Zakary Hartford and Laura Benz

Zakary and I first met at our initial military training after beginning active duty in the US Army. After both being stationed in different parts of Germany, we happened to see each other again at a field exercise that both of our units were participating in. Shortly after rekindling our friendship, we started dating and knew that we were meant to spend our lives together. Because we lived 400 kilometers apart, we spent our weekends taking countless trains meeting in many different small German cities in between where we lived. This enabled us to have unique experiences as we used our creativity to find new adventures and experience new cultures.

After serving in the Army outside of the United States for the past three years; having our wedding at River Roast would be the perfect setting to bring both families together to join in our celebration. After having the opportunity to experience a myriad of different cultures while we were dating, we would love to continue celebrating diversity in our marriage by uniting in such an iconic city. Chicago's ideal location would give our family and friends all over the world the opportunity for simplified travel arrangements as they arrive to celebrate with us. The River Roast's breathtaking views of the Chicago River with a backdrop of awe-inspiring city lights are everything we've dreamt of when we imagine our wedding day.

More About Zakary & Laura

After spending most of the summer apart due to our military obligations, we finally were able to plan a nine-day vacation together backpacking through the Alps. Zakary told me that he wanted to take Christmas card pictures along the route so he packed his large and very heavy tripod along with his camera with lenses; not typical backpacking equipment. After being rained and snowed on for the entire first portion of our adventure, we finally had a day where we hiked above the clouds showing us the sun for the first time as well as an incredible view of the stunning mountain peaks. We sat and ate lunch at the top of the day's hike and got ready to descend the mountain. Before we left, Zakary decided he finally wanted to use his huge tripod that he had been carrying around for days, as I agreed this would be the perfect location for our picture. After setting the camera up and starting a timer; he ran over, got down on one knee, and made me the happiest girl in the world as he asked me to marry him. Later I found out that he didn't set a camera timer for a picture, but hit record on a video to capture the whole thing. The rest of the trip was filled with rain, snow, exhaustion, however remained an incredible experience. We were the happiest we’ve ever been as we talked and dreamt together about how our future would be as one.