Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/bsp-carousel><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
In addition to the ceremony, the winning couple received gifts donated by Chicago establishments: A one-night stay at the Ritz-Carlton, a gourmet dinner gift box from Whittingham Meats, a wine basket and champagne flutes from Cooper\u2019s Hawk Winery & Restaurant and a gift card to Eli\u2019s Cheesecake \u2014 among other gifts.<\/p>\n
From the moment they met, Nunez said she knew she would marry Brenske. <\/p>\n
\u201cI knew she was the one for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The couple also made history as the first lesbian couple in the county to sign the first marriage license of the year. In 2022, a gay couple became the first same-sex couple to marry in the new year, according to Gordon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s really cool. And I think that\u2019s an awesome way to start our marriage in such a milestone that we\u2019ll celebrate every year,\u201d Brenske said.<\/p>\n
The newlyweds were joined by their family and friends. They were all smiles as the couple signed their marriage certificate.<\/p>\n
After winning the lottery, Brenske said her first call was to her best friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s meant to be,\u201d said Jen Guzman, a friend of the couple. \u201cThey\u2019ve been through ups and downs. And, after everything, they finally have their happy ending.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple said they are looking forward to begin a new chapter together. They hope to celebrate with a larger reception and honeymoon in the coming years. <\/p>\n
For now, they\u2019re focused on building their marriage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to focus on our careers and build a strong foundation for our future,\u201d said Brenske, who has an 11-year-old son. \u201cI already have one child, and we\u2019d like to have more. So we want to create the foundation so we can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As others welcomed the new year with resolutions, Melissa Nunez and Elizabeth Brenske became the first couple of 2026 to marry in Cook County. They made history as the county\u2019s first lesbian couple to win the annual lottery and take part in the tradition. \u201cI wanted a big proposal and a big wedding,\u201d Brenske said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}