A really beautiful location. Close to Chicago but far enough to for people outside of the City.

We could not have been happier with Independence Grove as our wedding venue. Our guests were blown away by all of the care and details that Independence Grove put into our wedding. The ceremony room was beautiful and the reception room was way beyond our expectations. I cannot say enough about the warm atmosphere that they were able to create on a crisp, Fall day. Not only did everything look beautiful, but guests commented that they had never tasted better wedding food. It was incredible and every single dish came out piping hot. We worked closely with Tania and she was amazing. In moments of the most stress, she was there to calm us down and make sure we knew everything was going to be okay. She was amazing and we felt so lucky to have her as a part of our wedding experience. I cannot possible say enough good things about Independence Grove. I would recommend this venue to anyone and I already have!

Are wedding was truly a success thanks to Independence Grove and Catering by Michael, I have a feeling I will be hearing how great our wedding was for a lifetime. The food was phenomenal, hot, and cooked to perfection. The venue was picture perfect - rustic/elegant, and the service is beyond words. I highly recommend this venue for an outdoor/indoor event and reasonably priced for the service. Both Tania and Stewart were awesome - great family/friendly environment. Great time!

I would absolutely reccommend this place to anyone looking for a venue. All of my guests kept commenting on how beautiful the scenery and room were!! Also, the service was unbelievable!!!! My husband and I were catered to and truly felt like a king and queen for the night. I wouldn't change anything about this place :)

We had our reception at IG on 9/10/11 and were amazed with the venue, service and food. Multiple guests commented throughout the night that this is a perfect venue for a wedding. Stuart and Tania are great to work with and made for a stress-free experience. We wouldn't change a thing if we were to do it all over again!

Independence Grove really blew us away! The impression it left on not only us (the bride and groom), but all of our guests as well, is something everyone is still buzzing about 3 weeks after the wedding.

At the beginning of our search for a venue, we knew we wanted an outdoor ceremony. We looked at the obvious choices - the Morton Arboretum, the Chicago Botanic Garden, Cantigny - and either we were stunned by the ridiculously high pricing, or the venue couldn't accommodate more than 200 guests comfortably. Then, we stumbled upon Independence Grove in one of our many Internet searches, and we dropped by for a visit.

Stewart Glass was our first point of contact. He was incredibly helpful with answering all of our questions and being available to show us around; also knowing when to leave us alone if we needed to talk things over. His passion for the venue and the catering services was infectious - we quickly grew to love Events at Independence Grove (EIG), just as he did! The incredible, awe-inspiring beauty of the location, combined with the more-than-reasonable pricing seemed too good to be true, especially for the quality of food Stewart boasted about. We were sold. We booked EIG for Labor Day Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011, taking into consideration Stewart's recommendation of the month of September (less chance for inclement weather for our outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour).

When it came time to begin planning the event, we were introduced to Tania Paez. I (the bride) am a fairly meticulous person, and my husband wanted to be very involved in planning our wedding (unlike most grooms) - he wanted to make sure we got our money's worth! Between the two of us, I sent HUNDREDS of questions Tania's way. But she never made me feel like a pest. I would just shoot her an e-mail, and she'd respond right away. Once she leaves the office, she sets an automated reply, letting everyone know she's away from her desk and that she'll be back the next day, so I always knew when to expect her response. When we didn't like something (the type of cloth used for the napkins), and she didn't have a convenient alternative (the vendor she was using didn't offer another option in our color), she went out of her way to find us what we were looking for, even when it meant going to a less-expensive alternative. When we were unsure of something, her recommendations were spot-on. When something was concerning (the bakery mistakenly called me about the balance for our cake), one e-mail to Tania was all it took to straighten things out. Tania was my right-hand [wo]man. If I had known her longer, I would have asked her to be a bridesmaid! The day of the wedding, she was a breath of fresh air among a sea of stressors. And when we came to pick up items the day after the wedding, she was there, hugging me and telling me again how beautiful I looked in my wedding dress the day before. I can't say enough about all that she did for our special day.

And then, there's Rob Roman, the Function Director. If Events at Independence Grove is Oz, Rob is most certainly the Wizard. Weeks before the wedding, I had questions about the timing of things for the reception (so we could make an itinerary for the DJ and other vendors). I was referred to Rob, and he called me right away to discuss my questions. When he didn't reach me with the first call, he called again a little while later. My work day is hectic, and I'm not usually available by phone for anything but work until about 7 p.m., but the late hour on a weekday didn't bother Rob. He spoke with me for 45 minutes, detailing how our event would go, and leaving room for flexibility, depending on what we wanted to happen. The night of the wedding, Rob was ubiquitous - seemingly everywhere at once, yet never in the spotlight. He orchestrated a masterpiece. When you needed something, Rob was there, somehow already knowing that you were in need - even when it wasn't the bride and groom in need (at one point, my mom wanted an appetizer that she forgot to get during cocktail hour, so Rob brought her four of the mini burgers: two with cheese, two without). Unfortunately, one of our guests needed medical assistance the night of the wedding. Rob handled the situation like a pro. He knew the emergency would dampen the party's spirits, so he brought the guest to a back room, discreetly closed a few doors to the hall, and arranged for the paramedics to assist him and take him out the back door to the ambulance. I had no idea that something was going on. Like many of my guests, I merely heard about the situation later that night, never knowing it had happened until word of mouth spread the rumor. The reception continued to be a hit, and I am forever indebted to Rob for his classy, considerate service on one of the most important nights of my life.

Earlier I mentioned that the food sounded too good to be true for the price. But it was most certainly true! I was concerned that the appetizers and entrees wouldn't be as good as they were at our tasting, since making meals for three allows much more attention to detail than making them in mass quantity for nearly 200 people. The food was JUST AS GOOD, if not BETTER than when we tasted it months before during our selection process. My husband's grandmother, a Polish lady who knows her food and cooks/bakes often, continues to rave about the mini burger appetizers. "The best burgers I've ever had!" she says. And though my husband and I didn't get to eat much during the reception, Rob was there for us - at the end of the night, he sent us away with to-go containers full of food (our full entrees, slices of cake, fruit). Even at 1 a.m. after being reheated in a hotel microwave, our entrees were delicious. We were amazed that the meat was still perfectly cooked, not dried out like many weddings we'd gone to before.

In the weeks since the wedding, we have received many complimentary calls and cards in the mail, raving about the experience our wedding provided our guests. "It was like we were on vacation," they're saying. The weather was gorgeous, the views were stunning, the outdoor ceremony in the Native Gardens and the cocktail hour on the veranda overlooking the lake - amazing. And the reception was a great party, allowing everyone to escape every now and again for fresh air on the moonlit veranda with a full view of the lake on one side, the dance floor through the windows on the other.

Simply amazing. The best day and night of my life, and I have Events at Independence Grove to thank for it.

Great venue, great people, great service, prompt, on top of everything, the guests had nothing but great things to say about the place, about the hall, and the food.

Tania, Bob, and the whole Independence Grove crew are incredible. From the very beginning, all the way to the end, they took care of everything with class & grace. Even small things like making sure there was cold bottled water during the summer ceremony. They do a great job of making sure your every desire is fulfilled without being overbearing or nagging. We could not be happier, and highly recommend Independence Grove, especially if you're looking for a place to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue (we were since it was an interfaith ceremony). One other great benefit is they have amazing places for pictures, all of which came out great. The food was fantastic as well, and Tania was great helping us add things last minute to make our minimum (speaking of which...I highly recommend the chocolate fountain with dark chocolate!).

Everyone was very accommodating and every guest has not stopped raving about the venue inside & out, the food, and the staff. They made our special day truly magical

Their timeline was helpful when planning. The tasting was wonderful and the suggestions upon when to serve everything was perfect. The amount of food was perfect with plenty for the guests! Any questions we had about smaller details were answered and covered perfectly.

I had my reception here. They could not have been more helpful. I basically just told them what I wanted and they took it from there. Also, I was really impressed during the actual reception with the attention to detail. I felt like we were catered to perfectly. For example, since I was on the dance floor all night, Robert, the function manager would bring me little glasses of water every 15 minutes to make sure I didn't get dehydrated.

I also found Tania, who helped us coordinate everything, very flexible and helpful. I would highly recommend this site to future brides.

I had an amazing experience working with Independence Grove and Tania- they were easy to communicate with and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a venue for an upcoming event

Thank you for EVERYTHING! This was the best experience that a couple could ask for. Your service was flawless. Thank you for making our dreams come true!

The crew at Independence Grove exceeded our expectations every step of the way in planning and executing the wedding of our dreams! Tania was always there to guide us and keep us grounded throughout the planning process, and somehow managed to make it fun for us both. The wedding day ran smoothly with the help of Rob at IG. Our food was AMAZING thanks to Michaels Catering! And we really could not ask for a better setting for the most gorgeous wedding photos! Every guest at our wedding could not help but rave about the entire experience. Independence Grove was at the top of our wedding budget, but you get what you pay for...and in this case...we got so much more than we had ever expected!

A big thank you to everyone at Independence Grove who helped make our wedding day the most special, memorable, and magical memory for us and our guests. You ROCK!

Our daughter's wedding reception was held at Indepence Grove this past weekend and the whole event was a "Class Act" from the intial planning til he final dance. Comments from family and friends continue to pour in. Thank you for helping us make this such a special day.

BR

Events at Independence Grove took care of everything for our wedding. My husband and I received numerous comments on the wonderful food from our guests. The food was absolutely amazing! It was a pleasure working with Events at Independence Grove and our wedding was perfect! I recommend to anyone to use Event at Independence Grove for your special day, I am happy that I did!