I hade fun taking pictures as a photographer at this place, photos came very nice!…read more The lighting was great, decoration, every single detail. Well done!

We had my daughter's Quinceanera on October 21,2023. I still can't get over on how beautiful and…read moreelegant everything was. This venue is sparkling clean. The staff and management at lido banquet were very kind and professional. Thank you Andre for that. The food was amazingly delicious. My guests still can't stop talking about how delicious the food, drinks, and sweet's were. The led lights made everything so cozy and warming. It was truly such a special night thanks to Lido. I highly recommend this venue 100% for your next event. Sincerely Brenda

This hidden gem was perfect for my needs. I was looking for an open space that I could have my…read moregraduation party for about 50-60 people. I was told about The Studio at D&B and when I walked in I envisioned having my party there. They allow you to decorate as you want and bring in your own food and DJ. This was a private party just for me and my guests and it was perfect. I would definitely use this venue again in the future. If you are up for the DIY or hiring someone to decorate you can make this place look amazing.

VRC is a beautiful space shared with a golf course. Yes! Amazing fees from the red room. This is a…read moremust see in person location. Stunning.

DO NOT consider a winter wedding here, and absolutely DO NOT expect transparency or flexibility…read morewith any hiccups in their formula. Also, they apparently blocked my account on Zola -- I can't find them in a search when I'm logged in anymore. Thankfully I was able to leave a review without being logged in, and am also sharing here. TLDR: they can't accommodate winter weddings, despite including those months as available on their website, and they aren't transparent about their inability to do so. They can only provide half a venue, with 40% decreased capacity, but still expect you to pay full price. I was appalled by their poor communication and business practices throughout our experience trying to book them for our January wedding. -- -- The issues started when booking a tour -- their availability is challenging if you work a day job, and we were also limited with my partner's 24/48 shifts for the city. But I rearranged my work to accommodate their schedule. The day of the tour we received a vague cancellation with 3 hours notice, saying they would work with our schedules to get a new tour on the calendar. They very much did NOT work with our schedules, declined several options I requested that would work without us making major concessions on our end, and only offered a small window later than their once-a-week evening slots. We were once again rearranging our schedule to work for theirs after their cancellation. When we finally had the tour, I'll admit it's a gorgeous venue. We were excited about booking there, but concerned about how they'd handle January events. Since their website includes Jan in their off-peak season rates, I figured they had a plan for accommodating cold weather (they have a tent for the yard, but it's insufficient for temps under 30 degrees and that's a heavy gamble for evenings in January). They didn't seem to have any ideas outside using that tent. They do have an upstairs to the venue that reflects the ground floor footprint, so I asked if they would include these in the base rate (they're usually an add-on expense) because we were losing space in the yard. They said they would "compromise" by including just one of the rooms, but would reduce capacity to only 70. We had been straightforward that our guest list was 80-90, and their website advertises up to 120 guests for a buffet or cocktail reception, which was our plan. I understand they don't do a ton of events in the winter, so I thought maybe they just didn't have a well-designed plan for colder months and we could find a way to work one out. But they refused to work with us to expand capacity beyond 70 guests AND made no concessions on price. I have no idea what they would have done had we moved forward and temperatures were too cold for a tent (leave our guests shivering? cut our guest list week-of? at the door?) -- I asked and and they couldn't answer. On top of it all, they made me feel like I was a problem for having these concerns. At the end of the day, I can't believe that a venue would expect clients to pay full price for half a venue and 40% decreased capacity, especially in a season they admit having little to no bookings. They clearly do not want business in their winter months, but will jerk you around for a month pretending they do.

Exceeded our (extremely high) expectations at every step, turn, and touchpoint!…read more We worked with the AMAZING Teddy and Sarah and from the start knew we were in the right place, space and best of hands. First of all, Firehouse is charming as all HECK. This isn't your drab hotel ballroom where partition walls, lighting rigs and bunches and bunches of flowers can barely start to cover the lack of character. This space has personality and soul, every last inch. Classic Chicago neighborhood setting, we didn't want to leave the beautiful courtyard space. Everything about the venue is built to make your guests feel at home, comfortable and intimate to the party. Did we mention the firepole?! Best entry ever for a groom to make. We can't recommend enough - Teddy and Sarah listened to all our thoughts/concerns/ideas and custom built a space and flow that complimented the night in every possible way.

This a very AWESOME space... with lots of character!! I had my 45th birthday party here. My guest…read moreand I had a wonderful experience. Dan was extremely nice and accommodating. He went above and beyond to make sure my event was a success!! His staff was very nice and professional. He had everything we needed or desired..right there!! This space and his kindness was GOD sent!! Many of my guest that attended my event, are looking to have something in the wonderful space as well!! My birthday event was very IMPRESSIVE.. thanks to Gallery 3949!! You are appreciated Dan!!

We had the pleasure of having our wedding around early March time prior the pandemic breakout at…read morethis place and the experience was excellent and very intimate for our celebration. The decoration, the lighting, and the service provided was superb in every detail. The owner, Dan Simonelli, put a great effort in providing us with the best customer service experience along with the catering from El Metro Cantina. Both vendors were very professional with an exceptional taste for decoration, ambient and gastronomic experience. We were very happy to have them at our wedding reception

Think "Walden," but in the city. At any time during the day, you can call Janet, the creator and…read moreowner of this mini-oasis center and surround yourself with beauty, rest, art...delicious coffee. Sometimes taking a moment to pause and breathe deeply during the grind of life is enough. Many times, however, our body and minds...our souls long for a safe, secluded, local haven that matches the drumbeat of our breath while slowing it down. Anna's haven is truly worth checking out! Whether you are a woman looking to reduce clutter and chaos from life, a club looking for the perfect place to meet, someone longing to take a quick, uninterrupted nap, or a lady in search for the perfect study/writing atmosphere...this place is for you. It is super affordable, less than four dollars an hour and has flexible hours. So....what are you waiting for? ...ps.. this cafe is intended for women and also has a center designed especially for kids. Stroller parking available indoors and plenty of street parking outside! :)

I am such a fan of the Cook County Forest Preserves . And one reason I love them is that there's…read morealways something new to find and explore! Every time I visit I fall in love again. Today I visited the Volunteer Resource Center (VRC) near Edgebrook Woods. They held a program for Black History Month; I really want to support this type of cultural programming within the FPCC system, and it's an added bonus that it sounded interesting. The VRC is right near the Edgebrook Golf Course--the same entrance is for both. But unless you've been to an event here or go to the golf course, you're unlikely to known this was here. It's a really great event space which the FPCC rents out for various events. There's a different rate for county residents versus non-residents, and the cost differs for Monday-Thursday and Friday-Sunday dates. However, the rates seem really reasonable to me. There's a main room which is especially lovely; there's a large fireplace, high ceilings, and a lot of space--this room can hold 100 people. The classroom is much smaller and can accommodate up to 40. Both those spaces can be rented independently of one another, and I think you can rent portions of the golf course as well? All the information is on the webpage. The main room has a kitchen space as well so you can work with a caterer for your event. I wish I had an event for which I could use this space; I'll bet it's especially beautiful in the spring and summer. There are picnic tables just outside the indoor facility, and parking is plentiful as well.

I guess maybe I stepped into the UK or Great Britain because they are doing a sort of layout where…read morethey have a ground floor because I hit floor two and ended up above the exhibition instead of on the exhibition floor. Whoops! Anyway, there are stairs to get to the exhibition floor but right next to it is an elevator. The space is very large; I hadn't been here before nor had I even really noticed it was here, even though its just a few miles away. I was here to attend Disney100 and the exhibit was a large and spacious, so it would be interesting to see what other things take place here and how the building can be transformed. There's a small amount of parking to the north of the building, and what's in front is mostly disabled parking. On Sunday, the paid parking north of the building is free, so that's a cool deal.

The animatronic dinosaurs are really cool but the actual exhibition and what you can do in there is…read morepretty small for $30. I'm not sure it's a great value- if you want to do the bouncy castles afterwards it's an additional $10. Parents or caregivers- if you're just going to watch your kids bounce, you don't have to pay the additional fee. I took my son to a similar exhibition (I mean it was the same dinosaurs) in Denver at our convention center as part of a traveling show. I don't know if this is a permanent exhibition here in Chicago as they try to extend the life of these dinosaurs, but yeah, definitely a steep price for what you get.