Wedding Mania!

Last October, our son Michael married his lovely bride, Margaret. In December our son Jerry will be tying the knot with his wonderful Carolyn. In June of 2011 our Maggie Darling will be jumping into wedded bliss with her Bryan. I didn't have to do much with Mike's wedding, and I'm guessing my to-do list will be short with Jerry's wedding also. But being the mother-of-the-bride (MOB) is another story altogether! She's already booked St. Vincent DePaul Cathedral (she met Bryan on campus at DePaul University)...so now we need to find a reception site. Once that's done I can relax until next year.

Today we headed downtown to check out a few hotels. Maggie lives in the city, so all the sites and sounds are rather second nature to her.....but not for me. My suburban life is quiet and much less interesting. I arrived at her apartment with my camera in hand and the eye-rolling started (her eyes, not mine)....too bad!

As you get closer to the downtown area, the houses seem to move closer together. Here's Maggie's block...you can stand between the houses and put a hand on each house...you also pay quite a bit more here....aahh, the city life. The weather war frigid, but the sun was semi-shining, not a terrible forecast.

I am not allowed to drive in the city, evidently I drive like an old woman....

Our first stop was the Palmer House...of course the exit was closed (so glad I wasn't driving)

The Palmer House was beautiful...(my senior prom was held here in 1976!!!)...this is the view of the Lobby from the Empire Room...

The room wasn't set up yet but we had a vision...

Here's what it looks like with all the trimmings!!...

Our next stop was the InterContinental Hotel....another beautiful option!!...

Beautiful ceilings!

(I know, it's upside down)

...And this is what it looks like in all it's glory!!..

And our last stop was the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel... a wedding was being set up during our visit...

The dance floor lights up....seems somewhat disco-ish!

We're both very confused now, and an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory didn't make our heads any clearer (just our tummies heavier). While waiting for our table Maggie allowed me to take a few quick pics, before she started the eye-roll thing...

...and by the time we said our goodbyes, the evening had arrived...and I hate driving home in the dark.

I've agreed to look at two more options this week, the choices are overwhelming. The backyard seems like a wonderful choice to me....and here's a nice representation of Big Daddy's reaction while scanning the prices...

I told him he's lucky we didn't have four girls...that didn't help!