Along the Fox

By Lisa Arnett
June 2025 View more Better Together

Matching tuxes, Filipino fare, and garden views highlighted this riverside wedding

When Plainfield native Jeric Tumang met Taylor Likens, he wasn’t shy about sharing his vision for the future. “I did tell him on our first date—at the Cheesecake Factory at [age] 24—that my next relationship I put myself into would be with the intent to get married and have kids.” Originally from Indiana, Likens went to Purdue University; Tumang attended Indiana University. They started dating a couple of years after graduation while they were both living in Indianapolis. After moving in together during the pandemic, their bond was strong enough that when Tumang was offered a promotion to relocate to Batavia, Likens didn’t think twice about moving. “It was a very easy ‘yes,’ ” Likens says. “I knew it would be a great thing for us to do together.”

It was another easy “yes” for Likens when Tumang proposed in 2022—though he was caught completely off guard. “We have a very weird obsession with escape rooms,” Tumang says. While both of their sisters were in town, Tumang coordinated with the staff at Escape the Room in Oak Brook to hide an engagement ring for Likens. “The last clue was the code to open up a safe, and when Taylor opened it, there was a custom ring box inside with his name on it,” Tumang says. “And when he turned around, I was down on one knee.”

While touring wedding venues, they were quickly charmed by the historic Hotel Baker in St. Charles, due in no small part to the hospitality of co-owner Rowena Felix Salas. “My family is Filipino and so is she, and the executive chef is also from the Philippines,” Tumang says. They created a custom menu with Filipino appetizers and pancit, a noodle dish, as a vegetarian entrée option. They became so close by the end of the planning process that Salas attended their Oct. 4 celebration and still keeps in touch. “She signed our wedding card ‘Tita Ro,’ which means ‘aunt’ [in Filipino],” Tumang says.

Likens’s friend Paige officiated their ceremony on the hotel’s boathouse deck overlooking the Fox River. “We wanted someone who could really speak to our love in a way that people could feel it in the room,” Likens says. Following a Filipino wedding tradition, they chose wedding sponsors—three couples they look up to as role models—and put their own twist on a unity ceremony by having them take turns watering a plant. “We are big plant people, so we had a large plant up in front and each of our sponsors watered the plant as a symbol of helping us grow as a couple,” Tumang says.

Tumang works at Aldi’s corporate office in Batavia and recently accepted a position in Germany through the company’s expatriate program. They plan to return to their home in Aurora when his three-year contract is up. “We are really looking forward to taking this time here to be able to travel [throughout Europe,]” Tumang says. “We love the Chicago suburbs and we knew that’s where we wanted to raise a family…So, after three years of intense traveling, I think we are going to be ready to settle down.”

Wedding Details

Venue and catering
Hotel Baker, St. Charles

Grooms’ attire
Tuxedos from Men’s Wearhouse, Geneva

Rings
Rogers & Holland, Schaumburg

Floral
Janet Gallagher of Designs by Janet, Geneva

Cake
Geneva Baking Company, Geneva

Entertainment
DJ Tukmol, Chicago

Photographer
TWA Photographic Artists

Photos: TWA Photographic Artists/twaphoto.com