I have a venue (pics) and a date!

[tropiqalkiwi]

I just signed the contract with my venue, the chicago cultural center, for the 5th of July 2009.....so now I''m getting married in a bit over 4 months! There is a ton I still have to get done, so any advice on which vendors I should book first and which you found to be more flexible/less important would be appreciated.

I am so excited about this space, I fell in love with it as soon as I walked up the stairs:

 

[tlh]

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Here is a pic of the Tiffany glass dome ceiling:

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

And finally a wedding reception in the space:

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 2/26/2009 12:48:35 PM
Author: tlh
awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tlh, thanks for sharing in my excitement

 

[akmiss]

That ceiling is amazing! I can see why you are excited

 

[BeachRunner]

very pretty!!

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh my!

What a beautiful venue!!!

 

[lliang_chi]

Yay! another Chicago PS''er! Great venue!

 

[Clairitek]

Wow Kiwi! That is one STUNNING venue! Nice work!!!

If I were in your shoes I would go for the photographer and caterer next. To me, those are two very very important aspects of a wedding.

Then I''d go for floral and the other decor details.

If you are doing a DJ I bet you could wait for that until after the photog and caterer. If you are doing a band, I would get on it ASAP. Hopefully others will chime in and let you know their thoughts. I have tons of time to plan my wedding so I am in a little bit of a different spot than you are. I might be totally off base here.

Do you have a dress yet?

 

[elrohwen]

Wow, that is such a cool space. I can see why you fell in love with it! You''ll have to post tons of pics of your wedding

As far as what you should do first ... do you have catering figured out? I would do that first. Are you having the ceremony there? If not, I''d get a ceremony location. A dress definitely and dresses for bridesmaids because those can take months (mine is taking four months to arrive, that doesn''t include alterations), so you want to start early.

Other things like photographer and DJ will get booked up, but I''m sure somebody will still be available (though if you''re picky, do that right away too! all of the best ones will probably be taken already). I think flowers and cake are usually done just a few months before the wedding, you can do those later. Maybe book the vendors now, but you can wait to figure out the specifics.

Good luck with your planning! We''re always here to help.

 

[blackbetty]

wow, i am SO JEALOUS! i really wanted my wedding in the city, at the cultural center or river east arts center, but it was not to be. i will have to dream about your wedding now. congrats!

 

[LauraBabe08]

what a beautiful venue! Congrats! As for the timeline - 4 months is plenty of time to plan the wedding - good luck and congrats again!!!

 

[redfaerythinker]

That is so beautiful!

 

[bee*]

wow it looks amazing!! Congratulations!!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

Clairitek - I''ve been working on the caterer (there is a list of approved ones) and am having them all send me menus/proposals. I do want a live band/musicians and didn''t realize they were as in demand as other things, so I will get going on that!

Elrohwen- The ceremony is happening in the space, right under the dome so luckily I don''t have to worry about coordinating a second space. I have taken care of my dress, and bridesmaids are getting black off the rack dresses (not same style) so I think that should be OK. Maybe I have it more together than I thought!

Blackbetty - I actually was considering the river east arts center too! You must have good taste

I''m sorry your city wedding didn''t work out though, have you decided on another space yet?

 

[Definitely. Maybe]

wow! I loveit!! It is sooo beautiful and will be perfect for your wedding day. How lucky!

haha I tend to overuse these: !!!

 

[Morgie44]

Absolutely beautiful. I love the cultural center and think it is an awesome place for a wedding. Yay for another Chicago area bride!

 

[sunnyd]

That venue is gorgeous!! Holy cow gorgeous!

 

[xoxo]

It is such a beautiful venue love the ceiling, well everything and the details of the inside. Congrats and happy planning

 

[panda08]

What a gorgeous venue! I''d be excited too! Congrats!

 

[honey22]

Wowee! That looks amazing!! The pics are going to be stunning.

I would make sure you have a photog next. You can be more flexible with celebrant and florist IMO, but with your time constraints, I would be getting a hurry on quicksmart!!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 2/26/2009 5:59:27 PM
Author: honey22
Wowee! That looks amazing!! The pics are going to be stunning.


I would make sure you have a photog next. You can be more flexible with celebrant and florist IMO, but with your time constraints, I would be getting a hurry on quicksmart!!

Finding a good photographer probably takes a bit of time as well, I''ll have to get on that! And who/what is quicksmart?

 

[KatyWI]

GORGEOUS venue!!!!

Okay, so I''m in Madison, WI and I can''t help but recommend my photographer if you''re looking for one... she''s located in Milwaukee and has done a great deal of Chicago weddings... her prices are reasonable and she''s AMAZINGLY talented!

her website:
KB Image Photography

and the blog:
KB Image Photography Blog

Anyway.... I''m so jealous of that amazing ceiling! And I thought I had no time to plan, starting in December for a September wedding! Start to finish in 4 months? I think you''re my hero, haha!

 

[Sparkalicious]

Gorgeous venue! Breathtaking! I''m a sucker for a beautiful dome ceiling like that. It makes such a statement!
Congrats!!

 

[Deelight]

WOW your venue is beautiful

.

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 2/26/2009 10:56:44 PM
Author: KatyWI
GORGEOUS venue!!!!


Okay, so I''m in Madison, WI and I can''t help but recommend my photographer if you''re looking for one... she''s located in Milwaukee and has done a great deal of Chicago weddings... her prices are reasonable and she''s AMAZINGLY talented!


her website:

KB Image Photography


and the blog:

KB Image Photography Blog


Anyway.... I''m so jealous of that amazing ceiling! And I thought I had no time to plan, starting in December for a September wedding! Start to finish in 4 months? I think you''re my hero, haha!

Well, I''ve technically been planning since last July when I got engaged, but had a hard time finding a venue in Chicago while living on the west coast. So I have things like my dress lined up, but now I need to move on booking the vendors which I didn''t want to do without a date - which I wasn''t willing to set until I found the venue (so we could be flexible with what they had available). I''m too excited to be stressed about it at this point, but I''m sure that will change as the wedding gets closer.

Thanks so much for the photo recommendation, her style seems very journalistic which I am looking for, and the photos are wonderful!

 

[KatyWI]

Ohhhh I see. Makes a little more sense now! And there''s really no reason to be stressed, even though we all get that way sometimes! There have been times I''ve started to freak out, and then I think "Hey, this has to work out somehow!" and it always does. So you have to be flexible with the rest of your vendors! In a city like Chicago, there have to be great people available. So you''re welcome, and good luck lining everything else up!!

 

[ChicagoKarla]

Tropiqalkiwi - I was just married at the Cultural Center this past November!!! CONGRATS! It''s such a lovely space, you are going to LOVE getting married there! Over 3 months later, our guests are STILL telling us it''s the most stunning place they''ve even been in the city of Chicago.

I have been on this board in quite some time (now I''m more of a lurker from time to time), but I would be more than happy to share my pictures with you as well as recommendations for everything! (I did quite a lot of research If you have specific questions about anything, please ask them on this board or shoot me an email at Karlaandmark at gmail dot com. I''ll post a little teaser pic from our wedding...

Yay! I love "meeting" other Cultural Center brides!!

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 2/26/2009 4:03:58 PM
Author: tropiqalkiwi
Thanks for the responses everyone!

Clairitek - I''ve been working on the caterer (there is a list of approved ones) and am having them all send me menus/proposals. I do want a live band/musicians and didn''t realize they were as in demand as other things, so I will get going on that!

Elrohwen- The ceremony is happening in the space, right under the dome so luckily I don''t have to worry about coordinating a second space. I have taken care of my dress, and bridesmaids are getting black off the rack dresses (not same style) so I think that should be OK. Maybe I have it more together than I thought!

Blackbetty - I actually was considering the river east arts center too! You must have good taste

I''m sorry your city wedding didn''t work out though, have you decided on another space yet?

It sounds like you do have a lot of the big things already done! Just find that band and photographer and pick out your food. You should be good to go for the most part. Any dress pics to share?