So now, we have 2 places on hold for November 3, 2007. We're like 80% sure that this will be THE date now.
The two places we have on hold:
The Elizabeth Cheney Mansion, which is an old restored historic mansion in Oak Park
and
The Crystal Ballroom at the Fairmont Chicago
I'm really, really torn.
Pros of Cheney Mansion:
-It's really beautiful
-It's private. We'd be the only event there
-It's unique...who DOESN'T use a hotel ballroom?
-We can do both the ceremony and the reception there
-Did I mention it's private?
Cons of Cheney Mansion
-It's expensive. Wildly, wildly expensive, to the tune of being 5K over budget right out of the gate. The rental on the place is just under 3K which is the least expensive of any private place I was able to scout out, but the meals START at $100 a person. They START there. They WILL let us bring our own caterer (the guy my family uses for all of our big parties charges between $40-70 a plate total with service and glassware), only they have to meet with him 3 times and to do that they need to charge us $500 extra and completely inconvenience our other caterer. But it's possible.
-We'd only have the place for 5 hours...which seems like a lot, but between a ceremony, the receiving lines, the meal, the toasts...that leaves very little time for anything else.
-The dining and dancing would be on two separate floors and the mansion itself is NOT handicapped accessible. This means that my grandfather, for one, who has been such a fundamental part of my upbringing and life, would miss our first dance and other festivities.
Pros of the Fairmont:
-IT'S THE FAIRMONT
-The food would be unbelievable. There would be cocktails. They would blow out all the stops. It would be right out of a book and I wouldn't have to lift a single finger at any point.
-We could DANCE. ALL. NIGHT.
-The head of catering has been my dad's patient since I was a baby. They're good friends and my dad has helped Wayne out a lot. Therefore, Wayne is going to help us out a lot. By waiving all of the rentals and negotiating on the price. Which is normally about $250 a head. My dad could probably talk him down to about $100 a person, and with no rentals, we'd save the money we'd be spending on the Cheney mansion
-Whever we needed a break or if we wanted to head to bed early, we'd be staying there for our wedding night anyway.
Cons of the Fairmont:
-The room we have on hold, while it has, according to the website "magnificent sconces", does not have windows overlooking the city. That room was booked. I'm going to ask if they have that room open the following week, which is why the date could still change, but I don't like the idea of being enclosed in a ballroom, sconces or not.
-Ballrooms are generic. I mean, even at the Fairmont...they're generic.
-There would be other events going on. Possibly other weddings. For me, that somehow cheapens it a little. Of course, I'll probably be oblivious and not care or remember when it actually comes down to it. but, yeah...
-On the same note, because my family pays $59 a night to stay at the F-mont, my out of town guests would probably be staying there. As would Ian and I on our wedding night. That sort of weirds me out. Maybe they could arrange it so no one else knows where we are in the hotel and we're far, far away from everyone else.
-We'd have to find somewhere else to put the ceremony, which costs more money.
So, thoughts anyone?!?!?! I love me some TCS advice!!!
The two places we have on hold:
The Elizabeth Cheney Mansion, which is an old restored historic mansion in Oak Park
and
The Crystal Ballroom at the Fairmont Chicago
I'm really, really torn.
Pros of Cheney Mansion:
-It's really beautiful
-It's private. We'd be the only event there
-It's unique...who DOESN'T use a hotel ballroom?
-We can do both the ceremony and the reception there
-Did I mention it's private?
Cons of Cheney Mansion
-It's expensive. Wildly, wildly expensive, to the tune of being 5K over budget right out of the gate. The rental on the place is just under 3K which is the least expensive of any private place I was able to scout out, but the meals START at $100 a person. They START there. They WILL let us bring our own caterer (the guy my family uses for all of our big parties charges between $40-70 a plate total with service and glassware), only they have to meet with him 3 times and to do that they need to charge us $500 extra and completely inconvenience our other caterer. But it's possible.
-We'd only have the place for 5 hours...which seems like a lot, but between a ceremony, the receiving lines, the meal, the toasts...that leaves very little time for anything else.
-The dining and dancing would be on two separate floors and the mansion itself is NOT handicapped accessible. This means that my grandfather, for one, who has been such a fundamental part of my upbringing and life, would miss our first dance and other festivities.
Pros of the Fairmont:
-IT'S THE FAIRMONT
-The food would be unbelievable. There would be cocktails. They would blow out all the stops. It would be right out of a book and I wouldn't have to lift a single finger at any point.
-We could DANCE. ALL. NIGHT.
-The head of catering has been my dad's patient since I was a baby. They're good friends and my dad has helped Wayne out a lot. Therefore, Wayne is going to help us out a lot. By waiving all of the rentals and negotiating on the price. Which is normally about $250 a head. My dad could probably talk him down to about $100 a person, and with no rentals, we'd save the money we'd be spending on the Cheney mansion
-Whever we needed a break or if we wanted to head to bed early, we'd be staying there for our wedding night anyway.
Cons of the Fairmont:
-The room we have on hold, while it has, according to the website "magnificent sconces", does not have windows overlooking the city. That room was booked. I'm going to ask if they have that room open the following week, which is why the date could still change, but I don't like the idea of being enclosed in a ballroom, sconces or not.
-Ballrooms are generic. I mean, even at the Fairmont...they're generic.
-There would be other events going on. Possibly other weddings. For me, that somehow cheapens it a little. Of course, I'll probably be oblivious and not care or remember when it actually comes down to it. but, yeah...
-On the same note, because my family pays $59 a night to stay at the F-mont, my out of town guests would probably be staying there. As would Ian and I on our wedding night. That sort of weirds me out. Maybe they could arrange it so no one else knows where we are in the hotel and we're far, far away from everyone else.
-We'd have to find somewhere else to put the ceremony, which costs more money.
So, thoughts anyone?!?!?! I love me some TCS advice!!!