Part of the plan today was to go out and about, scouting potential places for our wedding reception. Liz had a few spots picked out, and so we hopped in the car and headed to a few areas to do some recon.

The first spot was the South Shore Cultural Center, just off of Lake Shore Drive. It had a really nice entryway, leading up the building itself.

Inside, it was pretty spacious and enormous. The whole time walking around, I kept thinking of a mansion somewhere in the South.

On walking into one of the side ballrooms, Liz and I were both pretty taken aback. We really liked this room in particular.

Walking outside, along the lake. I'm a sucker for shots of birdhouses againt the sky

Fast forward a bit to the Garfield Park Conservatory. We happened to see some tables being set up for a reception.

Outside, I spotted some pots and had to pull out the camera.

Same shot, from a slightly different angle.

I had never been outside before, and we found a great little patio/porch area. This is the view looking out, with the actual Conservatory directly behind us. There's lots of green ahead, along with a small pond to the left. Walking around, we saw a ton of little paths that would be great for our guests to wander on.

Liz, checking out some of the grounds near the patio.

We hit up a few other places today, but the Cultural Center and the Conservatory were on the top of our list. Next steps: getting some questions together, and setting up some appointments to find out more info.