Ever After: Kristen Corley & John Barone

By Lisa Arnett / Latest / Weddings / June 11, 2020

Kristen Corley and John Barone, both 29, have known each other for more than half their lives. They met as sixth graders growing up in Arlington Heights, with many of their early conversations taking place on AOL Instant Messenger. “I would sneak online at night and hope my parents didn’t hear the dial-up modem noise,” says Corley, a physical therapist. On the 13th anniversary of their very first date, Barone, an attorney, proposed in their Lincoln Park home with a ring he had made with a diamond repurposed from a pendant of his mother’s. “As a teenage girl, I’d been dreaming of marrying this guy for half my life,” says Corley. “It was surreal and so sweet.”

They took first-look photos at the Palmer House Hilton (17 E. Monroe) before marrying at Lacuna Artists Lofts (2150 S. Canalport) in a winter ceremony that honored their shared past. “I think when you understand where someone came from, then you can really appreciate who they have become,” says Barone. Their lighthearted musical choices certainly made their guests smile: A violinist and cellist played the “Star Wars” theme when the groom entered, followed by “Tale as Old as Time” from “Beauty and the Beast” for the bride’s procession.

Corley fell in love with her Eva Lendel gown—a high-necked number with a detachable train—after spotting it on Instagram. “A cute little store called My Darling Bridal in Minneapolis was the only store in the Midwest that had her, so my mom and my aunt and my cousin drove nine hours in a blizzard to get there,” she says. “And she was the one!”