Wedding Venues

I made appointments to look at the top 4 venues I'm interested in! I'm going to Chicago the second week of March to try to get a bunch of stuff done. Here they are, in no particular order:


The Onion Pub, Barrington
http://www.onionpub.com/banquets-parties.aspx

This one is GORGEOUS. I found it on theknot.com and couldn't get over how beautiful the banquet hall is. The reviews of the actual restaurant/pub are so-so but I couldn't find much about the weddings. I try not to go by internet reviews since 99% of them are negative, regardless of the place. However, if I'm spending thousands of dollars, I want this to be my dream day. My major concerns about this place are price vs. quality and the lack of good beer in the open bar package. I'm a beer snob and so are many of my friends, so I want to make sure it's a good deal!


Makray Golf Club, Barrington
http://makraygolf.com/banquets-weddings.aspx

This one is also beautiful! I found out about this from one of my bridesmaids, Shannon. She said it was one of her top choices and the prices seem really good for the location. They allow pictures on the course and it looks like an awesome place to have an outdoor wedding. I don't know too much about it from the website, but I'm excited for the meeting with the coordinator.


Walter Payton Roundhouse, Aurora
http://www.rh34.com/content/6.html

This is the one I'm the most excited about. Shannon and another girl I used to work with both had their weddings here and they were beautiful! I was really, really intoxicated at Shannon's wedding but I remember it being a lot of fun. The outdoor ceremony was in a courtyard and was really nice. The beer was great and I had some weird vegetarian dish (since I was crazy at the time) and I don't remember if it was good, but everyone else loved their food. They have a lot included in the package, which I like. There's also a hotel next door that wasn't too terribly pricey and with a lot of out of town guests that will be nice. They also have whirlpool bathtubs that fit three. Uncomfortably. In dresses. Don't ask how I know this.

Seven Bridges Golf Club
http://sevenbridges.com/golf/proto/sevenbridges/weddings/weddings.htm

I heard about this one from Shannon too. She visited about 40 places when she was planning her wedding. so she was able to help me rule out some of the more expensive places. It seems like everything near my parents house is really overpriced. This place is gorgeous and within my price range. The coordinator has been in touch with me since the beginning and seems to legitimately want to help make sure this is the wedding of my dreams. Although to be fair, in my dreams I'm always late and under-dressed for my wedding. Perhaps she wants to make it better than that. This place includes a lot of things that the other places charge extra for (outdoor ceremonies, chairs, etc.) and I like that.

I may add a few more places if I find anything I like. Does anyone in the Chicago suburbs have any advice for more places to check out? I'd like to keep the price under $70 per plate if possible (a honeymoon in Europe isn't cheap!) and would prefer an outdoor ceremony.

Updates

Well, planning a wedding is complicated. I've been severely slacking now, since I still have about a year. I'm worried I am going to procrastinate on everything now that the initial OMG WE'RE GETTING MARRIED has worn off.

I have my dress choices narrowed down, I just need to lose some more weight to get a better idea of what looks best. I'm going to Chicago for a week in March to look at venues and other things.

I finally have all of my bridesmaids picked and I think I'm more excited about the bachelorette party than the wedding! In no particular order, they are:


Rachel: My best college friend and roommate. Probably the only friend I made in college that I still consider myself to be close with. She's always been there for me regardless of my poor choices and I hope we will be friends for life!

Jessie: My 2nd cousin on my dad's side. We've been friends since we were about 3. She has an awesome picture of us at Chuck E. Cheese back then. We haven't been as close as we could have been over the years, but she is truly one of my favorite people. I think now that we're older and it's easier to keep in touch over Facebook and stuff we will be much closer!

Diana: My first friend in Texas. She was really one of the only people who reached out to me when I moved here from Illinois. She's motivated me with my weight loss, got me started running and is my 5K buddy (soon to be 10k!). She's one of those people that always has something nice to say and genuinely is fun to be around.

Shannon: My best friend from middle/high school. We've been friends for 14 years (holy crap!) and she has always been a great person to be around. She moved to Texas last year too, just six hours south. Since then, she's been to visit me twice and I went down there once. I am DEFINITELY going down there this summer to show off my bikini. I only wish I could see her more often!

Nina: Tim's sister. I don't know her really well yet, but she's really funny and I think we will be good friends. She loves Dexter and dogs and zombies, so I have a feeling things will work out well.

I still don't have a maid of honor. To be honest, I don't know if I need one. All of the girls I picked are awesome and I don't have a #1 choice. Is it okay to NOT have one?

Holy crap.

I'm going to be one of those brides that bores everyone to death with every detail of my wedding thrown into every conversation. To minimize this and ensure that I have friends when this is over, I am creating a blog about all things wedding!

My name is Jeny, I'm 26 and I'm getting married in 2012. My fiance (Tim) and I are both total nerds and plan to incorporate everything geek into our wedding. I'm not quite sure that this entails, but it will be awesome.

Right now, I'm in the planning stages and I am looking for a venue, setting a budget and figuring out most of my wedding party. I've already asked my cousin and my best college friend to be bridesmaids and I'm deciding between a few other people. I don't have an overwhelming amount of female friends so it's sort of tough! I could pick out groomsmen easily, but I'll leave that to Tim.

Since my brain shuts down when given more than a few simple tasks in any given day, I'm planning early!