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reasonable venue for out of town guests

bellaluna290bellaluna290 member
5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
in Illinois-Chicago

To keep a pretty long story kinda short: FI and I are looking for a reasonable venue that will be easily accessible to our out of town guests. I know that places in the burbs are cheaper, but I'm just worried about how my out of town guests will get around. Most of our guests will be flying in and I want them to be able to experience the city while they're here. I would like a place in the city, but I feel like most are out of my budget.

TIA! 

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Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests

  • Golfer09Golfer09 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you can better define "reasonable" that would help.  Some brides can have a very nice wedding in the city but they kept their guest list low or they had a day reception on a Fri or Sunday - many restaurants in the city are reasonable relative to the hotels downtown.
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  • divadancer11divadancer11 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What about staying in the Rosemont area, its right by the airport and the city is easy to get to...
    I would agree with Golfer....what is reasonable?
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  • bellaluna290bellaluna290 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011

    I knew I was missing something :)
    Reasonable meaning our total budget would be 15k at max. We're already planning on having a small number of guests (FI wants 50 at most), but I'm from the South so the vast majority of my friends and family would be traveling in for our wedding.

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  • bellaluna290bellaluna290 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011

    ^^ Any venue suggestions in Rosemont? FI and I looked at 2 hotels in that area, but I don't think we'll be able to afford to do that. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  • divadancer11divadancer11 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I know of great places in more west burbs that you could do great things with that budget. I would just look at having it in a hotel...in my researching experience it seemed as if the hotels hosting wedding were more expensive as more things are al a carte. Try Hilton Garden Inn in Des Plaines.....speak with Christina and tell her I sent you. This is the hotel that we are using for our guests and they are very accommodating and it is next to the casino :) If you are OK with going a little further west I would try Chandlers Golf Club in Schaumburg (they only host 1 event at a time) and they will work with you...or The Seville in Hoffman Estates.
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  • MrsMLRBMrsMLRB
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    In Response to Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests:
    [QUOTE]I knew I was missing something :) Reasonable meaning our total budget would be 15k at max. We're already planning on having a small number of guests (FI wants 50 at most), but I'm from the South so the vast majority of my friends and family would be traveling in for our wedding.
    Posted by bellaluna290[/QUOTE]

    In Response to Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests:
    [QUOTE]^^ Any venue suggestions in Rosemont? FI and I looked at 2 hotels in that area, but I don't think we'll be able to afford to do that. Thanks for the suggestion!
    Posted by bellaluna290[/QUOTE]

    I am curious about what hotels you looked at. By my calculations from your above budget, you have approximately $300 to spend per person. That means you have $150 per person for the reception cost. When we looked at the hotels up near O'hare, I remember most being under $100 per person. Did the costs rise that much in the last 2 years?
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  • divadancer11divadancer11 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Response to Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests: I am curious about what hotels you looked at. By my calculations from your above budget, you have approximately $300 to spend per person. That means you have $150 per person for the reception cost. When we looked at the hotels up near O'hare, I remember most being under $100 per person. Did the costs rise that much in the last 2 years?
    Posted by MrsMLRB[/QUOTE]

    From my looking around, not that costs have risen but its more of the minimums whether its the guest count or the total $$ min......that is where she might be out of luck with only 50 guests.
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  • Golfer09Golfer09 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    There are many places in the city that do not have a minimum - in some cases you just rent the facility for a flat fee and then work with other vendors.  I had my wedding at Prairie Production which is a loft space - we were able to pick any caterer, bring in our own liquor, and did not have any minimums.  I also had issues with some caterers or hotels which had minimum spends.  

    Other loft spaces or privately owned spaces do not have minimums - you just rent out the space and you fill in the rest.  Examples include Aeree Loft, West Grand Studios, West Loop Studios, Salvage One, A New Leaf...also try some of the nicer downtown restaurants, they sometimes do not have minimums.  
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  • bellaluna290bellaluna290 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_reasonable-venue-out-of-town-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:72Discussion:e72d349a-91ef-40e9-af3a-e7f9e7813716Post:5d0d91a5-d874-47a2-b252-7ac379048bed">Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests: In Response to Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests: I am curious about what hotels you looked at. By my calculations from your above budget, you have approximately $300 to spend per person. That means you have $150 per person for the reception cost. When we looked at the hotels up near O'hare, I remember most being under $100 per person. Did the costs rise that much in the last 2 years?
    Posted by MrsMLRB[/QUOTE]

    I meant 15k for the wedding total. We looked at the Doubletree and the Embassy Suites in Rosemont. IIRC, the cheapest plate pp at Doubletree was 62 and the Embassy Suites prices being around 67. We liked those venues, but now because FI is starting school in the spring, we know that we have to scale down our budget.
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  • bellaluna290bellaluna290 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_reasonable-venue-out-of-town-guests?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:72Discussion:e72d349a-91ef-40e9-af3a-e7f9e7813716Post:b8987e59-ad2b-46d5-81f7-2f5d91ea52a6">Re: reasonable venue for out of town guests</a>:
    [QUOTE] From my looking around, not that costs have risen but its more of the minimums whether its the guest count or the total $$ min......that is where she might be out of luck with only 50 guests.
    Posted by divadancer11[/QUOTE]

    This is mainly my problem for a lot of the places downtown. I definitely don't have the $$ minimum and we don't want a large wedding. Our max for guests will be 75
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  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    My son found Quartino's to have very flexible and reasonable packages.  They definitely would be able to handle the size of your party.

    If you look at hotels/venues in the Schaumburg area, or in the northern suburbs directly off the expressways, you will find an abundance.  Both locations have Maggiano's, or Wildfire, which have affordable and private banquet rooms.  Hotels are more reasonable than those directly in the city, but because they are immediately off the expressways, access to the city is fairly easy.

    Your other option would be to look for hotels/venues in near proximity to one of the metra rail lines.  Guests could hop on and off the train to visit the city.
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  • roxiems75roxiems75 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Rosemont has a couple locations you can look into.  Victoria's is a nice hall.  they have 2 locations in Rosemont both by the airport.  One is on the top floor at the Holiday Inn.  So your guests can stay at the hotel where your reception is at.  You can do family style for about $65pp.  Food is outstanding.  They have another location down the street from the holiday inn one.  I would look up Victoria's online and check it out. the other place in Rosemont is Cafe La Cave.  Great food also.  I hope this helps.  good luck.

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