Reception Hall Hunt

So we have been looking at reception halls the past couple weeks. So far we have looked at CD & ME, Jennifer’s Garden, Bollingbrook Country Club, Odyssey Country Club and the Jacob Henry Mansion. Our favorite is CD & ME right now followed by Jacob Henry Mansion.

Jennifer’s Garden is out. When we went there it was completely cookie cutter and we felt that we had no real options. I mean, for table linnens we could have white, burgundy and green. Then for the head table white, blue or red. How about matching them and thats really all the options? everywhere we have been have at least 13 different colors many have 100’s of options. The cakes were all the same. Square or round, 4 tiers decreasing in size as they go up and with the square, you can have them be skewed so that every other one is rotated a little bit (probably 30 degrees). Then because they are so nice we can have any other colors on them but no real personality to them that we could see. The worst is they charge just as much as the higher end places yet they their hall is no where near as nice as the other ones we have looked at.

Odyssey Country Club is a maybe. I can’t say anything bad about them. We like the downstairs hall (ground level) as it had floor to ceiling glass windows that looked out over the golf course and lake with a fountain. The food options seemed pretty good but the cost seemed steep complared to what we saw other places. The biggest thing is the distance. It is right next to the First West Bank Amphitheater and we both think that if we are going to go that far we are going to CD & ME.

CD & ME is a maybe. We both fell in love with CD & ME They have 2 locations for the reception. We would be in the tent because of the size of the reception. It has a feeling of a fairytale setting. The food options seem pretty good and it includes a DJ. They have a premium bar the entire event (5 1/2 or 6 hours, I can’t remember). We can also bring in our own liquor and have them serve it to us if they don’t carry it. There is a lake with a water fountain and a fire feature there. Unfortunately, the more amazing looking fire feature is for the other hall. We would have to rent both out in order to have the amazing fire feature and I believe that added $20 or $30 per person to have both. Overall, I think it is our favorite and first choice but the price is kind of high for us and it is a 45 minute drive southwest of Joliet. I feel this is my first choice. We would just have to see where we can save money elsewhere I guess.

Jacob Henry Mansion is a maybe. Is very nice and if the driving distance is a big thing, we would have the reception there. it is a very welcoming place and they have many food options. It is a little weird seeing the head table up on the stage like a school play. The mansion itself is really impressive. There is a very intricate wooded threshold between every room, however wouldn’t be able to be in the mansion since the reception would be too large. I personally feel this is my second choice only because of the I really like CD & ME more.

So I guess we are going to work this next week to figure out a menu and see where CD & ME and Jacob Henry Mansion stand as far as overall cost.

-Brian