We used Big Star for our catering. They were incredible to work with, every little detail was taken care of by their team. The food was the best wedding food I have every had (I may be a little biased, but quite a few of our guests agreed). I have an annoying amount of friends with dietary restrictions and the Big Star team worked so hard to make sure they felt safe in everything they were eating. Honestly was worth every penny!!!

Big Star has always been a favorite of mine in Chicago, so when we needed to make new arrangements due to our original venue closing less than two months out, they were the first inquiry I sent for catering! They made a nightmare of a situation less stressful, which we are forever thankful for! A special shout out to Julia for answering my questions so promptly, being so accommodating, and ensuring our wedding went off without a hitch! We had SO many compliments on the food, which is no surprise at all. If you're having any type of event, I definitely recommend Big Star for all your catering needs!

We had our wedding Welcome Party here on Friday, July 11, 2019. First things first, Big Star was AMAZING - from start to finish. You never would have known they had people transition in and out as we planned our Welcome Party - which started last November - ish.

Big Star does NOT reflect the ugly grind of the wedding industry, at all - we found this was sometimes difficult to avoid in the wedding planning world in Chicago. We were determined to return to the scene of where we met, Wrigley, and Big Star checked all the boxes. To preface our search, we did reach out near and far in the Chicago area to simply get an idea of prices. Big Star was the FAIREST, most budget friendly option for a Welcome Party that was for 55-ish people. Every other restaurant, bar, and/or venue that returned back with quotes were INSANELY expensive, and/or had sky high minimums we would have to meet - aka a second wedding.

Big Star offered different options through both alcohol and food packages - all delicious. This helped us to find the perfect plan, to stay well within our budget. There were also a variety of options in terms of where we would have the Welcome Party - we settled on the Cantina on the second floor, which turned out perfect.

Jenn is who we worked with during the final home stretch, and she was a rock star. She truly went above and beyond with the final touches - we dropped off flowers and a banner early - both were hung and put out for us, and she was in constant communication to ensure everything was planned, set up and went smoothly on the day of our Welcome Party.

The weather was perfect - we were able to open up the ceiling to floor windows, overlooking Wrigley, sun light was pouring in, and they were gracious enough to allow us to arrive thirty minutes early to run our wedding rehearsal - another bonus.

Most importantly, the space itself was beautiful. They put out our flowers, hung the banner we brought, tables had chips and salsa (thanks Jen!), and they even had a chalkboard with a custom welcome on it (they asked ahead of time what we wanted on it). Guests were greeted with margaritas, and apps were shortly put out, followed by dinner.

The set-up was flawless, the flow of traffic was perfect, and they supplied a mic for the toasts. Guests RAVED about the food and drinks.

Only constructive notes would be that they didn't put out the Big Star salad initially (one of our included sides), which was important as we had vegetarian guests. They put it out after I flagged Lauren down - she wasn't super friendly about it, but probably busy/flustered with the crowd. Also, after toasts, I realized I hadn't really eaten (who does when you are the "host/hostess?", so we went over to the buffet quickly to make a final plate - we were out of plates, again, Lauren seemed annoyed by the request, but made it happen. Last, they pretty much ushered us out as we approached the end of our event - they stopped serving guests, which was in our contract and fine, but there was no one upstairs - I get it, they wanted to clean up, but to compare, our post wedding brunch was at a similar venue, they didn't rush us out AT ALL - there wasn't an ending time - they simply cut off food/drinks - our bridal shower was the same - guests were never rushed out, the cut time cut off food and drinks. Regardless, guests left, and many of us stayed downstairs, paying for plenty of drinks - bonus for Big Star.

Would we recommend Big Star? Absolutely. Were they the best choice for our Welcome Party? Yes! The most budget friendly? Yes? An authentic, charming choice, reflecting Chicago? Absolutely! Thank you Jenn, thank you Big Star for hosting a fun, delicious, affordable, charming Welcome Party.