Back from Chicago (Trip 1)

We've arrived back in California without a wedding location or a definite day. "But why" do you ask. Even though you didn't ask we'll tell you. The original plan to find one place for both the ceremony and reception did not seem to satisfy our taste except for one place. The Winnetka House had a very nice outdoor patio (pictured below) and an adjacent banquet hall. This was the only place that required us to hire the caterer separately. This is a much more challenging and expensive task than one of the hotels where everything is included in one price. The only problem with a hotel is just that. We couldn't see a nice ceremony happening in a hotel. We pictured us being handed clean towels and a key to the pool area after we said "I do". They were perfect for the reception however.



Plan B is to now search for reasonably priced catering. If that pans out then it's the Winnetka House. If not, then the search will begin for a nice little church within a reasonable distance of one of the nearby hotels we liked.

Ed & Eileen (Jessica's parents) were very gracious and understanding about us wanting the right place. It was nice to spend some of our time with them and they provided us with all the sandwich fixins and snacks we could eat the whole weekend.



Jessica's cousins came by to visit us before we left for the airport. Mary will be our flower girl (that's her doing the splits and her sister Madeline next to her). They are both terrific kids.



Finally, here is a metaphorical picture of Jessica's feelings after not securing a location, at the bottom of a dark stairway looking up toward the light.

The Game Book

Small suitcase, camera and "the game book" which contains nine different possible wedding locations, three wedding photographers packages, directions and appointment times. The plan: Arrive in Chicago at 8:00 P.M. on Thursday. Visit the photographers and four locations on Friday by myself. Meet Jessica at O'Hare at midnight. See five more places on Saturday. Re-visit our final selections on Sunday and be back in California by 9:00 P.M. with place, date and photographer locked down. I forgot to plan for mistakes. Maybe I just won't pack those.

Chicago here we come. (Trip 1)

Tony writes:

After searching for wedding locations on-line and having Eileen (Jessica's mom) do some leg work for us we are now ready to fly back to Chicago and make our final selection. Truthfully we have no idea where it will be but we have two days to figure it out. We'll be back there March 25th & 26th. I'll be there a day early to hopefully meet with potential photographers (poor suckers). A location near O'Hare is likely. There are some nice hotels and easy acces to downtown via the train. If we can find an affordable place downtown I really like the idea of the city as a backdrop for the event (and our pictures). It will be in the spring (for our baseball fans and the weather) so plan your vacation time wisely. That's all for now but do come back for all of the exciting updates (or to just hear us whine about how hard it is to plan a wedding 2000 miles away).

-Tony