Neighbors help throw block party wedding outside bride's childhood home
MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. -- A group of close-knit neighbors pitched in to throw an epic block party wedding for a couple of high school sweethearts outside the bride's childhood home.
Susie Osei, 24, told ABC News she chose the street she grew up on - and where her parents still live - as the venue for her July 30 wedding partially because her mother suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
"Me and Miles have been dating since high school and we pretty much always knew that we were going to get married so we didn't really put a lot of pressure on it," the bride explained. "In the past couple years I think it became more apparent to Miles that more than anything else, it being extravagant or waiting for a time when we're less busy, it was important to us that she be there for the wedding."
Once they had decided on the location, her dad emailed neighbors to make sure it was OK. The response was overwhelming.
"Everybody just responded with total love," she said. "There was no issues, everyone just wanted to help. Everyone was saying we could use their lawn and use their trees and offered to help, so it worked out."
In the ceremony officiated by the bride's brother, Osei took her mother's wedding ring as her own. Osei said that because of weight fluctuations due to Alzheimer's, it didn't fit her mom properly anymore.
From the decorations to the cake, neighbors pooled their talents to contribute to the homegrown event. Residents even decorated trees with Christmas lights so the DJ who grew up down the street could keep the party going all night.
"My mom was dancing and laughing and having the best day," Osei said. "That makes it all worth it."
