One thing down.... Almost two!

Ceremony
Jim and I met with the priest at St. Gertrude's yesterday and scheduled our ceremony for 1:00pm on 9/19/09. Father Grassi said we're all set until around next February, when we should call to set up another meeting with him to begin all of the paperwork. So, at least we've got one thing scheduled!

Marriott Chicago Downtown
We've also chosen a reception venue! We were very close to choosing the other site under consideration, Embassy Suites. After almost two weeks, the coordinator from the Embassy finally got back to me and advised that the date we requested was no longer available and asked if we are flexible on the date. Which we are, but that's not the point. She had agreed to put a "24 hour hold" on that date for us, which means that the date was on hold for us and that if someone else came along who wanted to contract for that date, she would call us and we would have 24 hours to either contract or release it. After she told us, we exchanged a couple of emails in which I asked her to tell me exactly what happened and why the date is no longer available. What did she respond, you ask? Nothing. She completely ignored my questions. Very annoying.

So, Jim and I were pretty torn, because if this is the service she gives us while she's still trying to get the sale, what is going to happen once we've signed the contract? We asked our family for their opinions, and they all unanimously said to stay away from the Embassy, which was what our own instincts were telling us.

I contacted the sales rep from the Marriott on Friday and let her know that we decided to chose their venue and right now we are in the process of working out the contract. The contract should be signed by the end of the week, I hope! We liked the Marriott better, anyway, so all in all this is probably for the best. Plus, the Marriott has a little bit of significance in our relationship, because that is where Jim and I spent our first New Years Eve together. Here are a couple pictures of the ballroom!




Bridal Expo Scam
I have decided I'm not going to another bridal expo. Firstly, I didn't find the one I attended all that useful. Secondly, they expo sells your info. I specifically did not give any vendors my contact information. But, when you register, you register for the tickets you have to give your address and phone number to the show itself. So far, in the last week, I've gotten spam emails and mailings from one of the vendors that I didn't even stop to look at. And to top it all off, I got a call on my cell phone from a known scam! I received a voicemail from an Eileen with 21st Century Concepts advising my name was one of 5 chosen at random from attendees at that bridal show and that I had one "some prizes" which are only available for a "limited time." I never win anything, so I was pretty skeptical and decided to Google the phone number before calling back. Sure enough, I found multiple web pages advising that phone calls from this number are a scam (see this page and this one for info). Its already annoying if they sell my info to wedding vendors, but to sell it to a scam? Unacceptable! If you're considering going to a bridal expo, I would advise strongly that you do not give them ANY contact information, if possible.

Bridal Expo

Bridal Expo

I'd always heard about these Bridal Expo shows and that they are a good way to see the work of lots of different vendors all at one location. So, despite visions of crazy bridzilla's running around in my head, I decided to go and check one out this past weekend.

Most of the Chicago area ones seem to be out in the 'burbs, which I am not overly familiar with. My sister graciously agreed to go with me, which turned out to be a good thing. We managed to miss a couple of turns and couldn't make our way back to where we were trying to go. Luckily, my sister called her husband and he gave us directions from where we were.

Once we got there, we saw that it was really pretty small. I was expecting more vendors. It only took us about 30 minutes to get through them all. I suppose if I stopped and spoke with all of them, it would take longer. We looked at a few photographers and I took some info on a possible DJ. But, that was about it. We sat through the fashion show, which really involved a lot of talking by the emcee's and not as many dresses as I was hoping for. And,I didn't really most of the one's they showed, anyway. The only ones that I did like were by Justin Alexander. He seems like he actually has a good selection of dresses that aren't strapless. When I start dress shopping, I think I'll try to find a salon that sells some of his designs.

Embassy Update

I still haven't heard from the coordinator at the Embassy regarding a couple of my follow-up questions. I know she was waiting to get the information from her supervisor, but still....

And so it begins....

Since we got engaged on July 1st, Jim and I have been busy with telling friends and family our good news! After some discussion, Jim and I decided that our ideal wedding date will be September 19, 2009. 19 is one of Jim's lucky numbers, so that can't hurt.

We already knew we wanted to have the wedding in Chicago. This is where we met and where we live our lives.


Venues. So many choices...

Since we have more than a year to plan the wedding, I decided to take things one step at a time. We decided the first thing to do is schedule a reception venue. In July, we started conducting a search for the wedding venue that best fits our tastes and our budget. After researching different types of venues, we decided to choose a hotel. I emailed more than 25 different hotels in Chicagoland area to request information on their wedding packages. I made spreadsheets comparing all of the different packages (hey, no one ever said that I'm not thorough) we narrowed down our search to about five different locations. We contacted those locations and scheduled tours.

We visited the:
Westin O'Hare
InterContinental O'Hare
The Avenue Hotel Chicago
Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile
Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown

The first venue we toured was the Westin O'Hare. The Westin was nice and the hotel had an Asian Zen feeling going on, which Jim and I liked. We were shown the ballroom, which was fine. It was pretty typical. But then we were told that, sometime in the next year, they would be completely renovating the ballroom. They couldn't tell us exactly when that would occur, what it would look like, or what they would do to assist us if it wasn't done by September '09. Based on that, we pretty much took them off the list. Too uncertain.The next one we saw was the InterContinental. Its a brand new hotel and was actually still under construction when saw it. The coordinator met us to go over the packages and information and then took us on a "hard hat" tour of the hotel. We could tell it is going to be really nice. It is very modern and has an art gallery theme. But, in the end we decided against it because it was just a little too expensive for being out by O'Hare. We'd really rather have it in the city, if possible.The third venue we looked at was the Avenue Hotel on Huron in Chicago. It was recently renovated and the lobby and room decor had been modernized. Unfortunately, the ballroom had not. It seemed very small and the ceilings seemed really low. Plus, there were 6 big pillars in the room that I think would have been difficult to work with. Also, the wedding coordinator didn't seem all that excited about being the wedding coordinator. The last two locations we viewed were the best, and we are still deciding between them.


The Marriott and the Embassy Suites

Jim and I had attended a New Years Eve "party" at the Marriott on Michigan Ave. almost two years ago, and had not been impressed. However, when we arrived for our tour, we saw there had been a lot of changes. They had done major renovations earlier this year and it looked very good! We met with one of the Maitre d's, Angel, and he showed us around their different ballrooms. He even surprised us by having waiters come and serve us Mimosas! Angel was very nice and very helpful in giving us ideas about ways that the ballrooms can be set up.The last venue we toured was the Embassy Suites on State St. The wedding coordinator, Thelma, asked us to meet her there at 6:30pm, while they were setting the ballroom up for a wedding. She felt this would allow us to get a good feel for what a reception there was like. The ballroom was nice. The cocktail hour occurs outside of the ballroom in the Atrium, which Jim didn't care for too much. But, all in all, the place was nice and the cost is relatively reasonable.Right now, we are waiting for some follow-up information from the Embassy and will be using that to make our final decision. Once we decide which hotel we are going to use and have the contract in place, we'll be relieved!