Chicago, chicago that toddling town...

Chicago, chicago Ill show you around - I love it
Bet your bottom dollar youll lose the blues in chicago

If you do one thing in Chicago, it should be the Architectural Cruise. It will be warm but not too warm and the lake will be beautiful. The cruise can be a little pricey (though worth it) but if you have AAA, you can get a good deal. We have been on the cruise twice and love it. Chicago is known worldwide for its architecture and the cruise highlights all the great parts about it. Bring a notebook for notes!!! We also recommend the lake and river cruises as they offer amazing views of the Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan. Bring a windbreaker as it is the Windy City and all.
Links to Architectural Cruise info:

Complete Chicago Boat Tour Comparison Chart
The One We Usually Go on--through Chicago History Museum
Through the Chicago Architecture Foundation

If you do more than one thing, we have a few more suggestions...but that will come in the next post!

Where to sleep?

We did not block off any cool hotels. Our reason is simple: Chicagoland is very big and you may wish to stay in any number of posh locations depending on your interests.

Most places in downtown Chicago are great places to stay, they are just very expensive. So please feel free to stay there and ask us any questions you might have about the hotel but we are not listing them here as they are generally so expensive.
So, we will merely give you some suggestions of where to stay varied by your interests.

1. North Shore Chicago's perks: very close to the wedding and reception locations, not too far from the airport and certainly close enough to the city to hop on public transportation to see the sights.

• Fairfield Inn Chicago Glenview - $69-$109
  
• North Shore Visitors bureau suggestions
• Anti-recommendation: Some friends of ours had a rather bad time at Holiday Inn Skokie/NorthShore

2. O'Hare Airport area perks: As soon as you get in, you don't have to navigate Chicago tollways to get to your temporary abode. Also, not too far from the Wedding and Reception sites. Probably not the best option for those who fly into Midway (ie Noel's fam and others who use Southwest :) )

• SpringHill Suites Chicago O'Hare by Marriott - $109-$159
• here's a map of other Airport hotels

3. Western suburban perks: If you are in the wedding or helping with the wedding, you should stay out here. Carpooling will be easier, etc. While there is no out-of-towners event planned at this time, Greg and I dwell out here in the 'burbs so it's more likely you will see us if you are staying out here. Downside is that it is not the most convenient for getting into the city nor to the wedding & reception. Is about 30-45 minutes from O'Hare, 45 from Midway. Lombard, Oakbrook, Glendale Heights, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn all of these are names of suburbs near where Greg and Noel will live (wherever that will be).

• Springhill Suites by Marriott Chicago Elmhurst - $99-$109
• Wyndham Drake, Oakbrook $99-$109
  
• Hilton Suites Oakbrook - $107-$147
• Comfort Suites Oakbrook - $109 - $169
• Hyatt Place Lombard - $129 - $179 (a very cool posh hotel- Greg's mom stayed here once)

************If you find a good place to say, please share it on here in the comments (just comment under anonymous).*****************

Special thanks to Jennifer Green, b-maid, for her work on this.

Location, location, location

Where would Noel and Greg choose to do their swanky exchanging of vows?
Here, of course. "Here" being Chapel of St. John the Divine on Seabury Seminary's campus, which is on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, IL.

Reception will take place at the lovely Winnetka Community House...or see this

Our invitation making party (pictures to follow soon) happens on Friday so then we'll put up some scans of invitations involving times and other pertinent info. Thanks!

Introducing...

the Mantourage and the Ladies in Waiting:

-George. brother of the groom. USMC [insert impressive sounding rank here]. Guitar Hero master. Jacksonville, NC

-Sparky. aka Alex Parrish. ex-step-brother of the groom ("brother" for short). UMD Senior! College Park, MD

-Andrew/Michael Collins. brother of the bride. Pele impersonator. Poli-Sci major at Incarnate Word. San Antonio, TX

-Andrew Unger. whipping boy of the groom. Canadian ex-patriot. NES all-star. youth minister extraordinaire; MBI grad. Wheaton, IL

-Ray Wu. son of the groom. Artistic wizard/creative genius. kung fu jedi AND Chinese (read: dangerous) Wheaton, IL

-Brad Pritts. fellow servant of Church of the Resurrection. philosophical revolutionary; new dad! bald by choice. West Chicago, IL

-Hope. sister of the bride (though, looks nothing like the bride- except in smile). itinerant baby-sitter. Wheaton College Bio Senior (i.e., for hire, but not in biology). carol stream, IL.

-Al. other sister of the bride. Queen of the animal kingdom. mother of ethan (nephew of bride). not engaged to Greg. San Antonio, TX.

-Mink. aka Rachel Mink and Grand Minksta Flash. monastic flirt. C.S.Lewis aficionado. wheaton, IL.

-Jenn. slashie award winner of the bride (roomate/co-worker/bridesmaid

/confidante). champion of psycho-social justice. wheaton, IL.

-tri*Sarah*tops. blossoming fellow LOSTie. prayer consultant of bride. lover of the au natural (not as in naked but as in trees). wheaton, IL...but c'mon y'all, her sweet home? Alabama!

Sometimes a bridesmaid (but gets to keep the title honorarily), sometimes a missionary to India:
-Carrie. fellow LOST freak of the bride. ex-boss. she's crafty (that's Beastie Boys, Greg!). Settlers of Catan annihilator. Mother of leyroy and i-pod (unofficial nephews of bride). carol stream, IL.

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting our page. Don't despair. We are adding more information soon. We just want to acclimate you to using this for all things Greg and Noel's wedding. Registry info and other tidbits coming very soon. Check back often.

Be looking for invitations in late May/early June.

Thanks again for loving us and supporting us as we take the plunge into marriage!

A couple features to be aware of:
*Comment us, we'd love to hear from you. Just post under "anonymous".
*Check the right column, underneath the picture, to browse by subject heading.
*Check back for info on places to go, things to see, fun in Chicago.