The Nineteenth Century Club Reviews

We held our Welcome Party here the night before the wedding and this venue was perfect! The team is very accommodating and friendly. We mostly worked with Woody who helped make everything happen for us, including hiring Chef Jane to cook us wonderful Haitian food. The day of Stephanie helped keep everything together and was so kind. Ryan was great keeping everything together and we received great service from the team. The space worked well for up to 300 people and could have held more! We loved the setup we had for our welcome party and we had the best time.

Such a great venue to host your wedding or any event in Oak Park, highly recommend!

This is an excellent choice for a wedding venue! My wife and I had a wonderful celebration here - both our ceremony and reception were held in this building, and there are multiple floors with different layouts and functions that can suit all the different portions of a wedding day.

Our top wedding priorities were to feed our guests delicious food, have a beautiful ceremony and reception, and have a space that was easy to use and navigate. The 19th Century Club offers all of these things with exceptionally good quality.

The coordinating team (Woody and Ryan) are incredible to work with. They were responsive and offered guidance and support all throughout our wedding planning process, which made our day easy to plan and execute, but most importantly, made it simple for us to be present and enjoy our wedding.

After looking at several very pricey venues in the city, we stumbled upon The Nineteenth Century in Oak Park. And we were simply blown away! It is city-adjacent and had everything we were looking for. Woody took care of our every question and request. We rarely heard a "no" and we were able to craft the perfect wedding we had always dreamt of. He was very quick with his replies and offered us some invaluable advice when it came down to the nitty-gritty details you don’t always think about.

The venue is directly across from a beautiful park, which made for pre-wedding photo ease! There’s also a very large parking garage next to the venue, so parking wasn’t an issue for anyone. Plus, with nearby access to the Green Line, our city guests were easily able to attend.
We are still hearing compliments about the food served at our wedding. My husband and I are both foodies and were able to create a foodie-themed “prix fixe style” dinner menu, all while not breaking the bank.
The day of our wedding, Ryan made sure everything went off without a hitch. He and his staff provided excellent service and we could not thank them enough! We even got compliments on their bartenders, as everyone definitely had a great time.

As the ballroom has a very large stage, we happily contracted with a fantastic 10-piece orchestra who had our 165 guests dancing the night away. When the biggest gripe on your wedding day was that your florist (no connection to the venue) messes up the correct flower colors in some of your boutonnieres, you know you had a successful night! Huge thanks to Woody, Ryan, and their entire staff for making our wedding ceremony and reception so spectacular and memorable!

Danielle Condon is a god send! She gave us the most amazing day! Our food was AMAZING!!!!! Their in house chef is out of this world! Thank you Danielle and the whole staff for giving me a perfect party(wedding) ?

We loved the 19th Century Club for our wedding of 160 guests! We had the ceremony and reception in the ballroom, with cocktail hour down on the first floor (while they flipped the ballroom to set up for dinner). We took photos outside the venue as well as across the street at Austin Gardens. Danielle and Ellen were so easy to work with! They were patient and responsive. Danielle was so helpful as my 'day of coordinator.' She did so much for me that day, and completed everything exactly as I wished. I wouldn't have changed a thing. As far as wedding venues go in the Chicago area, the 19th Century Club is a GREAT value! It is significantly less expensive than comparable venues in the city. They have tables, chairs, etc.. that are included in the fee. Many places require you to rent everything. The ballroom was beautiful for our ceremony as well as our reception. I can't say enough positive things about this venue. If you are looking for your venue...look no further!

We just had our wedding here after booking it the January prior. All in all it was an excellent venue to work with since from the get-go they let us adjust the schedule to fit our needs, recommended an excellent caterer, and the on hand staff was nothing but helpful. The interior decoration is lovely and the building itself is quite gorgeous with a wonderful park across the street for taking photo's in. What is even better is that they use this space for rentals so frequently that they have this process down pat with everything going like clockwork. Best of all it's very affordable running from $1300-$2000 depending on what part of the building you use. If you're looking for a space in the area at least drop by for a visit.

We loved having our reception here. Ellen was a pleasure to work with, she was responsive to any questions/very open to letting us come take a look at the place. We rented only the top floor ballroom only which was very reasonably priced and beautiful. Also, the fee included tables, chairs and dishware which was a big time and cost saver. Very few decorations were needed because it was so classic and beautiful. We had around 140 guests and it was a perfect size. Although the room can hold a lot more, it didn't feel empty at all due to the room setup. The location is also great, not quite in the city but easily accessible via cab or train if necessary. Overall I would highly recommend the venue to anyone who wants a traditional wedding reception but not your typical reception hall.

We just had our wedding here this weekend, and it was beautiful. I loved the club from the minute I saw the pictures on their website, and I was sold as soon as I walked into the ballroom. We used the upstairs ballroom only, and it was perfect because the room is so beautiful that it didn't need any decorations. The decor is clean and elegant. I loved the old fashioned charm of the building. Also, having an event in Chicago in July at a historic building, I was a little concerned about air conditioning, but the room was comfortably air conditioned even after we brought in 100 people! It is a truly beautiful place.

We had a great experience working with Ellen at the 19th Century Club. The venue is beautiful and they were able to do set up in advance, which took a lot of stress off of us. Ellen was patient with my questions and organized at the event. The venue itself is lovely and quite a value. We had Twomaytoz cater the event and they worked perfectly with the 19th Century Club staff and in the space. Go check it out!

We had a great experience last year. The venue is beautiful and all of the staff were responsive and professional.

Pat and Anthony went above and beyond to make our wedding day really special and worry free. I told them what we wanted and they made it happen! The venue was awesome and food was delicious!! I would definitely recommend The Nineteenth Century Club to anyone!

My wedding would not have been as wonderful as it was if it had been held at any other venue. The venue itself is stunning, Danielle and her team were amazingly accommodating and the food was top notch. We rented the first and second floor for our wedding of about 240 people. We used the first floor for cocktail hour and then had the kids eat down there while everyone else was in the upstairs ballroom for dinner. My wedding was 8 months ago and I still regularly have friends and family members comment on how beautiful and unique the venue was. It was so convenient to have everything in one space, but great to save the first look of the ballroom until after cocktail hour. Despite initially having a delay in response when I first reached out for a tour, I could not have imagined a better group to work with in planning my wedding than Danielle and her team. Danielle is a true professional- she is calm and reassuring and throughout the entire process made me feel completely comfortable in her hands. From suggestions such as having the salads already platted when guests are seated to move the dinner service along, to her suggestions on where to place the DJ so he would not be in the background of our photos of the speeches (something I had not thought of!), she knows what she's doing. In addition, she was so accommodating to my father-in-law who was quite particular on the wine choices for the evening! The day could not have run any smoother. We did use their catering services and the food did not disappoint. I will be honest that the food was not a top priority of mine, so I really lucked out that the food here is incredible. So many guests commented on how good the food was- and not just good for being "wedding food", but a genuinely great meal. Lastly, this venue was by far the best value I found and believe me I searched throughout the entire Chicagoland area. I cannot emphasize enough how great of a decision it was to have our reception at the 19th Century Club!

I went with the venue because it was the least expensive in the area. Though, the price tag was lower, the quality was not. I decided to have the food catered through the venue, and the food was out of this world! It was reasonably priced as well. I had buffet style, because I wanted people to eat and eat as much as they wanted. The food tables were set up on both sides of the room, which sped up the process of serving. There was enough food for seconds. I received great compliments on the hall and it's uniqueness and the amazing menu that was selected.
Danielle, the coordinator, was amazing! She was on top of everything. If I had a problem, she would take care of it. She was calm and nice and just wonderful to work with! If I had to do it all over again, I would totally book my wedding reception with The Nineteenth Century Club!

The 19th Century Club was a perfect option for our wedding reception. We got married at a local church and we wanted a nice venue that allowed a variety of catering services so that we could pick what we wanted instead of being forced to use the in-house catering. Danielle was so fantastic to work with and was just the right amount of hands on/off that we needed. We actually switched some of the things on our contract periodically and Danielle never made us feel like we were being difficult and she was so accommodating to work with long distance. They space looked great and we were very happy. Definitely recommend.

I had my wedding reception here on May 27, 2012.
This place was perfect on so many levels... where do I begin?

When I started searching for a venue, cost was obviously a huge factor. My husband and I were planning on paying for the wedding ourselves, and we aren't high rollers. We live in the city, but the venues I found were way above our budget. Oak Park is just outside the city but not too far. There's a Green line CTA stop within walking distance of the club. The price was very reasonable. Since it was a Sunday (of Memorial Day weekend), we got a little discount. We ended up paying $1000 to rent the 2nd floor, but you can rent both floors too. If we could afford it, I would have. The sitting area on the first floor is like something from a 19th century novel. I would have had to pay 3x as much to get a smaller loft space in the city.

So the price was right, but what about the ambience and feel? The second floor room is a large space, with lovely hardwood, a stage and muted, soft purple curtains and taupe walls. There are chandeliers and large windows. It's really like something from a Jane Austen novel. Remember when Bingham moves to town and throws a party at his home? The 2nd floor room could have been the ballroom where Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy first encountered each other. And being an Austen lover, the feel of the space was totally up my alley. But even if you are more of a modern bride, the colors are neutral enough that you can make it whatever you want.

The club works frequently with my caterer, Twomaytoz, so I highly recommend hiring them for the food. My review for them is listed under Cucina Paradiso.

With free garage parking on Sundays (and still very cheap on Saturdays), and it's located right off downtown Oak Park, and Ellen is fabulous to work with-- choosing this place should be a no brainer!

Another plus-- the money you give to this venue goes to charity. It isn't like typical venues where the bottom line is profit. This place uses their profits to fund scholarships. I love that!

Danielle was great to work with (she was exceptionally nice and accommodating). We used their in-house catering service and the food was AMAZING. The space (we used the upstairs ballroom) is obviously gorgeous (although some parts of the building are showing a fair amount of wear). Having said that, some aspects didn't go smoothly as they should have and it seemed to be the venue's issue (as best as we could tell).

I live in Oak Park and happened to walk by the 19th century club one day (long before I was engaged). I had never been inside but knew that is where I wanted to have my wedding. After getting engaged, my fiance and I scheduled an appointment to see the space and fell in love. We did not want a typical banquet hall and the 19th century club offered something more! We only looked at two spaces and 19th century was one of them. Ellen was great in helping us with any questions we had about the process and providing us with information we needed. She was flexible and professional. Our guests all raved about how beautiful, vintage, and unique our venue was. Best part-it's a non-profit that serves students in the community with scholarships! A win for me since I work in education.

We had our wedding reception in the second floor ballroom just a few weeks ago. We only visited one other place before we booked this one, but the location and style were exactly what we were looking for. They are very organized with their tour, price list, venue information, contracts, and catering. They have a list of preferred caterers in the area, and they say they are open to other requests. We contacted several of them, but we ended up going with the in-house catering because it had fewer extra fees and the food was great. Danielle was very helpful and flexible in customizing a catering proposal to fit our budget. The reception itself went very very well, everyone had a great time and the venue was perfect for 150 guests for dinner and dancing. Whatever little problems came up were taken care of by Danielle without me even knowing about them. It was a very low stress day for me and it lived up to all my expectations.
Small complaints: During the planning process, it would often be 1-3 weeks before Danielle would send us notes from our meeting, contracts, or catering proposals that we discussed. It all turned out fine, but the waiting added some uncertainty. Also, near the end of the reception, the staff were a little aggressive with the cleanup. We had the space reserved until 11pm, but by 10 pm they had removed most of the centerpieces and cleared away everyone's drinks. Some of our friends were disappointed that their favors were taken from their tables, and overall I think it encouraged more people to leave early.

I had my ceremony and reception on the 2nd floor of the 19th Century Club. We had about 100 guests so the 2nd floor was more than enough room. They don't book two events on one night so I was able to one of the restrooms on the 1st floor for guests and use the 2nd floor restroom as my bridal room. There is a large sitting room attached to the rest room so it was a very nice place for last minute getting ready and to take some after ceremony pictures.
We used the stage for the ceremony so I did not have to worry about flipping the room. Everyone sat at their tables and was able to see the ceremony.
They have changed staff since I booked so I cannot comment on the current staff.
The venue is so beautiful and vintage. I like that the location serves a purpose unlike a banquet hall.

We did both our ceremony and reception with the Nineteenth Century Club, as well as their in-house catering. The food is AMAZING, and the venue is absolutely perfect. It's also across the street from Austin Gardens Park, which is perfect for pictures or for guests to take a breather outside.

We rented out the Nineteenth Century Club for both the ceremony and reception for our wedding. It is a lovely space and the upstairs ballroom is breathtaking with beautiful high ceilings. It was great to have both the ceremony and reception in the same venue to eliminate guests having to move from one location to another. They were able to accommodate a cocktail hour after the ceremony on the first floor before the reception started upstairs. There is a nice bridal and groom's area for preparation pictures. Austin Gardens is right across the street and is a nice option for photographs. Valet parking was available for guests to make parking easier, which can be difficult in Oak Park. They have a kitchen and catering available on site, but you can also use about a half dozen other vendors. Everything turned out wonderful for the wedding and I am so happy we chose this venue. My only concern was that their event coordinator was not always responsive by email. I had asked for a catering quote and it took about 3 weeks for a reply. For this reason, we ended up going with another catering service who was much more responsive. Overall, it turned out great and I have no regrets about selecting this site.

My wedding at the 19th Century Club was beautiful. We had our ceremony in the downstairs room with the stage, and reception in the ballroom upstairs. We had about 175 guests and we had plenty of space for everyone.

I can't really recommend the ballroom enough. It's gorgeous! With such a nice space (painted a lovely soft neutral gray, which goes with any wedding colors), you don't need much decoration. For the price, this space is FANTASTIC.

Ellen (the event person) was friendly and easy to work with, though not as responsive via e-mail as I would have liked. She will definitely not hold your hand through planning stuff.