Floating World Events

Floating World Gallery was the first venue we visited, and we knew right away it was the one. We were immediately impressed with the layout, the aesthetic, and Allen's experience and responsiveness. Throughout the process of planning our wedding, delaying for a year due to the pandemic, and hiring vendors, Allen was incredibly helpful and professional, answering our e-mails promptly, helping us find time to visit the venue, and giving us invaluable suggestions for staff, decor, and day-of flow. FWG was also a great location for our out-of-town guests and showed really well in our photos. We highly recommend both FWG and Allen!

My wife and I were married at Floating World Gallery in June and would highly recommend the space for weddings, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, or anything else. Allen is very easy to work with, he's always on schedule, and always responsive. The layout is ample for a small to mid sized celebration, and features of the gallery are modern and minimalist.

Would not hesitate to work with Allen again and again. He is THAT amazing. Our wedding has been postponed due to Covid and there were a lot of hiccups with our other vendors but not Allen and FWG. The space is beautiful and clean, but having Allen and Diego makes everything 100x better! Our experience overall was just wonderful and very affordable as well!

Great location, great size, great layout: it’s a typical Chicago storefront you can use as your blank canvas. You also get Allen: he’s a venue manager who’s in your corner, knows other vendors, and can give you valuable advice about timings and logistics for the big day itself. He makes himself as available as you need, which is especially good if you’re not paying for a wedding planner/event manager.

From my initial conversation until the day after my event, my family received world class treatment from the Floating World Gallery team. Not only was the space beautiful, the team assigned to assist us worked to execute our plan. The team was attentive and provided the best customer care. Allen and his team were simply AMAZING!!!!

Floating World Gallery was the venue for our 09/25/2021 wedding reception and we could not be happier with the choice we made. We originally booked the venue for September of 2020 and had to postpone due to Covid. Allen was absolutely wonderful to work with and made the postponement process absolutely seamless. He was always available to us when we had questions and helped our reception go just as we hoped. When we finally had our wedding there, it was so worth the wait. Floating World Gallery is such a unique venue - it feels so intimate and personalized. So many of our guests commented on how unique and special the venue was. It also photographs beautifully. We could not be happier with our choice to have our reception here and we absolutely recommend it for any event.

We loved having our wedding at Floating World Gallery! There were so many things to like: The venue itself is elegant and impressive all on its own. It is in a great location, with lots of small businesses around for guests to patronize before or after the wedding. The size was perfect for our ~110 person wedding. Allen, the venue manager, was great to work with (responds to emails within hours, not weeks). He makes wedding operations really easy with flexible load-in, load-out times. We also loved that we could choose the vendors we really wanted to be there on our special day, especially catering and bartending/alcohol. 10/10 would recommend for all Chicago couples!

Floating World Gallery was the venue for our November 2021 wedding, and the gallery and its staff were absolutely incredible. Allen was so easy to work with--responsive, kind, and knowledgeable. He was available every step of the way to make sure our needs were being met and to ensure our plans were going to go smoothly. On the day of the wedding, Michael was present to help with everything and he did a wonderful job of helping us coordinate and make sure all of our moving parts were fitting together, and was extremely helpful and courteous. As far as the venue itself, so many guests commented on the wonderful layout: we had 135 guests and everyone fit comfortably in the front room for the ceremony and dinner, with dancing and cocktail hour happening in the back Glass Brick room. Our DJ had a second speaker set up in the front room once the dancing had started so older people or those who are not big dancers were able to mingle there while the back room had more of a clubby, party atmosphere. We really hadn't considered how amazing this layout would be, but we loved being able to dance like crazy in the back without feeling like people who didn't want to dance were excluded or uncomfortable. Layout aside, the space is very beautiful and our guests loved seeing the pictures of us hanging up in the gallery! We had two-layer drape installed as a backdrop for the ceremony, but the tulle that comes with the venue is also really pretty and gives it a nice formal boost for weddings. It has an artsy, low-key vibe, but is still very warm and inviting, and there are many options to customize the space to your taste and needs. It was just incredible to be able to get married in such a great location in the city (in our home neighborhood!), especially for the very affordable price. We truly cannot recommend FWG enough!

We loved floating world, the space was great and exactly the size we needed and Allen was there for every single question and concern we had. I would highly recommend the venue as we still get told how great the venue was by our guests.

We reserved Floating World Gallery for our August 2021 wedding. We originally had reserved the venue for 2020 but had to postpone it to 2021. They were very flexible in our postponing, especially during such uncertain times. We selected Floating World because they were extremely flexible with what you brought in. There was no required list of vendors, which was important as we wanted vendors that reflected our culture. I even did a model comparing Floating World to other venues we were scoping out and Floating World came out as the most cost-friendly and flexible. It’s a beautiful venue at a very cost effective price if you’re looking for flexibility. As to how we used the space, we used the gallery room for our ceremony. Afterwards, guests transitioned to the back room for cocktail hour. The gallery room was then flipped to become a dining space. Guests then moved from the back room to the dining area. We brought in lion dancers and they were able to dance in the space! When we transitioned to dancing, the back room (which was for cocktail hour) was reopened. Upstairs, there’s a suite where we and the wedding party were able to gather, such as for outfit changes. Because this is a gallery, you can bring large photos that can be hung on the gallery walls. This added a personal touch to the venue! Floating World also had someone at the wedding, who was very helpful in operating the elevator, especially if you’re a bride in heels!

My husband and I cannot say enough good things about Floating World Gallery! Working with Allen was an absolute dream. He is responsive (responds via email within hours, not days), patient, and extremely knowledgeable about all things wedding. We went off script a bit in terms of our caterers and Allen was there every step of the way to make sure everything went smoothly. In terms of the space, Floating World Gallery was PERFECT. Beautiful ceremony and reception space in the front with an additional back room perfect for cocktail hour and dancing. There is a bonus rooftop and beautifully lit stairway perfect for snapping pictures of the bride and groom. Family and friends came up to me throughout the night to compliment the space. 10/10.

I absolutely LOVED working with Allen at the Floating World Gallery, and having our wedding ceremony and reception in his space. All of our guests raved at how beautiful the gallery was, and Allen was an absolute dream to work with. Allen was easily reachable and on-hand to answer any and all of our questions, anywhere from a year out to the morning of. I felt like we won the lottery getting the amazing space and such an amazing event manager all in one! I would highly recommend that everyone host their events at Floating World and work with Allen.

Working with Allen on our rehearsal dinner was wonderful- he was so knowledgeable, his suggestions were spot on and he made the whole experience just perfect! The venue was beautiful, the food and beverage vendors were great to work with and the night went off without a hitch. I wouldn’t change a thing and would recommend Floating World Gallery and Allen Nichols to everyone!!

The venue is gorgeous! The lighting of the space allows for some amazing photographs and we easily spent an hour and a half taking pictures in a bunch of different areas. We were very happy to have the ability to customize the space the way we wanted for our ceremony and reception. Having both in one space on one floor was great for our older relatives. Also, having the parking garage next door and street parking available made it really easy for people driving in to not have to worry about parking.

We loved having our wedding at FWG! Allen was truly wonderful, helpful, and supportive. He was patient and encouraging and let us know that we were doing okay and that everything would be fine. The venue is beautiful and so easy to decorate. You have a lot of creative freedom and that’s really nice. Allen recommended us our caterer and therefore worked really well with them, but he was also great with our other vendors. The day-of was great as well and setup and picking things up afterwards was so chill and easy. We cannot say enough good things. We loved FWG and Allen and the owner and other staff were also kind and awesome.

Floating World Gallery is an absolutely perfect space for small to mid-size weddings! We had about 70 guests, and loved how intimate the space felt. Special touches, like the ability to hang our own photos on the gallery walls, made the evening feel even more personal. Allen was incredible to work with throughout, responsive to all of our questions and very helpful in guiding our decisions given his extensive experience in the space. Almost everything you need is already there (chairs, tables, etc.), so we were able to do a lot with what was provided. We cannot recommend Floating World Gallery more highly!

Our wedding atmosphere, cost, and relationship working with Floating World Gallery were all A+ and I recommend this venue to anyone having their wedding in Chicago. It was a flexible and magnificent experience all in one. Allen (the events manager extraordinaire) was a dream and helped make everything possible. Easiest 5 star rating ever!

You can stop looking, you've found your venue. Floating World is perfect for a medium sized guest count (we had 124 and it was GOLDEN), and having a separate room for dancing that allowed guests in the dining area to sit and talk was a biiiiig selling point for the older folks. But the real shining star of this venue is its manager, Allen. From the get-go, Allen was the height of professionalism and poise. Neither me nor my husband have been married before, and he helped us stay perfectly on track. He made the entire process, specifically the week of, an absolute breeze, and was so incredibly thoughtful, accomodating, and just all-around lovely. You will not want to miss out on having your wedding in this intimate, glorious space.

Apparently planning a wedding is stressful and we can honestly say that there was almost no stress in planning our wedding in large part because of Allen and Floating World Gallery. Every time we had concerns about our plan, Allen always made himself available to respond (almost immediately!) and talk us through how we could achieve our vision. He was always prompt and reassured us that our plans were not only possible but easy get done. Allen and his team at Floating World Gallery are one hundred percent dedicated to making sure that your day is exactly the way you want it to be. So many venues place restrictions on catering, alcohol, entertainment, and offer almost no time to set up for your day. Allen and Floating World Gallery have none of those restrictions and it really allows you to have a day that you will never forget. For us, that was having a celebration that was not just about us getting married but that honored the friends and family that wanted to see us get married. This is exactly what we got - our guests STILL rave about how wonderful our wedding was.

Allen and his team were incredible. My husband and I were both the first of our families to get married, and there were a lot of unknowns in the process. However, Allen was consistently available and accommodating-the venue was everything we could have dreamed of and more! We can't say enough wonderful things about their services and flexibility-and our day went off without a hitch!

Floating World Gallery was the best venue to have our wedding ceremony and reception! Allen and the staff were very kind and accommodating. FWG has a great location and was a great value for Chicago! This place should be on every bride’s list of venues to check out! I can not recommend it enough!

The venue was incredibly beautiful and designed to make it your own space. I loved that creative element. Allen was incredibly easy and flexible to work with. He was more than just the venue coordinator, he was a key element to our vendor team and helped bring our vision to life. All my crazy ideas like hanging florals, long tables, photos hung up, etc. were made possible with Allen’s vision and help. I’m so grateful. He turned our dream day into a reality!

We had our wedding at Floating World last month. Allen was very easy to work with and the space is beautiful! The location also can’t be beat and is close to a number of restaurants (we had our rehearsal dinner nearby) and bars for a post-wedding celebration. It is also reasonably priced for the area and quality of venue. Highly recommend!

Allen is so knowledgeable and helped us understand how the logistics of our wedding. I had big dreams about hanging florals and they made it happen! It was a beautiful venue and they were so helpful. They even let us start set up the day before which was so nice! Highly recommend for a smaller wedding (we had 100 comfortable!)

We got married here in late September 2018 and it was amazing. Allan was great to work with - very responsive, friendly, and knowledgeable. The space has great light and a beautiful exposed brick wall. Our guests loved that there were two rooms - they were able to dance in one space or catch up with friends and family in the other. Highly recommend to couples who are looking for an intimate, unique space that you can really make your own.

This venue was incredible and Allen was a dream to work with. He held our hand throughout the entire process and kept our nerves calm. The venue was perfect for what we wanted with 2 separate areas. We were so happy to be able to have the ceremony and reception in the same place and it kept it easy for us and our guests. Everyone kept complimenting the venue and how beautiful and "us" it was. We also loved the flexibility of what vendors we could use as we wanted to do a more fun food option (food truck) rather than the traditional caterer and this venue was great at helping us get everything coordinated. Thank you!!!

My husband and I recently had our wedding at Floating World Gallery and everything was fantastic! The moment we stepped inside the space we fell in love. We loved the feel, the exposed brick walls, and how we could have the entire wedding and reception in one location. After talking with Allen, we knew it was the one. He was always so accommodating and willing to help us in any way, whether it was venue related or not. Allen is a true gem and I’m so grateful for him and his staff for making our wedding day so wonderful!

I recently got married here at the beginning of August and it was more than I could have dreamed of! First, as others have mentioned, Allen is the most incredible person to work with. From start to finish, he answered every question, gave my mom a full walk through and answered all of her questions (she was very skeptical of the non traditional atmosphere and vision) and was always quick to answer emails and let me pop by whenever I needed to. Our wedding was so beautiful. The DIY piece really allowed for us to show our personality. We were able to hang up pictures of ourselves and worked closely with our caterer to make sure everything was perfect. There were no hiccups. We had about 140, and it was intimate. Nobody complained about space issues. It was nothing but compliments all night and even to this day! If you like to be able to take your wedding into your own hands and have it be your vision and a VERY affordable price, this is your place!!!

We loved Floating World Gallery! You won't regret hosting your wedding here. It is the perfect solution for having a city wedding that doesn't blow through your budget. It is affordable but has everything you need (and it is gorgeous!). Allen is incredible to work with. He's a pro. Super attentive, helpful and responsive. He is well respected by all the vendors we worked with and made everything so easy in terms of coordinating. For not having a wedding planner, he was a lifesaver when it came to helping us figure out small details. Floating World is so great because you can easily have the ceremony and reception in the same venue. We had our ceremony in the front gallery room, cocktails in the back room, dinner in the front room and dancing in the back. The flow worked super well. There are also nice photo opportunities in the gallery. We did family formals in front room and lots of portraits and wedding party photos on the roof and in the stairwell. There's truly not a bad thing I can say about Floating World. Thanks to Allen for helping us have the perfect day!

We had our ceremony and reception at Floating World. Allen was excellent to work with and answered all of our questions. Our guests loved the venue and we were able to personalize the ceremony/reception space with pictures. Overall, I would highly recommend this venue to any couple.

We had our wedding reception at Floating World Gallery on August 27th. It is a very cool and unique space and just the right size for our 110 guests. Allen the events coordinator was very helpful and positive when answering all of my questions and concerns.

Floating World Gallery was really a great setting. They let you do whatever you want so the space can really take on a shape of its own. People really loved the site because it is so unique. Allen is great to work with as well and gives great recommendations on vendors if you ask. Thanks again we had such a blast at our wedding reception!!!

We had our September wedding at Floating World and everything was perfect! This is a great venue for a smaller wedding and really unique. We did not want your typical hotel ballroom wedding and we knew when we walked in, that it was where we wanted to host our wedding. There are a lot of cool loft buildings around Chicago, but FWG is one of a kind and much less expensive than many of the others. We were allowed to personalize the space as much as we wanted, which we loved. Allen was so helpful throughout the planning process and his years of experience were invaluable. We used several vendors he recommended and they all worked out great. He was very flexible and accommodating for our super busy schedules and had an open door policy with us.

FWG is exactly what we were looking for for our August 2015 wedding: The perfect space with a friendly, approachable staff. The venue: We wanted to get away from the banquet hall and into something with a lot more character. The brick, wood, and exposed ceilings were perfect for our look, and we were able to hang our own artwork on the walls for the event, but we did not need to do much to enhance the space: it is beautiful on its own. Our guests loved the cooler vibe, and we were able to utilize the two rooms for both the ceremony and the reception; the flow in between was seamless. The Lincoln Park location is great for Chicagoans like ourselves, and it was easy to get to for our in and out of town guests. A plus - there is parking right next door.. You could say all of our boxes were checked. Keep in mind you bring everything in, so you can customize the space to your heart's content! Allen Nichols - FWG Manager: To be honest, Allen was one of the main reasons we chose the space. From the moment we met, we got the feeling he was going to be someone we could trust with questions, opinions, and true honesty, and he was. I never had any doubts about how FWG was managed, and Allen was there for us every step of the way. We had true confidence in his knowledge and opinions, and couldn't have asked for a better person to work with. If you're looking for a cool space in Chicago for any event, I urge you to check out FWG. I promise you'll be glad you did.

Floating World was very helpful. We don't live in Chicago, so John (Event Coordinator) worked as the liaison between us and our vendors. We were thrilled with how well everything ran and involved the staff was in making in a great day!

We had our wedding at Floating World Gallery this October, and we could not have been happier. Not only were they reasonably priced, but Allen and the rest of the staff there went above and beyond for us. People were also impressed by the space; it has a great loft feel and is in an amazing location. Everything that day went off perfectly, and I would encourage anyone looking for a gallery/loft space to check out Floating World Gallery!

Floating World is a gorgeous venue with two amazing spaces for your wedding or event. We held our reception in the main gallery and our ceremony in the glass brick room. We had a small wedding with around 35 people, and the space can easily hold 200. Allen was amazing to work with. He was always very prompt with emails and so kind in person! He helped us decide on a caterer who knew the venue, which helped eliminate some stress, always a good thing. I can not tell you how much I truly loved this space for our wedding. The location is great, short walks from the brown or red line, street parking and a parking garage a few blocks away, although our guests all grouped together and took cabs. The venue was super affordable, especially for how gorgeous it is!

If you are looking to have a smaller event in a unique setting, Floating World is your place. We were able to use the front area for our reception and had some great pictures. We had it setup for a cocktail party as opposed to a sit down dinner and that worked very well. It allowed us to walk around and see everyone. We were also able to use the back area as a staging area for our caterer which was great. Our wedding was in the summer so we were fortunate enough to use the Japanese garden space on the deck out back, and that was charming and perfect. Floating World is great at communicating (Allen I adore you!) and helping you have the perfect event.