To the Exotic Land of...Illinois

I briefly mentioned that I am currently a New Yorker, though a Chicagoan by birth (well, really a Floridian by birth and a Chicagoan by upbringing, but that really is besides the point. Yet, for some reason  I feel the need to clarify, making an issue out of a non-issue, because only my sisters would read this and say "That's not technically true, you know," since none of you would know the difference. I digress). Since my family, as well as Ben's, still live in the Chicago area, we thought it would be more fun and less hassle if we had our wedding Chicago, since then only we would need to travel and we would get to be the out of town guests. It was a good idea. Completely wrong, but a good idea.

The joys of planning a wedding where you live are that you can check out local vendors, meet with lots of different people, go to tastings, walk by shops and make fun vendor discoveries, go to local bridal events and meet local experts to advise you. Fun! You get to be involved, you can take things bit by bit, get in a couple vendors or appointments a week, if needed.

The joy of planning a destination wedding is that, for the most part, you can get someone to do it for you. This isn't universally true, but loads of destination weddings are at a resort or a big venue. They have a planner, and have done lots of weddings. They tell you your options, you pick, they take care of details, like wedding license, and transportation, and lodging. Super fun! A beautiful wedding, a wedding planner from your venue, and for the most part, it's out of your hands [which may or may not drive you crazy, depending on how much control you like. I am very good at letting other people deal with things for me :) ].

I have neither a local nor a destination. I have a semi-destination wedding, in that I will have to travel, I get to plan from a distance, I have to find vendors and make decisions sight unseen. "But wait!" you may say, "This is exactly the perfect reason to get a wedding planner!" Oh, dear reader, how right you are. This is a perfect case for a wedding planner. Alas, I have a budget. And there is no line on my spreadsheet that says "wedding planner." I must go it alone.

This raises the interesting question of "How do I find my vendors?" The beginning of the process is obviously pretty standard. Everyone starts with some online research, checking the wedding sites, reading reviews, making some lists. Next usually comes the visit, to check out your favorites and revise your lists. This is where I run into problems. So I have created my Handy-Dandy-Distance-Vendor-Checklist! (list included below). This is my list that helps me evaluate whether I'll be able to work with a vendor, so I can have a short list of vendors-of-note to visit on the brief occasions I'll be in Chicago before the wedding.

The Handy-Dandy-Distance-Vendor-Checklist
Do they have a user friendly website, with pictures, information, and reviews?
When I call them, do they answer or get back to me quickly?
Do they reply to my emails quickly?
If I contact them a second time, do they know who I am, or do I have to re-explain everything?
Are they willing to work with me almost exclusively by phone/email?
Can they email me samples (sample contracts, portfolios, sample menus)?
Are they comfortable/experienced with weddings*?
Do they seem knowledgeable, i.e. none of my questions are very surprising to them?
Do we connect, i.e. they get what I'm going for look and experience-wise?

*This was particularly important of my venue and officiant, since I wasn't going to be able to be there a lot, I wanted to be confident that they had a wedding under control, so I could show up and things would be where I told them.

And so with list in hand, I head out into the fray, to secure my vendors.