Wedding Bell Blues!

Hello again, everyone! I thought I would do another post to update on some of the wedding plans that have been solidified since the last time we did one of these kinds of posts. They kind of come in spurts, don't they?



We are all set to get married at Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles. (That's not new, but I thought I'd re-post the pic to remind everyone) I'm so excited to get married here! I totally ripped off this idea from one of my best friends, Andrea, who got married here two years ago. Thanks, Anne!
Fr. Pat Brennan from Holy Family Church in Inverness is marrying us (that's where Joe and I have been going to Mass for about a year now). We love this priest and the way he preaches, and I'm so happy he has agreed to marry us in a different church. If you'd like to read some of his teachings (he's very good) we have a link to his homilies on the left side of our blog.



I also ripped off the idea for reception venue from Andrea as well (I think I'm using her florist too:) I realized after I posted this picture that I did indeed shoot my own pictures of Prairie Landing Golf Club, but this one's from the websit; just imagine the bride and groom are me and Joe, and the bridesmaids are wearing sage green instead of purple, and you'll get an even better picture! The golf course is very Scottish and hilly, and the banquet room is beautiful! You'll just have to crash our wedding to see it :)

When Joe's parents were in town two weekends ago, we all went to McNally's Irish Pub, which is right across the street from Baker Memorial Church, basically. This will be the venue for our rehearsal dinner, and if anyone chooses to stop for a quick libation after the ceremony, we won't stop you (in fact, maybe we'll see you there :)

This is Joe and his mom, Nancy, just outside McNally's.

This is what McNally's looks like from across the street. We will have the entire top floor, which is the banquet room, with its own separate entrance from the top level parking garage! The food here is excellent and we were there over St. Paddy's day weekend, when the place was packed, but when the door to the upstairs was closed, you couldn't hear any of the noise, so that's good too.

A view of the room from the inside.

Another view of the room at McNally's.

I'm not too sure if I posted this, but this is the bridesmaid dress. Now, it is not in the right shade of green; our green is actually called 'Peridot' - how fancy right? It's a sage green. Not quite sure what our accent colors will be yet, but we know which way we're leaning towards. Another surprise... :) Doesn't my sister look gorgeous? That's Katie, the Maid Of Honor.

This is a view of the back of the dress. I just love it! I think it's so elegant without being too sexy or anything. It makes me wish I were a bridesmaid so I could wear it too! But I'm only too happy to be the bride in this wedding, and wear the dress I've been dreaming about and walk down that long aisle on my daddy's arm looking straight into the eyes of the man I'll spend the rest of my life with, my Joe. I know, you're all probably thinking 'oh, gag me!' But I love him so very much and I can not wait to be his wife! Did you hear that?! I love you, Joe :)

*My sister made Joe and I into Disney cartoon characters this Christmas and turned this into the front cover of my new journal, which is always her Christmas present to me; God bless you, Katie! Just wanted to share it here. She's so talented!

I wish everyone well and God bless!

~Erin