Illinois-Chicago — The Knot Community

DJ that won't break the bank?

schmella — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:15:37 +0000

Looking for recommendations for a DJ that will work in the O'Hare area. I'm willing to spend money for a decent DJ, but not an arm and a leg! So far everyone I've looked into has been upwards of $1200 for 4 hours, and we'll have a 6hr reception to fill! Am I being cheap? Are they all really that expensive?! I'm not looking for anything complicated, don't need crazy light shows or a copy of the music played- jsut someone to play music!

Dress Shopping in the Oakbrook Area?

kimeiten — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:44:18 +0000

Hi girls! I'm from Peru, IL but will be in the city this weekend. I was wondering if anyone could suggest nice dress shops in the Oakbrook area. My dress budget is $2000 or under. Thanks everyone! :)

Gift Ideas for Readers

megs175 — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 22:24:55 +0000

We are having 2 female scripture readers that are close friends--does anyone have any ideas for gifts that I could get them?

Seamstress/Alterations Recommendation :)

lamar0607 — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:00:22 +0000

I worked with Cori from Stitch of Bliss for my dress alterations. She did a WONDERFUL job!

We only had to meet twice because I didn't need a ton of work done on my dress. She came to my apartment and made me feel completely comfortable from the start. She gave me suggestions based on her experiences, but didn't push me to do any of her suggestions.

I just had my second (and hopefully final) fitting this weekend, and she did a fab job with the dress. I needed a beaded/lace dress bustled, hemmed up, bra cups put in, and the halter pulled up tighter. She did all that, and then right on the spot stitched my sash to the dress so it wouldn't move side-to-side. She even stitched up a part of my veil so it would stay on the hair comb easier. She added extra snaps to the halter to ensure I wouldn't have any "oops" moments since there is so much weight on the halter straps, and gave me all the extra scraps of lace and beads so I could use them for other parts of the wedding if I wanted.

Anyways- she does excellent work and is super convenient since she comes to your apartment. Her cost is low (I think it was much cheaper than having it done at a shop) and she really felt like a friend there doing alterations rather than a stranger.

Highly recommend! Sometimes she is slow at emailing back, but she is doing this job "on the side" so you have to be a little understanding. If you have any questions about her, just let me know!

Photobooth

skybrie — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:23:21 +0000

Has anyone looking into this and kept a list of pricing?

Before I create a spreadsheet of pricing and options I thought I would ask you guys first

Danada House - a guest's perspective

Marrin713 — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:15:21 +0000

H and I went to ceremony and reception at Danada House last night. (I wanted to use DH for ours last summer but not very budget friendly for us).

Anywho, the grounds were lovely for the outdoor ceremony.....little hot because no shade at the spot where everything is set up. However the grounds are kept up meticulously and the backdrops for pics are awesome.

After the ceremony was an hour cocktail party in the main house and outdoors that was very nice altho somewhat crowded for the number of guests (I'm guessing about 125 or 150). We then moved into the main banquet area which was set up so nicely and the lighting was very flattering. Also the room is large and very airy feeling with all windows. I don't know who catered the event, but it's my understanding that DH has an approved list. Not sure who these folks were, but the food was good. Dance floor was nice and large.

I know alot of girls on here ask about Danada House as a venue so thought some of you considering the place would like a guest's perspective. I am in no way affliated with the place.

using a judge or clerk for an officiant...from where?!

zeee128 — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:18:52 +0000

we are getting married next year in Barrington outside at a golf course. Since the ceremony will be short, we are considering just using a judge or clerk for cheaper rather then a priest. Does anyone know where I can find a judge that will come out to our ceremony site? TIA!

banquet hall reviews

gabrielyte — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:20:01 +0000

Ladies,
have any of you visited (or had your wedding) at Chateu Bu-Sche (Alsip), DiNolfos (Homer Glen, Mokena), Georgios of Orland?!
what were your experiences? we are planning a small wedding 50-70 people?! and are not sure where we can find a nice hall with reasonable prices!
Thank you!

Vendor Reviews-6/4 NW suburbs

Amivy06 — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:13:53 +0000

Hopefully these will be helpful for anyone planning a wedding in the NW or even Northern suburbs. :)

Cake: Tarts and Truffles, Woodstock A

They were so great to work with and the cake was delicious! I would have given them an A+, but there was a little bit of confusion on two pieces of the cake design. We had wanted two of the words piped a specific way, instead they did fondant cut outs. It still looked cool and everyone thought it was supposed to be that way. I think it was an error on my part because I just dropped off the pictures and explained that it was how I wanted the piping done for the two words. The price was really reasonable too for such a good cake. Comparable bakers were ~$600 more.

Photography: Heather Rae Photography, Janesville WI A

Heather was so easy to work with and so nice! We did our e-pics and our wedding day with her. She was open to all of our ideas and always around when we wanted a group picture. I don't have any pro -pics yet, which is the only downside is that she does take some time getting pictures up. Once they're up though, they're great!

Reception Venue: Nippersink Golf Club and Resort, Genoa City WI, A

It's on a beautiful lake and has a large room, which was perfect for our size. The manager, Phyllis, is prompt at returning e-mails and is very specific about what can and can't be done. She doesn't play games, which is exactly what we wanted. You know what you are getting and at what price. She also doesn't take any games from other people and runs a tight ship when there is a reception going on. Her husband is one of the bartenders and he was so much fun. We had so many people tell us how much fun he was. The food was decent, it wasn't bad but it wasn't spectacular. According to the DJ, our meal was the best he had ever had there.

DJ: Spin 'N Play, Hampshire, A++

We met them at a bridal expo and knew we had to have them. It's owned by Josh and his wife. They work the reception as a team, she usually gets everyone where they need to be for intros and works the room while he runs the equipment. It turned out that they had a baby about a month before our wedding. Josh was very upfront and let us know what was going on. Even after the baby came, he tried to be as prompt as he could at responding to any e-mails. His wife wasn't able to be at our reception, but he brought his dad along to help him out. Josh still did all of the running around getting everyone in order. Everyone raved about how much fun he was. At one point, he taught everyone on the dance floor how to do one of the dances. He was awesome with our little cousins and nephew! My cousin got a picture of him with two of the boys where he was sitting behind all of the equipment, telling the boys about the equipment. It was so cool! People who never dance were dancing! He didn't have the version of one of the songs my brother and I wanted, my brother asked if he could download it on his iPhone and Josh was happy to let him and somehow transfer the song to his computer. He was just awesome and I would highly recommend them!

Hair and Make-up: Mario Tricoci, Crystal Lake

Kylie, make-up A+: She was so sweet and so much fun to work with. I had done a few sessions with her for showers and my b-party. By the time we got to the wedding, she knew exactly how I wanted my make-up to be and only clarified the colors that she was going to use. It turned out so great! I loved my make-up. I'll definitely be going back to her for other big events.

Madison, hair A+: Madison was also just as great as Kylie. I loved working with her and also worked with her a few times prior to the wedding day. My hair is very fine and doesn't hold a lot of volume. She figured out exactly how to work with it to get it to hold the style that I wanted. I would also go back to her and recommend her!

Videographer:

We hired someone from our church that has been doing videography for years, but that had recently started doing weddings. He was so much fun to work with and so easy to work with. He normally only charges $1,000...which is really good for a videographer in the area. We're supposed to get the video sometime next month, but after seeing his previous work I'm not too concerned. If anyone wants his name or contact info, send me a PM and I'll get that for you.

DJ

GinaK119 — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:26:08 +0000

Has anyone heard of Spin N Play? It's a DJ company. If so, reviews?
Thanks!

Has anyone used Spin 'N Play DJ's?

Amivy06 — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:17:28 +0000

FI and I met them at a recent bridal expo and are considering going with them, but an e-mail they sent raised a red flag for me. I am wondering if anyone has used them and had a positive or negative experience with them. TIA!

Vendor Review - West Suburbs 6/18

mscramuzzo — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:13:54 +0000

Back from honeymooning...here are my vendor reviews.

Ceremony - Maple Street Chapel, Lombard - A
The chapel is beautiful! Totally worth the money for the venue. It made a gorgeous backdrop for photos. Unfortunately we only had 2 hours of time on the day of the wedding. The parking lot is also a bit confusing for guests.

Reception - Abbington Distinctive Banquets, Glen Ellyn - A+++
I can't say enough wonderful things about Abbington. The food was FANTATIC! All of our guests raved (and I'm still getting emails about the food). The space was beautiful, it's elegantly decorated. The staff listened to all of our requests. Chris our room captain is a rock star. If you are planning your wedding with Abbington, request him! He works hard and deserves the captain title!!!

Cake - La Petite Sweet, Westmont - A+
Diane and her team are the new cake baker for Abbington. We went with what was in our package, which was more than sufficient! I went with a vision in my head and it was made perfectly into cake. There was a nice thick layer of buttercream frosting on the cake (which is obviously the best part!!!) You get a lot of options when choosing your cake and it's amazing! You have to taste it for yourself. Words can't describe. It has real flavor, not like some cardboard wedding cakes!!

Flowers - Shamrock Gardens, Lombard - B
Bride and bridesmaid flowers were beautiful and well done. The groomsmen and other family flowers had a little issue. Things weren't labeled well on delivery and with the day of the wedding chaos, things got a little stressful. The flowers on the cake were not what we had asked for, but it did the job. (The flowers on the cake were our only real disappointment of the day).

DJ - Party Train (John LeRose) - A-
John is great! He keeps the party going. He listened to our requests for must play songs and do not play songs. A few songs I requested for must play got played back to back at the end of the night, but at least they got in!

Photography - George Street - A-
Janet is great! She was on time, she was fun, she has a good eye for detail, and she's outgoing. She was fun to talk to when we had down time. George Street even sent us an extra photographer who is in training to take some additional photos during the ceremony and afterwards. I can't wait to see our actual photos. But if they turn out anything like our engagement photos, they will be amazing. Communication the week of the wedding was fantastic!

Hair & Makeup - Total Image Bridal, Lombard - A-
The girls I worked with (Michelle and Melissa) were awesome. They created my vision perfectly. My 3 girls that had hair and makeup done were also happy. Some of the makeup was a little heavy, but things still went well. Communication the week of the wedding was iffy (hence the A- instead of A+). I was very happy with how things turned out. My hair and makeup made it all the way to Jamaica the next morning on the plane. The ladies were on time and were respectful of our house as we were getting ready.

Travel agent - Island Getaways, Brookfield, WI - C
Nancy is very enthusiastic and very passionate about a select few resorts. We went on her suggestion of Couples Swept Away in Negril Jamaica. Unfortunately it was not as we had expected and when she suggested we "email her with any questions or problems" while on the trip and did so, we received no response. Kind of a waste of our money...we would have had more fun elsewhere had we not been talked into that resort.

save the dates...?

kbogard5747 — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:22:45 +0000

i need help. i'm going to order my save the dates and i want to make sure i've got everything included that's necessary. i saw something like this in a bridal magazine and kind of made it my own. keep in mind that my fiance is currently living 4 hours away :P so this is a fun way of playing that up. here's what i've got so far....

After 25 months of dating, 31,248 miles of driving long distance, thousands of minutes on the phone and countless bottles of wine...HE FINALLY POPPED THE QUESTION!!!

Please save the date for the exchanging of vows between K and B on 6-22-2012 in Orland Park, Illinois.

Formal invitation to follow.

Thoughts????

June 25th Wedding - A few pictures

kellym050370 — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:36:09 +0000

Hey ladies. Well the day has come and gone and it was BEAUTIFUL. I will write some vendor reviews but just wanted to share a few non-pro

photos with you all!

Tomorrow!!!

CASK85 — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:08:03 +0000

Ladies who are getting married tomorrow - congrats and best wishes! It looks like you are going to have some beautiful weather. I hope you all have an amazing wedding day :)

Engagement Photo Locations in the Chicago Area and Suburbs...

despinoza17 — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:28:54 +0000

Hello!

I need input on a place to take my engagement photos! I live in Tinley Park, IL (south suburb of Chicago) and am looking for somewhere reasonably close that is beautiful this time of year for engagement photos (hopefully within a 45 minute drive, but I'm open to anything you have)!

This is kind of last minute, so I would appreciate all ideas! I was looking at the Morton Arboretum, but it turns out it is closed!

Thanks for all of your help and I appreciate the help!

Chair Sashes, Card Box, Ring Pillows, etc. Available after 6/25/2011

crystalcomstock — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:36:07 +0000

BCBG Strapless Applique Dress - Size 4 (Never Worn)
Selling at Nordstrom for $398
Will Sell for $275

8x11 - Card Box - $50

Silver Organza Chair Sashes - $150 for 300
(Can Break Them Up)

White Organza Chair Sashes - $60 for 120

6" Fuchsia Ring Pillow w/ White Silk Peony
Have 2 - $30 / pillow

Fuchsia Flower Girl Basket - $20

More to Post After Wedding! :)

PhotoBin for custom albums?

Bimbi284 — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:28:18 +0000

Hey all! I came across a coupon for PhotoBin to create a custom album, and I'm considering purchasing it (its through BuyWithMe, like Groupon) for my B-pics book that I'm making DH for his B-day.

Does anyone have any experience with PhotoBin? How does it compare to sites like MyPublisher or Shutterfly? I've never heard of it before, so I figured I would check with my knotties before getting the coupon.

Where did you get your crinoline?

Fina487 — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:19:03 +0000

Hi, ladies! For those who are wearing one, just wondering if you bought it from the shop where you purchased your dress, or if there was anyplace around here I could check out to get a good price. Or do you know of reliable websites? Any recommendations are welcome!

TIA!

Chicago South Suburb Reception Halls - HELP!

clmiltzow — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:11:02 +0000

My fiance and I currently have a contract with a reception hall in Northwest Indiana....they are HORRIBLE! We have been having nothing but problems with them since we signed the contract. Thankfully, we have not put very much money down, and are still willing to switch reception halls. We are getting married at the beginning on July and do not know where to start looking. We are getting married in the south suburbs of Chicago. We want a "country" feel to our wedding...any suggestions? We are desperate!!!

Wedding Pics Location.. HEELPPPP!!!

brittanyjterrell — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:58:47 +0000

Originally I wanted Lake Katherine but I don't really LOVE it as much as I thought I would, I absolutely LOVE Chicago Botanical Gardens but it's too far :-( Any other ideas for outside wedding photography for the day of the wedding that's not too much of a reach from the suburbs (i.e. Oak Lawn, Palos Hills, IL etc). Thanks!

European Crystal, Meridian, Astoria and Versailles

gabrielyte — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:47:49 +0000

Hello ladies,
just wondering if any of you worked with any of these venues? comments, things you loved? or warnings?
thank you!

Shoot the Bride - Any positive reviews lately?

MrsV2B2011 — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:04:14 +0000

I have been off the boards for a while because I have been so busy and I just read all of the stuff about Jeff from Shoot the Bride. We booked him for our June 25th wedding and I am pretty freaked out about the whole thing. Can anyone give me any advice? Should I just kiss my deposit goodbye and look for someone else or should I give him a chance? What do you ladies think? TIA!

Help! After-party ideas for December wedding in Chicago

emily1603 — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:45:22 +0000

The is my first ever post to the knot! My fiance & I are having a morning wedding and an afternoon wedding reception this coming December in Chicago. Most of my extended family will be driving in from Central IL and will likely heading home after the reception, but the rest of our guests will be friends and family from out of state--mostly California--who will be staying in the city on Saturday night. Our reception will probably end around 5PM, so we're trying to come up with a casual Chicago bar that has a great back-room where we can reconvene with everyone later that evening.

We're paying for the wedding ourselves and on a tight budget, so our plan is to buy maybe a round of drinks or two and some appetizers to get things started at the bar. After that, our guests will be paying for their own drinks. We think it is fair since we are paying for our out of town guests to come to our rehearsal dinner the night before, and then to our reception. The idea is really just to get together again in a more casual atmosphere and hang out with our friends and family who are traveling a long way for the wedding.

Thoughts on a place that might work for this type of after-party? Thanks for your help!

Photographer on a Budget

amroginski — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 19:43:59 +0000

Does anyone have any recommendations on a Photographer that they've used that has a mixed style (traditional/photojournalistic) for around $2000 (or less!)

Thanks! =)

4 days---somewhat freaking out!!

MrsPaps — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:23:06 +0000

I cannot believe it's finally this week! lot of stress and lots of errands to run these next few days but am really getting excited!!! :)

FS: Marisa 504 Wedding Gown

hollytobin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:26:04 +0000

Retail was 2,500, selling for 700.00 which includes cleaning. A line, strapless, lace over silk gown. Includes built in crinoline. Street size 4-6. Pics in bio. Please email hollytobin@hotmail.com with any questions.

Photographer help!!

BetsyGIles19 — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:53:00 +0000

I'm not sure what to do about a photographer. We're trying to keep the wedding to a smaller budget and would like to have a photographer in the 2,000-2,500 range.

My issue is the bigger chain ones don't really do the type of photography I like (artistic and photojournalistic) and I've heard people having issues with getting someone not so experienced, etc. Then I look at smaller professionals who have insanely awesome work but the pricing puts me well of 3,000. HELP!!!

NWR - We got a house

skybrie — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:15:32 +0000

So, we have been looking since December but we wanted a multi unit close to public transit and our selection is limited. So after our last 2 FULL PRICE offers fell though because of the sellers we finally got one to stick in Albany Park! It is 3 units and here are the pictures of the one we are living in. Lets just hope the home inspection tomorrow goes well!

Chocolate Fountain??

ChrissyR11 — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:50:25 +0000

Good Morning Ladies!! So I got a call from my hubby to be asking me to look into a chocolate fountain for our repetition. Our reception will be in Flossmoor IL so if anyone knows where I can use a service that has an attendant and the stuff to dip in the chocolate that would be great. I would really like to use a place that is somewhat local. Actually any referrals would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!!!!!