Chapel in the Pines Wedding and Banquet Center

s waiting for us when we went to sit down. We thought the food was great when we went to the tasting and were pleasantly surprised that it was better that we remembered!! Chapel in the Pines made our special day very memorable and I would highly recommend them!!

lly told. For example, when we booked the venue for the reception in September 2022, we were told that we could bring in our own appetizers and that 2 variety of seltzers were to be included at no additional charge. Then when we met with Amanda in April 2023, she informed us the appetizers had to be done by a licensed caterer. Thankfully, I had a print out of their website from September 2022 that stated we could bring in our own. Secondly, 3 days before the wedding, I met with Amanda to go over a few last minute questions and asked what seltzers would be served. She informed me that seltzers were not included in our package and would be an additional cost. How frustrating! Once again, I had to go through my e-mails from Amanda which showed they would be included at no additional charge. Finally, they served a different pasta than what was served during the tasting. Oh, don’t get me started on the tasting as the bride and groom don’t get to determine what entree’s they taste as Amanda picks them out based on the most popular items. However, if you want to taste something different, they charge an additional cost. Therefore, buyer beware-if you chose to use Chapel in the Pines for your reception- Document! Document! And Document again as you will most definitely need it.

ful as it was. Amanda, you will always hold a special place in my heart. Even though this is your job, it was very clear that you genuinely cared about us as a couple and were invested in our wedding being a success. Thank you for answering my many calls and emails. Thank you for being so kind and patient. Jeffrey, thank you for officiating for us! We loved your humor and professionalism. Thank you to you and your parents for sharing your beautiful estate with us. Chapel in the Pines will forever be a special place to us. If you are a bride or groom and come across Chapel in the Pines, do NOT hesitate! It is an all inclusive with everything you need to have a successful wedding. You will not be disappointed.

day of our ceremony I wasn’t feeling great and the staff absolutely went above and beyond to make sure my big day was a success. Thank you Howard, Jeff, Amanda, and all the staff for making our wedding day perfect!

eir son Jeffery was very quick to respond to all emails and questions. The staff also made our big day so easy!!! Everything is included in one package price and there are no surprise upcharges or fees! THANK YOU for hosting our wedding, we wouldn't have wanted to get married anywhere else.

bo as my wife wanted a Cinderella themed wedding. There entire staff are so friendly and worked well with our vendors, whom they have never worked with before. Laurie, one of the coordinators, did an amazing job at helping the bride relax and it was greatly appreciated. You will love everything about the place.

and accommodating. The day of the wedding, all of the staff were extremely helpful and went out of their way to make our day special. We were back and forth about whether to have it indoors and outdoors because of it being a rainy day, and they were very patient and willing to work with whatever we decided. The staff checked in with us throughout the day and were there with any questions or anything we needed to make sure the day ran smoothly. We were very happy with how Howard brought some humor into the marriage ceremony and he made us feel very comfortable. We loved the photobooth, our guests had so much fun with it and we loved the book they made us with all the photos and signatures. Overall, we loved everything about the experience, the grounds, the gazebo, the bridal cottage, the reception hall - our guests had such a great time and commented about how beautiful the scenery was and how great the venue was. We were extremely happy with our experience at Chapel in the Pines and would recommend to anyone.

e to the rain. Thank you Chapel in the Pines staff for helping us organize our special marriage ceremony!

look as though we had stepped into a fairytale. We worked with Jeffrey Petersen from start to finish. He was extremely patient, kind, and helpful. Also very quick to respond to my endless questions! We give Chapel in the Pines our highest recommendation to couples like us, who go simple, and small. But also to folks that plan a large celebration, this is the place! It is special, your memories will be magical.

Only thing that went wrong was the ceremony music. I brought in my own burned disc which did not play at the rehearsal so I brought a flash drive with only the songs on there the day of which worked. However, the staff played the music out of order, even though all they had to do was go down the line of the tracks, which I even wrote on a piece of paper. They played the Bridal Processional the for the Bridesmaids, the Bridesmaid processional for the unity candle, and the unity candle song for the recessional. Other than the music issue, which I really knew about, guests wouldn't have known, the wedding was great.

thly. Very happy we chose to have Jeffery Petersen as our officiant on 9/16/17!

eekends are still good. It is a family owned business. Jeffrey and his mother did a great job of making the place absolutely beautiful and were always there to help. They were very responsive. Another really nice thing is that we got to have our own personalized brick in the path. That was super cool. I highly recommend this venue.

ked my beloved dog who had passed in 2008 just a few weeks after my dad. That was all it took to feel this was the ONE. I loved it, even though the location was convenient for no one. At least guests would only have to park once and could walk between the chapel and reception at Amber Pines. I took samples of the chair swatches the day we signed the contract and deposit (the first time we went there) and got an e-mail from Jeff within a week asking for our final color choice and went with the seafoam (our color was Tiffany blue and none of their colors was a perfect match). I followed up again to make sure the chair swags had been ordered. They hadn't. I even drove out there to test the audio system with our iPod in September and there was no sign of the chair swags and Howard made a note to follow up with Jeff about it. Eventually, Jeff said they could not get that color and to pick a new one. This may not seem like a big deal to a guy, but when you are DIYing your entire wedding and have a dining room filled with stuff specifically matching that color, it is. I did not like the attitude I was getting when I found some very reasonably priced swags he could order online. My contract and their sales booklet clearly said that the linens were included in the top package I got. He balked at the link I sent and said we had originally said 35-40 people and were now doubling the headcount. I always said 75 and in the end we had 84. It wasn't that big of a difference. I paid for the chair swags myself and my poor mother spent about 10 hours ironing them all in the days before the wedding. That was $180 that I had to spend due to their error. Then, I had paid $40 for a white runner to hide the carpet in the chapel. Feedback I had received from guests at weddings there was to "tell the photographer to shoot up" so that the carpet wasn't in our photos, so I considered the runner a "must have" and they specifically said you could not bring your own. Imagine my surprise when I was walking down the aisle and realized there was no runner. Too late at that point. Perhaps I would have known there was an issue with it if the closed circuit TV in the bridal cottage was working. But no. All we got was snow when the coordinator turned it on. :( Then, we wanted our photographer to get a picture of the brick walkway with our new brick installed, but "Sorry. We have to put in bulk orders and don't know when we will install your brick." It will probably never happen, and if it does, I doubt we will be notified to take a picture of it. We had to call and ask about some items that were left and we still haven't recovered all items that went missing. We also had a cloud burst between the wedding and reception and I had been booted out of bridal cottage so I could not fix my hair. That's when it really felt like it was a wedding mill. I debated leaving any less than stellar reviews because I feel it somehow takes away from the fact that I had a beautiful day and married my best friend after a long and arduous search. But, weddings are a big deal and I think honest reviews are important. I loved working with the CitP's recommended vendors Sweet Dream for food and MVP for bar service. My guests all seemed very happy with the photobooth and layout of the facility.

thing but wonderful comments all evening. My only complaint, and why I gave the service a 3 star rating is because I got the feeling closer to the end that this is just a wedding mill. They try to make it personal and special for everyone, but during our 6:30 pm rehearsal the night before our ceremony, we were crashed by the 7:15 rehearsal group. And I was frustrated we couldn't use the grounds before the ceremony to take pictures because we technically didn't have the grounds until an hour before it started. I much preferred working with Jeffrey Petersen, as opposed to Howard (who married us) because I felt he wasn't nearly as attentive. Jeffrey was always quick to respond to emails and was very helpful with his suggestions and guidance. We met with Howard two weeks before the wedding for about an hour to go over last minute details and he asked me ALL of the same questions at our rehearsal. It felt like our two hour trip to meet him was a waste. That aside, they made our day very special and even though they do about four weddings a day, they made us feel like a priority. Their chapel is beautiful, I loved the ability to customize our ceremony (though that DOES cost extra), their grounds made for beautiful- even if not many- pictures, and their banquet facility makes for an elegant environment.

he chapel as a back-up in case it rained (which it didn't thank goodness). We also held our reception in their hall. We live a few hours away from Sycamore, so it was sometimes difficult to coordinate things without actually being there, but Jeff Peterson was good about answering my questions over the phone and via email. He helped coordinate everything and make sure we had a smooth day. We also had 2 coordinators helping us on the day of and both were so friendly and attentive, making sure everything met our expectations for our wedding. All of our guests keep commenting about what a wonderful location it was. The price is definitely worth it for what you are getting and Jeff threw in a few things at no cost, which was so kind. Oh and you can buy an engraved brick to have set in their brick path. We can't wait to go back there years from now and see our brick!

nd anticipated my needs so well and the needs of my family. We used the chapel, the reception hall, and also had them officiate our ceremony. It made for a very unique and amazingly beautiful wedding with the convenience of having the reception hall on site. The chapel also gave us a traditional feel without being a certain religion or denomination, which was incredibly important to us, as my husband's family is Mormon, mine is Christian, and we as a couple don't practice anything. The grounds made for great photos, too.

he same spot so it is super convenient for you and guests. The reception hall is also beautiful inside. It was perfect! We had tons of great comments about the whole day.

o it. We were bummed because we really like Jeffrey but he recommended David Glick, another officiant for Chapel in the Pines (http://www.chapelinthepines.com/officiants.html), and it worked out great. We are not religious people so we had very specific ideas to not include anything religious. We had already worked out all the details of the ceremony with Jeffery and David had no problem stepping in and doing exactly what we had already put together. He was very nice and personable and not one of those officiants who tries too hard to be funny or entertaining. He came prepared and performed our ceremony as if he had written it himself. He was also very calm and laid-back, which was a great influence on both of us since we were so nervous! He is a seasoned professional and I would highly recommend him to anyone, whether you are getting married at Chapel in the Pines or anywhere in the DeKalb/Sycamore/Northwest suburbs areas.

AID BACK, PROFESSIONAL AND VERY WILLING TO WORK WITH WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. WE DIDNT HAVE ONE COMPLAINT FROM US, OR FROM ANYONE WHO ATTENDED!!

n know it's there which gives it it's appeal. It's family owned & they are quick to answer any questions you have.