Chicago Illuminating Company - Chicago, Illinois

Tim H. (. P.

I recently had the chance to photograph a wedding at this awesome space. The venue is plenty spacious with its indoor/outdoor layout. I appreciated all the natural light that spilled into the tent well into the evening. The staff was friendly and helpful. Hope to be back here soon for another event.

Helen W.

Magical evening. The venue is beautiful and well ran. The wedding was perfect. The main area with bar worked well for mingling before the wedding. Then we moved to the tented area where it was beautifully set up for the ceremony. Then back to the main area for appetizers while a team of magicians converted the ceremony area into a visual fairy land for dinner. The tables were set beautifully and the caterer nailed it. Best wedding food ever! After dinner it was back to the main room to dance the night away. Just lovely.

A.J. D.

Pros:
The venue is perfect. It’s indoor/outdoor with plenty to work with in terms of creativity. It’s super convenient to the Marriott Marquee which is also fabulous.

Marta does a great job of recommending and coordinating vendors. She has a lot of experience and has connections that are helpful.

Collette at Flower Firm was a fantastic vendor. Her suggestions were spot-on, her follow-up was timely and she was able to adapt when changes needed to be made on the day of the wedding. I cannot recommend her enough. Her company is top notch.

Boka catering group was a really fun experience. We got to suggest what type of food we wanted and they brought it to life. We ended up going with a family recipe! It was really cool.

Cons:
The exclusive lighting vendor for the venue is Frost. We did not have a good experience with this company unfortunately:
- Costs seemed a bit outrageous overall. For example, hanging drapes cost $6,000 and they say they can’t re-use drapes so they have to be purchased new for each event, even though they work with CIC every weekend.
- We asked Frost to include a quote for drapes in the contract. They did, sent it back to us for review and asked us to confirm receipt. We replied “confirming receipt” and then after some discussion, my wife and I determined it was too much for our budget. We asked them to remove it, to which they replied they had already ordered the fabric and we had to pay for it. It was frustrating trying to get them to remove that cost.
- Daniella was condescending in emails and did not provide good customer service.
- The “beautiful mood lights for the dance floor” were spotlights that were too bright and looked ridiculous. We ended up having them turned off.
- All other vendors met with us at some point. Frost never did.

Marta got upset with our wedding party because we were being too loud during our rehearsal, which was going on while she was giving a tour to another couple. She also didn’t like that our speeches at the wedding went too long because that affected the timeline of the night.

These are just some notes from my experience so keep in mind that some of these things could’ve been one-off. All in all it was such a beautiful wedding and a day to remember. I would recommend this venue to others looking for a convenient and beautiful venue.

Andrew K.

LGBTQ+ folks and people of color, be cautious if you’re considering this venue or are a guest. My partner and I had a troubling experience during a recent event.

While we were minding our own business at the reception, eating cake, the venue owner, Marta, approached us and began questioning why we were there and who we knew, as if we didn’t belong. We were in full formal attire, seated at our assigned table, yet we were treated as if we’d somehow wandered in uninvited. It was unsettling, and there was an underlying sense that if we didn’t answer her questions correctly, she might have even called the police.

Thankfully, the mother of the bride vouched for us, but without her intervention, the situation could have escalated. It’s disappointing to experience such treatment on what should have been a beautiful and joyful day.

Courtney N.

Had my cousins wedding here. The Venue is gorgeous and just the right size. They have an indoor and outdoor option so you have multiple ways of setting your event. The staff is amazing and super friendly and the bartenders kept the party going while we danced the night away. I would highly recommend choosing them for your event!

Donovan &. S. C. G.

My husband and I got married here in may 2024. This venue is absolutely stunning the pictures don’t do justice of how beautiful our day was ! That being said the only “issue” if you can call it that is the venue owner. She is very helpful but also very opinionated and way to particular of the vendors being used. If you book this venue you only have the option of 2 very pricey caterers. Although it was worth it, it was frustrating. We had a great planner and a great team of vendors but everyone was aware of how the owner functions. If you can take her opinions of what she wants for your day with a grain of salt you will be fine. Also we were told the bathrooms would be renovated by the time of our wedding and they weren’t. Not sure why they would need renovation they are already very nice and updated so not sure why she kept telling us that. This venue is too gorgeous to let that get in the way. We also were lucky enough to do our rehearsal there too and that was great . The venue was great for us and looked perfect on our day!

Emma V.

The Chicago Illuminating Company is AMAZING. Our venue cancelled on us 6 weeks before our wedding, and Marta (the owner) took us in and helped us out in immense ways. Not only is the venue beautiful, but she is so knowledgeable and really made us feel at ease during such a stressful time. Our wedding guests were blown away by the indoor/outdoor venue and I could not recommend it more.

Antonia A.

Cool space, great location. Went to Food & News Magazine Party after the NRA, it was great. Big space, Big Bar and plenty of outdoor space.