Venue Shopping: Cantigny Golf Course
The next stop was at Cantigny Golf Course to meet Karen. The area is expectedly nice since it's at a golf course although it's a bit confusing because Cantigny is split into two areas: the park and the golf course. The space we were viewing was the Red Oak Room at the golf course.
Ceremony: There's an outside ceremony area (outside of Red Oak Room) that was cute although any golfers walking by can view the ceremony. There's also a covered ceremony area next to the Red Oak Room that was cute although one of the adjacent windows walls looks into the bar area where golfers are. There are four very lovely outside ceremony areas in the Cantigny Park section. My biggest concern is that there can potentially be four weddings going on at the same time. Very confusing for guests. Also, we were walking around to view the area and some ceremonies were starting. It just seemed too easy to wander into a stranger's ceremony (or have a stranger wander into yours and be disruptive).
Capacity: The Red Oak Room itself was a bit on the smaller side but I knew that coming in. The stats that Karen gave me was that it can fit 140 guests comfortably with a dance floor. Le Jardin (at Cantigny Park) is said to hold between 150-250 guests.
Minimums: The Red Oak Room on Saturday evenings in 2014 & 2015 require a minimum of $11,000 in food & beverage before tax & gratuity. Friday & Sunday is $8,000. Le Jardin on Saturday evenings in 2014 & 2015 require a minimum of $17,000 in food & beverage before tax & gratuity. Friday & Sunday is $14,000.
The rooms: The Red Oak Room, like I mentioned before, is small. It's a thin but long room with large windows on one the long sides that overlooks a lake with a fountain. Karen said that the fountain lights up at night which sounds lovely. The dance floor was tiny. It looks like maybe a group of 5 people could dance on it comfortably. You can also use the fireplace area connected to the Red Oak Room for your cards, guestbook, etc. Le Jardin, in the Cantigny Park area, was a huge disappointment. It was dingy, REALLY outdated, and screamed "I'm a golf course room!" There was dirty looking dark green carpet with really outdated furniture. It didn't look like it could fit the 250 guest capacity that it claims but I didn't stick around very long to look around. It really did not match the elegance of the surrounding ceremony areas.
In terms of communication, I thought the response rate was very slow. Although always informative, there was a 2-3 day delay for each of my questions so that really put me off. I imagine a lot of brides that are new to the wedding game have a lot of questions like me so I greatly appreciate venues that respond quickly. It makes me believe that this is how our future correspondence would be if we actually booked the venue.
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| Photo from Cantigny Park website |
Capacity: The Red Oak Room itself was a bit on the smaller side but I knew that coming in. The stats that Karen gave me was that it can fit 140 guests comfortably with a dance floor. Le Jardin (at Cantigny Park) is said to hold between 150-250 guests.
Minimums: The Red Oak Room on Saturday evenings in 2014 & 2015 require a minimum of $11,000 in food & beverage before tax & gratuity. Friday & Sunday is $8,000. Le Jardin on Saturday evenings in 2014 & 2015 require a minimum of $17,000 in food & beverage before tax & gratuity. Friday & Sunday is $14,000.
The rooms: The Red Oak Room, like I mentioned before, is small. It's a thin but long room with large windows on one the long sides that overlooks a lake with a fountain. Karen said that the fountain lights up at night which sounds lovely. The dance floor was tiny. It looks like maybe a group of 5 people could dance on it comfortably. You can also use the fireplace area connected to the Red Oak Room for your cards, guestbook, etc. Le Jardin, in the Cantigny Park area, was a huge disappointment. It was dingy, REALLY outdated, and screamed "I'm a golf course room!" There was dirty looking dark green carpet with really outdated furniture. It didn't look like it could fit the 250 guest capacity that it claims but I didn't stick around very long to look around. It really did not match the elegance of the surrounding ceremony areas.
In terms of communication, I thought the response rate was very slow. Although always informative, there was a 2-3 day delay for each of my questions so that really put me off. I imagine a lot of brides that are new to the wedding game have a lot of questions like me so I greatly appreciate venues that respond quickly. It makes me believe that this is how our future correspondence would be if we actually booked the venue.
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