Couple Says 'I Do' While Riding the 'L' Around Chicago

CHICAGO, IL — Not many people would call a CTA train romantic, let alone the ideal backdrop for a destination wedding.

But don't tell that to Eric D'Asto and Sandra Grigoletti. The Bridgeport couple was married in a small ceremony over the weekend, and it was held in a rail car that chugged along the "L" tracks.

"The wife has always been a little obsessed with the 'L'," D'Asto wrote in a Reddit post he published Sunday about the wedding. "She's a photographer, and a lot of her work that's been published is pictures taken on the train. She even has the 'L' map tattooed on her arm."

Even though friends and family had questions when the couple told them about their unique nuptial plans, a rail car wedding matched who they are as people, D'Asto told Patch on Monday:

"The reactions were a little puzzled at first. Many questions were asked. But doing something like this really fit our personalities. We tend to be a little quirky and march to our own beat, so it flowed well.

"We also have a bunch of civic pride and are filled with a bunch of Chicago history facts, … [and the ceremony] gave us an opportunity to give a tour to people, which was especially fun for the out of town guests (my cousin came in from California, and one of our best friends came in all the way from England)."

D'Asto, 39, also shared a photo of the transit nuptials taken by his best man:

Apparently, D'Asto, 39, and Grigoletti, 34, aren't alone when it comes to thinking that a ride along the "L" is the ideal way to get hitched. The CTA offers a variety of packages for weddings, parties and other events that start around $2,000. Couples can charter a train any time — except weekday rush hours, obviously, from around 6 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. — and choose the route the ceremony will travel.

The couple's wedding involved 25 guests and four rail cars (each carries about 35 people, according to the CTA) for two hours, costing the couple about $2,600, which included the refundable safety deposit, edasto42 said. The ceremony started at Midway Airport, traveled around the Loop and then up to the Green Line's Harlem Avenue station. After that, the wedding party debarked and took a trolley ride around the city.

"We ended up at Frontier for dinner, then Bordel for the after-party," the redditor wrote.

Wedding essentials, such as food, decorations and a live band, are allowed during a CTA ceremony, but beverages must be non-alcoholic. Also, the wedding party will have to refrain from tying cans behind the rail car as the newlyweds ride off for their honeymoon.

Eric D'Asto and Sandra Grigoletti were married in a ceremony on the "L." (photo by Eric Bowden via D'Asto)

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