Galena, IL

morris1968

Hello!  We're thinking of getting married in Galena but we both live in Chicago.  Does anyone have any vendor recommendations?  DJ?  Photographer?  Flowers?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

elellingson

I have a great photographer recommendation - she did our wedding in Small Town IL (about 2.5 hours outside of Chicago) and didn't charge anything extra for travel, (I know she's worked in Starved Rock, Pontiac and other places too, without extra fees) even though she is from Chicago. 
She was AMAZING to work with, my guests and family loved her and the photos absolutely blew us away.
http://www.ericaroseblog.com

http://www.erosephoto.com

Erica Rose Photography - I think she's a vendor on here, so you could check out her reviews as well.

Good Luck!

RomanticHorseDrawnCariage

Hello I own a horse drawn carriage co in Galena and can offer you unbias opionions of many different vendors. I know of an incredible photographer who is extremely reasonable. If you'd like to e-mail me BlackHorseCarriage@yahoo.com I'll give you my # and all the info your looking for.

morris1968

Thank you for your response. 

To person who was recently married in Small Town - I could not open your response.  Will you please let me know who you used?  Thank you!

mtrack

I am a photographer out of naperville-- and I travel to Galena quite often with some pretty competitive rates. www.rosealene.com 2nd shooters are also available in most packages.

skloser82

My cousin just got married in Galena. They were going to get married in Grant Park but it rained so they ended up having it in the library of The Irish Cottage.  The reception was in the bottom of The Irish Cottage. They did favors of 3 different popcorn flavors from the carmel popcorn place in town.  Very cute.  They had their photographer, a friend, come from Chi with them. 

HoneyBear40

We are going to be married in Galena. We looked at several sites and we found that Chestnut Mountain Resort is one of the most reasonable in the area.

morris1968

Thank you Skloser82 and HoneyBear40 for your posts, I really appreciate it!! 

We are getting married at the DeSoto Hotel (ceremony and reception). 

HoneyBar40, I'm not sure where you are with your photographer search, but we booked one from the Quad Cities.  Our DJ is from Dubuque.  I can provide contact info, if you're interested (I did a pretty intensive search!).  I am looking at flowers at the end of the month (two places in Galena).  When is your wedding?

Thanks again!!!     

wenditom

Hi, We are planning our wedding in Galena too.  I would love to hear about your research on flowers vendors.  Also, do you have any recommendations for hair  salons?
Thanks!

morris1968

Hi wenditom, 

We are going to Galena the weekend of the 28th - I am meeting with 2 florists and going to 2 different salons for hair and make-up trials.  I will let you know all my thoughts at the end of the month!

  

wenditom

Hi Morris1968, How was your trip to Galena?  I haven't seen Galena in the winter yet.  Was it beautiful to see in the snow?  Were you able to get info on the florist and salons?

morris1968

Hi Wenditom!  

The trip to Galena was a good one.  We met with 2 florists and I did a 2 hair & make-up trials.  All were good, but here are my thoughts:

Florist #1:
Garden Party Florist (Jean Carlson).  We met with Jean first.  Jean is knowledgeable, high energy (asked alot of questions), had a lot of great thoughts and helped us picked colors.  We enjoyed meeting her.  A woman at each of the salons I went to used her for their weddings.  If you ask around town, she's known.  She does 3 weddings a weekend and books quickly.        

Florist #2:
Valley Perennials (Becky Dimmlich).  When I told people we were meeting with Valley Perennials, they thought it was more of a nursey, but they also do weddings.  They were recommended to us too.  Becky is also very knowledgeable but more laid-back in style.  We liked her too.      

We haven't picked a florist yet.  We're waiting for Jean's quote (though she could be booked by now - she already had 2 weddings for our date).  We told each florist the amount we'd liked to stay at or under.  Valley Perennials' quote was under that amount.  We really want to compare both quote's before committing.  I recommend you meet with both.

Okay, now on to salons, both are located downtown Galena on Main Street.  Each stylist did both my hair and make-up.  Take a camera and take lots of pictures of both your hair and make-up (at the salon and at home; its nice to see make-up in a more natural light).  Both salons use good / known brands of make-up.    
  
Salon #1:  Studio One.  Maggie did my hair and make-up.  We went through all the pictures I brought and talked about what I wanted/did not want.  She did a really nice job on the hair (it was an up-do) and make-up.  She also took pictures with her camera.  The total cost is $90.    

Salon#2:  Clover on Main.  Danetta (sp?) did my hair and make-up.  I picked a slightly different up-do to compare.  She did 2 different styles.  I did not like the hair, I felt like she rushed through it.  The make-up was okay.  I felt it was heavier, more dramatic.  The make-up session here took longer.  The total cost is $95.       

I showed the pictures to friends and received mixed reviews (on make-up).  Some really liked Studio One - said I looked younger.  Others liked the more dramatic make-up look from Clover on Main.  No one liked the hair from Clover on Main.  Clover on Main is more spa-like than Studio One.  I still have wedding day appt's at both places but I am leaning towards Studio One.  If you have the time, again, I recommend you go to both salon's and trial yourself.

What about cakes?  We booked "Extra Batch" (Cynthia Sedan).  We tried her red velvet cake - wow - it was very tasty.  However, we were torn between her and "Main Street Cheesecakes" (Carolyn Dregne).  She can make a cheesecake wedding cake.  The cheesecakes were very good.

I can also provide ceremony music info..  Let me know if you're interested.  

Well, I hope all of this helps.  When you book your appt's, you'll have to let me know, I will be curious to hear your thoughts.    

Have a good day -      

                       

  

HoneyBear40

Morris1968-

Sorry for the late response, I always forget to look back at the boards We have booked our photographer through P3 in Dubuque. Other than that, we are currently working on DJ & then probably flowers... Could you provide the contact information for your DJ? Who are you using?

Our wedding date is set for October 6, 2012..

I've enjoyed looking at your flower recap since that's our next step

Good luck planning!

morris1968

Hi  HoneyBear40,

We booked with Scorpio Productions in Dubuque (I don't have their contact info with me, but you can google them).  They came recommended from the DeSoto Hotel (apparently they are used alot).  They're rate is $750 (4 hours).  We are planning to meet with our DJ sometime in March, I can let you know my initial thoughts.  Our wedding is this June, so I can give you my over-all impression then.  We also hired a harpist for the wedding ceremony and a piano player for the cocktail hour.  If you would like to contact them, I can provide their contact info.

When you book your flower appt, make sure to give yourself ~2 hours.  Its much more involved then I thought (but in a good way!).

 

HoneyBear40

Hi Morris1968,

We have actually been looking at Scorpio Productions also, there are just so many different DJs in that area! I got their information at a Bridal Show I went to in Dubuque.

I think for right now we are planning on simply having an MP3 player hooked up to the speakers outside, at least that is as far as I have gotten with that step anyway, LOL.

Thanks for the advice on the flowers, I wouldn't have thought that it would take that long!

-HoneyBear

morris1968

Hi HoneyBear, 

I will let you know what we think of Scorpio when we meet with them in March.  We thought about playing our own music but its just something I don't want to be in charge of and I feel like I would be if we went the MP3 route (or I don't know who I woul d designate to play the music; though I know people who have done it and thought it was great).  If you only want to hire them for the reception, maybe they'll work out a deal with you?  Even though I have come up with an extensive play list, like I said, I don't want to be in charge of it....let someone else!  I will keep you posted. 
 
Morris1968  

castrostation

Hi everyone! I'm getting married at Chestnut Mountain Resort in Galena in August (my fiance's mother works there, and it's A-MA-ZING), and I'm about to start looking at DJ's...did any of you look into DJ's out of the Quad Cities (that's much closer to where we live than Dubuque, so I didn't even think to check out Dubuque)?

And Galena is freakin' beautiful in the winter...the views on the river are so incredible. The whole area is just amazing.

castrostation

Also, the reception contract is viewable as a PDF on Chestnut's website, and it has listings in it of local vendors in several different categories, if anyone would find that useful.

Walters4hawks

Hello! I got married in Galena. I went thru a wedding planner in Galena at I Do Bridal in Galena. She was awesome and affordable. You really need to check her out. She knew all about the local vendors and venues. I also did got my dress thru her and tuxes. They are awesome at I Do Bridal and made planning a destination wedding a great expirence!!! You should def call them.

Walters4hawks

Also for you brides getting married in Galena. I also went thru I Do Bridal for my dress and bridesmaids dress and it was awesome. My girls didn't have to drive all the way to Galena to order they just called with their measurements same with the guys for the tuxes. The girls (owners) were awesome. Other vendors I used is Cindy Sedan Extra Batch...Loved her and her husband....Luminous Life Photography....Loved....Splinters florists (East Dubuque...15 mins away they deliver) Loved....The Irish Cottage...Loved!!!!!!! Hope I helped.

morris1968

We decided to buy our cake from Extra Batch too.  Her cakes were very tasty!  For the florist, we hired Garden Party Florist.  We hired Rick Jenisch photography, they're located in the Bettendorf (Quad Cities).