Choosing a Venue: Part 3

In our choosing the venue adventure, the mister and I had checked out two venues, Concorde Banquets (Part 1) and Independence Grove (Part 2). We scratched Independence Grove completely off our list, but Concorde Banquets was kept as a possible venue. While brainstorming for other possible venues to check out, the mister suggested a restaurant he loved.
Venue #3: The Country Squire

The Country Squire is a restaurant and banquet hall in Grayslake. The location was great, only 20 minutes away and just down the road of the church (I know I haven’t posted anything about our church yet, but I will, I promise). It was originally a mansion built in 1938, with 17 rooms, 8 washrooms, and 4 fireplaces.

The mister has been at this restaurant many times before with his family, and I’ve also been there with him. We both knew the food was good, but I had only seen the restaurant side of it. When talking about it with my MOH, she told me she's been to events there and that it was a really good place. Again, the mister took the lead and set up an appointment for us.

It. Was. Beautiful!

When we first walked in, we saw this cute double staircase. Great spot for pictures, isn't it?

 

 

It has two beautiful ballrooms that mirror each other.

Look at the chandelier!

Besides being beautiful on the inside, it was beautiful on the outside as well. The mansion/restaurant has gorgeous grounds that I'm sure will still look stunning in early September.

 

  

Like the first venue that we saw, the Country Squire offers different packages. For a wedding, they offered a Dinner Banquet and an Ultimate Banquet. The difference between the two is that the Ultimate Banquet includes four hours of open bar, and for the Dinner Banquet you pay for the actual alcohol consumed. Both packages include dinner, wedding cake, as well as table cloths, chair covers, and linen napkins.

When we left, we left with a packet full of information and excited at the possibility that this could be our venue. Before making any decisions, I needed to crunch some numbers in my little Excel spreadsheet.

How many venues did you check out or do you plan to check out? What tools (i.e. Excel, calculator) did you use in making a decision?

Note: All pictures in this post are personal pictures.