The Wedding

Date & Time

The wedding will take place on October 15, 2005 in Benton, Illinois (Emily's home town). As the event draws near, more and more information about it will be posted here. We have wonderful entertainment scheduled, and the reception will be held at the Rend Lake Resort - a beautiful resort hotel with activities including golf, skeet shooting, horseback riding, sailing, and fishing.

The Resort

Rend Lake at sunrise

Rend Lake Resort is loaded with fun, accessible activities. We think this is a great location for our guests to stay, because you'll be able to combine the experience of the wedding with vacation activities. The golf course at Rend Lake is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by Golf Digest Magazine... so if you like golf, bring your clubs. The skeet shooting is wild -- and we will probably have some optional group activities to go out and get shotguns into the hands of anybody able and willing. There's boating and fishing on Rend Lake, a nearby winery, horseback riding... and just simple enjoyment of the outdoors.

Rend Lake Golf

The indoors are quite nice as well. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, and lodging is inexpensive by New York or Los Angeles standards. Additionally, we have arranged for a 10% discount on lodging for all of our guests. More information about Rend Lake resort can be found on the resort website and the recreation complex website.

 

The Reception

Dining Room for reception

The reception will be held in the main dining room of the Rend Lake Resort. This is a large, beautiful ballroom with fireplaces to light the scene romantically. Large bay windows look out on the lake and the rest of the resort.

Live entertainment will be provided by Peter Oprisko, a very talented singer, and a jazz quintet (piano, bass, guitar, saxophone, and trumpet)... so expect lots of 40s-era Sinatra-esque music, mixed with some contemporary music served off an iPod.

Reservations

Please make your hotel and plane reservations as soon as you decide that you can attend. We have arranged for a 10% discount on all hotel rooms. We will be working to coordinate with an airline for discounted event fares; however, I expect that you will have better luck finding inexpensive fares if you book your travel through Orbitz, Expedia, or another online site. Your travel will be into St. Louis' airport (STL), and will be followed by a 2-hour ride on an inexpensive transport service called Bart's until you reach the Rend Lake Resort in Benton.