Reception Sites!

[mopo37]

Hi! I just got engaged and am finding the whole 'searching for a reception site' escapade a little overwhelming! :) My fiancee and I are looking for something a little different from the general banquet hall wedding sites--any ideas out there? We're thinking something fun and not-too-formal, but still elegant (and maybe outside? The wedding will be in sept/oct of 2006)
Thanks a lot for any ideas!! :)

[jetsetbabychicago]

I would recommend checking the social clubs of the North Shore. They really don't advertise and I think many people assume they are private. Even if some of them are, many allow non members to use their facilities.

Ideas: Wilmette Woman's Club , Evanston Woman's Club , Winnetka Woman's Club, Winnetka Community House, Kenilworth Assembly Hall...just a few.

I looked in the city and they are ridiculously sold out. Might want to consider Fri or Sunday...I am booking now for July and in the city, they are sold out for even the off days!

I think I am going to decide on something on the North Shore.

Good Luck!

[Lindz1999]

Hi -
My fiancee and I are getting married and having our reception at Garfield Park Conservatory in the city. It is maybe 4 or 5 blocks north of the Eisenhower on Central Park. (I think the address is 200 N. Central Park Ave.). The prices are reasonable and they have both indoor and outdoor areas available. Plus, it is so pretty that we're not going to spend much on decorations and flowers. The parks department also has other areas that they rent out on their website.

Good luck
Lindsay

[jcc813]

>Hi -
>My fiancee and I are getting married and having our reception
>at Garfield Park Conservatory in the city. It is maybe 4 or 5
>blocks north of the Eisenhower on Central Park. (I think the
>address is 200 N. Central Park Ave.). The prices are
>reasonable and they have both indoor and outdoor areas
>available. Plus, it is so pretty that we're not going to
>spend much on decorations and flowers. The parks department
>also has other areas that they rent out on their website.
>
>Good luck
>Lindsay


Hi Lindsay!

Just wanted to see if you've had your wedding yet? If so, how was the Conservatory? I've been considering that as both a ceremony and reception site as well as a few other CPD locations. I like that the sites are beautiful and the rates are pretty reasonable.

One thing that kind of worries me a bit though is their "all events must end by 11 p.m." policy. Did you find that that shortened the party too abruptly? Or were most people ready to leave by then? Also, how was it working w/ the reservation managers there?

Thanks!
Janet

[Lindz1999]

Hi,

Yes, we did have our wedding. It was in July of last year. It turned out really beautifully. We got married outside in the Monet garden. Actually, on the stone patio right under the tree that has vines on it. That way I was able to use the flower bed as my aisle (the aisle curved toward the tree).

The 11pm thing didn't really affect our wedding at all. We started at 6:00, so by 11:00, everyone was really ready to go - and so were we. We had lots of families with kids, so they left early. And after such a long day, it was nice to escape to our hotel without being completely drained. When we left, the security guard did say that we were the first wedding that they hadn't had to kick out of there - so maybe it does end too quickly for some people. I guess that you have to make the judgement based on your guest list.

Also, we worked with Joan Colon at the Conservatory. I don't know if she's still there or not, but she was helpful and quick to respond when we called or emailed her.

[jcc813]

>Hi,
>
>Yes, we did have our wedding. It was in July of last year.
>It turned out really beautifully. We got married outside in
>the Monet garden. Actually, on the stone patio right under
>the tree that has vines on it. That way I was able to use the
>flower bed as my aisle (the aisle curved toward the tree).
>
>The 11pm thing didn't really affect our wedding at all. We
>started at 6:00, so by 11:00, everyone was really ready to go
>- and so were we. We had lots of families with kids, so they
>left early. And after such a long day, it was nice to escape
>to our hotel without being completely drained. When we left,
>the security guard did say that we were the first wedding that
>they hadn't had to kick out of there - so maybe it does end
>too quickly for some people. I guess that you have to make
>the judgement based on your guest list.
>
>Also, we worked with Joan Colon at the Conservatory. I don't
>know if she's still there or not, but she was helpful and
>quick to respond when we called or emailed her.

Thanks for your reply and congrats on your smooth wedding!

Can I ask how many guests you had? Also, I assume you meant your reception started at 6 p.m., but the ceremony was held before that? I'm trying to figure out about how much time is generally allotted for each part. We're not going to be having a religious ceremony, so that shouldn't take too long. But I am considering fitting in a Chinese tea ceremony before/during cocktail hour. Just want to make sure there'll be enough time for dinner, the speeches, and some dancing.

Also, did you feel that the area was pretty safe? I've visited the conservatory once, and remember that it's not exactly in the busiest, most well-lit area. Although, I guess it's good that CPD requires that you hire security.

Can I also ask how far out you had to book ahead? One of the other CPD sites told me they start booking 18 months in advance. Oh, and finally, which of their preferred caterers did you use and were you satisfied with them?

Sorry for all the additional questions! I haven't found much info on the web about people using a CPD site, so this is all very informative!

[Lindz1999]

I think that we had about 100 guests at the wedding. There were a couple of no-shows, so I am not exactly sure what the number was. Also, our ceremony started at 6:00pm - we had a quick ceremony outside that lasted about 20 or 25 minutes. I'm not entirely sure when dinner started - I would say around 7:00 or 7:15. After the ceremony, we had a receiving line and toasts. We also cut the cake before dinner because Horticulture Hall is not air conditioned, and the caterer thought that the heat might affect the icing (it would start to run). We also took some portraits and family pictures after the ceremony. Even with all the toasts and dinner, I know that my husband and I danced for hours and hours at our wedding. - Oh - I just realized. We took pictures before the wedding, so not much of our time after 6:00 was taken up with pictures. My husband and I set up a place to meet before the ceremony, so we still have some great pictures of the first time we saw eachother before the wedding. I think that we started taking pictures around 4:30 with the bridesmaids and getting ready in the conference room.

I wasn't really too nervous about the area. We did have some family that were, but they got over it. I think that we had 2 or 3 security guards - one was at the front desk, one was in the parking lot, and there might have been another one walking around. There wasn't any point during/after our ceremony that I didn't feel safe. In fact, when we were leaving to get into our towncar, there were a couple of kids (teenagers) from the neighborhood sitting out front. They asked us if we had just gotten married and said congratulations.

We booked about 14 months in advance, although I don't know how quickly they book up. Our caterer was Phil Stefani - they are the people that own the Tuscany restaurants. We worked with Tom there and he was really amazing and helpful. We even called him with a change on the day of the wedding and he made it happen. I'm not sure what their price range is, but we wanted sort of an Italian feast, so we spent more than we would have if we just had hors d'oeuvres. We also had a tasting at Conn's Catering. It was okay, just not what we were looking for.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[jcc813]

>
>I think that we had about 100 guests at the wedding. There
>were a couple of no-shows, so I am not exactly sure what the
>number was. Also, our ceremony started at 6:00pm - we had a
>quick ceremony outside that lasted about 20 or 25 minutes.
>I'm not entirely sure when dinner started - I would say around
>7:00 or 7:15. After the ceremony, we had a receiving line and
>toasts. We also cut the cake before dinner because
>Horticulture Hall is not air conditioned, and the caterer
>thought that the heat might affect the icing (it would start
>to run). We also took some portraits and family pictures
>after the ceremony. Even with all the toasts and dinner, I
>know that my husband and I danced for hours and hours at our
>wedding. - Oh - I just realized. We took pictures before the
>wedding, so not much of our time after 6:00 was taken up with
>pictures. My husband and I set up a place to meet before the
>ceremony, so we still have some great pictures of the first
>time we saw eachother before the wedding. I think that we
>started taking pictures around 4:30 with the bridesmaids and
>getting ready in the conference room.
>
>I wasn't really too nervous about the area. We did have some
>family that were, but they got over it. I think that we had 2
>or 3 security guards - one was at the front desk, one was in
>the parking lot, and there might have been another one walking
>around. There wasn't any point during/after our ceremony that
>I didn't feel safe. In fact, when we were leaving to get into
>our towncar, there were a couple of kids (teenagers) from the
>neighborhood sitting out front. They asked us if we had just
>gotten married and said congratulations.
>
>We booked about 14 months in advance, although I don't know
>how quickly they book up. Our caterer was Phil Stefani - they
>are the people that own the Tuscany restaurants. We worked
>with Tom there and he was really amazing and helpful. We even
>called him with a change on the day of the wedding and he made
>it happen. I'm not sure what their price range is, but we
>wanted sort of an Italian feast, so we spent more than we
>would have if we just had hors d'oeuvres. We also had a
>tasting at Conn's Catering. It was okay, just not what we
>were looking for.
>
>Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks again! Would you recommend any of the other vendors you used that day? Also, did you decide to hire a wedding planner? Or did the GPC event manager help coordinate most everything?

I think I recall the GPC policies stating that rental rates cover 7 hours...do you have to count set up/clean up time into that? I'm assuming they set up the reception area during and maybe a bit before the ceremony.

Btw, glad you mentioned the lack of AC. Right now I'm considering an early June or late Sept/early Oct date, so that hopefully shouldn't matter too much.

Finally, I think I saw that Horticultural Hall has a capacity of 150. I'm estimating having a wedding about your size (100-130), but right now I'm leaning towards a buffet or station-type dinner. I couldn't tell from the GPC photos where they fit the dance floor, but the tables did seem a bit packed in the pictures. Did you feel that they were able to accommodate the size or your wedding pretty well?

[lozaone]

Hi I was looking at the conservatory as well and was wondering how much did you pay to reserve it and was anything in addition included with your cost (ie. Dinning, decor, etc)