The Drake, a Hilton Hotel

Wowowow, if you're considering getting married at The Drake, you MUST! It's truly the best venue in the world. I could not recommend it more. We got married 18 mos ago & are still daydreaming about it. & our guests are still raving about it. The Drake did an incredible job giving us our perfect day.  We worked with Ali Foster (The Drake’s Coordinator) who was absolutely amazing. She answered alllll of our questions w/ knowledge, grace, & kindness. She gave plenty of tours of The Drake, helped us brainstorm different options for the layout, head table, ceremony, etc. We had a ton of ideas to make our day special, & Ali was always willing to chat through & add her knowledge. She understood the importance, but also added some jokes & lightness that made each of the tastings, tours, & walkthroughs more fun. Plus, she worked really well with our wedding planner - Kelly from Shannon Gail. If you're getting married at The Drake, use Kelly! She is incredibly knowledgeable on the space and worked really well with the whole team. I highly recommend both Ali and Kelly. We loved getting married at The Drake, because it is such a timeless venue, with a central location, & a super seasoned staff. The venue is incredibly historical & magical, which made for an amazing guest experience & wedding photos. The central location allowed for out-of-town guests to explore Chicago, like shopping on Mag Mile. And the seasoned staff worked with us to make the dream wedding - brainstorming how to make the venue feel like “ours” while adding expert advice. The venue was such an incredible vibe. The gold, marble columns, & old architecture looked so incredible in all of our photos. Plus, it made it really easy to pick a wedding vibe (classic, timeless Chicago) & wedding colors (black, white, gold). I was considering adding turquoise into my bridal colors, but The Drake had just enough light touches (The Gold Coast Room columns, the robins egg blue cocktail room). The staff was amazing & we loved Ali. My husband & I are extremely particular & had a super specific vision. We visited The Drake almost weekly, checking out other weddings for inspo. We would walk The Gold Cost room as other vendors were setting up, so we could see what we liked & what we didn’t. I was really torn over where to put the head table. We checked out a ton of different layouts & could see which head table spot had the best view of the party (so I could see my guests as the bride) & which had the best view for the guests (so each guest felt like they had a view of the bride and groom). This sounds so specific, but it was something that was important to us - & The Drake made it important to them. We ended up with the perfect layout for our vision.  One important piece I hadn’t considered before wedding planning: The Drake includes tables, linens, flatware, etc. Many venues require you to bring in outside rentals, but we were able to avoid an incremental cost & the headache of working with more vendors.  One more thing - The Drake does a Champagne Parade, serving every person at the head table champagne at the exact same time. Ours got a little messy, so I would recommend a run-through with the servers ahead of time based on your layout, but it is a super cool concept & makes for fun pictures/vibes! I cannot recommend The Drake enough. It was our fairytale wedding & we love reliving it through stories from our guests, photos, & the memories.  GET MARRIED AT THE DRAKE!!! You will love it

Top notch staff led by Ariella Ensinger, whose team exceeded our expectations throughout the planning process.  Great communication and support with budget and main event options and revisions. The wedding event was spectacular.  The reception and next day brunch food was delicious. The service exceptional especially given the veteran servers and  captains who have so many years of experience.  If you want a worry-free experience and an on-site planning staff that addresses each and every concern and question with competence and grace, plan your wedding at the Drake Chicago!