Happy Anniversary to Us!

So this weekend, we visited Lake Katherine and met with the event coordinator. We learned that if we pursue this route, we'll be the first outdoor tent reception to take place on the grounds. As such, they're not really equipped to handle it, only offering us 1 hour of setup and 1 hour of takedown. It's seemingly impossible to setup and takedown all that we would want in an hour, so we've decided to explore other options.

The best part? They wanted to charge us $4,000 for 6 hours. And that's just for the land. No tent, no tables, no chairs --- nothing.

So I spent yesterday trying to find every botanic garden, nature center, what-have-you within a 30 mile radius that didn't charge an arm and a leg. I've found 3 options that we'd like to check out.

1. The Barber & Oberwortman Nature Center in Joliet --- located off of Route 30 & Gougar Rd., this center is located on the grounds of Pilcher Park. While the grounds are beautiful, the center is actually a banquet-hall type building, which we're trying to stay away from. The catering options, however, are reasonably priced and plentiful!
2. Lifescapes at Montefiori - There are no words to say how amazing these grounds are! Waterfalls, gardens, stone-paver walkways --- this place has it all! There are 3 tented sites that stay up year-round. Their catering options are astounding, but with that, comes an equally astounding price tag. I have no concrete evidence, but from what I've gathered, we're looking at a $70-90 per person price tag. I'll wait for you to do the math.
3. The Danada House - Located in Wheaton, this manor is owned by the Forest Preserve of DuPage County. The house has been restored (as it was built in 1939), and they've added an all glass "atrium," complete with skylights, air-conditioning, modern lighting, etc. The rental includes both the house and the atrium, along with tables and chairs. They also have a great selection of caterers with great budgets and lots of creativity!

While I'm leaning towards the Danada House, I'd definitely like to visit all three to get accurate price quotes and see the places in person. Seeing is believing, after all.

(The Danada House)

In the very least, this was a fun way to celebrate our anniversary...even Tom was excited :)

The Weekend...

Lake Katherine's Waterfall Garden

So this weekend, we (Tom, his mother, my mother and I) are taking a trip to Lake Katherine, aka the number one potential spot for the wedding reception. We'll be meeting with the rental coordinator, with whom I've only spoken with on the phone before.

The significance?

• This is the first "vendor" we're actually meeting with! :)
• As the reception site, this will play a big part in "setting the tone" of the party
• It's weird (and coincidental) that the only weekend available to check this place out just happened to be the weekend of our 5th anniversary. :) It's kinda fun to think we'll be at "our place" looking into wedding details!

Other fun-ness this weekend: My Gocco should arrive!!! Yahoo!

Have a good weekend everybody!!!

Oh, and more to follow on the dessert reception crisis...

Lake Katherine: An Introduction

So I realize that many of you out there, even if you've heard of Lake Katherine, have actually never seen it. And while I can't seem to find lots of pictures, I have one that I took this summer, as well as a few I've been able to scrounge up.

The Lake Katherine Nature Preserve and Botanic Gardens is "125 acres of water, wooded trails, gardens and open space," according to its website. I'm not quite sure of the history of the preserve, but it's been around for quite awhile. I remember reading a plaque on one of the buildings stating that former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the preserve as a part of the nature preservation movement of the era.

Well, pictures are worth 1,000 words, right? So here:

This is the view as you walk from the parking lot. The clubhouse is straight ahead. The lake would be on your left from here, and the gardens are up towards the top right of the picture.

This is the view from the south side of the lake, near the parking lot.

This is the brook that leads from the waterfalls to the lake...

And the view of the lake from the clubhouse...

One of the waterfalls...

I took this picture at sunset on the 4th of July...

And this is the east lawn. I'm assuming this is where our ginormous tent will be pitched, but I haven't confirmed that with the rental manager yet.

The Basics: The Ceremony & Reception Site

I read somewhere that all you need for a wedding are a groom, a bride, a location, an officiant, a witness, and a marriage license. The rest is, well, optional. So given that we are all acutely aware of who the bride and groom are, we shall now venture into the wonderful world of locations!

Now after plenty of mind changes (I think I've had about 5), I feel like I've finally found a reception site that fits the bill, so to speak. We had decided early on that we did not want the "cookie cutter" banquet hall reception that is popular in the Chicago area (not that there's anything wrong with those, they're just not for us...). We wanted something unique and personal, but wasn't crazy out of left field, either. Previous choices (Door County, Meson Sabika, Walter Payton's Roundhouse, Chicago Botanical Gardens) had illicited responses from T like "Oh, cool," or "That works." But when I first brought up the idea of Lake Katherine, his immediate response was "Really? We can actually have it there?" More conversations ensued, my favorite one being this:

B: "So, this whole Lake Katherine thing --- you really want to do it?"
T: "Definitely."
B: "Even if it costs more money?"
T: "Even if. Oh, there'll be air conditioning there, right?"
B: "Only if we pay for it."
T: "Oh. Oh well. Let's do it!"

The fact that T was willing to engage in a conversation about the wedding that lasted more than 2 sentences and contains more than 5 one-syllable words had me thinking I was on the right track. Plus, it all sort of made sense...we've spent countless hours here over the past 5 years, it was close to home and our churches, and was unique. Since we're able to choose our own caterer, we can avoid the costly wedding packages that include crazy things like ice sculptures that we don't care about...

Having planned and run several events back in college, I feel fairly confident that I can pull this off with little stress, but the added challenge of coordinating the rental/arrival/set-up of the tent, generators, air conditioning, lighting, chairs, tables, bars, flooring, and sound equipment seems a bit overwhelming. Hopefully the rental manager at LK will be efficient and helpful...