Where: Murphy's - definitely-maybe we're in!

We visited Murphy's with friends on Thanksgiving weekend and then again the next Friday. We had lots of questions and we got lots of answers - good ones.

• The events menu for Mrs. Murphy and Sons (which a lot of people - not me - call Irish Bistro) is totally flexible. We're not stuck with bangers and mash for 150 people in July. We can substitute with lots of different things - even items that aren't on the menu. Any ideas?


• We'll get the whole bar - upstairs with stained glass and windows, as well as downstairs with a big wooden bar. There's tons of seating and lots of nooks so people talk, sit, eat, drink and dance if they want. I like that the space is flexible too. I don't think we'll change it a whole lot, but I definitely like that we can.


• The bar is cozy and fun. The walls are green and I can picture us prettying things up a bit with flowers too.


• We can have an open bar (either we pay a set fee per person or for each drink). We can offer a lot or a little. B likes all the beers on tap - I like that they have Bud Light as well as all the fancy labels.


• I was only a tiny bit worried about where I could get ready for the ceremony (weird!). We can go in the back of the upstairs to either the posh bathroom or another room. Fancy!


• Murphy's has really nice bathrooms. And an elevator, which is handy for grandparent types.
  

Right now we are on for a Saturday in July and after we answer a few more questions, visit with my parents and B's mom we might be for sure.

To confirm and explain the typical Criner decision-making process: my mom sent me an email soon after we began seeing Murphy's as the big winner:

Murphy's will be fine. I don't know of another alternative. It does meet the criteria. Air conditioning, bathrooms and booze.

Where: The Wrap Up

It's not the best-kept secret that we've already chosen the wedding location and date, but I'd like to do a quick rundown before we announce.

We visited Williams Tree Farm the same day as Midway Village. It's about 15 miles north of Rockford, which puts it damn near in Wisconsin. Even the Criners had a time finding it, which might be a problem for people driving from Chicago. The main building was basically a high-raftered lodge. I loved the tree murals on the bathroom walls and the snack bar serving chili dogs. Amanda wasn't a fan of the bench seating, gravel parking lot and general lack of what's commonly referred to as "class."

The Radisson Rockford was the only traditional banquet hall we visited. The main advantage here is that they take care of pretty much everything for a flat fee ($74 or $69 per person), but it turned out more expensive than some better locations. I was quite revolted, but Amanda, her mom and Julie thought the space was not bad, albeit being poorly used at the wedding being set up that day.

Side note on that wedding, a sampling of the names they'd given their tables: Love, Honesty, Trust, Loyalty, Family, Communication, Forever. I shit you not.

The Irish American Heritage Center was an early favorite, but the more we thought about it the harder it became to picture our wedding there. The un-air-conditioned ballroom on the third floor is pretty much unusable for a summer wedding, and while the Fifth Province itself is nice, the adjoining rooms are decidedly less so. Not to mention it's open to the public after five.

Architectural Artifacts is just too expensive. When there are places like the Rockford Woman's Club or Mrs. Murphy's that include a lot more for the cost, paying over $4,000 for just the space seems like a waste. The Ravenswood Billboard Factory, Catalyst Ranch and Stan Mansion were all considered but never actually visited mostly because of this.

Midway Village is unique and relatively cheap, but the barn would require too much work to make it what we wanted. Stringing lights and decorating a barn is not how I picture spending my wedding day. Both the front rooms and their small dance floor were too cramped to ever really merit consideration.

At the end, we narrowed it down to Mrs. Murphy and Sons, The Rockford Woman's Club and... Amanda's parents' house. I'll let her take it from here.

Where: The Rockford Woman's Club

Map | Website

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.

Where: Midway Village

Map | Website

Let's just pretend I posted this four weeks ago, shortly after I visited with Amanda and Ma Criner.

I had high hopes for Midway Village, a popular wedding spot in Rockford. It's an educational turn-of-the-century village complete with town hall, fire station and blacksmith shop. A low-key, partly outdoor wedding definitely appealed; beer at the blacksmith, hors d'oeuvres at the historic hotel. They also host Civil War re-enactments, and after the Union cavalry at my brother's wedding maybe we could start a family tradition.

We learned they don't actually rent you the whole village, though. Receptions are usually at the Lakeview Rooms in the main building near the entrance, or the 1905 Barn back in the actual village area. Ceremonies take place all over, including the gazebo and historic church.

The Lakeview Rooms are near the picturesque millpond, and we could use the pond area for the reception and/or ceremony. They're also adjacent to the parking lot — a plus — and the sock monkey statue — a bigger plus. The rooms themselves seemed a bit claustrophobic, with low ceilings and not enough windows. The dance floor was postage-stamp-sized.

The 1905 Barn is a three-minute walk from the parking lot, down a dirt road past the church. A bit tricky in heels or the dark, since there's no lighting for most of it.

The barn itself is, well, a barn built in 1905. Concrete floor, low ceilings downstairs; spacious, high-raftered upstairs. The lighting might be weak, it was hard to tell in daylight. I really liked the three sets of barn doors, especially the ones on the second floor that open to a wide ramp to ground level. All the doors would need to be open, since there's no air conditioning.

We could use the surrounding area here too, scattering tables and chairs and drawing people outside. As with the path, lighting would be a huge problem. Along with the need for extensive decoration, we'd need get there pretty early to set up.

The prices are reasonable, $800 for the barn and $1,100 for the Lakeview Rooms, including a $200 alcohol fee. You basically get them all day, from 9 a.m. to midnight, and can use any licensed caterer. The gazebo is another $175 for a ceremony.

I think I saw more possibility than the Criners. The sheer flexibility to do whatever we want, the outdoor access, and the pricetag kept it in the running. But it definitely didn't turn out to be what we'd hoped.

Hey yo, I'm actually blogging

Clearly, I have been remiss in my wedding blog duties. We're very close to a final decision on our location and date, but I'm going to do rundowns of a few places we've looked at since I last posted... almost seven weeks ago??? Jeez, what a hoser.