Undoubtedly one of the most important decisions you’ll make when planning your wedding is choosing the venue that will host your celebration. It’s simultaneously one of the most exciting and stressful decisions, as there’s a LOT of pressure that often comes along with it! You want your wedding day to feel juuust right, and your venue has a huge impact on the overall feel of your day. Thankfully, here in Chicago we are spoiled with phenomenal wedding venues scattered throughout the city. From historic spaces with an almost regal feel to them, to modern spaces with the best amenities around, and even gorgeous outdoor gardens, Chicago has something for everyone! That’s why in today’s article we’re going to go through 10 questions to ask during your search for a wedding venue to make sure you find the one that’s right for YOU!

1. What Portrait Locations are Available?

A huge part of what makes weddings in Chicago so popular are the incredible portrait locations found throughout the city! There’s no shortage of breathtaking and iconic locations to choose from as the backdrop for your portrait photos, take a look at some of my favorites to see what I mean. How does this apply to the wedding venues of Chicago though? Well, as wonderful as these locations are for portrait photos, getting to them on the day of your wedding can be a bit of a challenge. 

Chicago traffic is notorious for all the wrong reasons, and it only gets worse on the weekends when there’s events like Bears games, Cubs games, concerts like Lollapalooza, and more. With this in mind, you’ll ideally want to choose a venue that is reasonably close to one of your portrait locations, or even has ample portrait opportunities within walking distance of the venue. If you do intend on traveling to a specific site for portrait photos I recommend booking some sort of transportation service to keep things simple and let a professional handle the hassle of driving and parking in Chicago. Just be aware of this during your timeline planning as you’ll want to give yourself a little cushion for travel time!

2. Is There a Room Flip?

When looking at the different wedding venues in Chicago you’ll want to pay close attention to the spaces they have available for your wedding day, especially if you intend to spend the entire day at your venue! Does the venue have different spaces they use for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception, or is there some overlap? If they do use a shared space for 2 or 3 of these events be sure to get some more information before booking the venue. Where do guests usually spend the time between the ceremony and reception? How long does it take to flip the space? Get a clear understanding of what the process looks like and how long it takes before booking a venue so you know exactly how your day will flow!

3. For Venues with Outdoor Spaces, what’s Their Policy for Inclement Weather?

Chicago is home to a ton of wedding venues that are either completely outdoors, or have outdoor spaces available. Some of my favorite wedding venues fall under this criteria, but it’s important to know beforehand what their policies are if the unpredictable weather of the Midwest shows up! If you’re having an outdoor ceremony is there a backup space available in case of a sudden downpour? Does the venue have a backup space for cocktail hour if your October wedding is far too cold to enjoy the rooftop patio of the space? Choosing a wedding venue that has some sort of contingency plan in place is a great way to have some extra peace of mind during the lead up to your wedding day!

4. Do They Only Allow Certain Vendors?

Much like our supply of amazing wedding venues, Chicago is also home to some of the best and most talented wedding vendors in the industry! Even so, there are many venues out there that have some sort of restrictions when it comes to the vendors you choose. These restrictions can be a good thing for some vendors, but a detriment for others.

For example, if a venue has in-house catering or a required DJ, this can often be viewed as a positive since they’ll know the space, the equipment, and already have an understanding of the venue’s systems and flows. For your media team on the other hand, having complete freedom of choice is much better in my opinion. A talented photographer or videographer can make any space work, and this allows the couple to choose vendors that fit their specific vision for these roles.

With all that being said, it’s crucial that you know a venue’s approach to vendors before you book their space, especially if you have specific vendors in mind that are MUST haves for your day!

5. Does the Venue Have Multiple Getting Ready Spaces (if Any)?

Something I love to recommend for couples planning their wedding in Chicago is to look for venues with getting ready spaces on site. I say this because, as I mentioned earlier, Chicago traffic can be ROUGH. The less time you have to spend traveling on your wedding day the better, especially if you’re doing so in your wedding attire. Thankfully there are many venues that offer getting ready spaces for one or both members of the couple, if they don’t though that isn’t an instant deal breaker. The many hotels and Airbnbs of Chicago give you plenty of options for getting ready spaces as well, and you’ll likely be able to find one that’s pretty close to where you’ll have your wedding ceremony. 

6. Are Their Amenities Included, Add-ons, or a Mix of Both?

An area where many of the wedding venues throughout Chicago vary is how they handle the amenities of their space. As you start looking at potential wedding venues, pay close attention to this! What amenities does the venue offer? Are these included in your package, or are some optional add-ons? Does the venue operate more as a blank slate where you’ll have to book a third party company for things like additional chairs, tables, etc? 

7. Is There Assistance with Setup and Teardown?

Depending on the décor and details needed to make your wedding day truly feel like you, there may be quite a bit of preparation that has to happen the day of your wedding. Knowing this, it’s important to understand the different service offerings of wedding venues throughout Chicago. Will you have to take care of setup and teardown by yourselves and the help of family and friends, or do they have a team dedicated to doing this for you? 

8. How Long is the Space Yours?

In addition to knowing whether you or staff of the venue will handle setup and teardown, you’ll also want to know exactly how long you have the venue for your wedding. When are you able to get in and start setting things up? What time is the last call and what time does the reception have to be over? Do you have to clean up that night, or are you able to clean and pack everything up the following day? Knowing the exact time you have available is crucial for the logistics of your wedding day, so be sure to get ALL the details!

9. What are The Policies for Additional Décor?

All of the wedding venues in Chicago have their own distinct style and feel to them, but there are some where you may want to add or bring in some additional décor! Whether you have a specific vision for your ceremony space, or you want your reception to have a certain vibe to it, it’s important to know whether the venue has any restrictions for additional decorations. Are candles acceptable for the reception? Are you able to hang anything in the space? Do they allow archways for your ceremony? Ask any questions you may have before booking!

10. Is There Any Planning/Coordination Assistance?

Last and certainly not least, you’ll want to know whether any of the wedding venues you’re considering in Chicago offer planning or coordination assistance. I am a HUGE advocate for having a planner or coordinator as a part of your vendor team, I even wrote an entire article going over why everyone should book a coordinator! That being said, some venues do have in-house staff to handle any planning and coordination assistance their couple needs, so it’s important to be aware of that if you’re looking for some additional help bringing your wedding day to life!

Those are 10 questions you should ask while looking at the different wedding venues of Chicago! As I mentioned at the start of this article, we are SPOILED for wonderful wedding venue options here in the Windy City, so it all comes down to what YOU want for your wedding day! For more wedding planning tips be sure to check out some of my other articles, and if you’d like to book me as your photographer you can send me an inquiry through my contact page!