Caterer and Parking

Hyde Park Chicago? Have you checked the censure tab here.
I am not sure I fully understand your request but honestly I would plan my wedding venue based on me and my fh's needs not others. If it hairball to be in the burbs or the city it is what it is. I am not sure I would pay for it. Those that love and care for you two will make the effort.
Look into event halls or garden clubs. Some may allow outside caterers but they may have a list of preferred.

You might have consider more non-additional wedding venues because hotels, country clubs, and some banquet halls will either have an in-house caterer or a lost of caterers you have to pick from. My brother's wedding reception was at an old train station that was converted into a place to hold events with offices on the top floor and they allowed any caterer as long as the company was licensed. It was actually were my senior prom was. It is gorgeous with lots of marble and tall white columns.

I realized I didn't include anything about parking in my comments so I wanted to add that I would let the guests figure out their own parking situation. I know for our wedding anyone that choose to stay overnight had to pay to park.

You'll have to do the math to figure out if in-house catering is cheaper or not. My calculations in NYC led me to say, "YEP". Paying for a venue, then the catering, then the tables, then the settings... it all added up FAST. But... some places, it's cheaper! It really depends on your region.

As for parking - a lot of venues will include vouchers for a number of guests, some will provide parking, and... then the rest of your guests have to figure it out, and that's ok.

I don't think there is a huge difference in price for a preferred or non preferred caterer. Most venues provide a list of preferred vendors 1- because they are vendors they have worked with in the past and trust, and 2- it makes it a little easier on the couple. The pro's of not having a preferred list of vendors is you can book however you want.

As far as parking goes, I might be in the minority here, but I think parking is a big deal and should not be a hassle or request payment from your guests. To me, there is nothing worse than driving around trying to find parking, then having to walk however many blocks (in dress clothes) to my destination. I would rather drive the 30-60 minutes to a parking lot then spend 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot in downtown. If possible, provided parking would be a major plus!

What venue are you looking at? My sister attended the University of Chicago so I've spent a lot of time in Hyde Park. What concerns me is that your wedding date is set right around when graduation will be. UChicago's graduation is always right in the middle of June. Parking around Hyde Park that weekend was a complete and utter nightmare both the weekend of and the weekend following commencement. Slightly worse during graduation itself, but nearly just as bad the week after with all the students moving out. We stayed on 53rd street for my sister's graduation and it took upwards of an hour to find a parking spot because all lots were full. Anything south of us closer to the university was even worse. I'd honestly plan to reserve all parking for your guests ahead of time or consider moving your wedding date. Or another option would be to provide a code to cover your guests' Ubers since parking will be a nightmare for the reasons I explained. If your wedding date wasn't around graduation, then I think you'd be fine leaving guests to figure out parking for themselves.

They aren't popular at WW but blank slate venues are your best bet. They are usually cheaper in the long run because they do not include required fees and minimums which cannot be eliminated or negotiated. Most have tables, chairs and a kitchen. You provide everything else. Park event centers which are the cheapest fall into this category


Take a look at Eventective.com and set filters to lowest price first.
Caterers that are not preferred or included in the venue work with your budget instead of requiring you meet theirs.
As far as parking, if you cover the costs for some, it should be covered for all. Ask the lot manager if you can rent it out for your wedding and pay one fee. That's a very common thing to do. Otherwise guests may try to locate an Uber to "save" money but end up spending more for the cab fee. That is a reasonable rate for parking though.

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Thank you so much for the tips!

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Thank you!!!

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I am going to do that today - do the comparative cost differences! Thank you!!!

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I appreciate your opinion especially regarding parking! Thank you!!

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Oooo I haven't heard of that site! I am heading over there now. Thank you!!

As to parking, I think it is awesome you are preplanning to be courteous to your guests! We’ve lived in several major cities recently, and honestly Chicago was the worst for parking- people literally bump into each other’s cars when parallel parking!?! Personally, I would prefer a longer drive with easy parking, but if you chose the city it would be very helpful to at least give people a heads up on where/how to park if you can’t reserve a lot or spots for them. At least knowing that parking could be a nightmare and what a local recommends would help the decision to Uber / bring cash/ plan extra time. Plus, it will hopefully help avoid as many late guests.

Your guests will appreciate you caring about these little things for them!

With the caterer, I would look into multiple caterers before booking one. We wanted a plated dinner for ours, looked into one well known caterer in the area and ended up paying a deposit without looking into anything else. I had a friend mention another caterer a couple of weeks later and after looking into their prices and discounts, I ended up canceling my first caterer and booking with this one - saving $11 per head!

With parking, we have the option to pay for a public parking lot close to our venue for a discounted price. If you don't have that option, I would maybe scope out the area for parking garages nearby and tell your guests those are options along with the curbside parking!