Ignite Glass Studios

I would not recommend this venue. We received a tour from Genevieve and she came off as rude multiple times throughout the tour. As a bride looking at ignite glass as a venue she made the tour really unenjoyable for me which is sad because I thought I was going to really like this place. Her replies to our questions made you feel like you were asking a stupid question. Left feeling like why would I want my wedding there since we received rude service. Disappointed.

Ignite is such a beautiful venue! It is one of the few (maybe the only) venues I found in the city of Chicago that has two outdoor spaces. The first is a grass lawn where we had our ceremony against a backdrop of wall-mounted colorful glasswork. The second is a rooftop that has a view of the skyline and was where we had our cocktail hour. The best part for us (especially in COVID times) was that we could open the doors between the dining area and the grass lawn after dinner so guests could mingle inside and outside. I felt that it really helped our guests be able to feel safe while attending our wedding. The location is also a big plus! It is far enough away from crowds of West Loop to have plentiful free street parking, but it's close enough to have other related events at West Loop places. We had an informal afterparty at Punch Bowl Social in West Loop, which worked out great. Finally, we have nothing but praise for Genevieve at Ignite for all her help. We switched venues 2 months before the wedding, and we could not have landed Ignite if it hadn't been for Genevieve's responsiveness. She is a pro who knows her stuff and can answer all your questions! Overall, we are just very grateful and happy that Ignite Glass Studios will always be in our memories as the beautiful setting where we got married.

Our experience at Ignite Glass Studio was absolutely great! We were first introduced to Ignite when our original venue cancelled our contract during COVID and Genevieve was extremely accommodating and responsive. There were so many moving pieces as COVID restrictions continued to ease with little notice and Ignite Glass Studios was able to quickly make updates to their guidelines to give us the best wedding day possible. Ignite Glass Studios was our reception venue (ceremony offsite) and our guests thought the site was so cool! Cocktail hour was on the rooftop, which has stunning skyline views. The dinner and the party were in the urban garden and indoor event space that had a nice flow for guests moving around. We also opted to have Ignite create a glass piece for us, which was very unique! The glassblowers did a demo right after dinner that our guests really enjoyed and we now have a special momento from our day :). Overall, we would recommend Ignite Glass Studios to any of our friends looking for an urban industrial style wedding with the added benefit of outdoor space. Genevieve was absolutely fantastic!

Ignite (Genevieve!) saved my COVID wedding! I had a completely different indoor venue, but with restrictions still in place, an indoor wedding wasn't looking good. So I made a panic call to Ignite three weeks before my wedding date to see if there was any way they were available and willing to work with me. Genevieve could not have been more accommodating from last minute venue tours to making sure my original vision came through as much as possible. And the guests LOVED the space - a perfect rooftop ceremony and cocktail hour followed by dinner on the lawn. I cannot recommend Ignite enough!

We used Ignite Glass Studios for our wedding reception. Highly recommend! Genevieve was so easy to work with and the venue space was beautiful. We used the rooftop and garden during cocktail hour, and then opened the garden up again after dinner. Our guests had a wonderful time and were still calling us two weeks after the wedding to tell us how beautiful the venue was and letting us know what a nice time they had. We chose to include the glass blowing demonstration and everyone thought it was fun, unique touch! For anyone looking to do something different than a banquet hall, I would definitely recommend checking this out.

My wife and I stumbled upon Ignite Glass Studios (IGS) after an extensive search for a wedding venue. We reached out IGS and received a response immediately. We decided to go for a walk through to check out the venue and get some details about cost and other logistics. An employee who no longer works there met us and took us on a tour. She was incredibly welcoming and very knowledgeable of all the information a potential client would ask. From the first moment my wife and I walked into the space, we knew this was the space. This venue is so beautiful and all the people working there are so nice! For our wedding we chose to use the main venue space and the rooftop; so worth it! After we signed the contract to hold our date, the original person we were in contact with left IGS and Genevieve and Amanda took over. They were so easy to work with helped make the transition go smoothly. As we got closer to the day of our wedding, there was potential for rain in the forecast which would have altered our original cocktail hour plan on the rooftop. Even though we were hoping not to use them, both Genevieve and Amanda came up with a couple of weather plans to help put our minds at ease in the event we would need to stay inside. Additionally, are our other main vendors (Cocina Fusion and An Event Less Ordinary) came through IGS recommendations and we couldn’t have been happier with them. So amazing. We can’t speak highly enough of the IGS event space and the IGS staff. They truly exceeded our expectations and made our day that much better.

I had my daughter's wedding Ignite Glass Studio in May and was the absolute best decision we made.The venue is beautiful and open you can with it whatever you want it. the view of the skyline is perfect for a chicago wedding. The staff is outstanding,extremely accommodating.I worked with Sean and he was a prince!!! it is also grate to have venue in the city with free street parking. If I ever have another large event no doubt I would go back.

I recently got married at Ignite Glass Studios and it was absolutely amazing! The planning process from beginning to end was stress free, Sean Thorndike (manager/coordinator at Ignite) did an amazing job of accommodating our wants and needs for our special day. The day ran smoothly and I couldn't be more happy with how our vision came to life. If you are looking for a beautiful urban Chicago venue, Ignite Glass Studios should be at the top of your list. Not only is the space beautiful, the staff gives you the leniency to make your wedding dreams a reality. I was a happy bride!

My wife and I loved our experience with Ignite! They are very professional and flexible! Sean was amazing!!! The venue was always available to us before the wedding for any meetings or walk throughs for preparation! Most of all the space is beautiful! We hope we can find a reason to use them again in the future!

We used Ignite Glass Studios for our wedding on 10/1/17. We absolutely loved it and got so many compliments from our guests. Our day-of coordinator enjoyed working with the event managers there and they were very kind and professional. We worked primarily with Kristen, and she was great. We had our ceremony in the garden and cocktail hour on the rooftop and that worked out really well. It's such a unique space. The photos of the ceremony and cocktail hour as the sun was setting are so gorgeous! My only knock against them is that their lighting package seems over-priced, but otherwise, it's a great value. They also need to get a dimmer for their lights. It was a little too bright during the dance party :) They don't include tables and chairs, so that's a bit of a bummer, but our caterer was able to bring them in without any issue. The main pluses for this space were the indoor/outdoor possibilities , you can bring in your own alcohol, and they have a long list of caterers to choose from. You can get go off the list if you want to, but there is a fee to do so. I'd recommend Ignite to anyone!

Ignite was the first place that we visited, and ultimately, nothing else came close! Monica and Ji were both super responsive and so helpful through all of the planning. We absolutely fell in love with the outdoor spaces and planned to utilize the lawn and the rooftop, but alas, Mother Nature had different plans for that day. Nevertheless, it was a cozy, unique and beautiful venue for our wedding! The venue was so easy to visit and Monica welcomed drop-in visits at any time which was so helpful for planning and peace of mind. Parking was also free and plentiful in the area which was a huge plus for us in the city. We loved everything about Ignite!!

We held our wedding there last May and would definitely recommend the venue for events. The coordinator on site was helpful and active in the planning process, making it easy to plan from out of town and helping brainstorm ideas for back up plans, vendor ideas, etc. The coordinator was also extremely helpful on the day of, stepping in when my planner didn't deliver and finding solutions for the bad weather. The space was a beautiful backdrop for photos and easy to personalize with my vendors. The room comfortably fit 200 for our wedding reception, including a dance floor. Parking was easy and the price was reasonable, especially when they honored a military discount.

My husband and I held our wedding at Ignite Glass Studios on May 31, 2014. All I can say is that everything turned out absolutely amazing! We first visited Ignite in May 2013, after sorting through many "typical" venues. As soon as we walked through the space we knew and felt that the space was where we wanted to have our wedding. The venue is such a unique space that does not need additional decor, especially if you are looking for a venue with an urban and artsy atmosphere. The studio has a gallery, main event space, urban garden, and rooftop deck with beautiful views of the city. Additionally, when you book your event you get the entire space for the price, and do not have to deal with the hassle of "sharing space" with other events going on that night. After booking our date, we worked with Monica in preparation for our wedding. She was extremely responsive to emails, and very flexible for us to come in during the year to view the space again as we were planning certain aspects of our day. I also loved that fact that we had a final walk through with our major vendors at the space to discuss and finalize where and when certain things would be set up. On the day itself, the staff was extremely attentive and flexible to our needs. I would highly recommend having your wedding here if you are looking for a unique venue with very respectful, flexible, attentive staff. Personally, if I ever have the chance to plan another major event, I will definitely be calling Ignite!

I had the first spring wedding of 2014 at Ignite. Monica is the on-site coordinator there for weddings and is very nice and super responsive. I was lucky when I signed my contract, the outdoor space was included in the total rental cost. Now, the rooftop deck is an additional charge (but oh, so worth it if you can take a bet on nice weather). The ceilings are nice and high (but be sure to mention this to any lighting vendors) and there is an outdoor patio that your guests can easily stumble outside and hang out at (complete with a fire pit and lawn chairs). The kids in our wedding loved being able to go outside (so did the smokers). Parking is easy. Security comes with the rental charge. Catering vendors were able to pull in easily and get started right away. It was just a dream from start to finish. Would absolutely recommend getting married on the roof with the skyline background. Incredible! - @emilybelden

I chose Ignite for their blank slate event space and the originality of doing glass blowing at my wedding. We signed the contract with one event manager, who then left about three months before my wedding. I did not find out about that until after about a month of unresponsive emails. The new event manager was struggling to keep up with the accounts that had been signed before she was there. Because of this, we had quite a few hiccups that the original event manager had agreed to but the new one did not hold up. For example, we were supposed to get a personal glass blowing lesson before our wedding. The new event manager said that they didn't do that anymore. The biggest issue was with decorations. We were told by the old event manager that we could hang decor from anywhere on the ceilings and could do this the evening before the wedding. However, the new event manager would not allow us to do it the evening before. So we did it the morning of the wedding. This would have been fine, except for the fact that as we were putting up decorations, she said that we could not hang anything except from a few hooks they had on the ceilings. We had planned on draping off half the room to hide tables for when we switched out the room from the ceremony to dinner. Because of this, the tables were all visible during the ceremony and I had to enter from the catering truck entrance and weave my way through tables before walking down the aisle. If you use this venue, I would make a few suggestions: Make sure that you will be with the same manager as you book with. Hire a decorating company so that they can deal with all of the crap that the manager will present. Go over any additional costs before signing the contract.