Chicago venue guide
Updated
Chicago weddings happen in lofts and industrial spaces, historic landmarks and museums, restaurants, and hotels, from the Loop and River North out to the neighborhoods. A lot of these venues rent you the room and leave the rest to you, including the caterer. That gives you more choice than anywhere else in the state, and more to organize.
We've gathered details on 37 Chicago venues. Pick a starting point and Sage will rank them for your day, with cost estimates wherever the venue publishes its prices.
What should you budget?
Use − and + to reprice every figure below.
$28k
Typical estimate
The median cost for Chicago venues that include their own catering.
$14k–$29k
Typical range
Most venues here that price the venue and food together land in this range for a hundred guests.
These are our estimates, not quotes from the venues. Many Chicago venues quote the space only, so their price looks low until you add a caterer, bar, rentals, and staff. Compare those against a quote that already includes food only once you've priced the rest. If packaged pricing and a lower total matter more than a city address, see Chicago's North & Northwest Suburbs wedding venues.
Every filled dot is one Chicago venue that can host 100 guests, shaded by its own estimate on the same scale as the Illinoisguide's map; grey ones don't publish a venue-with-catering price. Outlined dots are venues in neighbouring regions.
Narrow it down
See which Chicago venues fit your guest count and budget, and why
Guests
By budget and guest count
How many Chicago venues come in under common budgets for the venue and food, at the guest counts couples plan for most. Each row counts the venues that can host that many guests and publish a full price for the venue and the food, so the list gets shorter as it grows.
| Guests | Typical venue and food | Under $15,000 | Under $25,000 | Under $35,000 | Under $50,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 guests | $14k | 6 of 9 | 8 of 9 | 8 of 9 | 8 of 9 |
| 100 guests | $28k | 2 of 8 | 3 of 8 | 7 of 8 | 7 of 8 |
| 150 guests | $40k | 0 of 6 | 1 of 6 | 1 of 6 | 5 of 6 |
| 200 guests | $54k | 0 of 6 | 0 of 6 | 1 of 6 | 2 of 6 |
Our estimates for the venue and food, including service charges and tax where the venue lists them, on a Saturday in peak season. Not quotes. A typical figure is shown only where at least five venues publish a price.
How venues price weddings
Pick one to see what its price contains, what it leaves for you to buy, and what it typically comes to.
You pay for the space and their kitchen
Venues publish their price in two ways: as a site fee plus a per-guest menu price, or as a bundled package (venue + food).
$28k
typical for venues with catering
$14k–$29k
where 80% of these 8 venues land
And then you still buy
don’t want to worry about sourcing a caterer or any outside catering fees.
What you’d still need to find out
Whether drinks are inside the menu price or billed separately, and what the service charge and tax add at the end.
You buy the space, then the food
You hire and pay a caterer yourself. Any fee the venue charges for letting an outside kitchen in is already in this figure.
$12k
typical for the venue rental
$7k–$14k
where 80% of these 11 venues land
And then you still buy
want a specific cuisine, a caterer you already love, or real control of the food budget.
What you’d still need to find out
What your caterer will quote, and whether rentals, staff and the bar come through them or the venue.
You buy the space and the drinks
Mostly wineries and event spaces that serve no food of their own. The price covers the space and drinks from their bar, and you hire a caterer for the meal.
$17k
typical for the venue and bar
$12k–$25k
where 80% of these 6 venues land
And then you still buy
want your own caterer but would rather not run a bar yourself.
What you’d still need to find out
Whether they have a minimum beverage spend and what your caterer will quote for the food.
You rent the room, then build the team. In the suburbs, most venues sell a package with their own kitchen. In the city, more of them hand you a space and a list of caterers, or let you bring anyone you like. That's how you end up with a dinner from your favorite restaurant in a room with a skyline view. It also means more vendors to hire, more contracts to read, and a total you can't see until every piece is priced.
Food, drink, and staff are priced separately, against 18% across Illinois.
See venues that charge for the spaceOf the venues that say either way, against 22% across Illinois. Some ask you to pick from their list.
See venues that allow your catererOf music, rentals, décor, planning, and photography, typically. You'll hire most of the rest yourself.
See what each venue includesA typical Monday to Thursday price, against the same venue on a Saturday.
Compare weekday pricesWhat kind of place
Brick, big windows, and an open floor you fill yourself. Usually the lowest price for the room and the most vendors to hire. Ask which caterers you can use, what tables, chairs, and linens come with the space, and how long you have to set up and clear out.
A historic lobby, a grand hall, or dinner among the exhibits. These come with the most rules. Ask when you get the space after the public leaves, which caterers are approved, and what the building requires, like security staff or event insurance.
3 of 37 venues here
Find venues like theseThe kitchen, the bar, and the staff under one roof, and at a hotel, rooms upstairs. The least to organize. Ask for the food and drink minimum on your date, what gets added in fees, and whether you have a private room or share the floor.
The same wedding costs different amounts at a barn and at a hotel — and so does the shape of the bill. Two ways to look at it, for 100 guests.
The venue rental across every venue that charges one as its own line — whether or not they also sell you the food. Just the room, nothing else.
Every venue that itemises a rental, including the ones that cater. Venues quoting a single package over the room and the meal never name a room price, so they aren’t here — and this is a part of a bill, not a whole one, so it can’t be subtracted from the next chart.
The whole bill — the room, the meal, and the fees on top.
Venues behind each figure in brackets. A venue can be more than one kind of place, so it may appear in more than one row.
What changes the shortlist here
A space-only quote and a package can't be compared until you add the caterer, bar, rentals, and staff to the first one. Get a rough catering quote for your guest count early, and ask each venue for its caterer list before you fall for the room. Where venues list their fees, about 25% goes on top in service charges, admin fees, and tax.
Compare full estimates for your guest countCity venues fill on Saturdays, and many publish much lower prices for the rest of the week. A Friday or a Sunday is often the easiest middle ground for guests. Winter can be cheaper too, and in a city this size there's plenty to do indoors.
Compare weekday pricesOlder buildings and busy downtown spaces have rules about when vendors can load in, what can go on the walls, and whether candles or confetti are allowed. 32% of venues here also require something you pay for or arrange. Most often security staff, certificates of insurance from every vendor and event insurance. And if you want a rooftop or terrace ceremony, ask about weather, because only 35% of venues here say what happens if it rains.
See each venue's rulesof venues that say either way (33 here)
at least, of all venues (37 here)
at least, of all venues (37 here)
at least, of all venues (37 here)
a planner, insurance, security or similar, of all venues (37 here)
What affects the cost of your wedding
Wedding venue pricing is seasonal. 16 of the 37 Chicago venues we track charge differently depending on the day, and 10 charge differently depending on the month. Every figure below compares a venue with itself, so it says what moving your date does — whatever kind of venue you pick, and whatever the size of your wedding.
Day of the week
Months you’d consider
Peak months are selected to start. Tap any month to compare.
Saturday, peak season
The most expensive date most venues sell, and the date almost every published price assumes. Choose a different day or month to see what typically comes off.
Not every line on a quote moves. These are the ones that do, measured at the venues that move them.
The venue rental
What they charge for the space itself.
6 of the 34 Chicago venues that can host 100 guests put a floor under what you spend — a minimum on food and drink, or a headcount they bill for. It is the one charge that feels worse the smaller your wedding is, and it is rarely made clear on other platforms that show venue pricing.
4 of 6
would bill you above what your own 100 guests come to, by about $12k typically.
Most of them stop topping up from around 175 guests. Below that, inviting fewer people doesn’t lower the bill at these venues.
Cutting 20 guests takes $0 off the bill, even though they actually cost $720 — because of the minimum spend
A venue can set more than one.
What gets added at the end
Every pricing model carries them. At the 15 Chicago venues that publish their fees, the middle result is 24%, with most landing between 7% and 37%.
Service charge8 venues
23%
The venue’s charge for its staff. Not a tip.
Administrative fee3 venues
3%
Charged instead of, or alongside, a service charge — and usually taxed as well.
Sales tax11 venues
11.8%
Set by the state, and charged on the service charge too at most venues.
Named surcharges3 venues
4%
Operations, production, sustainability or a city fee.
Dots are sized by how many venues charge that rate. The gold line is the median rate, and every fee has its own scale: read the spread within a row, not across them.
Places worth a closer look
These include lofts, historic hotels, event spaces, and a landmark in the park, priced in different ways. Open a venue to see its pricing, capacity, spaces, vendor policies, and other planning details.
Chicago · Up to 150 guests
Planning and photography come with the venue
$5–10k · Venue Fee Only
See pricing and policies
Chicago
You can bring your own caterer or use theirs
Food & Bar Est.
See pricing and policies
Chicago · Up to 300 guests
Guests can stay on site
$25–35k · Venue Fee + Catering
See pricing and policies
Chicago · Up to 269 guests
Outdoor ceremony, with an indoor space if it rains
Bar & Beverage Est.
See pricing and policies
Chicago · Up to 400 guests
Helps you plan the whole wedding
Food & Bar Est.
See pricing and policies
Chicago · Up to 260 guests
Weekdays (Mon–Thu) cost 56% less than a Saturday
$25–35k · Venue + Bar Est.
See pricing and policies
Describe your guest count, your budget, and anything you can’t compromise on. See a ranked list of venues, with why each one fits, trade-offs, and what to double-check.
Sage the Date reads each venue's own published details, including pricing, catering and alcohol rules, music curfews, rain plans, whether you get the whole property, and how many guests each space holds. Every estimate uses your guest count. When a venue doesn't say, we tell you instead of guessing.
Before you book
Sage reads each venue's own published pricing and policies, puts different kinds of quotes on the same footing, and estimates the cost for 100 guests. A price for the space alone isn't counted in the typical estimate, because it leaves out the food. If a venue doesn't say something, we treat it as a question to ask, not a no.
