Chicago Vendor Recommendations??

[MagsyMay]

Hi everyone. I''ve searched through the old threads and only found a few Chicago area recommendations (thanks to Haven''s threads, but was hoping to get a few more responses from some of you current BWWs!

Specifically, I''m looking for recs on the following vendors:

Florists (EEK, I''m so overwhelmed with this choice! Where to start, what to do, especially when we are currently living 3 1/2 hours from Chicago....)

DJ: We''re opting for a DJ instead of band to save money. Would appreciate recommendations, because in my head, any old DJ should be able to play the songs we ask, right?? See, I''m clueless!!

Ceremony/Cocktail Hour Musicians: We would like maybe a string quartet or some other instrumental arrangements. Only one I have heard anything about is Quartet Parapluie, and would like to check out others before deciding!

Officiant: We are having an outdoor, non-religious ceremony, and don''t know where to start for this. It seems so impersonal to just pick an officiant out of the phone book/internet pages. Did any of you ladies not have an officiant you previously knew? Any experience with choosing something like this?

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to respond. Decisions like this stress me out so much and I''m overwhelmed with the number of potential vendors at this point! Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Haven]

Hi, MagsyMay! I don''t have any recs for those particular vendors, but I wanted to pop in and see if you''re willing to share where you''re getting married?

Are you from Chicago? Sweet, sweet home Chicago.

I used proflowers.com for my flowers, they were amazing. A friend of mine used Flowers by Born and they were very easy to work with. I went with her for all her appointments.

 

[MagsyMay]

We''re getting married at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I''m so excited about the venue, now if I could just nail down some of these vendors...

Thank you for those florist recommendations! How did things work with an online vendor for flowers? Did you tell them exactly what you wanted or did you have to choose from examples on the site, etc.?

 

[elrohwen]

On the officiant front, I was in the same position as you (thought not living in Chicago). I got some judge recommendations from my venue and called them up. They told me most local judges will do it (these were small town judges though) and to just call local courthouses. I''m sure if you called the courthouse they would be able to point you to someone. It seems a bit uninspired to have a judge, but really he''s very nice and I think he''ll do a very good job.

You could also get someone ordained! We didn''t have anyone that we thought would fit that role, but I know many people have gone this route and it''s turned out well.

 

[Morgie44]

We used Kio Kreations for our flowers. She was very reasonable as she works out of her home. You can see some of our florals Here (all four pages are from our wedding)

For a DJ we used Robert from MDM entertainment, and would also recommend him, but we were somewhat limited in our choices because we wanted someone who spoke Spanish... Some other DJ''s that are very popular in the area are Toast and Jam and Sounda Abound.

 

[Barcelona]

These were the vendors I used for my first marriage:

Florist: Ashland Addison http://www.ashaddflorist.com/

DJ/Ceremony/Cocktail Hour Musicians: We used a company that sourced all the musicians and DJ for us. We were able to select our songs on their website and submit them. It was really easy but I can''t remember their name! I''ll see if I can figure it out.

Officiant: Rev. Jim Rehnberg http://www.rentarev.com/ We found him through reviews on The Knot and really liked him and his personality. We used him before he married Chris and Adrian of VH1 fame, so I''m not sure if that has affected his popularity/availability.

 

[MagsyMay]

Elrohwen: I will definitely check into a judge... I''m not sure how that works here in Chicago! Although I do know a few from clerking in law school, not sure I''d feel comfortable asking them.

Morgie: Thanks for your DJ recommendation and the names of a few others in the area. MDM''s website looks very professional! Did you find their pricing to be comparable?

 

[sillyberry]

This thread is great! I''m not engaged, but if and when my boy decides he put a ring on it, I''ll probably be getting hitched in the windy city!

Morgie, I <3 your flowers!

 

[chibride10]

We''re using Toast and Jam as our DJs. I''ll let you know how they are after October 10th, but so far we''re really happy with them! My friend used Fig Media and liked them a ton, too.

 

[MagsyMay]

Chibride: Let us know how you like them! Their website is pretty hilarious! Congrats on your upcoming wedding! If you have any other vendor recommendations after it is said and done, would love to hear more!!

Sillyberry: There''s such great info floating around on here, some more recent than others, but I''m sure you''ll find tons of info when your time comes!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

I just got married in Chicago this July, at the Chicago Cultural Center.

The florist I used was Natural Beauties. They were great, and quite willing to work within a budget while keeping the feel I wanted. Another good florist I found while researching is Zuzu''s Petals but they were already booked for my wedding day. These might help if you are wanting to call around and get quotes (the rest of the florists I was considering):
www.anewleafchicago.com/selection.php
www.flowersbyvictoria.com
www.astemabove.com

We didn''t use a DJ (just an ipod and the venues speaker system). But we did have a harpist play during the ceremony and cocktail hour. His name is Steve Hartman and he was wonderful to work with! We were planning long distance so he had us call him and via speaker phone he played songs for us and we worked out what pieces we wanted to use!

Our officiant was an old family friend, so I can''t help you there, but it was very nice to have personal connection to the person marrying us. Have you considered having a family member or friend ordained?

Do you already have caterers and photographer/videographers worked out?

 

[Morgie44]

MagsyMay - MDM was very comparable to the other 2 DJ''s I met with, in fact, they were all the same price. It seems like the going rate for DJ''s around the Chicago area is/was (when I booked in 0 1200. We had a lot of compliments on our DJ, including my MIL who said all the way through the wedding process that she didn''t like DJ''s said she enjoyed them.

Sillyberry - Thanks! I am super happy with how everything came out.

 

[MagsyMay]

Morgie44: Thanks for the info, $1200 seems to be standard at least for the ones I''ve been looking at too. I''m glad your guests, and MIL, enjoyed the DJ!

Tropiqalkiwi: Thanks for the florist recommendations! I''m glad the one you chose was able to work within your budget. That will be very important for us too, so I will check them out! We haven''t really thought about a family member marrying us, not sure why. We both have really small families (I have 2 brothers, FI is an only child, 1 unmarried aunt on each side, no cousins, that''s it!), and I don''t think my brothers or either Aunt would be good for the job, ha!

 

[blackbetty]

My wedding is in 18, so full review will be available theen.

Flowers: Sweet Petal. I love Melisa, she rocks so far.
DJ: The highly recommended throughout Chicago Toast & Jam. You can check out their website & I''m sure you''ll fall in love. We are using Tevis.
Photography: Lynn of Tigerlily photography. She works out of her home in Plainfield. Her albums were beautiful. Also, George Street has a great package, very reasonable. They only had one photgrapher left when I went in, and I didn''t care for his work, but my friends are using them in Mar.


Chibride & I now have the same dress, same date, & same DJ. We should go have a drink together!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 9/22/2009 12:41:16 PM
Author: MagsyMay

Tropiqalkiwi: Thanks for the florist recommendations! I''m glad the one you chose was able to work within your budget. That will be very important for us too, so I will check them out! We haven''t really thought about a family member marrying us, not sure why. We both have really small families (I have 2 brothers, FI is an only child, 1 unmarried aunt on each side, no cousins, that''s it!), and I don''t think my brothers or either Aunt would be good for the job, ha!

That is an obstacle to having family do it, they need to have the personality and speaking skills. Are there any friends or friends of your parents that have those qualities? Otherwise you might be best finding a judge or officiant. If you haven''t found this site yet check it out, they ask you to submit info on what you are looking for and then available officiants contact you. Chicago Officiants

 

[MagsyMay]

Date: 9/22/2009 1:29:53 PM
Author: tropiqalkiwi

That is an obstacle to having family do it, they need to have the personality and speaking skills. Are there any friends or friends of your parents that have those qualities? Otherwise you might be best finding a judge or officiant. If you haven''t found this site yet check it out, they ask you to submit info on what you are looking for and then available officiants contact you. Chicago Officiants

Thank you for that website! I hadn''t come across that yet!! I''m not sure any of our family friends would really fit the role, so hopefully we can find someone that is a good fit!