Where: The Rockford Woman's Club

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Over Thanksgiving we visited the Rockford Women's Club in downtown Rockford, joined by honor attendent Julie in from D.C. (I've been reading the Bride's Guide to Etiquette, and "maid of honor" has fallen out of favor a bit. Plus I think "honor attendent" is funny.)

The Women's Club was formed in 1897, and the building itself opened in 1918. They have an adjoining theatre and host a variety of events, including a fair number of weddings. They're right across the street from the Coronado Theatre, another spot we considered until hearing the $4,500 price tag. Downtown Rockford is easily accessible from interstate with lots of parking.

The Women's Club will rent you either the lower level ($1,200) or the entire building ($1,900) for most of the day through midnight. We would almost certainly do the whole building, both to accomodate 150 people and we because liked the second floor a lot.

The lower level resembles a church basement with the important addition of a bar. A wide staircase from upstairs leads into the bar area and faces a long room filled with round tables with small outdoor garden area at the end. The head table is usually set up in front of the garden. Not that we're having a head table.

There are a few smaller rooms past the bar area, which also has some booths and a coatroom. The bar itself wasn't bad, but apparently the whole area had some rather jarring purple walls (or so I was later told, this is not the sort of thing I notice). All in all, the lower level wouldn't be a bad place to have a holiday party, but for a wedding it's a bit underwhelming.

The second floor is a lot cooler, and indeed feels like a turn-of-the-century social club. There's a sitting room, sunroom, another set of bathrooms and a really nice main gallery with hardwood floors and high wood ceilings. It's easy to imagine dancing in the gallery and people wandering the hallways with drinks in hand. I really like the idea of a spread-out wedding, with plenty of room for different groups to mix and mingle just like the best parties. A ceremony at the Club would probably have to be downstairs in the long room, but the second floor is definitely the more intriguing area.

In addition to the rental fees, there would be a small per-person charge for place settings. Which becomes a surprisingly important benefit when you learn much caterers charge for that stuff (Amanda's mom is still talking about the $8 to 23 one place quoted her). A lot of places with hefty rental fees just give you the space itself, so having the linens, place settings, centerpieces and help with coordination is a bigger deal than you might think.

Like most places you can use any licensed caterer, but the woman who showed us around had suggestions. All alcohol is purchased through the Club: $20 for a bottle of wine, $250 for a keg and $5-6 for mixed drinks. They can set up a second bar upstairs on request, any the bartenders for both bars are included int he cost.

The Women's Club is a bit tacky in some ways (e.g. purple walls, the plastic green garland left up year round), but the space is also really unique and interesting. Being downtown is cool, even if it's downtown Rockford, and there are plenty of hotels around for visiting guests. I liked the Club enough to move it near the top of the contenders list.