Our Venue - Meyer's Castle

(www.studiothisis.com)

So I guess I need to start the vendor grading considering it is over a month after our wedding. I will start with our venue - Meyer's Castle. I actually came across Meyer's Castle many years ago when I was driving from my fiance's house in the south suburbs to visit family in Ohio. I ended up taking route 30 and saw the sign for Meyer's Castle. You cannot see it from the street, because it is high up on a hill and surrounded by woods. Once I got engaged, I decided to look into Meyer's. It was actually the first place I looked at venue wise, but at the time I really was considering getting married in downtown Chicago, so I looked at Meyer's and absolutely loved it. But I still had my heart set for a downtown Chicago wedding. I also had my heart set on getting married in May...preferrably Memorial Day Weekend. So I started the quest for a Memorial Day Weekend wedding in a venue that was not to crazy cost wise. I think about 18 venues later, I realized this was not really a possibility. I think it was over a month later since looking at Meyer's Castle the first time and a year to our actual wedding day that I ran back to Meyer's Castle. While everyone else had their venue booked for Memorial Day weekend, Meyer's actually had a spot open. I laugh now, because if I would have just made the decision to go with Meyer's Castle - I would have saved a ton of time and gas running around.

(www.studiothisis.com)

Meyer's Castle can be pricey (do not think you are getting a steal because it is in Northwest Indiana and not downtown Chicago), however - you can find ways to reduce your cost. Mine was having a Sunday night wedding on a three-day weekend. The price to rent the space completely is reduced if you have a Friday or Sunday wedding. They also reduce the actual set number you have to have for a wedding, so for our reception (in the east canopy), instead of 200, we only had to guarantee 125 people. Another cost cutting key - is have your wedding in April (the downfall of that though is the flowers, etc. are usually not in by then).

You are paying for just the beauty of the venue. It is so gorgeous and very stunning when you see it for the first time.

Location wise it is not bad at all. My family loved it because the majority of them were coming from Indiana/Ohio. It is about 40 minutes from downtown Chicago and the majority of my husband's family as well as our friends were coming either from downtown Chicago or south suburbs. They didn't seem to mind.

Now you can see this as a plus or minus - They make you use their DJ, caterer, florist and baker. I have to say I actually saw this as a huge plus because when I decided that I wanted my wedding planning to be extremely painless, I thought this is perfect - I just checked these off my list! Then I was a little hesitant because what if I did not like one of these vendors? You are stuck with them. I will say now after the wedding, I was very happy with all of them. Meyer's does say that they only hire the best, and that was truly the case.

Another plus or minus - they make you hire a wedding planner. I actually saw this as a huge minus at the beginning. I was not happy because when they told me I would have to get a wedding planner - I assumed this was someone who was going to help me PLAN our wedding. They actually now spell it out in their contract, but their wedding planner really only does the on-site stuff during the day of your wedding. She was not there to help me find vendors, etc. I think the frustrating part was that they told me I had one wedding planner, but she never called me back. They then called me and informed me that they had someone else, but I never heard back from her. I finally found out that Brenda would be my coordinator - and she turned this into a plus for me. She was awesome and actually a huge asset in the end.

In the end, I was extremely happy with Meyer's Castle because our wedding was beautiful. The food was outstanding, the cake was oh so delicious and the DJ was great.

They are not the best with getting back to you right off the bat, however, once you are designated a wedding coordinator - she really becomes your middle person, so you don't have to deal with the front office that much.