Back Post #13 - Reception Option #2

The Stegton Regency

I liked this one a LOT better than Lake St. Louis. Anyways, Pros and Cons.

Pros:
-Main ballroom - not a hallway like area
-Matching linens and napkins
-Includes cake. This time it's Cakes by Georgia.
-DJ is $500
-Foyer entrance-way, complete with gas fireplace - Can you say grand entrance?
-Ability to put part of the head table on risers (I think this is a neat idea)
-Offer chair covers ($3.80 a piece) - make the room really come together, if it's in the budget

Cons:
-The bar is on the dance floor. The dance floor is HUGE, but the bar is just a table hanging out on it
-Only one buffet line
-10 people per table - this is both a pro and a con. It makes the tables a little cramped, but few centerpieces for me
-The room, overall, felt small. The tables felt really close together, but that could have been because it wasn't entirely done up...

I like the Stegton a lot more than Lake St. Louis. We're still going to look at a few more places (suggested by the wonderful ladies on stlwed.com), such as Trigg Banquets and maybe even The Christy (need to check on pricing on that one).
 

Back Post #12 - The Real Process of a Wedding

I was perusing WeddingBee today, and I found a reading on it that really makes me smile. Since we're having a Catholic wedding, most of readings are obviously taken care of (we pick them out of a book). But I really like this. I'm thinking about incorporating it somehow, even if it's just on the programs or guest book. I think it really captures Sean's and my relationship - it's perfect.

Anyways.

Union, by Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment.

At some point, you decided to marry.

From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way.

All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks - all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.

All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “ You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time.

Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years.

Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you.

For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.

Back Post #11 - Archdiocese Annoyance and Twitter Love

I'm getting married in a Catholic Church. Which, consequently, means I need to take Pre-Cana, which are two wedding prep classes. Easy right? No so much. I keep looking on the Archdiocese website, and it says July dates will be posted Mid to Late May. It is June 10th. No dates. So yesterday I began following the Archdiocese on Twitter, and then angry tweeted them that they should post dates. A little childish, yes. But effective? Also yes. I got a direct apology no less than 2 hours later, and was told to e-mail someone directly about the problem. How I LOVE the effectiveness of Twitter! (Note: I would have email someone about the problem in the first place, but there was no contact on the archdiocese website)
 

Now, the class schedule wouldn't be THAT big of a deal, if July wasn't jam packed for me. Classes are only offered on the weekend, and it's usually an every other weekend deal (although, usually one weekend is reserved for a Sat and Sun smackdown of Godliness). On the 11th, we have our engagement party (though we haven't sent out invites yet, just in case this prep stuff gets in the way), The next weekend I'm hopefully going to San Antonio, and the next weekend (last weekend in July) I'm leaving for Florida. Oh, and the only other weekend is the 4th, which I highly doubt they'll do anything on! These classes are like, 5 hours a piece, so they tend to be an all day ordeal. Plus, they tend to be in random churches all over the archdiocese. That's over 300 churches, from Lincoln County to Perry County. So, we could be over 2 hours away for this thing.

Anyways. Hopefully I'll get an e-mail back sometime today from Ms. Rose, the lady whom Twitter directed me to.

Back Post #10 - Reception Option 1

Lake St. Louis Banquet Center

It wasn't bad. Really it wasn't. In fact, it's still an option. If I were having a 150 person wedding (which still is a possibility), I would have signed right there. Anyways.

Pros
-Family Owned. I felt like they would let us do ANYTHING to make it our day. I mean, the wife was cooking dinner for the reception that night while we were there - it smelled wonderful!
-Had our colors in linens. This is actually surprisingly important.
-Had THREE serving lines for food. Seriously. 300 people through a buffet in less than 20 minutes? That's pretty nice. I don't want my last guests getting cold food.
-Include cake. Not Susie G's, but hey, cake is cake.
-DJ package = $450. WOW what a deal.
-Two sets of bathrooms. Within 10 feet of the hall entrance. You know how much it sucks to have to walk 10 minutes to pee?
-Cash premium bar. Everyone can drink as much "house brand" liquor that they want, but if they'd like the good stuff, they're welcome to buy up.

Cons
-Hall is one long room - some of our guests would be REALLY far away from the head table.
-Dance floor is in the middle of the room. Literally. Like, the head table and half the guests would be on one side of the dance floor, and 1/2 the guests on the other side. I think I would feel like I'm telling the other guests that they smell or something.
-I'm not sure how to punctuate this one, but the husband of the family is the one who gave us the tour. Every time he talked about something THEY did, he also talked about other venues and what they did wrong.
-Parking lot. The lot is on a hill, and it slopes. A lot. If it happens to be icy on our January wedding day, that could be BAD news.

Overall, there are more pros than cons. However, the cons seem to be BIG for me. We still have to go see the Stegton, so we'll see how that goes. *crosses fingers* The LSL Banquet Center is not out of the running, but it wasn't "omg-this-is-it" either. It was a neat, but slightly ho-hum experience. We shall see.