Acorn Theater Reviews

My husband and I chose the Acorn Theater as our Reception site, and we loved it! It is such a unique site. It has a rustic aesthetic, while maintaining a modern feel. We had seen a band here before, and we were excited when we found out that they did weddings, too.
As soon as we came to meet with the manager, Sandra, we felt very welcome and comfortable at the Acorn.
The Acorn has a recommended Wedding Planner that we hired, and she took care of all of the rentals and coordinating with our vendors, which was great.
Because we are both a fan of live music, we had Sandra recommend a few bands for us. We arranged to have a band play for an hour, and then we made our own playlist to be managed by the Sound Guy (an extra $150, but definitely worth it if you would like to save money on a DJ).
Seating was a bit cramped in the main room, and we had to have several tables moved after dinner to create a dance floor. That wasn't a big deal, because there were plenty of auditorium seats available.
They were very flexible with how we wanted to do the bar selection. (All alcohol purchases go through them)
To save on money, we did all of our own decorations, which was a bit difficult to set up because the Acorn had a show the night before our wedding. Luckily, the wedding planner was able to get her service staff to set up the decorations. I still wish I could have set them up myself, so if you want to ensure that you can set up your own decorations, I might see if you can reserve the Acorn for the day before your wedding, as well.
The reception rental price was significantly cheaper on weekdays, so we had our wedding on a Friday. The bathrooms are really nice, too! Great for handicap access.
Overall it was such a cool place, we couldn't have been happier with our choice!

Our experience with the Acorn as a venue for our daughter's wedding was truly "AMAZING." We had guests from Argentina and they were so impressed with the eclectic versatility of the entire building to suit our needs...from the accommodations for musicians (we had piano, acoustic guitar, and saxophone) to the quiet area in the lobby to the super charged dancing in the main room, to the professionalism and friendliness of all of their staff... our event was fantastic! Thank you Acorn, we will be back and will definitely recommend you.

My wife Leslie and I were the first couple to get married in the New Leaf Lounge at the Acorn Theater on Saturday June 28, 2014. The staff met with us weeks in advance to discuss everything we wanted for our ceremony. On the day of our wedding they were incredibly helpful and made certain that everything was in place. They also offer officiating services, which we used, and they took care of setting up tables and chairs and staging per our requests. They ordered and served our favorite champagne for our toast and took very good care of us through the rehearsal, ceremony, and reception that followed.

The Acorn is our family, and it has been since June 11, 2013 when we first performed on their main stage. For Leslie and I, the Acorn Theater venue and the staff provided us the perfect location for our wedding ceremony. We had our fairy tale wedding at the Acorn Theater…we will be forever grateful for the care and attention shown toward us.

We highly recommend the Acorn Theater to anyone looking for a unique and special experience for their wedding ceremony and reception.

Thank you again Acorn Theater ;-)
Sincerely,
Keith and Leslie Bean

A great venue for a reception! The Acorn has a great vibe, classy and arty and fun. The staff was great to work with, and were very helpful in getting everything set up. We had about 100 guests, and the Acorn was just the right size. We live out of town and so we had to do a most of the arrangements with the staff by phone and email, but that was no problem since they were so helpful. Having both a main dining/dancing room and the quieter lounge area was a great way to let our guests party and catch up with old friends.

Their bartending was great, and they were flexible with many different options for bar pricing.

We were able to use their excellent sound system for our playlist. They require their sound crew to run it, but it was very reasonably priced and worth the peace of mind.

If you are looking for a totally rad non-traditional venue within easy driving distance from Chicago, I can't recommend the Acorn Theater enough.

We had so, so much fun at our recent wedding in Three Oaks, Michigan. We probably were in a little over in our heads when we signed the contract to hold our reception here--excited about the pipe organ and unique, cozy space, my now-husband, family, and I couldn't resist this beautiful space.

The big thing we didn't take into consideration? Choosing a nontraditional venue that allows you to bring outside catering and alcohol means that...you need to think about things like renting forks. Luckily, we had the irreplaceable Jamie Lou of Heyday Event Labs to help us figure this kind of thing out.

We were ultimately so happy. The bartenders did a great job. The caterer did a great job. We had a games room and a dancing floor. Becky, the manager, went way above and beyond and we are so grateful for her help. She even called the fire department so we could have a s'mores pit outside -- which many of the guests appreciated, especially at the point in the evening when the music went from Frank Sinatra to Justin Beiber. :)

The Acorn Theater was the perfect venue for us, as the husband and wife we now are. It was rustic, but it felt a little bit urban. It was cozy, and people could move around to be in places that they felt more comfortable.

I am so happy that we worked with the Acorn Theater, that Becky was so helpful, and that Heyday Event Labs transformed this very unique venue into a gorgeous place for a wedding reception!

The Acorn Theater was the perfect place to have our wedding. It was such a beautiful and unique venue, and we received so many compliments from our guests! It was the perfect size for the number of guests (150-160), and was already partially decorated with Christmas lights, star lanterns and the awesome stained glass bar sign. The staff provided us with lots of support before and during our wedding. They were helpful, professional and enthusiastic about making our day run smoothly. It was also nice to have the Journeyman Distillery next door for guests who arrived too early and for guests that wanted to continue to party after the reception was over. We are honestly so happy with our choice to have our wedding at the Acorn. We hope to return each year around our anniversary to attend a play or concert in order to keep supporting the theater. Thanks Acorn staff!

The venue was perfect for us. Unique, great sound and space for our band. Our guests loved it. We were able to play an Animaniacs DVD on the big screen during the cocktail hour which kept our 35 kid guests (and many adults) mesmerized. Flexibility was huge -- we were able to bring in food from local restaurants and pretty much do what we wanted. We ended up spending about the same as a traditional "tent" reception, since everything had be brought in. But the final quality was so much better and more interesting. Everyone at the Acorn is supremely likable :) Cool people who are so into their theater, as they should be. I'd strongly recommend working with Liz, their recommended coordinator. It would have been impossible to manage the servers, all the food deliveries, the table and chair deliveries, and everything else you will need if you go with this venue. There were a couple of avoidable hiccups. Less than a week before the wedding, I was told by the manager that the information I received about the bar ordering was wrong -- we couldn't order the wine we wanted, and its against Michigan law for them to let us serve the liquor wholesale. (Huh? How that could even happen?) I was also told by Liz that tables could seat up to 10 people, so I started inviting extra people based on space, only to find out less than 10 days out that the tables could only seat 8. (another "huh? how could that happen?") Sandra sorted out the liquor finely by giving us a break on the wine as well as making some good recommendations. I do think these are the sort of kinks that will get sorted out nicely as the theater does more weddings. Neither issue made the event venue any less awesome in the end. If you choose this place -- really work the stage & the AV -- it adds a real wow factor. And ask a lot of questions about the bar and the arrangements, and talk to Sandra if you can, she's super on-it. Thanks again, Acorn!! Memories for a lifetime! :)