>> it really was, yeah. like it was just so romantic when i first met him, it was awesome. and then things just got, like, exponentially more outrageous as time went on. >> outrageously good. >> yeah. >> for instance, instead of simply popping the question to michelle, mark flew her to rome. he had a driver bring her to meet him. mark dropped to one knee and presented her with an enormous ring while a group of minstrels he had hired serenaded them. >> i was crying and everybody in the piazza was clapping. it was a beautiful moment. >> their wedding in 2001 was actually a three-act extravaganza. first a small wedding in chicago's botanic garden held solely for the purpose of allowing michelle's father, who was dying of cancer, to walk her down the aisle.