Kitchen Chicago it is!

The venue has been booked!
Joe and I are super excited.

This also means that we have our wedding date. Drumroll please! haha

July 21, 2012

Corny picture, I know. :)

It is a huge relief to have signed the contract and to have picked a day. It's one thing I can finally cross off the really long to-do list. 

It looks like the ceremony and reception will all be there. I e-mailed my old church about the possibility of having our wedding there, but they are trying to sell it and are no longer booking weddings. I was devastated. It's ok though, Kitchen Chicago is fantastic. 

The next thing on our list as far as the venue goes, is trying to figure out if we want a sit-down dinner. It means 130 people will be invited. Unfortunately, that does not include some friends and co-workers. We now have to decide if we want a cocktail reception for up to 200 people or a sit down dinner. It's very tricky. I have been considering, if there is room in the budget, to do a dinner with the parents and bridal party only. That gets a little bit tricky, but imagine if we were able to do this at the Signature Room!? It would be fantastic!  We will have to see. I am getting a lot of negative thoughts on it. I don't know...

I made my first appointment for wedding dress shopping. I am going on Saturday morning to David's bridal. I feel like it's important for me to start there. There were about 7 dresses that I liked. I am super excited and very nervous. We'll have to wait and see what happens! 

What I can't give up (for a wedding on a budget) and tips for planning

Planning a wedding on a budget is proving to be a huge challenge. The average wedding costs around $25,000! That's a lot of money to spend on one day! That is more money that I have to spend. So here begins my journey of a wedding on a $15,000 budget. I know, that sounded like a lot to me too in the beginning, but that number proves to be a challenge in this city.


There are a few things I cannot give up!

1. It must be in the city of Chicago. I'm not quite sure why that means so much to me, but it does. Maybe it's because of the fact that Joe and I spend so much of our time outside the 'burbs. I go to school and Joe works in some of the greatest parts of the city! Not to mention that we spend a lot of our free time there. Chicago is amazing, and I want to say I do! Right here in the windy city.
2. I do not want to have it in a banquet hall or a hotel.  Nothing irritates more then a windowless, gloomy,  carpet covered, chair covered, room. It is not in my definition of beauty. Am I being too hard? I guess I can thank my artist eye for that. haha
3. I just want to have fun! It is supposed to be the most important day of our lives right? That doesn't mean everything has to be a traditional cookie cutter wedding. Joe and I want to have fun with the people that surround us. We want to laugh and start our lives officially together with a bang! 

I have talked about Kitchen Chicago before. Online, I had bumped into a fellow blogger who just got married for $10,000. She got married in Kitchen Chicago, and I am now determined, to not give up one of my requests. It is so hard to not fall into the whole banquet hall thing. I could easily get the hook-up from two people! It just isn't what Joe and I envision. So seeing another blogger go through exactly what I am going through really helps! What helps even more is seeing it decorated! I went to the place to visit with my parents. I'll post photos soon... It really helps transform the place! To see photos now, go to her blog. She has just updated photos from when she got married!

Kitchen Chicago is a beautiful space, and I think it is the one. 

The next step is finding out where I can rent everything. I have a notebook full of prices from different companies to compare and see which is cheaper. The dilemma Joe and I have is if we want a sit down dinner for 130 people or a cocktail reception for 150 people. At this point the cocktail may be just a bit cheaper and we could have more people come! Our list doesn't even include co-workers or any important extras that our parents would like to invite. At the same time, my parents like the idea of the sit down more. They are old school and that is the more formal route. Joe and I are 50/50 right now. 

As soon as we decide the smaller details and what companies to go with, we will be going to Kitchen Chicago (most likely) to book and save our date (late July of 2012)!  We want to do this by the end of the month. I am so excited.

Tips...

I do have to say, planning a wedding on a budget has caused many headaches. It has been stressful. I'm still stressed now. It will take a lot of work, but I am determined now. I think we can do this! The times I am not so sure though, Joe has been really supportive. That has really helped. The best thing in planning though, is doing your research. It takes a lot of time, but it helps to see what all our options are. I have probably looked at every venue in Chicago (other then banquet halls and hotels). I emailed them and then ruled them out when they had a ridiculous minimum or cost per person. Joe and I made a spreadsheet on excel or we just wrote down all the  prices to all the venues we liked and broke it down to how much each thing cost (like venue, food, alcohol, tables, chairs, and so on). This helped us visually see what everything would cost even if it was just an estimate. Some places where cheap, but then you had to go through their bartenders and purchase their alcohol packages which rose the price a lot. This brings me to some more tips on what to think about.

Some things to look at when you are just beginning your search are...

1. Rental cost / minimum (this applies towards restaurants)
2. Don't forget to add about 31% to your venue if it is an all inclusive one. Sure it may not cost that much, but when you add an extra 31% for tax and gratuity it all adds up. 
3. If it just the space you are renting do you have to go through their caterers? This is why Joe and I turned so many down. Their required list was way more then we could afford! The place wasn't so bad but the cost of the food is the same a place that already includes everything. It got to be a little bit crazy. 
1. A suggestion for this is to get catering from a cheaper place. Joe and I are seriously considering Gino's East! It is more affordable and it is food we really love. My point? Have an open mind for food and think outside the box.
4. Think about if your guests have parking. Joe and I visited some places and a con was the cost for parking or the fact that there wasn't any parking at all in that neighborhood. That was a turn off. I can't afford shuttle busses like they suggested! 
5. Again, DO YOUR RESEARCH! 
6. Don't forget to check to see if they offer discounts of Fridays and Sundays!

Some of these may be really obvious to some, but they were tips I wish somebody told me when I started to e-mail vendors and find out pricing information. 

That's all for now. I do have two/three more venues to post and write about for brides on a budget! That will be coming soon!  

Cake!

Oh my. I am all caked out, but in a good way!

My mom and I made 120 cupcakes on Friday for a bridal shower that we went to on Saturday. I guess you can say it was my first big job. It took us all day. Literally. It was fun though and the end results really payed off. I forgot to take a video of it, but I did take lots of pictures. I made like 4 or 5 different frosting designs and added blue flowers to make everything pop! 

Today, after getting home from celebrating a birthday, I decided to make cake pops. I had the urge to also make a cake too so Minnie Mouse popped into my head. Below is a video describing what I used and briefly how I did it. It was so much fun! I did it all myself and will donate it to my new taste testers (aka my mom's coworkers). hahaha.

Wedding Venue #3 and #4

Joe and I visited the Signature Room.

I didn't take many photos of the view, but the Signature Room is on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. The view is the skyline of Chicago. It is absolutely beautiful. I've been to the restaurant numerous times and they are fantastic, the food and the service.

This is a video I took quickly to view the space. 

Again, as you can see, the view out those windows are amazing. 

Imagine a wedding photo like that?

Pros:

1. The view.
2. It's classy. It will definitely fit the black and white wedding theme I want.
3. I think Joe likes it....it will be impressive. 

Cons:

1. It's expensive. It isn't the best place for a bride on a budget. 
2. We'd have to cut the budget to almost nothing for decor. I mean come on the decor is the skyline! This means though, that we can't put any of us into the decor like we would at Kitchen Chicago. 
3. No sit down dinner. To help with the cost, it would be either a cocktail reception or dinner but no drinks at all. Maybe Champagne to toast to.
4. It could not be in December, it is actually more expensive in December. Way more expensive. haha. I think it would also have to be on a Sunday. 
5. Parking fees - The guests would have to pay for their own parking. Parking downtown is either hard to find or expensive. 

Carnivale!

This place is fantastic. I went there for my 21st birthday.

The place was so pretty and colorful! I didn't take any pictures of my own of the room I liked but here are some photos I've found.

Here is the room I really liked when the manager? gave us a tour. 

It is called the Samba Room.

The place is super colorful but I love it. It has warm colors and it just feels like a party in there! 

They have picture frames on the walls that I can cover up with my own photos to mimic my engagement. 

Pros:

1. I love the colors. 
2. They have really good food here. 
3. There is no need for extra decor with all the color. 
4. Everything is included meaning food, tables, chairs, linen (unlike the loft type places).
5. Window view of the express way which is pretty cool.
6. Joe likes it!

Cons:

1. It is pricey 
2. I'd have to have it in the summer. December is more expensive. 
3. Is it too colorful? I couldn't have a black and white theme...?

melissaisaiphotography.com

Blah Blah uninspired

I just feel so down. These last two weeks have been stressful for me. Leaving my job has been the primary reason why I haven't been myself. I feel like there is so much on my plate with switching jobs, school, and just life. I did get a phone call from For Eyes though, and a tiny bit of my excitement for this job came back to me.

Stress has made my school work limp. Limp and uninspired. I had a critique today, and I saw my work. I'm just not happy with it. I could do better.

I am starting to feel happier, but to feel even better I'll post below my favorite piece from Graphic Design this semester.

It's Joe's mom's birthday so my night will be dedicated to that. I made cupcakes yesterday so it is my duty to deliver them with Joe and find her a nice gift. 

'till the next blog,

Melissa

A New Leaf - Wedding Venue #2

When I was searching for lofty type spaces in Chicago, I stumbled upon A New Leaf. The pictures I saw caught my attention, and I knew I had to see what it looked like in person. I'll talk about the pros and cons after the pictures. Again, you can get a better a feel about the place from the pictures. If you want to view their website, you can click here to get more information.

40 of these chairs and 8 tables are available for use. 

These are the stairs that lead to the dance floor.

Stairs again. I thought they looked cool. 

This is where Joe and I would put the dance the floor. It was large enough for sure! 

If you look at the previous picture you can see that there are two steps that go into a random hallway. 

There are a couple of windows, and I thought it made a good photo op. 

Hallway

This is the first floor in the front of the space. I thought it was another perfect photo op!

Dance floor again!

This is the first floor. 

There are stairs that lead to a second floor. (Not the dance floor, that is separate).

Stairs.

This is a video I took of the space. I think I showed the place best with this video. 

Ok so this place was nice. We knew from the moment we walked in, it was too small for a sit down dinner for 130 people. After that we kind of strolled around the place and took pictures. 

Pros:

1. It was nice and those tables/chairs were pretty.
2. Good photo op with the store front. 
3. The place is located in Lincoln Park. Since we want a Chicago city wedding, the location is perfect! 
4. Multiple floors can be beneficial. 
5. You get all floors as well as the courtyard garden. Good for smokers I guess? It wasn't breathtaking or anything, but perhaps it looks better in the summer? 

Cons:

1. The place was too small! After seeing Kitchen Chicago I realized it is possible to have a sit down dinner so A New Leaf turned me off. Even for a cocktail reception, the people would be scattered on any of the three floors!
2. The dance floor I talked about was completely cut off from the rest of the place! What if some people don't want to dance? I won't get to see them or pull them onto the dance floor! This was a big turn off. 
3. The place only has 40 chairs!!! Those chairs are so beautiful, but even for a cocktail reception I think I would like more then 40 chairs. 
4. You have to pick from their list of caterers. It is an extended list which I appreciated, but I don't like their list very much. 
5. No parking lot. This wouldn't be that big of a deal but Joe and I had a hard time finding parking for one car! Image a whole wedding party trying to find parking in the Winter! Yikes! That was a turn off. We are trying to save money so Valet is not something we want to consider and want to avoid if possible. The only parking garages are a few blocks away.

The price is neither a pro or con. It is a con when comparing it to Kitchen Chicago, but it isn't horrible. It is $3500 for a Sunday and $4000 for a Saturday night which is better for your budget then other lofts I've seen online. It really adds up for the bride on a budget when adding food from their list though. That is why we decided that we will not be having our wedding at A New Leaf.

Check out a fantastic photographer for your wedding day here!  

Goals for the summer

I've been so busy with school and getting a new job, wedding planning has come to a halt. 
There is just so much going on. I've been so overwhelmed. When I gave my job my two weeks notice, the stress started. So below are things I am looking forward to. Whenever I feel down the best thing to do is have hope for the future. 


The first thing I am looking forward to is my birthday! April 20th is just a couple of weeks away. I am looking forward to celebrating another year with family and my close friends. The following Saturday night will be a girl's night. A few of us will spend the night at a hotel and go out. Where? I am not so sure yet, but who cares? It's a mini vacation and I am looking forward to that. 


Summer! Summer means no school. It means walks in the summer breeze and finding new places in Chicago. I can't wait to shop along Michigan and State with my Paycheck from my new job! Summer means more wedding planning and shopping for my wedding dress! This takes me to my Summer Goals. I want to accomplish something this summer. I want it to be productive and still have a lot fun. So here is my list of things I want to accomplish. 

1. Start a healthier lifestyle of working out and eating better. Being engaged means wanting to look fabulous on my wedding day so the sooner I start, the better.
2. Be creative! I want to do a lot of art projects just because! 
1. I hope to take lots of pictures and have fun with photography.
2. I want to learn how to make jewelry!
3. Shop for a wedding dress! This is going to be super exciting, and very nerve wrecking. I can't wait though. 
4. Along with 3 comes the inevitable goal of wanting to get a lot of wedding planning done! 
5. Visit art galleries.... a lot of them! 
6. Open up my very own Etsy shop online. I want to sell invitations for all events. This is my biggest goal, but it is something I really want to accomplish. 
7. God
1.  To pull out my journal and write it down (sermons and notes from the Bible Book Club). I forget things, and the best way to remember or reflect on things later is to write it down.
8. Monkey in a Box - Cake decorating. I don't know exactly what my goal is for this, but I want to keep doing it actively over the summer.

I should be getting back to work now. Instead of doing Graphic Design work I've been typing this blog. HAHA! Back to work.