Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs?

apangela

Looking for a unique wedding venue....by unique, i mean no banquet hall or hotel.  Any ideas? Want to get an idea for a budget of $75/plate, inclusive of fees.  May add more later, just exploring that range for now.  Help!

AtomicLush

Check out the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the Northbrook/Glencoe/Highland Park area.  Someone at my work got married there a few years ago and it's gorgeous!

apangela

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_affordable-75-unique-wedding-in-chicago-or-burbs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:72Discussion:2d7a6d63-d65a-4357-a59a-b2147cbca196Post:58bf0377-7dc9-4101-a800-65f9db1c5b3a">Re: Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs?</a>:
[QUOTE]Check out the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the Northbrook/Glencoe/Highland Park area.  Someone at my work got married there a few years ago and it's gorgeous!
Posted by AtomicLush[/QUOTE]

Thank you....so expensive though.  :/  I agree it's gorgeous, but at $150/plate I can't book.

HandBanana

75 a plate inclusive of fees? Not sure what you mean. We had the same thought but when we saw the Atrium room at William Tell and their prices, we changed our tune. You could try the Park District? It is going to be near impossible to do a "unique" location for under 75 pp. Those types of locations usually have prefered vendors on top of the fact everything has to be be brought in and planned by you. Things like plates, glassware, servers, chairs, etc.

thealphabride

We married at Mayslake Peabody in Oak Brook a very unique venue. You can bring in your own catering. I brought in an inexpensive caterer and was able to have a 5 course meal, ofull pen bar for 3 hours, cake, coffee service, etc for about 75 per person.  That inclueded the venue and catering. My meal was a 5 course family style at $26. and bar per person was 16. They executed our event perfectly and the meal was great!!! The liquor isn't top shelf, but we had all the standards..I ordered a very tasty cake from them too. It wasn't fay but tasted great, they served ice cream with it. Packed it up at the end of the night, with all of the food that wasn't eaten which could have served 50 more people. AT Mayslake we rented the Chapel for our wedding and the Event Hall for our reception. 

If you are looking for unique, Mayslake fits the bill.  www.mayslakepeabody.com

My caterer was www.mariosevents.com we had the family style dinner.

ltleen

Agree with the PP - Mayslake Peabody is beautiful! Check it out!!

loca4pook

I am not sure if you think a "golf course" is unique, bur I know I looked at several in the NW suburbs and it was about 50-75 per plate

thale0924

I'm getting married at Pazzo's.  It's at 311 S. Wacker and is $63 per plate.  We're adding on an extra hour of open bar for $3.  I'm not sure if the prices have gone up since I booked them last October, but the venue is is a lobby of a building downtown with beautiful palm trees and a two story foutian.  It also won TLC's 4 weddings (I'm not sure if that's what it's called, they were telling me about it when I initally went to look at it.) 

My wedding isn't until Oct. 13th, but I've already done my tasting and my food tastes really good so far! Plus the wedding coordinator there is SUPER helpful (Fey)

Good luck!  When I first started looking I scanned yelp pages and there were some really good options out there other than Pazzo's but nothing else quite met my budget downtown. 

[Deleted User]

Have you tried the Signature room? You're minimum is about $2,000 and it includes a ton of food options the view of the city and you can even rent out the observatory for your ceremony. Also, Terzo Piano near the mill park you can do...if you have under 100 people, rental fees are waived. Contact Olivia with that one. Signature Room...Gayle.

AtomicLush

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_affordable-75-unique-wedding-in-chicago-or-burbs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:72Discussion:2d7a6d63-d65a-4357-a59a-b2147cbca196Post:f7a13500-95ee-4c3a-a454-8bfb947fb5e4">Re: Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs? : Thank you....so expensive though.  :/  I agree it's gorgeous, but at $150/plate I can't book.
Posted by apangela[/QUOTE]

Oh wow.  They must have raised their prices since I looked.  I swore they had $75-ish packages.  Sorry!

spartybride3

You can try maggianos or the linncoln park conservatory(next to the zoo). that place is relatively small. Otherwise check out the chicago park district to see where you can rent out places. Or DePaul has the cortelyou commons that hold 150 max. I think their catering company was about $60 for food & drinks.  

romamor4

If you're looking for something unique, try one of the old theatres in downtown suburban areas. I've seen people have their reception on the stage. It's pretty cool and very different.

apangela

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_affordable-75-unique-wedding-in-chicago-or-burbs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:2d7a6d63-d65a-4357-a59a-b2147cbca196Post:69b7259a-4253-42c3-ac92-c79733c7788d">Re: Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs?</a>:
[QUOTE]If you're looking for something unique, try one of the old theatres in downtown suburban areas. I've seen people have their reception on the stage. It's pretty cool and very different.
Posted by romamor4[/QUOTE]

<div>Any Theaters located in the North Burbs that you can identify? Also, I have a very large wedding party--400 some people!</div><div>complicates things!</div>

sarah2078

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_affordable-75-unique-wedding-in-chicago-or-burbs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:72Discussion:2d7a6d63-d65a-4357-a59a-b2147cbca196Post:1fd6e578-f178-4050-9cf2-e20d97d5485a">Re: Affordable ($75) unique wedding in Chicago, or burbs?</a>:
[QUOTE]We married at Mayslake Peabody in Oak Brook a very unique venue. You can bring in your own catering. I brought in an inexpensive caterer and was able to have a 5 course meal, ofull pen bar for 3 hours, cake, coffee service, etc for about 75 per person.  That inclueded the venue and catering. My meal was a 5 course family style at $26. and bar per person was 16. They executed our event perfectly and the meal was great!!! The liquor isn't top shelf, but we had all the standards..I ordered a very tasty cake from them too. It wasn't fay but tasted great, they served ice cream with it. Packed it up at the end of the night, with all of the food that wasn't eaten which could have served 50 more people. AT Mayslake we rented the Chapel for our wedding and the Event Hall for our reception.  If you are looking for unique, Mayslake fits the bill.   <a href="http://www.mayslakepeabody.com" rel="nofollow">www.mayslakepeabody.com</a> My caterer was <a href="http://www.mariosevents.com" rel="nofollow">www.mariosevents.com</a> we had the family style dinner.
Posted by thealphabride[/QUOTE]

How many people did you have at your wedding?? The website said the one room didn't have air conditioning and it didn't seem to seat over 100 people. Thank you!