Today Rob and I had our first appointments with potential wedding venue coordinators. We got up early and were on the road making the hour and a half drive to Rockford by 9am. We thought our trip to the Anderson Japanese Gardens was going to be ruined because not long into our drive we ran into this….
This turned into one heck of a rainstorm, and super fast! Luckily we were able to get through it before we got to the gardens and the rest of the day was beautiful (aside from one other drizzle). While on our tour of the gardens we realized that coming right after the rain was probably one of the best times we could have come. The gardens were simply glowing with droplets of water and gorgeous puddles that had formed in the stone walkways.
This is the gorgeous pavilion where we could potentially be saying our vows. It’s big enough to hold up to 250 people (which we will be nowhere near lol).
There are SO many beautiful places to stop and pose for photos! Also, the entire wedding party & all the guests would have access to the gardens all day. Here is just one of my favorite photos from our day.
The reception area was also absolutely beautiful. Honestly, I can’t convey just how incredible this place is 🙂 The massive floor-to-ceiling windows give everyone an amazing view of the gardens. The room also has two outside deck areas for people to enjoy.
So that was a taste of the Anderson Japanese Gardens, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t our favorite 🙂 But, I also have a couple photos from the other place we visited, the Concorde Banquet center in Kildeer. We drove another hour and change east to get to this venue. I didn’t get out to take photos because I wasn’t that impressed overall, but here’s what I got. This is where we would have our ceremony. Chairs would be set up on the pavers and we would stand under the white pergola. There would be no backup plan if there was rain…yikes.
What you can’t tell from this photo is that this is situated about 20 feet (if that) from a VERRRRY busy road. I don’t know why they put it so damn close to the road, it would be so noisy to have the ceremony there! The pergola is on the edge of a cute little pond though, complete with a fountain and swans (and various other waterfowl).
After a long day of driving around to different (and beautiful) venues, we stopped in at our friend Jim’s house for a little visit and then headed home. We stopped out for dinner, and while we were waiting at the drive thru we got to see a pretty little rainbow 🙂 It was a nice end to a wonderful day :).
Rob and Mandy's Wedding Extravaganza.............. May 26, 2012 