good wedding site that isn't a reception hall?

my sister wants a not-so-typical wedding and is trying to come up with a list of sites. so far all she has the morton arboretum and the garfield park conservatory. does anyone else have suggestions for sites that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for?

Cantigny Park

1s151 Winfield Rd
Wheaton IL

Just went to a reception at Salvage 1, 1840 West Hubbard. It's a wharehouse that, during the day, sells items salvaged from buildings. It's a loft type space and everyone at this reception thought it fantastic for a wedding. I spoke to the DJ, and he said he was going to use it for his wedding.

Jonah

milic13 wrote:my sister wants a not-so-typical wedding and is trying to come up with a list of sites. so far all she has the morton arboretum and the garfield park conservatory. does anyone else have suggestions for sites that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for?

What do you mean "that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for"? Do you want a place that has it's own caterer, or is your sister going to bring in, and serve, their own food?

Darren72 wrote:

milic13 wrote:my sister wants a not-so-typical wedding and is trying to come up with a list of sites. so far all she has the morton arboretum and the garfield park conservatory. does anyone else have suggestions for sites that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for?

What do you mean "that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for"? Do you want a place that has it's own caterer, or is your sister going to bring in, and serve, their own food?

That's one of about 5 questions that would have to be answered before anyone could provide useful suggestions to the OP.

My very first thought as well.
The Grove up in Glenview on Milwaukee is pretty nice for an indoor / outdoor thing.

My question as well, we don't know what location the OP wants, so far the suggestions are pretty spread out from Winfield to Chicago. Just to broaden it further, I know Mason Sebika in Naperville has a lovely setting for weddings that can be both indoors and outdoors.

As I've mentioned before, we were married at Berger Park; most Chicago Park District buildings are available for weddings - you need to hire a caterer from their approved list, but I'm not sure if the OP means the place comes with food, or that they're trying to avoid providing a meal (which we did, we had a "tea" meaning essentially hors d'œuvres and drinks)

Irish American Heritage Center - You can do your own food or hire any caterer

Why don't we go ahead and ask those questions we need answers to in order to ponder this:
Size of wedding?
Bride's (and groom's, except we know he doesn't really count) personal style: Gatsby or Goth, or something in between? Trad? Formal? Earthy? Glam? Zoroastran?
Season?
Time of day? (Light quality/source makes a really big difference.)
Wheelchair access?
Public Transit access?
Within city limts or wider? How much wider?
Budget?

wow! i wasn't expecting this many responses so quickly! i'll answer the questions as best i can:

mrbarolo wrote:Why don't we go ahead and ask those questions we need answers to in order to ponder this:
Size of wedding? groom wants small, i'm guessing around 200.
Bride's (and groom's, except we know he doesn't really count) personal style: Gatsby or Goth, or something in between? Trad? Formal? Earthy? Glam? Zoroastran?
Season? definitely not glam or zoroastran. i think they're open as long as it's not the typical 500 person reception that's done in our culture. they want something different/special that they can cherish.
Time of day? (Light quality/source makes a really big difference.) i would assume the ceremony would happen during the daylight hours
Wheelchair access? not necessary
Public Transit access? not necessary
Within city limts or wider? How much wider? within the general suburban area of chicago - i would say aurora is too west, waukegan is too north.
Budget? none as long as it's not outrageously expensive.

my sister would prefer a site that would provide food so that would be one less thing for her to do. any other questions?

My understanding is that the Garfield Park Conservatory doesn't provide food - you have to work with one of their approved caterers.

I would say that it isn't much more difficult to work with a caterer than it is to work with an in-house staff at an event site. In both cases, your sister will have to talk about the food they want to serve, prices, etc., have a tasting. Most caterers will do all of the auxiliary work, such as renting linens, dishes, and flatware. The only issue with using a caterer is that you have to pick a company to work with, which is an extra step. But it's a fun step! You set up meetings with a handful of caterers, talk about your vision for the food, they prepare a variety of samples for you, etc. Edited to add: an advantage of working with catering companies is that you have the flexibility to find one that fits your budget and tastes.

I think the most important factors are (a) what location do you want, (b) how many people will attend, and (c) how much do they want to spend. If you are looking for something in the city that holds a lot of people, my recommendations are the Chicago Cultural Center, the Art Institute, Cafe Brauer, and the Notebart Nature Museum. (I don't think any of these places have in-house catering. I think the Museum of Contemporary Art has in-house catering by Wolfgang Puck.) I've heard great things about the Garfield Park Conservatory, but haven't seen it myself. Also note that each place has it's own list of things that are included in the rental price. The Planetarium is a great space, but once you add in all of the extras (like parking, chairs, etc.), it is way more expensive than it seems at first.

Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe. But most of their weddings seem to be in the evening (and in summer).

Second the Arboretum.

I've been to two fantastic weddings at Meson Sabika in Naperville - one inside (with the party split in several rooms for dining, then meeting in a cleared one for dancing), and one outside. The grounds are quite beautiful.

http://www.mesonsabika.com/mesonsabika/weddings.html

Chicago History Museum is another good site.

Santander wrote:Second the Arboretum.

I've been to two fantastic weddings at Meson Sabika in Naperville - one inside (with the party split in several rooms for dining, then meeting in a cleared one for dancing), and one outside. The grounds are quite beautiful.

http://www.mesonsabika.com/mesonsabika/weddings.html

That was one of my first suggestions, too. I've been to three weddings at Meson Sabika (one just this past Saturday), and all had a very cool laid-back feel to them.

Another one of my favorite venues is Danada House in Wheaton. That's perhaps my favorite site in the Chicago area.

Newberry Library is another fun location. Patrick C. Haley Mansion in Joliet is elegant and pleasant. The Grand Piazza of the Natitonal Italian American Sports Hall of Fame has a nice rooftop location for ceremonies with a view of the skyline and, from my understanding, is a pretty affordable location. A New Leaf has a very contemporary, though somewhat oddly laid out, space in the heart of Chicago, although I don't know what their catering situation is.

If you need pictures of any of these locations from actual weddings, send me a message and I can send you links of weddings at these venues.

Have you looked at The Chicago Botanical Gardens (Glencoe)?
Also, a place I really thought was great was at the Chicago Historical Society. They have this beautiful room with a great view.
Also, check out South Shore Cultural Center. Formerly South Shore Country Club.
*~*~* I have to say these are the places I am going to look at when my daughter gets engaged.
Good Luck!

Margie B wrote:Also, a place I really thought was great was at the Chicago Historical Society. They have this beautiful room with a great view.

The Chicago Historical Society is now called the Chicago History Museum.
See http://www.chicagohistory.org/

Their space books up for warm weather months very far in advance.

I was looking at this place for my wedding.

http://www.catalystranchevents.com/page1.html

Llama wrote:I was looking at this place for my wedding.

http://www.catalystranchevents.com/page1.html

Oh, that's a good one, too. That's probably the funkiest site I've been to. Another interesting one, which your post reminded me of, is Architectural Artifacts.

And while I'm at it, Tir Na Nog in Lake Villa, and Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake are worth considering, if not that's not too far from Chicago for you.

We picked Byron Colby Barn for our wedding next year, with Smoque catering it. It's a unique place, they let you bring in any caterer, as long as they're licensed, and they're not outrageously priced.

The winter garden at the Harold Washington Library is very beautiful, and a very popular wedding spot.

http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Gallery01/

Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe. But most of their weddings seem to be in the evening (and in summer).

As a long-time member and volunteer at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I have a couple of words of caution. The BotGar has a list of restrictions on weddings/receptions as long as your arm, and the parking is now up to a whopping $20 per car, about which the guests might have some justifiably serious qualms. It's a lovely place, but go in with wide open eyes - DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST. Ask a LOT of questions.

Just FYI.

We're getting married at the Highland Park Community House - they have a list of recommended caterers, but you can bring in anyone you want (and you can bring in booze from anywhere you want - we will have either Sam's or Binny's make a delivery. Yay for no caterer markup!).

http://www.highlandparkcommunityhouse.org/ballroom.asp

milic13 wrote:my sister wants a not-so-typical wedding and is trying to come up with a list of sites. so far all she has the morton arboretum and the garfield park conservatory. does anyone else have suggestions for sites that she wouldn't necessarily have to hire a caterer for?

We loved our wedding at the Hotel Allegro. Being off MI avenue makes it a little bit different and the room is incredible. They let us bring our own wine without corkage and the menu choices were very good.

jpschust wrote:We loved our wedding at the Hotel Allegro. Being off MI avenue makes it a little bit different and the room is incredible. They let us bring our own wine without corkage and the menu choices were very good.

I attended a wedding at the Hotel Allegro a few years ago and concur that they do a great job.

I got married at Garfield Park Conservatory. Oddly enough, so did my spouse.

Anyway I can't think of a nicer place, especially in the wintertime. It is booked solid in the summer, but wouldn't it be ten thousand degrees in there? Like the center of the sun, without the cooling helium.

Notes from a wedding at the Brookfield Zoo:

Pluses:

- free parking
- tram rides to the cocktail location for those that arrived on time
- individual golf cart rides for those that arrived late
- great staff
- cocktails served inches from alligators and egrets
- smoky duck quesadilla appetizers (though serving them in front of the egrets was weird)
- guided tram ride from cocktails to dinner location
- dinner in a stunning open-air pavilion

Minuses:

- temperature in indoor cocktail location 90+ degrees (not unexpected, given the alligators)
- giant oscillating fans blowing clothing and hair everywhere and making conversation difficult
- warm Miller Lite primary beer selection
- one cocktail counter/line for 200+ overheated guests
- temperature in outdoor pavilion 86 degrees (fine, but no designated relief area for guests)
- first course: syrupy cream of mushroom soup in buttery puff pastry, perfect for making internal conditions match external
- subsequent courses: attractive plating but very poor execution, everything overcooked and soggy, funky pork tenderloin (that's not the cut you want funky), cold congealed 'bananas foster'


This was one of the neatest, most original, most personal weddings I've attended, and was ridiculous fun even though we all looked like water tentacle things from The Abyss in suits/dresses. The animals were spectacular (both those inside and outside the cages). However, I cannot remotely recommend the food to any foodie / food-queued couple or planner. Totally off-the-wall unseasonal, heavy, greasy, and yet bland food, incongruous with the beautiful setting. I advise checking your service providers / options carefully since different menus or packages may have different locations and staff.

I'm getting married this fall at the Cuneo Museum and Gardens in Vernon Hills (about 45 minutes north of Chicago)....it's soooooo beautiful and it totally private after 5pm. Guests can tour the museum and over 20 acres of gardens, too.

There is a mansion in Logan Square that is rentable for events- you can DIY catering. I heard about a great wedding someone had there. It was fun, funky and affordable.

http://stanmansion.com