Day 353: "Come Out & Play"

Gotta say, yesterday's venue recon mission didn't go as badly as I thought it was going to. Park lady was really nice (considering we politely busted into her office in the middle of her work day) but the bad news is we still don't officially have a contract. Park lady won't have the new price quotes until early November, and neither her nor us want to make a deposit only to find that the venue was raised to be something ridiculous. It's not her fault, it's a sort of Chicago Parks matter all across the board, but it's still a little unsettling. She does have us in the books though, so the date is saved for us. It's really the best we can do right now.

The upside? Park lady confirmed the following:

• We can definitely go til' midnight at the venue.
• We can definitely bring in the caterer of our choice.
• They have 21 round tables that can seat between 8-10 people which is exactly how many we need (we were able to whittle down the guest list to 225, and with a lot of out-of-towners, we're guessing we'll have 200 or less at the wedding).
• We can use the concession stands as bar set-ups and coat rooms for no additional costs.
  

Overall, not the final result we were going for, but at least we have things in motion and an idea of what's actually going on. However, our trip to Flying Saucer turned out to be helpful in unexpected way.

After we wrapped up lunch, we talked to Danielle (one of the chefs) a bit about weddings and Humboldt Park and she said that Flying Saucer actually does catering. While we have a few places in mind at the moment (Honest Foods and Centered Chef) Flying Saucer does have the advantage of specializing in vegan/veg food and being a block away from Humboldt Park (something that is especially helpful considering the tiny, tiny kitchen in the Fieldhouse space). Not sure who we're going to go with in the end, but it's cool to know they have the capabilities.

Next up, a lot of decoration talk with Art of Imagination. They're based in Humboldt Park/Logan Square and specialize in drapery (if you've ever gone to a Stan Mansion event before, chances are you have seen their work since Deb from A-of-I has an exclusive contract with Stan Mansion). We chatted a bit and have an in person appointment next week to meet at Humboldt and go over some ideas. We're hoping we can do this on the cheap. My biggest concern is if she can help us temporarily cover this:

Nice for a community space, not so nice for a wedding.

Day 354: Strength in Numbers

After the few attempts I made to reach Humboldt Park, I sort of gave up last week. Unfortunately, there's this funny thing about wedding planning where just ignoring the fact that you need a venue will not actually solve the problem.

This is why I am enlisting J-Cakes (the fiance) for this very important task.

Like myself, J-Cakes is equally enthralled at the idea of spending the morning trying to hammer down the hidden details and costs for our wedding venue with the hard-to-reach lady who works in Humboldt Park. If I were being honesty with myself, the only thing really motivating us to go is the desire to get this boring part out of the way and the promise of stopping for brunch at the Flying Saucer.

My theory is, strength in numbers. The reality is, neither one of us is particularly intimidating and I have no idea how much difference it will make to have us both there. I figure even if the worst-case scenarios play out to be true...

a.) They still won't let us sign a contract
b.) The prices were raised to something ridiculous
c.) The stuff they said was cool to do at the venue turns out to be not cool (such as staying at the venue until 12:30 or bringing our own caterers with)
OR
d.) All three

...at least I'll be hanging out with my honey, walking through the park and getting some Metropolis coffee out of the deal.

The bad news is, even if all the best case scenarios plan out and things go smoothly (which will lead to us immediately attempting to do airborne high-fives the whole walk home), we still have to consider the completely shitty weather that was October 9th this year. Shitty weather that could very well be the same next year. In other words, the picturesque ideal of having the ceremony in the Boathouse and the reception in the Field House might not work out completely. I just imagine it would be hard to convince people to want to stand outside in the cold, close to water (albeit, not a large body of water, but water nonetheless) while we talk about how much we love each other and everyone huddles together for warmth.

So now, we need a backup plan for the outdoor ceremony if we go with Plan A, and a more flushed out idea of what Plan B looks like in case it ends up actually being our new Plan A.

Sometimes, I wonder if this really needs to be this complicated. Then I remember that a big part of that complication comes from us being poor and kind of picky.

Time to nut up or shut up?

(You'll have to forgive that last part. It's a horrible, but I just went to see Zombieland recently).


Go Team Awesome!

Venue Blues

Despite a very well-contructed email to the Regional Chicago Park District person I need to talk to, two phone calls, and a few stalker-like walks through Humboldt Park to see if someone is around to talk to, I have yet to reach someone live.

This does not look good.

Plan B?

Too soon?

Ugh!

Narrowin' It Down

Finally down to the final two venues!

This process has honestly been kind of a pain and taken way longer than we'd hoped, but the sooner we can sign the contract and do the fun stuff the better, and we're down to two. Unfortunately, our Number One choice won't let us lock it down til' this fall, so that means waiting for three more months or praying they return all the millions of questions we have in writing so we don't get any nasty surprises. HUGE THANK YOU to Johnny's mom who worked her art of negotiation skills to get us an earlier signing date.

To be fair, our backup plan is nice too, just not everything we've dreamed of. It's close by, so that helps, but it honestly needs a lot more imagination that I feel like mustering up for monetarily. Also, it has no windows and so having a wedding in the Fall kind of loses it's reasoning when you're spending most of the wedding not seeing any of the natural beauty around you.

I'll probably be keeping the final details on hold until we settle everything, but in the meantime, friend Robin sent along this Yelp list that helped me find some of the not so well known wedding reception places. It's a pretty comprehensive list, and I have added some additional venues I looked into in case you're on the search for a Chicago wedding venue and want to explore all of the alternatives out there.

Garfield Park Conservatory
South Shore Cultural Center [$4800 for the ceremony and reception (that is the cost to just have the building, no linens, security, etc) and you have to use their caterers].
Chicago Cultural Center-Grand Army of the Republic
Chicago Cultural Center-Maxims
Cafe Brauer
Architectural Artefacts
Harold Washington Library
Newberry Library
Lincoln Park Conservatory
Peggy Notebaert Nature M.
Jackson Park 63rd Beach House
Columbus Park Refectory
Promontory Point
Chicago History Museum
The Rookery
Marmon Grand
Murphy Auditorium, American College of Surgeons
A New Leaf
Stan Mansion
Grand Piazza
Crystal Garden Ballroom
Ravenswood Billboard Factory
Civic Opera House
Ivy Room
Irish American Heritage Center
Copernicus Center
Chicago Illuminating Company
Union League Room
West Loop Studio
Cheney Mansion
Union Station
Estudio Tres
Dankhaus
Studioelab
Zam Zam
Garden Terrace, Garden Manor, Garden Walk, Royal Gardens
Winnetka Community House
Women's Club Evanston
Manzo's Banquets
Wildfire
Logan Square Auditorium
Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel
Prairie Production
Chicago Club
Planetarium
Midday Club
Green Dolphin St
Waveland Clock Tower
Canterbury Inn
Embassy Suites Downtown
Pazzo's
Elks Lodge
Flat Files Gallery
Germania Place
Michelle's Ballroom
Dewes Mansion
Salvage One
Catalyst Ranch
Galleria Marchetti
Columbus Refectory Park
Victoria in the Park
Lincoln Park Conservatory Gardens
Brookfield Zoo
Knickerbocker Hotel ($40K min. and they're dead serious)
White Pines Inn (Mount Morris, IL)
Odyssey Cruises

The Hunt for the Perfect Chicago Wedding Venue

Finding the right venue for a wedding is sort of like finding the perfect apartment. "Perfect" can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, and everyone is different. There's your list of non-negotiable, gotta have it amenities and then there's crap that's extra but doesn't really matter too much. The problem is, if you're as broke as we are, finding a happy balance in a big city has proven to be more difficult than we'd hoped.

For example, if I were looking for a new place, I think that having my cell phone actually work in my apartment (as opposed to making me sit on the window sill and pray for reception) might be high on the list, right next to the cost and location. Likewise, accommodating our very large wedding of 250 people for a an outdoor wedding in the fall, in Chicago, is having a little bit of difficulty.

So, here's all the "gotta have it's" we're hoping to land for our wedding space:

• Must be available for rental in Fall 2010.
  
• Must be in Chicago (or in IL, but very, very close to Chicago)
• Gotta have room for 250 people. People who may like to sit down and eat and a dance floor big enough for everyone to get a little crazy if they feel like it.
  
• Outdoorsy element. If it's not an actual park, it needs to be woodsy with windows.
  
• The party cannot end before midnight. It's our big day, and nothing worth going to ends before midnight.
  
• If we have to use a list of preferred caterers, can they please not be the most expensive options in the city? Also, they have to be vegan-friendly and just giving us a salad is not an option.
  
• If it's over $4,000, we're hoping to get more than just the rental of the space. Some tables and chairs would be nice.
  

If you're mid-planning mode or just really savvy to event spaces and grassy knolls for hire in Chicago, any advice you have would be much appreciated.

Also, I've read all this crap about negotiating things and how the recession has people knocking down prices, but from what I can tell, all the affordable places have actually raised their prices for this year and next year while the big-deal, out-of-our-league, who-the-hell-spends-$40K+-on-one-day places are the ones who are knocking off a few hundred bucks (as they should be!)

Help!

<3!