Couple's wedding to be 'our own mini Palatine fest'
A Palatine couple's love for each other and the village where they've lived their entire lives will combine for a spectacle Saturday.
Michelle Buttner and P.J. Munagain Jr. will marry in the downtown Town Square gazebo just north of Palatine Road, then lead a pub crawl immediately afterward. The day will be capped by a pig roast reception at the Palatine Park District's Fred P. Hall Amphitheater.
Friends have joked the couple's wedding will be the third big village summer event, sandwiched between the Palatine Jaycees' Hometown Fest held over the Fourth of July weekend and Street Fest set for Aug. 23-25.
"It's just a love of Palatine," said Munagain, 33. "This whole idea started when we were at Hometown Fest where we go for the Fourth of July every year. ... We wanted a band. We wanted that (amphitheater band shell) stage. We kind of wanted to replicate the fests that go on here.
"And we do two pub crawls throughout the year as well. And so we wanted to incorporate everything in our own mini Palatine fest."
About 200 guests are expected for the evening reception at the Community Park amphitheater, where Munagain and Buttner shared their first dance at a concert. At least 75 of the invited guests are expected at the wedding ceremony.
Buttner, 38, and Munagain will be driven to Town Square in separate Chevrolet Corvettes. She'll be wearing a traditional wedding dress, and he'll don a gray suit with a blue vest.
With last year's death of her father, Jeffrey, two of Buttner's uncles will walk her up to the gazebo where her brother-in-law, ordained as a minister for the occasion, will marry the couple. There will be five bridesmaids and groomsmen, along with the couple's 6-month-old daughter, Piper Joyce.
After the lifelong Palatine residents and Fremd High School graduates become husband and wife, the downtown pub crawl will begin across the street from Town Square at American Legion Post 690. The wedding party and guests then will hit TJ O'Brien's Bar & Grill, JL's Pizza & Sports Bar and Lamplighter Inn Tavern and Grille.
South Elgin's BBQ on Wheels will handle the pig roast - complete with a Hawaiian theme reflecting where Buttner and Munagain got engaged - and TJ O'Brien's will supply the drinks at the amphitheater, which will have a tent for the guests. Twice the Action, a cover band known for performing many genres of music, will entertain from the stage.
"It's who we are and what we like to do," Buttner said.
Nationally known wedding expert Anne Chertoff said more couples are getting married at venues they frequent, such as a restaurant or destination. Now a freelancer, Chertoff is a former wedding editor at Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides and WeddingWire.
"It sounds like a superfun idea, and I'm sure they and their guests will have a great time," Chertoff said after receiving details of the Munagain-Buttner nuptials. "More and more couples are planning multiple events over a weekend so there's more times everyone can celebrate together and (in) fun ways."
Public venues, such as the park district facilities selected by the Palatine couple, can be less expensive for a wedding and reception, she added.
Town Square costs $100 an hour for residents and $120 for nonresidents, said Keith Schmerer, facilities manager for the Palatine park system. He said the park's gazebo usually has one or two weddings a year and also is reserved for photo opportunities.
Park district theater coordinator Jeff Greene said amphitheater rental is $55 to $64 per hour, plus equipment and staff that may be required. He said the wedding reception request from Buttner and Munagain was the first in his roughly 20 years at the district.
"I'm surprised we haven't gotten more requests like this," Greene said.