UPDATE 8/5/24 - Due to unforeseen circumstances,
THE WELCOME TEA ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, HAS BEEN CANCELED

A Love Story 30 Years in the Making…

Look up the definition of “whirlwind romance” in the dictionary and you just might see a picture of us. In only nine months, we went from virtual strangers to being engaged. What can we say? When you know, you know.

The Cliff Notes version:

  1. Our story began in July 1995 when Niki met Chris’ sister, Meg.

  2. Our first date in January 2023 was terrible.

  3. Our story is literally a book. (Niki’s novel Been Searching for You, is eerily similar to our relationship even though it was written 10 years before we met.)

  4. We got engaged 103 floors above Chicago.

  5. We couldn’t be happier or surer about having met our soulmates in each other.

Meet the Bride and Groom

Many of you only know one of us, so we thought we would introduce ourselves to those who don’t know us.

Meet the Bride
Nichole “Niki” Burgdorf is 44, an only child, a Virgo, and seriously wondered if she’d ever get married. Born and bred in St. Louis (she attended Incarnate Word Academy, for those wondering), she has degrees in international business and English from Fontbonne University, a master’s in media communications (emphasis in public relations) from Webster University, and was planning to move to Chicago when she and Chris met. (South Bend is close enough.) By day, she works remotely in internal communications for Mercy, a St. Louis-based health system. She is also a USA Today bestselling author, writing under the pen name Nicole Evelina. Her hobbies include obsessing over everything Dark Academia, reading, playing occasional video games, interior design, cooking, web design and collecting old books, crystals, tarot decks, and makeup.

Meet the Groom

Christopher “Chris” Hart is 40, a Libra, the youngest of three (he has two sisters that you will hopefully see at the wedding) and he works in technology. If you’ve gone to a sporting event or concert in the Midwest, you’ve probably bought concessions from a stand where he worked on the point of sale system. He has been married once before (Niki calls that his “trial run” for this marriage) and never thought he would find love again. He loves all things gaming, specifically Zelda, and collects old video game systems, games and figurines. He’s also into anime, collecting canes and ties, and he’s recently taken up antiquing with Niki and his brother-in-law, Jake.