Weddingbee Blog

When I think of me being Miss Kettle, I tend to think of this:

Image: Mrs. Potts from The Disney Wikia

I loved that movie when I was a kid and had the VHS. I was more than eager to buy the Special Edition DVD when it came out, too! But back on task—finding a cupboard for the Kettles was an ongoing task since our trip to Joliet didn’t pan out like I’d hoped.

The Jacob Henry Mansion was beautiful but had too strong of a vintage feel. The Patrick C. Haley Mansion was perfect in every way except that it was outside of our budget. Fail.

So we moved on to our third option.

Image: Chateau Bu-Sche

I thought it was very beautiful on the drive up. I liked the winding driveway, and the huge parking lot gave me an oddly happy feeling. It was like the place was used to accommodating large numbers, and our guest list that was guaranteed to have at least 250 at that point would be welcome.

Momma Kettle took a wrong turn away from the parking lot, so we got to see a bit more of the grounds. We went inside and met with our coordinator and began our tour.

Isn’t this tiny pond and seating area absolutely lovely? I figured it might make a great photo-op even in February.

I’ve seen a number of pics from weddings on that bridge. I began envisioning a light snowfall and me risking the flu just to get one of those shots. Momma Kettle began envisioning me in a fur coat for the wedding day.

It looked so stately from this angle. Like I would be getting married in a mini-White House.

This is an outdoor shot of the atrium where our wedding would be held. Too bad the tree is hiding how pretty it looks from the outside.

This is what guests would see right when they walk in. A board telling them which room housed our wedding since they already had another event booked down the hall for our day. That board unfortunately blocked the fireplace.

Stairs that would probably be where we would take photos of our entire wedding party. There really weren’t too many options, which was a bit of a concern considering how many folks we have.

The room was set up for a function later. I immediately decided I hated this room. You can’t really see the striped wallpaper, but I was frowning and Momma Kettle was ready to move on. That is, until our coordinated directed our attention to the adjoining atrium.

Right from the start, I love this room. I cound finally see how the same people who owned the mansion owned this place. The drapey ceilings were laced with twinkle lights, and I began to feel better about the striped wallpaper if it came with this loveliness.

I must admit, I began seeing myself walking down this aisle with Daddy Kettle, and I could see nice bouquets of baby’s breath decorating the aisle chairs. But this is the time our coordinator pointed out we had to choose either noon or 6:00 PM for a ceremony time. So much for a sunset ceremony…

The chandeliers were a bit small, but I could work with it. We confirmed we could have both the ceremony and reception in this atrium. Only the cocktail hour would have to take place in the terrible striped-wallpaper room.

I could imagine these seats filled with all our family and friends as Mr. Kettle and I say our vows and exchange our forever love. Sigh!

This is another room set up for a wedding later that night. I had never seen chair covers done like that, and I had to take a picture. At the time I loved those off-to-the-side bows, but now I’m not such a fan anymore.

After our tour, we sat down with our coordinator and talked prices. Momma Kettle and I were super surprised with how much more affordable this place was. They explained it was because they had multiple events there on a given day at a given time.

We found out adjusting our start time wasn’t a possibility. That made me sad, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. We also found out that our large guest list couldn’t be accommodated in just the atrium. We’d have to have some people in the horrible striped-wallpaper room.

Momma Kettle and I discussed how we’d go about doing toasts and dances and cake cutting with two different rooms. Simply having all the doors open wouldn’t really do it. That ugly-wallpaper room would feel like the B room. We figured we could make it work.

We scheduled another time for Mr. Kettle to come look at the venue. When we left, I told her I really did like it a lot. I loved the mansion more, but not $15,000 more. So if Mr. Kettle liked it, we would go with it.

He and I went back and saw the Chateau. He had no complaints, so we booked it. Momma Kettle and I went back and signed a contract with them. That’s when I found out they don’t do tastings before you sign the contract.

When I asked about it, here’s what happened:

Me: Can we do a food tasting before we sign a contract?

Her: Ohhhhh, we really don’t do that. But it’s not a problem. People really like our food. After you sign a contract, we’ll set one up.

Me: What?! The reception food is one of my highest priorities. I’m fine with not bringing in an outside caterer, but I really want to try the food. What if I hate it? Will we get our deposit back?

Her: No, we don’t refund any deposits. But people like our food. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t have been in business for 30 years.

(At this point, I gave her one of my award-winning deadpan looks.)

I took one quickly at work to illustrate. I pride myself on being able to express thinly veiled displeasure. It’s very effective.

Her: Well…we normally do tastings two months out so you can choose a menu. But…! We don’t do winter tastings, so we’d be able to squeeze you in this October. That’s a lot sooner. I want you to feel confident in your food choices.

Me: That sounds a lot better to me. I think we can work with that. Can you check the schedule now to see which day will work?

Momma Kettle was looking quite amused with me at this point because she knows I care a lot about being nice and professional, but I also want to be treated like my business is important to people. If we’re about to fork over $10,000+, you could at least make sure we’re comfortable doing so. That’s all I’m saying.

We handled the food issue and hammered out some more details. They also do a winter discount per person. Winning!

We walked away happy with our decision, but still having some logistics to work out for the wedding.

Did you have any last-minute hiccups before booking your venue? Did your venue work with you to accommodate your priorities? Were you completely satisfied with your venue choice?