Dealbreakers

Too many options! Way too many.

And, not enough options! Not nearly enough...

Here are the dealbreakers - not the things I want - but the things that are absolute musts and cannot be compromised on. I figure my organized thinking should help in some small fashion. Here are the dealbreakers:

1. Drinks - I called Rock Cut State Park - a beloved park with lots of gorgeous picnic areas. Rock Cut doesn't allow booze of any sort ever (though I can promise you everyone in my family has broken that rule) so it's out. We must be able to serve drinks. Must.
2. Ridiculous fees and rules - I'm just exhausted from all the restrictions and costs for things that seem like nothing. To rent many spaces (which you have to fill with flower you buy, table you rent, tablecloths you rent, food you buy from a specific caterer, and drinks from a specific, insured bartender - garrrr!) you must follow rules involving timelines, vendors and other crap.
3. Being fancy for the sake of seeming fancy. B and I are not fancy people. I can certainly rock out a dress and heels, sure, but I want our wedding to be a party celebrating the people we are - not the people we are when we get incredibly dolled up. I love the idea of real food at our wedding. And a keg of beer and bottles of wine we like. I don't need nueskebacon, poached quail eggs, black truffle brioche. I don't mind some fanciness, but I do mind becoming suddenly pretentious for this one event.

That is it. Over Turkey Weekend Julie Beth, Cindy, my mom (and my dad if he's incredible bored and suddenly interested) might do some figuring out. So, keep the advice and ideas coming...

Thinking

I'm realizing there are 1 million ways to do this whole wedding thing. So, the challenge now is just deciding what's important and what fits what we want.

We did a bit of sight-seeing in Rockford and Julie is coming to town for Thanksgiving so we'll do a bit more thinking about options while she's here too.

Here are my disorganized thoughts right now.... Any feedback, answers, thoughts are very appreciated.

1. My parents house is an amazing option but possibly very challenging and too small. Even using the neighbors backyard might make things a little snug. Plus we have weather to figure out too.
2. There are other parks that I should check out - not in Chicago (Chicago Park District rules are prohibitive), but near Rockford.
3. I talked to a very nice person with Harry Caray's Catering. They have a ton of excellent options and sound pretty flexible. The selling point for me was the Ballpark Buffet - hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixings! This sounds like just the kind of food I'd like for my wedding - fun, delicious and unpretentious. Harry Caray's will also travel pretty far so we have a lot of options. Yum.
4. Mrs. Murphy's is the only spot in Chicago that I'm still keen on after hearing about the rates. It might be the place, but we have to figure out logistics (parking, hotel) before we know for sure.

Any thoughts, friends?

Where: My parent's house?

Maybe I'm over-reacting.

I"m finding myself wishing for things to be more simple with this planning process. Every question I answer creates six more that don't have easy answers. Trying to do things in a non-traditional, un-fancy way seems so much more complicated than hosting a sit-down meal for 200 at a banquet hall (which isn't what we want). Some places have too many rules and others have so few rules I don't know how we'd figure out the basics.

So, I'm incredibly interested in a backyard wedding at my parents beautiful home. They are thinking about this - and I don't know if this is possible or if it'd be fun for them. I realize there are still things to take care of (rent a tent, rent a dance floor, get permission to make so much noise, figure out bathrooms, find a caterer, figure out where to put everything, etc) - but there's less of a timeline, fewer rules and it'd feel like home.

I can picture a tent in the backyard, a bar setup inside, a few caterers about to help and the neighbor kids valeting cars in the front. I can also imagine the yard that's gorgeous on an average day in June as a beautiful setting for a big party. I can see getting ready upstairs and wandering down when it's time to go. It seems really amazing in my head, and also really do-able since I wouldn't be contending with lot of other factors out of reach.

It's still work, but it seems worth considering.

A tree farm

My mom has a friend who is helping her daughter plan a wedding - free legwork, I say!

Among a few other nice Rockford ideas is Williams Tree Farm - possibility plus a tractor train! Like other oddball locations this offers a few challenges too - particularly lodging and transportation to the lodging. I don't exactly want to send all my Chicago friends scooting through the countryside. But I do like the idea of getting married outside, hosting a reception in a lodge and being on a tree farm.

There's also Midway Village - a museum, sort of. There are several olde timey buildings, as well as a big wooded area. It's a pretty neat place, depending on what you're looking for. I must admit that I connect Midway Village to the Civil War Reenactment that they hosted there during summers while I was growing up. There's nothing like a Civil War Reenactment, in case you don't know it. And there's nothing quite so heroic (in the realm of re-enacting at least) as men in wool soldier's uniforms fighting with bayonets in the July sun.

I'm going to vote against a wedding during the Civil War Reenactment. That's for sure.