Events at Independence Grove

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!

Of all the vendors that we contracted with for our daughter's wedding, Independence Grove was the most professional, accommodating and overall pleasant vendor to deal with. The food and service was truly outstanding. I'd highly recommend them to anyone.Tania Paez was delightful and very responsive to our questions and concerns.

Food/Service was delicious!!

Absolutely fabulous from the beginning of the process one year ago through the end of the reception - no flaws whatsoever. Every person attending commented how great the food was (and I mean every person - even the kids loved their kids meals and so did the Moms). Could not be happier.I only wish credit cards were accepted.

Excellent service, excellent people, outstanding group of porfessionals that catered my daughters wedding on October 16, 2010.

I was so impressed with everything: the organization of the room, the ease of planning with Tania, the service the captain (Rob) provided the night of the reception, the overall look of the venue, and the promptness of the bartenders and waitstaff. The food was not only delicious, but hot. Even the bars set up outside were arranged to make it appealing to the eye and look professional and inviting. If a server saw myself or my husband (even our parents) without a drink, they would offer one. They would also ask if we needed anything or asked to do anything for us - we were amazed at the personal attention. If I could do it all again, I would once again choose Catering by Michael's at Independence Grove.

The exclusive caterer provided beautifully presented and delicious food. Cost wise it's a bit higher than other caterers, perhaps, but well worth it. The room was transformed w/the gorgeous linens, votives (definitely do the voitive candles), and table settings.

The managers are always there when you need a question answered.

Tania, you all outdid yourselves! Geoff and I, and so many of the guests said it was the most beautiful wedding ever! It was PERFECT! We cannot thank you, Rob and Stewart enough for the best day ever. We both wish the absolute best to you! Xoxoxo. Geoff and LaurenCatering by Michael's is the automatic vendor for Independence Grove and we wouldn't have had it any other way. The food was exquisit. The portions were huge. The presentation was beautiful! Perfect food for a perfect venue!

This place is amazing, it is truly a diamond in the rough. We knew from the moment we stepped on the property that this was our place. The views are amazing and you are surrounded by nature but in such a modern way. The staff is amazing to work with. Stewart, Tanya and Ron are some of the most professional and attentive people to work with. They left no stone unturned and they thought of everything. The food was amazing, like AMAZING!!! We still get calls and emails with complements on how wonderful our wedding was and that the Independence Grove was beautiful and they always mention the cocktail hour on the patio and how great the food was. I can't wait to go to another wedding here just so we can eat the food again. It was so romantic and it is a place we can visit again and again since it is part of the Lake County Forest Preserves. I highly recommend it to any bride who is looking for some place other than a banquet hall. Best in my book!!

I had a picture perfect wedding! Great communication, very accommodating. My father who paid for the wedding also felt that they did a wonderful job and has been recommending them for other events to people. They have done a lot of events and know what they are doing.

Totally professional and kept us on track and even "in line".

The outdoor ceremony and indoor reception were both set up beautifully. The service throughout the day was wonderful--responsive and so warm.

We cannot begin to thank the entire staff enough for an absolutely perfect wedding! Very professional, organized, friendly staff who went over and beyond our expectations on every detail of the wedding. Food was delicious! Thank you to Stewart, Tania and Rob - Highly recommend Events at Independence Grove a Michaels Catering company!

We worked most closely with Tania at Independence Grove. I cannot say enough good things about our experience working with her. She was very responsive, helpful, provided fun ideas to make our wedding day special, recommended room/table layouts, etc. What we loved most about her was that she was approachable. We could bounce ideas off of her and she gave us genuine opinions and ideas. We really felt like she wanted to make our day special – and she did!The venue was AMAZING. We continue to get compliments on how beautiful the space was and the general location. The food was delicious. The tasting we had was very representative of the quality, portion and taste of what our guests were served on the wedding day. What is great about Events at Independence Grove is that they have menu options for all budgets. They also have several dozen menu options for each course – so you can really create a meal/evening that is in line with your personality/style.On the day of the wedding, everything went perfectly. The day-of coordinator was EXCELLENT. He really made sure the night flowed perfectly. Some of our guests commented that each course was timed well and they barely even noticed the wait staff – it really did feel that way, everything ran smoothly. At the end of the night they packed up meals for my husband and I. We were so busy talking/dancing we didn’t get to each much, so this was perfect. We had a “late night” snack of Chicago Style hot dogs – they packed up the remaining leftovers for our guests to take back to the hotel with them.We are so happy with our decision to work with Events at Independence Grove!

I was so happy to do my wedding here. I would recommend everyone to them. They set everything up so I didn't have to worry about anything! They were so good to work with and helped the wedding run so smooth.Just an amazing day all around, I wish I could live that day over and over again!

Independence Grove is a beautiful venue. We had a great experience throughout the planning and implementation of our wedding event. The staff was very professional, attentive and kind. The food was excellent; beautiful presentation!

Stewart was extremely helpful. Robert could not have been more attentive. We had a wonderful time and our guests still rave about the food and service! The room was absolutely beautiful. We are so glad the candles were suggested - thanks Stewart. The cake was delicious and looked just as I had pictured it in my mind. There wasn't anything Stewart, Robert or the staff missed!

Not only were we very pleased with with the level of the service and the professionalism, the excellence of the food, but our guests also commented to us the same.The planning process was a breeze and the suggestions that were made were excellent. Stuart listened to our themes and ideas and made great suggestions to carry that theme through. he was a delight to work with and a wealth of knowledge as to the inner workings of the wedding.The comments we received from our guests were all fantastic!

The event was outstanding with a highly professional staff making even the few snags resolved in a seamless manner.

Absolutely amazing. Everyone was professional and did everything they could to make my wedding special. They were a joy to work with and really know how to throw a party!

Wonderful venue! The staff was very professional and worked to make my dream come true:)

Overall, we really enjoyed working with Independence Grove. Tania Paez worked with us the whole time and she was always responded quickly to emails and phone calls. It is a gorgeous venue and we really had an amazing wedding there. Also, Rob worked with us on the day of the event as our coordinator and went above and beyond to make sure everything was perfect (including taking especially good care of my sick father-in-law moments before the ceremony began!). Catering by Michael's prices may be a little more than other places but they were a top notch caterer. People are still talking about how good the food was!! The tasting very delicious, very professional and representative of EXACTLY what we got the day of the wedding. They were also very flexible and helped us create the exact menu that we wanted. Everything was really wonderful, we're incredibly happy we chose Independence Grove as our venue.

My wedding was absolutely perfect! The ceremony, venue, and reception was amazing! Everyone was awesome to work with. Tania always got back to my questions quickly. Rob was great to work with the day of the wedding. The only problem we had, was we couldn't bring the centerpieces to the venue the day before. Having to find someone that could go do it the day of was difficult, but ended up working out. Thanks IG!

Tania, the Events Coordinator at Independence Grove, was so extremely helpful! She was there whenever I needed to ask a quick question or revise our schedule for that day. She and her team were flexible and extremely detail oriented when it came to the day-of!It was a wonderful day and I couldn't have done it without the help of Tania and her amazing team at Independence Grove!

Independence Grove was the dream place to have your wedding. They were amazing and the night was just about as perfect as it could be. It is a little expensive but worth every penny!! The food, the scenery, the details, everything was perfection!

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I lovedddd this place. It was so beautiful with snow all over the grounds. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a winter wedding!

A beautiful venue to be married at and celebrate. Professional attentive staff. My onlycomplaint from the whole day is very few of my guests knew when the cake was served and many did not get any. Other than that, the day was flawless and I didnt have to lift a finger. Tania, the coordinator, was very accomadating to a last minute rehearsal and left me stressless!

The wedding and the service was fabulous..We could not have asked for more..

Fabulous food! Well organized...they know what they are doing throughout the entire processBoth venues were great. Wedding looked beautiful in the garden and the reception was a great party in the hall!!!I had a fabulous wedding and would recommend the venue to anyone!!!

We had an absolutely wonderful experience working with Independence Grove for our wedding. Tania was very easy-going, professional, and accommodating throughout our planning. Rob was our coordinator on the day of our wedding and was also wonderful. He took care of everything and completely attended to our needs, before we even knew we needed anything!

We were extremely happy with our experiences with Tania and Stewart at Independence Grove. The faciility was beautiful and clean, the food - amazing and consistent. All of our concerns were addressed, everything went smooth, and organizing the day was easy because of the help we received. Alternatives were provided when we had questions/requests, and Rob kept us on schedule for the days events. Although pricier than other venues, we were completely satisfied with our decision.

This place was febulous! At first I thought it was a little expensive until I realized what I was all getting! The plce was beautiful, and the people were great! We still talk about how much fun it was and how gorgeous it was! Our family and friends are also still talking about it, so thats when you know it was perfect! The service couldn't have been any better!

We loved this location five years ago when we attended a friends reception so were thrilled to be married and have our own reception there. Everything was pretty perfect the day of, neither of us have any complaints. The cordinator and event manager were excellent and made everything really easy. We would definately recommend this place to anyone interested in a location that offers outdoor areas for weddings and indoor space for receptions. Also, the food was great! We are still getting compliments on it.

We booked our wedding date approximately 18 months in advance and do not have a single complaint about Events at Independence Grove. The staff was extremely professional, courteous, and responsive. Our coordinator was Beth Beringer, and she was so helpful with all aspects of the wedding, from choosing the linens, finding vendors, and planning the menu. On the day of the wedding, Rob was our Event Manager, and he truly amazed us. He was attentive, flexible, and fun to be around. The food was excellent, and more than one guest commented that it was the best wedding food they had ever eaten. The sweet/dessert table was so good that guests went back for seconds and thirds! They even packed up all the leftovers (and an extra meal for the bride and groom) for us to take home!The only caution I would issue about Independence Grove is that they are only allowed to be so flexible because they do not actually own the property (it is part of the Lake County Forest Preserve). We were fine with the rules, but I could see some people being frustrated by some of them (like no rose petals in the gardens, etc). But we really could not have been happier!

This place is beautiful and the people there we worked with were wonderful! We had our ceremony and reception at the location and were very happy with everything.

What a wonderful place to have a wedding. The food and atmosphere are excellent!

It was great working with Stewart and Tania. The ceremony area was beautiful, as well as the party room. The service provided by Rob and his staff was excellent, as he had to make a couple of quick adjustments in regards to one table ( a mistake probably made by my wife's excell spread sheet). The only problem occurred when the guests came in from cocktail hour to enter the room. The place cards were in one area (the front of the building) and guests were coming in from the other end, not knowing where to sit. Other than that, it was great time had by all. Thank you for everything. I will recommend your venue to anybody.

I was very happy with the reception and ceremony at Independence Grove. I thought the price was right and the food was absolutely delicious. Everything ran very smoothly the day of the Wedding leaving me as the Bride time to have a worried free day and a lot of fun!

The cake did not come out in a reasonable amount of time. There was a 20 minute lag period between the main dish and the cake. Other than that everything was wonderful (esp. the staff). Great food and great times!

I loved this venue! It was so easy to work with all the people at Independence Grove. I had a lot of compliments on how elegant everything had turned out. The people were very nice and respected any details I wanted.

I would highly recommend to get married here. I had the wedding of my dreams, and I could not ask for anything more than what I got.

Our Recpetion was beautiful.We ended up working with a 3rd coordinator, since 2 of them quit during the time that we were planning our wedding. I must say that the 3rd coordinator was really responsive, and enthusastic, which really helped me relax before the wedding. She really pulled through with not a lot of time to work with. Overlooking this detail, everything looked like I imagined it to look!! It is a beautiful place and their team pulled through for us!!!Even though it rained before my wedding and out of luck it cleared up and it was sunny. Events did set up our cocktail hour outside onthe veranda- it was gorgeous!

The venue is wonderful and the food is amazing. The event coordinator the night of the event was great. This place really pays attention to detail. We had a wedding that people talked about for weeks after the event. The only challenge I experienced with this venue was the event coordinators working up to the day of the event. In the course of just over a year we worked with three different event coordinators (not including the one who was with us the day of the event). Two of them did not have good turnaround time in responding to phone calls or emails. However, I would not let this deter you from having a wedding here - just be up front that you want appropriate turn around time to emails and phone calls. This venue is a bit on the higher side when it comes to cost, so I felt they should have been more responsive during the planning phase.

Independence Grove is beautiful and very different from any other reception hall and that is the only reason I still went with them after the service I received at first. I was not receiving emails or phone calls back and had to ask several times for information. The coast is a little high but you are paying for everything you see and your guest are able to experience and it is worth it. The day of the wedding the staff was amazing and the head server truly helped make my wedding outstanding. He was on top of everything and made sure we were taken care of. We had an Ice Cream Bar instead of cake and it was put away and melted before my husband and I could get to any, he felt bad so he sent someone to the store to by ice cream for us (so sweet). He also made sure we had food to take back with us to the hotel. The ceremony was set up so beautiful but we had to walk through the kitchen to get to wear I walked out so he helped make sure my dress did not get dirty and made sure I did not fall. The Catering service they used was amazing and worked with all dietary issues some of my guests had. I loved our golf cart driver; we all had so much fun with him. I would recommend Independence Grove but because my day turned out so amazing but you just have to be willing to stay on top of them.

Independence Grove is such a beautiful venue. My husband and I really wanted something different, not just ballroom C at a local hotel and Independence Grove really delivered in that respect. The room is beautiful and very comfortably fit our 200 guests. The captain the night of the wedding kept everything running smoothly and there were no glitches whatsoever; at least not that I was aware of. My biggest issue with Independence Grove was with the catering manager. For the most part she was quick to respond to questions and she did revise our event order nearly 8 times but she was completely unwilling to discuss cost with us. If you can't bend at all, fine, but to completely blow us and the discussion off is really unprofessional in my opinion. About 5-7 days before our event she sent me a vendor rules document that was three pages long and included some very strict guidelines for our vendors. Each and every one of them had said they never saw anything like it. There was a rule about what we could give for favors; I wasn't doing favors so it wasn't an issue but what if I had spent all sorts of money on something that wasn't allowed?! There was also a 3 day window where the vendors had to inform IG of their arrival time- ok fine, except I got the sheet 6 days or so before the wedding. Our vendors contacted her directly and worked things out but it was very stressful for me to have to distribute that a week before the event and get a flood of e-mails back saying WHAT?!? The timing was very poor. Like I said, the venue is gorgeous and the day went off without a hitch it just wasn't the smoothest part of planning by any means.

Absolutely beautiful location, fantastic food, ceremony in the garden was wonderful. Sometimes it was hard to get a hold of the event coordinator to make arrangements, but in the end the event left people talking about how great the wedding was. I had a morning wedding with a sumptuous brunch buffet.

The best parts about Independence Grove are the venue (absolutely gorgeous), the food (delicious) and the day-of service. All of our caterers and bartender were wonderful and they went above and beyond for us and our guests.Our account manager was not very customer-service oriented. I think if we hadn't called her we wouldn't have heard from her from when we signed the contract till the day of the wedding! Many times we felt we were asking her questions that she should have been answering for us more proactively. Perhaps because we were at the pavilion and not the big indoor building, we didn't get the best treatment. At one point she actually told my husband "the pavilion is not a VENUE." Really, because that's certainly what it said on our expensive contract!We got lots of compliments on our food and the day-of service -- and we love Independence Grove. But the planning was stressful due to not feeling like we were getting good customer service.

Our first contact here disappeared right after we signed our contract, never to be heard from again. We spent a couple months trying to get a hold of him before an email we'd sent was finally answered by someone else. This caused us to be late on things such as taste testing. Because of this, we had to choose our meals without ever tasting them. This worked out okay because everything we tried from them was delicious.We had to schedule a time for our rehearsal, but when we showed up, there was a wedding going on! Oops! Our day of coordinator, Robert, was awesome though. He bought us lunch while we waited for the wedding to end. The next day he checked on us repeatedly, and he even gave us a bottle of champagne to take home with us!The day turned out really beautiful, but most of the time leading up to the wedding we had no clue what might happen because we couldn't get a hold of anyone to ask our questions.

Many people have told me that they had a wonderful time at this place. I went to check it out and it was beautiful. I was in email contact with the coordinator there and I specifically asked how much it was all going to come to (or a very good ball park number) and she quoted me one number (it was very low and I couldn't say no!). I told her to draw up and a contract and to mail it to me. She mailed it to me and in the contract was quoted a completely different number (that was WAY higher than the number she quoted me last time). Of course I emailed her and asked for an explanation and instead of getting a friendly email back, she emailed back and was really defensive and rude. And to top it off, she didn't actually answer any of my questions. She was completely rude and unprofessional.If you have money to burn and don't mind round about answers, go to her! But if you want a pleasant experience, I'd steer clear of this place!

There was 45 minutes between the salad and main entree...unacceptable! Wedding coordinator quit the week of the wedding and new coordinator obviously felt dumped on, did not follow plan even after review with her. Overall, for the money we were disappointed in the service...our guests noticed as well.

Independence Grove is an elegant venue and the staff treats you and your guests like kings and queens. They land is beautiful it's the prettest venue in the North Suburbs. I highly recommend taking a look at this venue when searching the North Suburbs. All of my brides that used Independence Grove as their venue couldn't have been more delighted.

Independence Grove is an elegant venue and the staff treats you and your guests like kings and queens. They land is beautiful it's the prettest venue in the North Suburbs. I highly recommend taking a look at this venue when searching the North Suburbs.

Awesome place the staff was excellent and what a view loved it

This venue is a spectacular place for a private event. Garden ceremonies, and a great facility for a party. I highly recommend it!

Great venue to have a wedding.

Bar none one of the best venues not only for a great ceremony setting, and reception room but impeccable sevice and food to go along with it. A definate must to at least check out for a fantastic wedding setting

We were really surprised at how wonderful this venue is. The views are terrific, with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the well landscaped grounds. There is a patio area off one side of the room, for cocktails, smoking, etc. The staff is very accommodating and there is easy access to parking. Plenty of pre-function space as well.

One of the best Chicago venues for weddings. I have been the wedding DJ at Independence Grove for many receptions. This place is elegant, fun, and just awesome! Food is excellent, staff is knowledgeable and polite, and the views are beautiful. Catering by Michael and the staff of Stewart Glass are the best. Top notch wedding venue for wedidngs of all sizes when you want a high end feel in a spectaular forest preserve in Libertyville, IL. A great place to DJ amazing parties!

Independance Grove was a great venue to have a Wedding. This venue has enough space for a wedding over 200 guests, and the staff is also very helpful and great!

Independence Grove is one of the most beautiful venues in Lake County. I love visiting the park and its fun to do events there too!