BRIDES. READ THIS POST.
NOT YOUR TYPICAL HOTEL BALLROOM.
First of all- BEAUTIFUL VENUE. From the terrace that we had our ceremony on to the penthouse ball room with floor to ceili...ng windows- we could have set up lawn chairs and the place would have looked stunning.
We started touring venues in October of 2020 and by the time we toured Royal Sonesta we were 10 venue tours deep and kind of had our hearts set on a different location. Honestly a “hotel ballroom wedding” didn’t really match the vision we had for our big day. However, within minutes, the initial tour and the vibe we got from Rick changed everything. First of all- the place isn’t your standard ballroom and I couldn’t picture a more beautiful place in the city that TRULY shows off Chicago. The outdoor terrace is stunning with amazing views that continue to be seen throughout the entire floor due to the outrageously tall ceiling and the amount of windows. The city lights when the sun went down was decor enough to be honest. We pictured a very minimal, timeless, classic wedding that didn’t need $30k in floral decor and THIS. WAS. IT. Secondly, this was the first tour that a venue actually WANTED us to have a wedding with them. Rick was laughing at me because I was in a constant state of “this is too good to be true” and he had to remind me more than I would like to admit that it wasn’t. We have been married for 2 months now and honestly I’m still waiting for a “SURPRISE this wedding was actually a million dollars!” Working with a hotel and everything being provided VS working with a venue that is only providing the space made this place seem like a fairytale. They went over package plans but we had such a different vision that the conversation ended up going “tell me your dream wedding and your dream budget and I’ll make something work” and let me tell you- they did just that. We weren’t very traditional in how we pictured our reception- we envisioned a continuous, non-stop celebration of our marriage. With that, we didn’t want a “seated” dinner but instead, wanted guests to indulge in a variety of hors d’oeuvres, food stations, and cocktails throughout the ENTIRE night. We wanted a mixture of high top cocktail tables, seated dinner tables, lounge seating, etc. We wanted guests to grab food/drinks whenever and however often they pleased. Food=incredible btw. We had never been to a cocktail style reception before, only my annual work holiday party and some Pinterest photos for inspo but the Royal Sonesta team (Rick and Emily) took our ideas and easily knew how to make the night more perfect than we could have imagined. Our event coordinator, Emily, is a prime example of someone who is not only just great at their job but truly KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING. She was incredibly easy to have a conversation with- via email or telephone. Super attentive. Very nice. And someone who I easily trusted to make our day incredible. She designed and decorated the place perfectly- we had some DIY items- wedding programs, gift table decor, welcome signs, etc. that we just casually left with her and she put everything where she knew it should be- I had zero input besides the main layout plan we had created and I was blown away by her and the preferred florist’s (Anthony Gowder- absolutely amazing btw) creativity.
Things are going to go wrong on your wedding day. Period. But no matter the issue, you can count on Royal Sonesta, Emily, and Rick to make your wedding day the best day of your life.