Chicago is a wonderful place because of all it has to offer, and when it comes to weddings that still reigns true. Chicago wedding receptions are definitely some of the best and most fun weddings that we get to be a part of because the energy is so high and exciting. While Chicago is an incredible spot to host your wedding reception, there are definitely some important things to know when it comes to having your wedding in Chicago. We have laid out here what is helpful to remember about planning your Chicago wedding reception so that you are best-prepared to have a good time.

Cost

If you’re in the beginning stages of wedding planning, you’ll have likely started to find that Chicago is much more expensive than your average venue or vendors that are outside of the city. Because of all that Chicago has to offer and generally the cost of living being much higher, this means that the rates for your venue and vendors will likely be a significant price jump than it would be if you were planning your wedding in the Chicago suburbs or another state. Many Chicago wedding reception spaces will start around $10,000 and there really isn’t much you can do to combat that unless you like any of the Chicago Park District spaces that tend to be less expensive. You do really get what you pay for though with the quality, so even though it is definitely more expensive it generally is very much worth it!

Traffic

It’s hard to not notice that Chicago has tons of traffic, so it’s something to consider when you are planning your wedding reception or even your ceremony in Chicago. Planning for the traffic can be tough, but it’s not impossible thankfully. You can read this blog post to know best how to deal with Chicago traffic for your wedding day, but generally it’s best to budget the most expected time for traffic and then be pleasantly surprised when things run faster than expected!

Parking

One major downside to planning your wedding reception in Chicago is about how little free parking is available to you, your guests, and your vendors. It is very likely that your vendors will request that you reimburse them for parking, so that is an important expense to consider unless they have some free parking available. Most Chicago wedding venues don’t offer free parking and will only have metered parking, paid parking lots, or no real parking plans at all. When it comes to your guests driving in, it’s important to plan generally how to explain to them what they should do to plan to arrive on time. Many couples will opt to have shuttles or other transportation when available just so guests don’t have to worry about this as much for the wedding day.

Transportation

Along the same lines as parking, getting yourselves and your wedding party to and from each location can be an added extra difficulty. Many couples will opt to have some kind of party bus to bring all of your wedding party so you don’t have to worry about Uber delays or anyone getting lost or separated. We definitely recommend having 1 bus of transportation for your wedding party because otherwise there’s a huge chance that many of your VIPs may get stuck in traffic!

The Sunset Time

With the Chicago buildings, your sunset photos are actually going to have to be earlier than you expect. The sunset time is typically listed when the sun has set on the horizon, so photographers will usually bring out their couples about 30 minutes before the sunset; however, with the buildings blocking the sun sooner you might have to do your sunset photos a little earlier than you’re expecting. If you’re not really sure how to plan for this, we can help you put together your timeline and make sure everything about your wedding keeps in mind how much light you’ll be getting for your photos and for any outdoor events. You can read this blog post about planning out your timeline and this blog post for things that you should consider adding to your timeline, but what will be easiest for you is to have your coordinator plan all of these things out for you!

Your Marriage License

Cook county marriage licenses are often quite a task for our couples to get because of all of the logistics involved and the information being hard to locate. Thankfully, we put together this blog post with all of the links and information that you might need to get your marriage license in Cook county.

Events in the Area

Of course with how busy Chicago is, there are always going to be events happening on the weekends as well as your wedding. Football games, festivals, marathons, or even other weddings can impact your ability to get around town. Along the same lines as the traffic, it’s important to know what other things are happening that might impact your travel time even more than usual. Our weddings in Chicago over the Chicago marathon weekend are typically heavily impacted for travel time in the morning and afternoon as well as over Mexican Independence Day weekend in the evenings. Always make sure to Google what other events are happening over your wedding weekend so you can plan accordingly with what to do about that.

There are so many things about planning your wedding in Chicago that it' can be hard to keep up. We feel like we’ve only scratched the surface about what it takes to plan your wedding ceremony or reception in Chicago! We also have another blog post here that have 7 things you can’t forget while planning your Chicago wedding, but it really can be even more specific planning your wedding in the city.