New Reception Venue!

Well ... we ran into a little snag last week. After completing our budget, we were ready to put a deposit down on St. Charles Country Club for the reception. But, over the weekend they gave it away to another couple without contacting us. It's a little disappointing but we have found an excellent substitute in Prairie Landing also in St. Charles. Erin will post pictures of the ballroom soon. In the mean time, click the link below for pictures on their website. We are looking at a 1:30pm ceremony and a 5:00pm reception. Both the Church and reception are booked. Erin and I will be meeting Fr. Pat Brennan to decide how to reflect both the Catholic and Protestant religions in the ceremony. We're hoping he can do the wedding :-) We are very excited! ~Joe

Prairie Landing Golf Club

A Few Potholes in the Road

Sorry to leave you all in the dark for so long. Joe and I went up to Rockford, MI last weekend to visit with the clan one last time before the cottage closes :( and then it was back to wedding planning.... and back to school for me!

Unfortunately, St. Charles Country Club will not be our reception venue as they gave our date to members who wanted to get married that day. We say, God bless 'em. We have been talking with the kind folks at Prairie Landing Golf Club, which is just the other way down the road from the church, and they have saved the date for us, all we need to do is get our deposit in. Joe and I continue to pray that this will be the right place for our families to celebrate after our ceremony. There are still other things to plan, but I will feel much better when we finally have the reception venue booked!

Love you all!

~Erin

Viedographer

Quick update! I just got a call from my mother that Ernie Ver Hage agreed to do our wedding video. We are so excited! Ernie has done all four of my siblings weddings, and he does a tremendous job. I've included a link below for his webpage. We will have a full length DVD of our ceremony, several lenthly clips of the reception and a montage of pre-ceremony preparation. We also will receive a 10-minute montage of the whole day!

Ver Hage Video Productions

~Joe

One Year Mark!

" Hi my name is Erin, and I'm getting married exactly one year from today!"

Save The Date: August 08, 2009

Okay, so maybe she didn't write that, but she's probably more excited than she is in this picture taken last winter. This week has been busy with contacting vendors to see who will be suitable for our wedding. So far we have top candidates for photographer, videographer (Ernie from Grand Rapids) and DJ. Erin is still making calls for a good florist. We did submit the church application, and it's ours upon approval. That shouldn't be a problem. We will update again soon! ~Joe

Church and Reception Venues

This is a possible rehearsal dinner site. It's right across the street from our Church, and it has a beautiful upstairs room for a private party. It would only be fitting that the groom's family, The Harmons, celebrate our heritage in the Irish atmosphere that we know and love. This is not a definite but I, as the groom, am all about it ... Pint of Smithwicks please!

View from the back of the room at McNally's Pub. There's a full, beautiful wood-paneled, bar in the background.

This is the view of one of the corner's of the room from in front of the bar. There's booth seating all along the walls. The room has a nice rustic, Irish feel to it. On the walls they have sepia paintings of Irish musicians.

This is at our favorite reception site, St. Charles Country Club. We would have full access to this veranda that overlooks the 18th hole and stretches the length of the ballroom and the Charlemagne Room - where cocktail hour will be served.

Again, the veranda with a different view. We think it's absolutely beautiful!

The Charlemagne Room (Cocktail Hour) - High Top tables will also be used for hor d'oeuvres. Lots of windows providing natural light and beautiful views.

This is the picture of the ballroom. It is currently shaped like an "L," but St. Charles will be renovating this winter. They are removing a wall so the room is more rectangular. They are also adding new lights, sound system, chairs and carpet. The ballroom will be completely renovated and updated for our reception :-)

This size table will not be used, but we really like the fireplace in the background.

This is the long side of the "L." The wall on the left is the one that will be taken down and moved further back. We like the neutral colors and natural light. We can always adjust the shades if need be.

This is the outside of St. Charles Country Club. The new entrance will be to the left of the two large windows (which is part of the ballroom).

Baker Memorial Church is absolutley breathtaking. We are submitting our application this week because it's absolutley perfect for our wedding. This is the back of the church. It has a balcony for the organist, trumpeter and piper. The stainglass windows and archways makes it feel like a cathedral.

Erin gets a fairly nice sized aisle to walk down ;-)

I think this is one of my favorite parts of the church. It's on top of a hill and looks beautiful from the outside. The doors on the balcony level are the entrance to the church. Just to the right there is a bell tower. This church will make us feel like royalty. In a way, I guess we are. Jesus said we would be "Priests, Prophets and Kings." Oh yeah, our official wedding date is August 8, 2009.

Erin and I at the "Love Rock" of her alma mater Carthage College, Kenosha, WI. It's a beautiful small campus right on Lake Michigan. We went up there on Saturday with her friends Katie and Scott.

We will keep you updated with more information as we continue to plan our wedding. Yay!

~Joe and Erin

One Wild Ride

Since I spent a week in Florida with my Grandma Alice and my mom, I haven't been able to update the blog. So this is my triumphant return! When I came back to Chicago, I found that my fiance had drowned his sorrows (you know, from missing me) in a few thousands rounds of Guitar Hero. Hot Suff!

Meanwhile, it was time to get the wedding planning started, 'cause round these parts, things tend to book up fast. Luckily, the church we're looking at is wide open for next August, so we've turned our attention to reception sites. This is one my mom and I visited on Wednesday; just a little view from the banquet room, which overlooks the Fox River. Gorgeous, isn't it? We still have other places we want to look at though, but not a bad start.

This is what Joe looks like after church; just thought I'd throw that one in there! Love you, hon!

Oh, yes! A little bit about my trip to Florida; how could I forget? My Grandma treated my mom and I to lupper (or dunch) at a place called The Three Bananas. We ate out on the back porch, like we normally do; there's always a nice breeze and it looks right out onto a large lake. The back porch is also home to many goofy signs like the one posted here; mom had me take a picture so I could impart the wisdom of this knowledge to all those in need.

And who could forget our visitor, the Unlucky Lizzard of Oz. This is hilarious, of course, because it did not happen to me. My mom had gone down for a nap (I make her sound like a baby, don't I?) and had gotten back up for something, and when she returned to her bed, she found a tail in her sheets. She ran and got Grandma, they did a thorough search of the premesis for the rest of the reptile, but came up empty-handed. So, mom went back to sleep. That same night, as she laid down to go to sleep, she reached for an extra pillow, and felt something of an odd shape in the bottom. So, she brought it out to the counter, and dumped the contents of the pillow case out; and this is what she found. The Lizzard was DOA, sadly, but I just had to take a picture. And I just had to show you all.

Me, My Grandma Alice, and my cousins Matt and John posing next to the Atlantic. I had a really nice time with my cousins.

Three generations of "Talbot" women: Grandma Alice, Janny (my mom), my Aunt Carol in the bright orange, and me.

I am so glad we were fortunate enough to be able to go out again and spend all that quality time with members of the other side of my family; we rarely ever get to see them , but mom and I have been trying to make a habit out of going more often, the past two or three years have been successful. Next year, we hope to make it back there with Kevin and Sonya. Who knows, maybe we'll even have time to hit Disney? For now, I'm glad to be safely back at home, with my family and my fiance, thinking about going back to school, and planning our upcoming wedding!!! AHHHHH!

Til next time, God bless,

~Erin