flooding in—not only did the neighborhood not mind the unique wedding, but many wanted to pitch in to help.
Together the neighbors spent hours assigning tasks, writing to-do lists, washing cutlery for the reception dinner, cutting flowers from their gardens for centerpieces and even making a burlap aisle runner—all to ensure the big day would go off without a hitch.
“We wanted to get the wedding in while my wife could still enjoy it,” Osei’s father, Tony Lello, told the Daily Herald “I think we got our wish.”
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