9 more days

I am so excited that the weekend is almost here! Dinner at Feast is confirmed. On Saturday, "girls" are getting ready at our condo - guys - not sure what Dom has planned....and then Jordan's at 5 pm for a drink, ceremony, dinner and dessert party! It is a long day.
Just a reminder - JFOD is at 1551 West Thomas Street. There will be a valet if you are driving.
See you then!
Heather

Friday night dinner at 7 pm...

at Feast Restaurant on Damen - only six blocks away from our condo. http://www.feastrestaurant.com/index.html
Looking forward to it!

Italy is sounding really good about now....

...Things are comign together with JFOD - and the Web site is up and working so check it out when you have time.

Only thing really left is to finalize the menu (we might need to ask you if you prefer fish or red meat) and to figure out transportation.

Now where did I put my passport??

Update on Friday night plans...

...Piece is great...but we think a little too casual so we are on the hunt for a new place - still in Bucktown - to have a get together.

Jane's - one of our favorites - is opening a new extended cafe that is available for private parties - so that is an option.

As is Club Lucky. And Las Palmas.

Needless to say - we will have something fun to do that night and look forward to seeing all of you.

Friday night plans

If you make it in early enough on Friday - or are in Chicago and want to meet us - we will be having a dinner at Piece in Bucktown. Can you tell that we are on a theme here?

Piece is a New Haven style pizza place that is a lot of fun. Please let me know if you plan to make it.

Time - 7:30 - ?
Location - 1927 W. North Ave.

Location, Minister, Photographer confirmed....

We are sticking with our original choice - JFOD. It will be different - that I can promise you. And, we have our minister, photographer - now we are looking at cakes and for musicians. We would like a trio for the wedding/dinner portion and then might just use my iPod for the cocktails and desserts.
Again - any suggestions welcome!

Have wedding photographer..

...still waiting to confirm location.

We are going to be working with Gerber Scarpelli for our photography. Despite my pleas to Dom to have a trolley and take pics all over the city...we are not going to be doing that. (I am sure some of you must be pleased!). So, instead we will have the photographer for an hour before the event and two hours during.

Please bring your digital cameras for the rest of the evening.

Now as to location - we are trying to decide between Jordan's Food of Distinction and Bespoke Cuisine. Another optiion is the Wooden Spoon - which we really love - but it is best suited for a summer event.
Jordan's is a lot more "cool" and is closer to our 'hood. Bespoke has a really gorgeous room and is in a neat area on Randolph Street. We are waiting for a bid from Bespoke and then we will decide.

Almost 100 percent there....

Still waiting to confirm with Jordan for the 29th....and with our minister...we think it is Bruce Otto from Spirted Weddings (www.spiritedweddings.com) and looking for a reasonably-priced photographer...any suggestions welcome!
Our plan is to have cocktails at 5 pm and then ceremony, dinner with wedding party and then have desssert and more cocktails starting at about 8:30 pm with friends in Chicago. We can only fit 30 for dinner and then another 20 or so for cocktails so we are trying to be flexible!
I can reserve rooms at the Club Quarters on Wacker and Michigan Ave. - so please let me know if you need one. I think $99 a night plus $15 for an extra person. It is a pretty good deal, however, I do recommend trying hotwire.com and seeing what you can get instead.
There are B&Bs in Chicago, too, that are probably more fun than the hotels. See post below regarding the Wicker Park Inn.

October 29 might be the new date....

Please let me know if can't make it on that date. For those of you who don't know, my dad and his girfriend Joan are getting married - we think - on September 17. So, we want to have a few weeks between events and with the Marathon on the 8th...the 29th might just be the right day. I always loved the fall.
Thanks! Heather

Mom suggested I list our registration page....

as we are keeping this simple, Dom suggested no registry. However, we all know how that it goes as we have all been to upwards of 40 weddings in the last 10 years.

So...we have registered for a few key things at www.crateandbarrel.com.

Hotels! October 8 is the Chicago Marathon

So...I am reserving hotel rooms now. A good option is to try a B&B in Bucktown.

The Wicker Park Inn has two rooms still available - requires a three night stay, however. You can find out more online here.

Wicker Park Inn1329 N. Wicker Park Ave.Chicago, IL 60622Phone: 773.486.2743

http://www.chicago-bed-breakfast.com/wickerparkinn.htm

I am also able to hold a few rooms right now at the Club Quarters on Wacker. They aren't fancy but they are in a good location and inexpensive. $99 a night for a basic "executive" room.

Let me know if you would like me to get one for you....312.952.8505 (Heather's cell) or hmalec@thoughtworks.com.

http://www.clubquarters.com/chicago_wacker_map.asp

Wedding planning.....

Please save the date - October 8, 2005. Yes, two days before Dom's birthday. We are busy getting plans in place.

We are thinking of using Jordan's Food of Distinction to host our event in Chicago. There is a good article about JFOD on Daily Candy, too.

As you can see, it is quite small which is causing us much difficulties in planning! However, we both want an intimate wedding with the least amount of stress possible.

Stay tuned here for more details on where to stay, what to do in Chicago and other details.