We Booked a Wedding Reception Location in Chicago - Costs Post
No detail is to fancy for most Chicago Wedding Receptions.
I have written about our difficulty in finding a suitable wedding reception location in Chicago that had a minimum dollar amount and minimum person requirement we could meet! We eliminated the Naperville Country Club ($10,000 minimum), Seven Bridges Golf Club ($11,000 minimum), the Hyatt in Lisle (no minimum but it was $9,500 with everything included that we wanted) and Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton ($14,000.00 minimum) because with 80 people you can’t meet those minimum contract spends.
We also eliminated Abbington Banquets in Glen Ellyn and Ashton Place in Darien because they were in strip malls (but are otherwise nice places) next to a Wal Mart and a boarded up KFC Restaurant. (not the image we were looking for) (Cantigny Country Club in Wheaton wins if you want to skip to the end of the post) Chicago has a multitutde of places you can have a wedding reception, we just looked in the Suburbs near where our parents live since it was cheaper. There are many beautiful hotels downtown in Chicago that would be perfect for a wedding if we didn’t have a problem getting people there and back.
Then we found 3 new reception hall banquet type locations that were all willing to work with us on our small wedding and didn’t have minimum dollar spends that seemed to be a problem. The Hilton in Naperville was very nice and has more than one ballroom available so they can host wedding receptions of several sizes all at once. The Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn was also very nice and elegant. The Glen Oak Country Club requires you to know a member of their golf and country club in order to hold an event there but Steve’s parents knew several people who were willing to sponsor us. I also really liked that Glen Oak had a room for dancing with a vaulted ceiling and they also have a covered patio full of flowers that is very pretty.
The gardens outside the new Le Jardin banquet room at the Cantigny Estate in Wheaton.
Lastly we went to go look at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton. (pronounced: Cantee-nee) We heard there was a new building built on the grounds there overlooking the gardens called Le Jardin that was supposed to be beautiful. It was beautiful, but it was also booked through 2009. We tried the Golf Club next and surprise, they had an opening in July which we needed. The Cantigny grounds are beautiful and the red oak room looks out over a lake and the golf course. It is also recently re-decorated the whole building so it looks very nice and new.
The comparison between all three wedding reception locations was tricky because they were all about the same price. They all knew we wouldn’t have that many people so we just calculated the price per person in a spreadsheet with the dinner entrees (mostly between $70 and $80 per person) that we thought were the best and the bar package, cake, sweets tables, hours devours and champagne toasts included. They all seemed to cost between $7,000 and $8,000 for everything including sales tax and the mandatory 20%-22% gratuity. Yes, that is a lot of money but it is a lot less than some of the minimums we have run into before.
We visited all the reception locations one last time on Saturday and decided that Cantigny in Wheaton was going to be where we have our wedding reception. The minimum there was only $5,500 and they had the best view and interior of all 3 places. They did tell us that entree prices will go up a few dollars in 2009 and they will be changing the minimum spend from $5,500 to $7,500. Cantigny will also raise the reservation deposit from $500 to $1,000 in 2009 and it is no longer refundable. Luckily we were reserved for our wedding date before this took effect, otherwise we might not be able to meet $7,500 before tax and gratuity, which is how it is calculated. We haven’t chosen the details there yet but they have a package that includes everything from hours devours to champagne to dinner and the wedding cake through Pastry Pantry (a local popular wedding cake bakery for a lot of the reception halls). We also were humbled at the thought that this would be the only time in our lives that we would be hosting an $8,000 party.
Most all of the reception halls, hotels and country clubs we talked to in Chicago include the wedding cake in the package to make it easier for you to plan your wedding. But the package prices are sometimes steep and the minimum spend is a high price for convienience.
All of these reception and banquet halls as well as country clubs, have to think about profitability and I know food service businesses like restaurants run on a slim margin of profit. So, I understand the minimums even though I sometimes can’t afford them. That said, if you can’t afford to invite more than 100 people you probably can’t afford most really nice country clubs or reception halls. Almost every club and hall had a 100 person minimum too. Where do you go if you can’t afford more people? I am guessing smaller types of banquet facilities and maybe restaurants like Maggiano’s in Oak Brook who has a banquet facility built right in. Some hotels also have smaller rooms available in addition to the large ballroom and might be of help.
Anyway, this was the first major hurdle to planning our wedding. I had no idea I would have to see 9 Chicago reception places or do that much math and analysis in order to reserve a date. I can only fear what time and effort it will take to pick out a wedding dress.
This was super helpful! Went right to their site and it looks like a really really good deal! We were also looking at 7 bridges but they raised their prices and is out of our range. Thanks again for posting this! was very helpful! good luck with all!