Legends
Sarah Wright and Andrew Bertucci met in rehearsals for the Moms Day Sing in 2013. Their first date found them at Campustown hangout Legends. They married in 2023 at Chicago’s Drake Hotel, surrounded by Illini friends and classmates. (Images courtesy of Sarah Wright)
It was classic showbiz. She was a lead dancer. He was an assistant director. They met in rehearsals, then went on to performances and applause. And love. It was through a venue where fraternities met sororities and boys met girls—the annual Moms Day Sing, sponsored by campus leadership honorary, Atius-Sachem.
In the spring of 2013, the Moms Day Sing brought together Sarah Wright, ’16 ACES, DVM ’20, and Andrew Bertucci, ’14 LAS, ’18 LER. (The show crooned its last, alas, six years later.) She was a freshman in Pi Beta Phi, he a Phi Gamma Delta senior. Andrew had agreed to help with the show even though, he admits, “I’m not super knowledgeable on dance choreography. But I thought. ‘Maybe I’ll meet somebody.’”
Indeed, he did. “On the night of one of the shows, Andrew asked me on a date,” Sarah says. “We went to [Campustown bar] Legends. I ordered a wrap. I was so nervous. I don’t even like wraps.”
That summer, they both studied abroad, he in South Africa, she in Spain. “When we got back in August 2013, Andrew asked me to be his girlfriend,” says Sarah. “We’ve been together ever since.” They married in June 2023 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The room—and the bridal party—were filled with Illini friends and classmates.
The couple lives in Bloomingdale, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago. He works as a human resources specialist for a Swedish technology company. She is an editor, social media manager and podcaster for the American Veterinary Medical Association. While Sarah has worked at zoos, aquariums and clinics around the U.S. and in Canada, her animal face-time now is largely limited to their two cats.
Returning to campus for Homecoming 2023, the pair was irresistibly drawn back to Legends, site of their first date. “It was just really nostalgic being back there where it all began,” Sarah recalls.
“We came back as a married couple,” Andrew says. “Life comes full circle, right?”
If you found true love at Illinois, we’d love to know! Email us at IllinoisAlumni@uillinois.edu.
