That’s what friends are for! Michelle Obama assisted a lucky couple in exchanging their wedding vows at their ceremony in Chicago on Saturday, September 22.
Though she did not officiate the wedding, Obama, 54, helped Stephanie Rivkin and Joel Sircus make their marriage official by leading them in their “I Do’s!” at Theater on the Lake.
According to the pair’s wedding announcement in The New York Times, the blushing bride — who is a sales account manager at Google — is the daughter of the city’s Deputy Mayor Robert S. Rivkin. Her mother, Cindy S. Moelis, serves as the president of Penny Pritzker’s Chicago-based charity, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. (Penny Pritzker was a commerce secretary in the Obama administration.)
The groom, meanwhile, works as an investment associate at Chicago’s DNS Capital. DNS is the family investment office for Michael Pucker and Gigi Pritzker. The newlyweds met while attending Walter Payton College Preparatory High School.
The Becoming author and her husband, Barack Obama, have strong ties to the Windy City. Among other things, Michelle was born in Chicago in 1964 and Barack, 57, served as the United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008.
The couple also raised their children in Chicago until 2009, when Barack was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
Michelle, for her part, is about to embark on a new adventure — a highly-anticipated stadium book tour. The lawyer announced the exciting news earlier this month in a video posted to her Instagram account.
“Hey everybody, it’s Michelle Obama … It’s a big day for me because I am finished with my book … I can’t wait to share it with the world,” she said in the clip. “Over this time that I’ve been out of the White House, I’ve had time to think and reflect for the first time in a long time and I spent some time really thinking about the people and the stories and the experiences that have shaped me and helped me become the person I am today, and I am proud of what I’ve created. I’m proud because it’s candid, it’s totally and utterly me. So I’m also a little frightened because it’s candid and honest and open, but I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Michelle also revealed in heartfelt caption that she’s excited to share intimate stories with fans during the tour, which begins on November 13 in Chicago.
“This fall, I’d like to share that fuller story with all of you on my book tour,” she gushed. “It’s the story of my humdrum plainness, my tiny victories, my lasting bruises, my ordinary hopes and worries. It’s the story of who I am, truly, and I’m so proud of it — blemishes and all.”
