What are the best wedding deals in the chicagoland area?

I am getting married somewhere in the chicagoland area and I have yet to book florists, a banquet hall, photographer or anything like that. i would like to know from someone who has already gone through this if they had an especially good experience with any of the above wedding specialists i would love to know!

http://www.twobecomingoneonline.com/

Check this site out... She's a local wedding planner for brides on a budget. She does everything and is so so so perfect!

Good luck! and Congrats!

Depending on where you're getting married, this may or may not be helpful.

Bridesmart in Schaumburg has fantastic deals on dresses. I went there to try on dresses, and called for prices on some they didn't have. I probably won't buy anything there, but it's a good bargaining chip to have (I saved just under $300 by bargaining with another shop using their prices)

Bristol Court (Mt. Prospect) was willing to give us a really good deal on their package, as were some other banquet halls in the area. Shop around and see if you can get prices down.. It worked for us!

By going to a bridal show, I got forced (well, not really) into going in and seeing Timothy Whaley & Assoc. I was planning on going to see them, but just got some incentive to see them a little sooner. Got lots of free stuff and they had a really good deal at the time. Only bad thing I've heard (from a friend at work) was that they took a LONG time to get her her pictures and that she had multiple reps in the planning process.

Hope this helps.. Not married until this time next year, but still have quite a few things done!

Oh yeah.. Aberdeens has a wedding flower package and does drawings at a LOT of stores in the area. I actually won their "grand prize" of 350 off, but haven't met with them yet.. it is another option and place to save money.


EDIT: the knot local board is great... they've helped me a LOT with the local stuff..