Wedding at The Morton Arboretum?

ChefLB

I am looking into having my wedding at the Mortom Arboretum in Lisle. I am getting married in late May and love that I could have a beautiful natural setting for an outdoor ceremony and pictures.

Has anyone had a wedding there around May or is anyone planning a wedding there now? I just want to know if it's a good place to have an "all-in-one" wedding day and how easy they are to deal with and if the price is good for the service.

Thanks all!!

P.S. Also if anyone has a good idea on where to have a wedding with great natural setting for a decent price for 75-80 people please let me know!

MrsMLRB

We looked into Morton Arboretum but it was too expensive for us. We are getting married at Cantigny, which is similar. There is also Danada house, which I only found after we put a deposit down.

ChefLB

I know of Cantigny, went there a lot as a kid! Do they have reception and ceremony sites?

mscramuzzo

Yes Cantigny has reception and ceremony sites. I believe it overlooks their golf course. It's very nice there!

MrsMLRB

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_wedding-morton-arboretum?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:9375d7a6-dc23-460c-a12a-1a5357c0f33dPost:3515faf1-298e-481d-8e1d-f3118c8c873b">Re: Wedding at The Morton Arboretum?</a>:
[QUOTE]Yes Cantigny has reception and ceremony sites. I believe it overlooks their golf course. It's very nice there!
Posted by mscramuzzo[/QUOTE]
Both Cantigny Garden and Cantigny Golf have ceremony and reception sites. You can get married at one of four gardens (Rock, Rose, Lawn and one that I don't remember the name) or the golf course. Then they have two reception locations- one is the country club at the golf course which holds 150 people and one is at the Gardens, which has a restaurant inside which can do up to 250. We are getting married at the Rock Garden at the Gardens and then our reception is at the Garden location. The ceremony site is $2500 (or $2000, I don't remember) and then the food is about $100 pp for appetizers, full open bar, salad, soup, fish/veggie entrees, and cake (that includes the gratuity), champagne toast and after dinner cordials. So far our experience has been great.

hahn524

We are having our wedding at Morton Arboretum in Sep 2011.  We are having 60 guests.  Ask them about smaller rooms.  The big room is REALLY expensive for such a small wedding but we are in the Sycamore room and it is really pretty and more intimate.  We are getting married on the west lawn and everything was really easy to book. 
The only thing that was a little annoying was that the office where the wedding planners work is REALLY tiny.  I was having a panic attack waiting in there while she typed up the contract.  I can't believe they don't give that staff a bigger office space.  It looks horrible when you can't even sit down in their office while signing a contract.  The space for us to book was only 1500 I think.  The lawn for the wedding I think was 500. 
So far so good though everyone was very nice.  Plus a ton of hotels around the area with shuttles to and from the Arboretum.  Another plus side!