Naper Settlement

I could not have been happier with my ceremony location! Century Memorial Chapel is charming, historic, and gorgeous. It's also elegant and cozy at the same time. The chapel felt full with my 125 guests, which I really loved--I would not have wanted to walk into a gigantic church and feel like it was empty. The chapel has the elegance of a larger cathedral space--the woodwork and ceilings are stunning, as are the stained glass--but also lets you feel close to your guests. The service at Naper Settlement was excellent, too. Heather was extremely caring and answered any questions I had, which were many, since I was planning long-distance. It seemed like she really cared about my day being special. She was great leading up to the wedding, and then, for the rehearsal and actual wedding, my coordinator Andie was AWESOME. I was nervous about corralling everyone in my wedding party and wasn't really sure when certain people should enter, where my readers should stand, etc. Andie took care of all of that--I didn't have to think about it! She has this great get-things-done personality that ensured the wedding ran so smoothly. I really felt I did not have to worry about anything because of her. Thank you Andie, Heather, and the rest of Naper Settlement for a wedding ceremony my guests could not stop raving about!

We had our ceremony at Century Memorial Chapel and it was absolutely beautiful! Andy was our wedding Cordinator and was wonderful to my groom and I! However, our guests and bridal party had many complaints about her rudeness and arrogance. There were thunderstorms that day at our wedding, which of course threw everything off schedule and she refused to let us leave for bridal party photos until we got to 2 candelabras out that the photographer forgot to grab for us. My husband had paid an extra $50 to the Carillon belltower across the street, where he proposed, for our bridal party photos and we missed that appointment all because of two candelabras she refused to let go you even though we had guests offering to turn around and come back just to get them.
Other than all that, the chapel is beautiful and our ceremony was wonderful and truly blessed and I'm incredibly thankful! One other thing to consider is they do not allow any type of flowers to be sprinkled on the floor, dry, silk, real, fake. Instead we just had our flower girl carry a sign that says "Here comes the bride".
Best of luck to you all and God bless!
Jamie &...

Its beautiful and you really don't need to add much in terms of decorations. Wonderful venue for a smaller wedding. We had about 80 guests and the chapel felt full even though it holds something closer to 150-200. Beth, the chapel attendant was great. She was at the rehearsal, helping with every detail and was also there the day of moving things right along and helping the various vendors. In terms of flexibility, you get your 2 hour time slot and that's it so you have to make sure things keep on track. They book several events within the same day so its understandable and by no means are they rushing you out the door. We probably would have stayed a bit longer for pictures, but other than that you really don't notice the time slot.

Thank you so much Andie! The wedding was beautiful and the attention to detail was wonderful. The chapel is so quaint and charming.

Andy from Naper Settlement was fantastic! She did a great job helping with the ceremony rehearsal and always had a game plan on what to do next and where people needed to be. The space was of course, outstanding and we received numerous comments on how unique and beautiful the ceremony was.

We picked this chapel because of it's beautiful stained glass windows and antique look, as well as the location (we met and were engaged in downtown Napervillle, so it seemed fitting). It's so pretty you don't need decorations. It was also close enough for us to walk over to the riverwalk for photos after the ceremony. The assistant (Andee?) was very helpful and ensured that everything went smoothly. She really made it more perfect than it would have been, and went above and beyond. I was very grateful for all her help. I only gave a 3 for flexibility because the original day we wanted to marry wasn't available even though we reserved a year in advance, and it wasn't very easy to set an appointment for us to test the music beforehand. We were planning a casual ceremony so did not schedule a rehearsal, but my friend who was going to play piano wanted to test it out and see how many steps to the altar for the music timing, and they only gave us a short mid-afternoon window during the week, which meant taking time off work, and then we had to wait for groups of children on field trips and sneak in in between them. Other than that small issue this place was perfect for us, and we had a beautiful ceremony.

The Naper Settlement chapel is a beautiful setting for a wedding ceremony. Our wedding coordinator was very helpful, and had a lot of great suggestions for how to organize our ceremony. I felt at times like she was trying to overpower our Pastor during the rehearsal though, but they ended up working very well together and put together a very good plan of action for us.
Pros: they provide a wedding day coordinator who is also present at the rehearsal, and ours gave some very helpful insights and tips. It is a beautiful chapel and needs little or no decoration.
Cons: It is a tad pricey ($625 for our Friday afternoon ceremony for a 2 hour timeframe- though since nobody else had a wedding that day they were pretty flexible with the time we spent in the chapel). They have very strict rules regarding decoration (i.e what you can hang on the pews, etc), you cannot throw ANYTHING in the chapel (no flower petals real or fake), and you can only blow bubbles or throw birdseed outside the chapel. Also, there were thunderstorms forcasted for our wedding day, and they were adamant that they would NOT open the front door if it rained because they didn't want water getting in the chapel. So we would have had to enter/exit from the basement. Luckily that didn't happen. We had very little contact with them from the time we paid (full payment is due upfront) until I called them a week before the wedding with questions. When I called them it was always several hours to a day or more before I got a response.
I think Naper Settlement is a beautiful place for a wedding, and I recommend it with the caveat that you know what you're getting into before you sign the contract. Their number one priority is historical preservation of the building, so if you're ok with not having a flower girl tossing rose petals in the church, and the like then it's a great place for a wedding.

Naper Settlement is beautiful. This is the main reason why we chose this venue. It is a little bit expensive and they do charge more if the wedding date falls on a holiday weekend. They do provide an attendant on the day of your rehearsal and the day of the wedding. While an accompanist nor a clergy person is provided, they do provide a comprehensive list of recommendations. Also, keep in mind that it is a wooden chapel and therefore no candles except for the unity candle are allowed.

I loved the setting and the chapel. Everyone that came thought it was gorgeous. They had originally lost our contract but we worked it out and everything was still ok for our planned date. They were flexible with us having to change our rehearsal time a few times due to travel schedule. Our wedding planner on the day of the wedding was great. They really let you design the perfect wedding. The setting outside made for wonderful pictures too. If I had to do it all over again I would get married here again!

This is a beautiful location. The chapel is a little dark though, so be prepared for most pictures, except your professionals to not turn out perfect. They book in 2 hour blocks, which doesn't give a lot of time for pictures afterwards, which is a little upsetting. I wouldn't trade it though, since it was a wonderful and historic location.

Beautiful location. Everyone at the settlement was helpful. The size of the chapel was perfect. It held all of our family and friends.

Beautiful location for a wedding. Parking was a bit confusing for guests even when we provided a detailed map. We enjoyed the intimacy of the chapel. The chapel was filled with friends and family, not just the first pews if we had decided to have our ceremony in our parish's church.

WOW what can I say about it! They were amazing! I had my wedding ceremony here and it was just incredible. The way the people work to make your day the best ever is great! The assign a coordinator for you the day before and you work with her throughout the rehersal and then she puts it all in motion the day of the wedding! It really did make my day so much easier! Also, I had forgoten my unity candle and about 10 min before the ceremony, so my brother went to their gift shop at Naper Settlement and they HAD ONE!!! How amazing!? I just can't do anything but rave about the service! Then we got to take great pictures around the settlement and it was just WOW! I loved everything that day and the day of the rehersal.

Also, the library area is a great place to have your rehersal dinner. It's close, and its so beautiful! If you are going to get it catered, i'd recomend Heaven on Seven in Downtown Naperville, they did ours and it was delicious and a great deal!

It was a beautiful place to have a ceremony. They also offered a wedding planner which was very helpful.

Our ceremony was held at Century Memorial Chapel at Naper Settlement, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful location. Because it is a historical building, there are some stringent guidelines in place for what can and can't be done as far as rituals and decorations go; however, none of this was a problem for us. The staff at Naper Settlement was always willing to answer our questions or let us see the chapel "just one more time." Catherine B., the manager, also went above and beyond her responsibilities in approving a friend of ours to play the chapel's organ (he is a professional organist). She also ran our ceremony rehearsal as well as the actual ceremony. Everything was extremely organized; she eased everyone's mind about how our big event would pan out.

As an added bonus, we received a free year pass to Naper Settlement about two months after our wedding!

We could not have picked the best Chapel to get married in. the old look, seating and location was perfect
Beautiful location to pick for your cermony

I loved the chapel that we were married in, and we were able to do the decorations that we had in mind. The only downside was that they failed to tell us that there would be an outdoor concert going on right outside our chapel. The music drowned out our piano and made it difficult for our guests to hear the ceremony. On the upside, however, they had already decided to refund our money before my mother could call the next day. Overall, it was a good experience and the building was beautiful.