Dress & Bridesmaids dresses: David’s Bridal – Lombard – A – Brooke
It was a relatively simple purchase for me. I found a couple styles I liked, tried them, and ordered. Fast delivery of dresses and great service.
Church: Ss Cyril & Methodius Parish – Lemont – A – www.sscyril.org
A little odd to give a rating or grade to a church, but it’s very easy for me to give them an A. I found this church when I moved to Lisle about 6 years ago. I wanted a cathedral/old-school looking church. When I went to Ss Cyril, I knew I had found MY church. The community was welcoming (unlike other churches I had inquired about joining) and it felt very much like family. Fr Larry performed our ceremony and his homily was so personal & beautiful. He really paid attention to us during our meetings and added lots of personal touches to our ceremony. From start to finish, they made it easy to be married there.
Reception: Crystal Grand Banquets – Lemont – A- www.crystalgrandbanquets.com Crystal Grand is relatively new (about a year old) so we were able to get in on ground floor pricing. The hall itself is beautiful – everything is fresh & new. Beautiful chandeliers, bridal room, etc. We had family style and it was good – not great, but solidly good. The bar was OUTSTANDING! Great beers (in bottles), specialty martinis, and they served shots (we didn’t request any of it – it came in the price). Anything our guests ordered was there for the serving. Service was a bit noisy, but seemed to move along at a good pace. They get the - for giving us a bit of a hard time regarding table arrangements & floor plans at the very end. We had worked with 3 different people and they all told us something different when it came to these things. Other than that, they were fantastic.
Holiday Inn Willowbrook – Willowbrook – C+ - http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/willowbrook/chiwb/hoteldetail We had an awesome contact at the Holiday Inn who worked wonderfully for us. Very responsive, etc. Well, she was fired and we got another contact who was the complete opposite. When working with the original contact, she told us we’d be in a “bridal suite” that had a separate bedroom and living room area that would make it easy for 10 of us to get hair & makeup done. When I got there I got a standard room on the executive floor. Not only was it subpar for a bunch of girls to get ready in, it was stuffy, and water was leaking on the rug from the air conditioner. After complaining to 3 different people over 12 hours, they offered us a “board room” that was essentially the kind of room I requested from the get-go. Our makeup & hair girls had to pack back up and move down to the board room to finish up – it was a hassle. Hotel bar was friendly, but expensive. Basically, had I known the trouble this place would be, I would’ve looked elsewhere. I will give Mark in transportation/shuttles an A for being on the ball with everything.