Wedding Welcome Letters and RSVPs

We are getting down to the final days...3 weeks from tomorrow is my wedding day. I must admit that I don't like it when people ask me how many days, or when people tell me how many days. I still have 8 work days left and I need to make it through that before I can finish up the little details here and there. I feel like a total "B" to my Mother (sorry Mom) because she is the worst offender...but we both understand that she's excited and just wishes that she was here.

The RSVP due date is tomorrow...and there are still a handful of people that we are waiting to hear from. There are some family members that I just put down as "no" since they are way out of town and haven't booked a hotel room, so it's a safe bet that they are not coming. There are other family members that I will have to call, and I don't know why but I feel awkward about it. My cousin for example, he called me the day he received his invitation and said he would be here...but never sent me an official RSVP. He's known for making promises that he can't always keep, so I'm going to have to call and just check...but it feels weird. What if he tells me no or avoids me because he doesn't want to disappoint me? Or his brother, he hasn't said a word to me, but has told my Aunt (his Mother) that he has until the 15th to make up his mind. Technically, you had until the 13th or so because the mail needs a few days to get to me. I guess I'll be calling him this weekend too.

It's funny though, how some people are holding off to see how their relationships are with other people. Seems odd if you ask me. For example. some friends are at odds with one another and are waiting until the last minute to decide if they make up with each other before the wedding. Oh well.

Finishing up this post is the Welcome Letters. I think we've gotten those done. We've welcomed people, told them the timing of events, and given them lots of options for things to do while they are in Chicago. We broke it up into two pages. Page 1 the wedding welcome and details, Page 2, everything we could think of to do in Chicago that fits on one page. And here is that information...let me know if I'm missing anything:

"What is there to do in Chicago?Museums, Beaches, Flowers, Famous Buildings

• Lincoln Park Zoo (free admission): 2001 N. Clark Street
• Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: 2430 N. Cannon Drive
• Museum of Contemporary Art: 220 E. Chicago Avenue
• The Art Institute of Chicago: 111 S. Michigan Avenue
• Shedd Aquarium: 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive
• Field Museum: 1410 S. Museum Campus
• Adler Planetarium: 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive
• Museum of Science and Industry: 1 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
• Wrigley Field (where the Cubs play): 1060 W. Addison Street
• US Cellular Field (where the White Sox play): 333 W. 35th Street
• Lincoln Park Conservatory (free admission): 2391 N. Stockton Drive
• North Ave Beach: 1600 N. Lake Shore Drive
• Garfield Park Conservatory: 300 N. Central Park Avenue
• Promontory Point: 5491 S. South Shore Drive
• Millennium Park: 201 E. Randolph Street
• Grant Park: 337 E. Randolph Street
• Buckingham Fountain
• Navy Pier: 600 E. Grand Avenue
• Magnificent Mile: Michigan Avenue
• Hancock Building (and the Signature Room): 875 N. Michigan Avenue
• Willis (formerly Sears) Tower: 233 S. Wacker Drive

Classic Chicago Food (and Booze)

• Billy Goat Tavern (multiple locations, this is closest to hotels): 430 N. Michigan Avenue
• Weiner Circle: 2622 N. Clark Street
• Portillo's (multiple locations): 100 W. Ontario Street
• Garrett’s Popcorn (multiple locations): 625 N. Michigan Avenue
• Pizzeria Uno or Due: 29 E. Ohio/619 N. Wabash Avenue
• Mr. Beef: 666 N. Orleans Street
• The Berghoff: 17 W. Adams Street
• The Green Door Tavern: 678 N. Orleans Street
• The Green Mill: 4802 N. Broadway Street

Tours

• Architecture Tour (walking or boating): 112 E. Wacker Drive, 312-922-8687
• Untouchables Tour: 600 N. Clark Street, 773-881-1195
• Pizza Tour: 27 N. Wacker Drive, 800-979-3370
• Chicago Ghost Tours: 610 N. Clark Street, 888-446-7891

Festivals

• Rock Around the Block - Lincoln and Belmont Avenue
• West Fest - Chicago Avenue, between Damen and Wood
• Chicago Folk & Roots Festival - 4400 N. Lincoln Ave.
• Opening weekend of Bristol Renaissance Faire - IL/WI border"

Chicago Wedding Welcome bags

I've been so busy with all the wedding planning that I have completely neglected my blog! I've been doing tons of searches on what to put in "Wedding Welcome Bags" that I thought I would make a blog entry about what's going into ours.

I'm still on the fence on a few things, but decided that we wanted to welcome our friends and family with fun things as well as necessities.

A keepsake is a magnet with our names and the date of our wedding...but the magnet is the Chicago Flag. It's quite awesome

In the blue is where our names and the date go, in white. We're thinking of including the story of the Chicago flag in our welcome letter (a future blog will include whatever I end up writing in the letter).

So in addition to the magnet, we realize that people are going to want some bottled water, so each person will get a bottle of water.

For a sweet snack we made up some personalized chocolates. Dark hershey kisses and miniature peanut butter cups that have our initials and the date on them.

For a salty snack we decided to be lazy and just go to Costco and get the variety pack of chips.

For the hangover cure, we found individual Pepto Bismo and Advil packages, so those are in there too.

We were able to get a brochure about Chicago, but we're also including a homemade map for people, in addition to the timeline on the map for them. We'll also print out some of the suggestions on "what to do" from the wedding website since some people are making a vacation out of this visit.

We wanted to do lots more, but we figured people would rather have more food and booze available to them at the reception, so that's where the money is going.

Now...if only people would book their rooms before the reservation date is up!

Wedding stress - for non-traditional weddings

My wedding is a little over 5 months away. Yesterday and today I have become a huge stress ball over everything. I'm looking up "proper wording" for invitations. I'm happy that my Matron of Honor got her dress ordered, but now I'm worried that my Maid of Honor isn't ordering hers for 2 more weeks...and will that be early enough? Plus, has she called the place that she wants to order it from to see if they'll even order it or do I need to bring her to the place I originally found?

I mean, come on...these are grown women. My Maid of Honor knows how to do these things, so why am I stressed about it? As for the invitations, I'm inviting mostly family and a few friends (unfortunately not everyone that I wish that I could, but budget and size of venue, etc) so no matter what the wording, no one is going to be insulted or shocked or anything...so why (again) am I so worried that I need to word it perfectly?

I know that I have a tendency of being a perfectionist, but I've really been working on that for a while and I really had hoped that I wouldn't be paranoid about little things like wording...but I am.

Part of why I am writing this is in hope that in the future, someone else who is in this situation in the future will find the work I have done and not have to go through it herself.

Concern 1 - just inviting a limited group of people to a reception - not the ceremony...do you include that?

After going back and forth on this, I think no...we just say we want them to celebrate with us, but don't mention that there is a "private ceremony"...some people might be bothered by not getting invited, even though no one really is...so I say just go for the "you're invited to the party" or something much more elegant that says the same thing.

Concern 2 - heavy passed hors'dourves not a sit-down dinner

Now I will admit that there is no way anyone in their right mind will leave this party hungry, but I have been told to give people a heads up that there is no sit-down dinner. This is already listed on the website that we made, however, my Matron of Honor reminded me today she keeps forgetting that we have a website. Therefore, I can't just think that other people will remember to check the website.

Remember, you will invite family members (most likely) and some will be older. Just because you and your friends understand the concept of the internet and non-traditional things...make the assumption that no one does...even your friends.

The other thing, no matter how close you are with your friends, this wedding is not as important to them as it is to you. I keep having to remind myself that it's my fiance and I that are planning this and need to be happy with the decisions. My best friend is not remembering every little detail nor should I expect her to...just because she's my Maid of Honor doesn't mean that she should drop everything (5 months before the wedding...but the day before the wedding I think it could be acceptable).

This is where I am at right now. Hopefully some of my ranting will help someone else in the future. It has helped me for now.