Carleton of Oak Park

- and lightning fast in her responses. On the day of the wedding, she made sure everything went off perfectly. We've all been to the weddings where everything goes according to plan, and all of the guests say, "wow, that was so well put together!" - and we've been to the ones where you say "well, at least the bride and groom had fun!". This was hands-down the former. All that, and they won't break the bank (as so many places do). If you want the complete package, just get it done for me, all-in-one wedding, where all of your vendors all talk to each other, and are all in the same spot, call the Carelton and ask for Maura.

had to flip the room for the reception in a short time. All of my guests have complimented me on the venue and the food as well. The wedding planner was super helpful and answered all of my questions. I felt very at home here. Great to have the hotel attached for all of our out of town guests.

at the Carleton, making it very convenient for all guests, including our out-of-towners. Our head count was just under 100. There was not one thing we worried about; we trusted Maura and the team wholeheartedly. The communication was always clear, professional, and upbeat. We chose The Carleton Hotel for the gorgeous decor and its convenient location in beautiful, vintage downtown Oak Park.

owed guest to enjoy local restaurants, bars and a movie theater all within walking distance. The Grand Ballroom was beautiful and the adjoining Colombian room and vintage 1920’s bar allowed sufficient room for our guest to mingle. Hotel staff was very accommodating and made sure my big day was a success. Thanks Carleton of Oak Park for an unforgettable wedding reception!!!

the communication the day of the wedding!

xing, fun, and extremely informative. Candice is also the Catering manager for the hotel; the knowledge she brings to the process is priceless! Throughout our wedding planning process, Candice and her team were extremely supportive and willing to work with us to make every detail we wanted come true. Our DJ stopped by the Carleton unannounced to check out the venue, and the staff was totally okay with giving our DJ a quick tour for where he would be setting up. We had our rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception at the Carleton. This was so convenient! In addition to spending the night after our wedding, we slept over the night before as well. This was an opportunity for myself and bridesmaids to spend one last evening with me being a single woman! My husband stayed the night in another suite with a few groomsman, and we were able to wake up and just begin the day, no traveling required! My girls and I were able to have our hair and makeup done in the suite. There was more than enough room; I strongly recommend doing this. The rooms have an antique feel, but they are very clean and smell fresh. Our entire wedding day went off without a hitch. We feel very blessed to have the experience we did. All of our vendors were fantastic, but each and every one of them came back to us and told us how accommodating and put together Candice and the hotel were. The Carleton is a beautiful place that speaks for itself but the staff is really what made my husband and I thrilled to have our special day here. We even had compliments on the hotel front desk staff. They were extremely polite to our guests and made them laugh. I could go on and on about how great Candice and the Carleton is!!! Please check it out for yourself!!!!

night guests. We also held a brunch there the morning after the wedding. Wish we could go back and do it all again!

Everyone stayed at the hotel or motor inn next door (which cost a little less, but is very cute and convenient!), and they didn't have to move their car again until they went home after the wedding. It was a huge bonus to have everything in one place! Our ceremony and reception were in the hotel ballroom with cocktails in the bar/library area in between, and it worked out perfectly! Plus the downtown Oak Park area provided shopping and restaurants within a couple of blocks, which made it a great weekend getaway for everyone. My husband and I also stayed in the hotel, and the Hemingway Suite was beautiful and became a great home base for the wedding party on the day of the wedding. With all of that said, the people we worked with to plan our event were all spectacular! Dana and Katie in the Sales office took care of our guest rooms and reservations, and everyone was very happy with their rooms! Meghan was a pleasure to work with on Catering and details for our ceremony and reception. They were all very professional, helpful, knowledgeable and friendly and also very flexible to accommodate our special requests. Meghan made my vision and wedding theme come to life! And best of all...the food served at our reception dinner was AMAZING. We have received many compliments on how good it was, and I had to agree. We chose our menu carefully, and the chef and staff did not disappoint in any way. I highly recommend having an event at the Carleton!

y reception. The bar area is so decorative and has classic charm and the ballroom is a perfect setting for a night of dancing and celebrating. Being able to have the entire back half of the hotel for just our wedding was awesome. I cannot say enough about the staff, especially Meghan and Annie. They were so responsive all of my questions and helped in anyway possible. They even saved the top of my cake without me knowing! I would recommend this venue to anyone looking to have a classic wedding without the downtown price.

ting, informative and available! As a nervous bride to be she always found a way to reassure me that it would all be done to my liking. One dreams of what all the bits and pieces of décor that seemed to take forever to pick, would look like on the day of. Annie made sure that we went in before anyone else, to check it out. Needless to say we were left speechless. It was beautiful! And exactly what I had envisioned! The night was amazing and everyone raved about how beautiful the reception/hotel was, how great the food and drinks were and the service was amazing! Not enough thank you's to Annie and the Carleton staff for making our wedding amazing! Thank you! Erika & Jorge

professional and accommodating at the Reception. Would definitely recommend to anyone!

as even better than when we did the tasting. I will also say their location on Pleasant St. allows for some amazing photos.

came to the details. My husband and I did a lot of the decorations ourselves and Anne and her team did all the setup just as we requested down to every little detail. She was very prompt in responding to e-mails and never complained if I just popped in for a quick question for her. If I could do it all over, I would I would have our reception at the Carleton again and again!!!!

omenal! the wedding coordinator Annie Parker was wonderful and made sure that things went smoothly without having to bug us. would HIGHLY recommend them for your wedding!

perfect as possible. With the amount of stress you have to deal with while pulling all of the details together for a wedding, the people at the Carleton put me at ease every time I interacted with them. We stumbled upon the hotel after finding our beautiful park ceremony venue at the Columbus Park Refectory and I feel like it was meant to be. The food is top notch.

ing to help us and offer suggestions. She even let us drop off various decor items, like table numbers and favors, and took care of getting everything set up on the day of. The food was amazing and we were able to accommodate all of our guests with vegan and kids' meal options. The only down side was that while we were able to reserve a block of rooms for our guests, the woman in charge of making the group reservations (different from the front desk) was hard to get ahold of. However, as the bride and groom, we received a free stay at the hotel. The room was beautiful and the event coordinator even checked us into our room and made sure our gifts and other items were put in there for us. It was a huge help in the middle of all the chaos of saying hello and talking to our guests.

n a Tardis? Certainly! Vegan friendly food? You bet! Anne was eager to help out and made great suggestions for day-of plans. She was there to let in the DJ and did a fabulous job setting everything up for the ceremony and the dinner. The food was excellent as well. Sure, it isn't IN Chicago, but the green line is two blocks away so it's easy to get in and out for those who don't want to drive. And the value of this place is spectacular. We got appetizers, drinks, dinner, ceremony site, wait/bar staff and a great location for under $15,000. All in all, this place was great.

to if they wanted some quiet time. The coordinator (Anne), and her staff was simply amazing. They did everything to make our day special without worrying if things wer going to get done. They went above and beyond what we expected. With the venue being at a hotel, there is certainly the potential to have wedding crashers. We ended up having a few, but the staff removed them so quickly that we were not aware of any crashers until after the fact. Food was amazing!! They provided us with a list of recommended vendors for everything. We did not have to use any of their suggestions, but through our work we ended up using alot of their suggestions and things turned out great. We highly recommend anyone to use the Carleton as their site for a wedding reception.

r experience so wonderful. She really goes above and beyond to help in the wedding preparations and make sure everything goes smoothly the day of. Anne was very friendly and patient in answering all of our questions throughout the wedding planning process, was always prompt in getting back to us, and her organization and attention to detail allowed us to feel confident that everything was taken care of by our wedding day. The hotel itself is also gorgeous – it provides the convenience of having your wedding at a hotel but instead of a characterless ballroom, it has a ton of personality and charm which we didn’t find in any other reception sites. Not to mention that you get to be the only wedding at the hotel rather than having multiple others in nearby spaces. We loved the cocktail area and were able to take beautiful pictures under the lights on the cobblestone streets. The ceremony was set up perfectly and they were able to flip the room for our reception very quickly. You also can’t beat the convenience of having all of your guests stay onsite and we were able to take a 15 minute drive to downtown Chicago to take all of our pictures. The food was delicious, the cost is very reasonable and the hotel suites are perfect for your entire bridal party to get ready. I highly recommend Anne Parker and the Carleton Hotel – it was easily the best decision we made in our wedding planning!

our wedding there. We received a prompt reply from Annie Parker. She was our absolute wedding pro and made all facets of planning our reception at the Carleton stress free. She made our decision for our venue an easy one. From our tasting, to the final stages of planning, to the actual execution of the reception it was flawless. The Carleton is just gorgeous. It has this classic elegant charm. Since half of our guests were from out of town it was definitely appreciated by them and so many of them told us how stunning the hotel is. Our reception was everything we wanted it to be- unique, great food, spacious, relaxing, enjoyable, and a lot of fun for everyone. We really can't give enough credit to Annie, her staff, and everyone at the Carleton. We couldn't be more grateful. All facets of our reception were a dream come true.

quickly changed our minds. What a good decision! Annie worked with us to get just the kind of small-ish, informal party that we wanted. She gave us suggestions but never pushed, and she was always willing to accommodate our requests and help us fulfill our vision. On the days leading up to the wedding and on the day of the wedding itself, she seemed to be in 10 places at once, making sure everything was being taken care of AND calming the nerves of this slightly stressed out, type A bride. The whole day came off perfectly. The hotel staff took care of getting our guests to their rooms, the catering staff fed them and served them drinks, and Annie was there through the whole event, helping to set things up, and generally making sure all of the last minute details were taken care of. The highlight for me was that, on my wedding day, I was actually able to enjoy the wedding and our guests and not worry about anything! Annie and the Carleton staff made certain of that. Can't thank them enough.

wedding here! Historic charm with a modern twist!

lt, but from my first meeting with Anne things fell right into place. Anne and her staff provided our guests arriving from seven different states an awesome night and a beautiful hotel with tons of amenities. First, Anne and the front desk organized the distribution of 35 welcome bags to people arriving over a time frame of four days...no easy feat! Second, the hotel rooms were immaculate and a variety of sizes from a traditional single to large suites for families. Third, it was a perfect location for out of towners! My guests jumped on the greenline to explore the city and were able to walk right downstairs for breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. Finally, downtown Oak Park provided my guests with plenty of site seeing and activities. In the days leading up to my wedding Anne checked in daily to make sure I was happy and comfortable in my room. The day of was flawless! All of my vendors (photo booth, photo, video, band, florist, bakery, lighting, valet) had direct access to Anne which means, get this...I didn't have to deal with anyone! Anne coordinated everything and I wasn't even bothered with a phone call as I was getting ready for our big day. The food for the evening was incredible. As we greeted each of our tables everyone was raving even saying "the best wedding food I have ever had." We had a number of vegan guest at our wedding as well and they were so happy with the risotto dish (on a side note, there is a vegan restaurant within a block of the Carleton which was perfect for our guests). Our bartender Phil kept the drinks flowing and guests enjoying themselves. Our server Joanie was so sweet and attentive, she even caught me eating my hubby's cake and brought me another piece without me asking. Truly this was the most amazing day/night of our lives and my husband and I could not be happier with the Carleton as our wedding venue. If you are an out of town bride like me or a local bride trying to give your guests a true Oak Park and Chicago experience this is the place! We have not one complaint except for that it went too quickly. In the days after our parents and us have received numerous phone calls from our guests noting what a great time they had. As you can see I cannot stop raving about what a perfect experience Anne and her staff created for us. Highly recommend!

N-G! All in all, the staff at The Carleton are very friendly, hard-working, and a joy to do business with--Thank you so much!!

accomodate all of our requests. She was an absolute pleasure to work with-as was everyone we encountered at the hotel. We could not have been happier with how things turned out. Our guests were also very happy with the hotel iteself and enjoyed their stays there. I would highly recommend this venue for their attention to detail, quality and great Oak Park location.

Park and also attended a few weddings at the Carleton in his younger days, felt as though it "brought him back" .We filled the hotel with our guests, and they absolutley loved the hotel and all of its charisma. The city of Oak Park is full of history and beautiful victorian homes on tree lined streets. This is truly the perfect place for your special day!

tor is also wonderful! She handles everything and is a dream to work with!

hing. Above all, the food was THE BEST. The food meant a lot to us and we were very impressed at the tasting. The food was provided by Philander's Restaurant (attached to the hotel - now a different name - Barclay's?). Everyone at the reception raved about it. It was cooked perfectly. I would highly recommend The Carleton. Very affordable too!

got an entire wing of the hotel to ourselves with sitting rooms the ballroom and a private marble and tile bar. Can't say enough good things about this place.