Chicago Wedding Planning (September 06 Trip continued):

Our website has been updated with official information regarding location of Hotel and the ceremony site. The photo is the link but it also remains on this page just to the right of your screen "Our Wedding Website"

On with the trip:
Once our pictures were taken we were free to pig out the rest of the trip. Sunday was the big birthday party but first we had a tasting with our caterer. We had pastries, skewers, two types of chicken, lasagna and two deserts. We were stuffed. Here is bridesmaid Margaret helping Jess pick out a cake design.

Later that night was the big bash for Grandma Callaghan. The music and food never stopped coming.

Everyone was extremely kind to me and made me feel welcomed into the family. Even Ariana seemed to catch the shutterbug fever.

The next day was Labor Day. We mostly laid around and recovered from the party.

Tuesday found us meeting with the DJ company. A two and a half hour presentation was given in a building that looked like it housed a law firm. They really seemed to be at the top of their game and so we chose them. Thanks to Eileen Duncan for giving us their name and web address. We immediately went to an appointment with a prospective officiant. Neither Jess or I felt she was right for the job. That search will have to continue. Wednesday was our day to leave. We had one more meal at Bobby Q's (Chicken sandwich with cheese, bacon and grilled onions)and headed for the airport.

Nothing really exciting to report since we got back but we will keep you updated as things happen.

-Tony

Chicago Wedding Planning (September 06 Trip):

I have never taken a bad photo of anyone! Ever!!! With that said I stand behind my picture of Pat & Liz. Its raw emotion captured forever in the moment. Besides the great birthday party for Grandma Callaghan and Pat & Liz's audition to be our live entertainment for the reception Jess & I also made time for a few other things while we were in town (none of which involved going to a baseball game unfortunately). We arrived at 6:30 A.M. on Friday, had a great breakfast with Eileen and proceeded to our first stop, The Renaissance Hotel which was recommended by Eileen and Ed as a potential place for our out of town guests to stay. We recognized a theme right away.

We met with the event coordinator and were quite happy with the accommodations. The rooms, lobby and service were all well worth the price and the hotel is within five miles of our wedding location.

WEDDING PLANNING ALERT AHEAD
We have secured a group rate of $109 for a standard room. Just call 1-800 468-3571 and reserve your room with the Rascon/Masters group. You will need to provide a credit card number or deposit equal to 1 night's stay to reserve a room from our block.

You can also check out rates on the internet (which are lower, but must be prepaid and are non-refundable). If you want to take advantage of the lower rates, call the number above; let them know you're with us and that you want to pre-pay for the lower rate.
It's that simple. If you have any questions, let us know.

Later that day we met with a florist. At this point we had been awake for over 24 hours and just nodded our head in agreement with what they said. It's good to note that no contracts were signed in our state of sleep deprivation. We finished the evening having dinner at Bobby Q's. (For my side of the family this is the Restaurant that Jessica's mom, aunt & uncle own). Bbq roast beef and fresh onion rings were a welcomed treat for dinner. A quick stop at a grocery store on the way home allowed Ed to be a good samaritan and return the handicap cart to its rightful space.

The next day we had engagement photos taken with our wedding photographer Thomas Slack. He was friendly, talented and professional. We were extremely happy with the photos we got. Here's a preview.

We'll save the rest of the trip for next time.

Chicago Trip 2:

5 things we learned on our latest trip to Chicago:


1) Renting a Chevy HHR will not make you want to buy one.



2) There at least two more readers of this Blog than we thought which brings our total to five (two of which are angry with the lapse of time between updates).

3) Grandma Callaghan knows more people than Jess and I combined.



4) Wedding DJ’s no longer load CD’s and hit play. They now have a virtual radio station in a digital box with a flat screen monitor, a portable light show and a pager hooked to their belt that alerts them by one push of a button by me. Well not all of them have all these things but ours does.

5) Aunt Pat and Aunt Liz know how to sing the titles of just about every song you can think of.



Next week (I promise) we will have updated Wedding info including group rate Hotel information within five miles of our Wedding site, a link to the photos of Grandma Callaghan's 80th Birthday Party and other miscellaneous information and possibly a sneak peek of our photo shoot with our Wedding Photographer.

P.S. To all of those who asked the question "are ya sure ya wanna be involved with this family"? My answer is "yes" as long as Jess and I remain in California and have no guest rooms. Other than that I'm glad to be aboard.

Till next week,
-Tony