Looking for Wedding Venue w/o restrictions

Ok, I have searched already and came up with some places, but I was hoping to get some more help.

My fiancee (just got engaged Fri!) and I are looking to plan a wedding, but we've realized that what we want to do is not so easy. This is what we want:

- have a taco stand w/ al pastor spit (I can deal with the logistics of this later - otherwise, BBQ would be backup)
- have an outdoor space (on/near the lake would be awesome, but most Chicago parks have their own caterer lists)
- preferably have the ability to bring in our own alcohol/bartenders

If anyone has suggestions for venues to make this happen, it would be very much appreciated (I am super busy with work and classes and she is beginning to feel overwhelmed). Oh, and it will be on the smaller side (we say that now...). One idea we came up with is to rent a vacation rental with a big yard...

Here is what I found in my searching: Prairie Productions, Highland Park, Kenilworth Club (?), Byron Colby Barn, Prairie Crossing, Glenview Grove, Green Loft.

This reply will be only tangentially helpful (at best). But I'll share it anyway. Studies have shown that people have an extremely difficult time choosing between options when more than three options are presented to them. Two is not enough for people to feel their options cover enough ground and variety, but at four and above, people just get confused and paralyzed by indecision.

First off, congrats!
Secondly, riddlemay is right.
Third, I'm going to send you an idea anyway. I have an idea that would work with these plans, but they do have other restrictions; you cannot serve red wine indoors and they don't allow fresh flowers. That said, we got hitched at the Dawes House in Evanston, spitting distance from the lake. Beautiful manicured lawn. Only $1000 rental fee (in 2010). We had roughly 65 guests. Although we couldn't have real flowers, the interior is so beautiful that they were not necessary. If you want flowers, silk ones can look delightfully authentic, plus you don't have to throw them away; if you order enough, they can double as favors. Dawes has no caterer (at least they didn't then) so you can hire anyone you want. You can hire a bartender/bar with your caterer, or buy your own stuff and call Hospitality One to hire a bartender or two. The only problem: you are responsible for garbage removal as there is no dumpster at the site. We had to bring garbage home on our wedding night because we just assumed the caterer would take care of it and apparently they thought the opposite. But this can be worked out with a caterer ahead of time, I'm sure.

http://evanstonhistorycenter.org/tours
www.hospitalityone.com

My stepdaughter got married at Prairie Productions nearly three years ago. We loved the venue and the people couldn't have been nicer. We got Chuck Pine to cater the wedding on site. The groom didn't care what the bride wanted as long as he had ribs at the reception. It was a phenomenal party with incredible food and despite the fact that it rained on and off, we were inside and outside as necessary. I would highly recommend it.

Suzy

Recently got married at Kitchen Chicago (324 N. Leavitt). They are open to any caterer and allow you to bring your own alcohol (though your bartenders need to be covered by some special insurance if they are not hired through your catering company). They also have a full size commercial kitchen, so your caterer can cook on site (it's apparently where many food truck vendors do their cooking). There's no outdoor space, but it is a beautiful urban loft space that holds about 130 people for a seated dinner. The rental fee was very reasonable and the folks there were great to work with.

I was married at the Grove in Glenview, and it was perfect. Very reasonable rates, beautiful setting. We used one of their caterers, Refined Dining, which was made up of a wonderful European family, and I was totally happy with the result. My understanding at the time was that we could bring in our own caterers from elsewhere - I think - that seems a lifetime ago - but we did not. We got lots of compliments on the pasta bar and salmon puff pastry. We had Schaefer's provide the alcohol, which leads me to think that they let us bring in outside alcohol.

My recommendation if you do get married there is that you have a microphone on hand for the officiant, to drown out the cicadas. Also bug spray.

The Redfield House is where we had our reception, and it wasn't air-conditioned at the time, but really the entire thing turned out better than I even imagined.

I don't know if that helped or not.

I am also planning a wedding--for selfish reasons, can people post actual rates as opposed to saying "reasonable"? The definition of reasonable can vary wildly, especially when it comes to weddings. Thank you!

Love,
John

I've been to a couple of weddings at the Highland Park Community House. I think they have flexibility on food/alcohol. There's also the Estonain House in Lincolnshire. While plainly landlocked they have a sizeable outdoor space in addition to their hall.

Hi- The Evanston Women's Club at Church and Chicago in downtown Evanston is another possibility. They are about 2 blocks from the lake, and there is a parking garage right down the street. I know that they do a lot of weddings there. I have no idea how much they charge though. Another possibility is the Chicago Botanic Gardens, although I am not sure if you can bring in your own caterer, and it might be kind of expensive. It is a gorgeous site though, and I have seen some weddings take place there. Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Another possibility is the Chicago Botanic Gardens, although I am not sure if you can bring in your own caterer, and it might be kind of expensive.

I'm pretty sure you can't have your own caterer; I know they work with Sodexho, so if you want someone else you may have to pay a fee. From what I hear, McGinley Pavilion will run you about 10 grand.

In the case of Kitchen Chicago, reasonable = <$2,500, though all of these places seem to raise their prices pretty significantly each year...

spinynorman99 wrote:I've been to a couple of weddings at the Highland Park Community House. I think they have flexibility on food/alcohol.

I got married there in 2009. Rental was $2500 for evening on the weekends, much much cheaper (I think $500) during the day. They have a list of preferred caterers, but you can use anyone you want, and you can bring in your own alcohol. Saved us a ton of money - our booze was via a huge-ass delivery from Binny's. They have a full kitchen on site. The one catch is that they are not staffed full-time, so reaching people to deal with logistics was sometimes challenging.

Eva Luna wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:I've been to a couple of weddings at the Highland Park Community House. I think they have flexibility on food/alcohol.

I got married there in 2009. Rental was $2500 for evening on the weekends, much much cheaper (I think $500) during the day. They have a list of preferred caterers, but you can use anyone you want, and you can bring in your own alcohol. Saved us a ton of money - our booze was via a huge-ass delivery from Binny's. They have a full kitchen on site. The one catch is that they are not staffed full-time, so reaching people to deal with logistics was sometimes challenging.

Hi,

I have an annual tea party there.

One woman does contracts, whom I have never met. Another woman is present during the day on weekdays, who does the office and client contact. The hands on guy is the maintenance guy.

Regards,