The Narnia Estate

We live local in Lemont and I just read the post that someone else posted and I have to disagree. My wedding was in November of last year and everything was wonderful. The staff at the narnia estate helped my day go perfect! The food was wonderful. I am not sure about who the chef is but we had a lot of guests tell us it was wonderful. So sad for you that you had such a bad experience but through the 14 months I planned my wedding with them they couldn't have been nicer to me or my mom.

I could not have asked for a more perfect experience for the greatest day of my life. Just had our wedding at Narnia....10/31/09.....and it was a magical evening none of the guests will ever forget.

Thank you to Narnia for EVERYTHING!

Narnia is absolutely beautiful. My guests were impressed with the decor, food, and landscaping. We had rain on our wedding day, but we did not mind in the slightest because our indoor ceremony was perfect. Working with Katie and all other staff, during the planning process, was painless. We absolutely loved The Narnia Estate. Although Narnia may be a little more expensive than other venues, it was worth every penny. Best part was that we did not eat "wedding bland food". The food was delicious! I will recommend this venue to everyone. Thank you Katie for making our day perfect!

As soon as we arrived at Narnia for our first visit, we knew that this place would be the establishment for our wedding. We had 3 priorities when choosing a venue: 1) an exquisite outdoor location, 2) excellent food and 3) excellent service for our guests. Narnia truly encompassed all of these items.

The grounds and home are beautiful. The staff is professional, timely when responding to questions, and very flexible to all special requests. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for an outstanding venue for both their ceremony and reception. Narnia has a very high caliber staff which truly makes the planning and the wedding day stress-free.

Fabulous setting for any wedding. Staff was courteous and provided excellent service. Grounds are great for taking many memorable pictures. Food was delicious.

love love loved the narnia estate!!! inside and out...great service...different environment...our guests had a great time...we had only our reception here!

Narnia in July is the most beautiful place. I recently got married and it was a fairy tale wedding. Everyone was blown away by the grounds. It's absolutely gorgeous. I would recommend this place to anyone that wants a unique wedding that's one of a kind!

We just got married at the Narnia Estate and it was the most wonderful day of our lives. It's funny because I normally don't write reviews but it was everything my husband and I had hoped for. The staff went out of their way to make sure that everything was taken care of right up until the very day. We are still getting phone calls and emails about the estate and how bueatiful it was. Our friends were so blown away by it's privacy and bueaty. I would highly recommend the estate to anyone looking to host the most wonderful and memorable day of their lives. The staff and food was amazing. I can't believe how great the chef was at the tasting and how they made our menu come together for us.
Thank you Narnia Estate! We couldn't have put all the details together without you.

We had our wedding at The Narnia Estate on September 10th and it was amazing. There are many beautiful places to take your wedding pictures and our guests were really impressed with everything. The food was great and the cake was better than any wedding cake that we have ever had. We would highy recommend The Narnia Estate for your wedding.

The Narnia is a beautiful venue for our daughters wedding. As mother of bride I would have liked to seen the reception hall before having guests entered. Rachel was very helpful in planning the timing of events. Wait Service was wonderful, on time, and professional.
Chef Amy and her staff was AMAZING! Food was delicious, entrees were served hot and fantastic cocktail appetizers. Special dietary needs were met. Gluten free and vegetarian! super job! Bartender was fun too! Very special place!
Would have liked to have the reception hall for a longer time.

We had our wedding at Narnia Estates on 10th July, 2011. We had an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception. It turned out to be really beautiful and elegant. I think some of the food prices were a little high but were comparable to other places, if not a bit lower, so overall it was a great experience. I heard from my guests that they loved the food and cake and it was the best 'wedding food' they had ever eaten, which says ALOT since my friends go to alot of weddings.

Rachel took great care of us from start to finish and did a great job 'day of.' she's very calm and reassuring and doesn't get too riled up about things. When we went back and forth about cupcakes she was really patient so that they would look the way we wanted them too and worked with us on having additional musicians come to perform and was flexible.

It would be nice to have more space outside for the ceremony, such as around the backside of the house but it's not really designed for that but for the future, I think that would be a great area to have an outdoor cocktail hour as an alternative to the front pavers, which was lovely, but just a suggestion. :) There also seems to be an old tennis court back there that could be taken out to make room for more space and looks well shaded with trees, or perhaps more garden space for cocktails. It was overall really lovely, we enjoyed the day and didn't have any hiccups. Thanks for an amazing day and I would recommend you get there early, around Oct or Nov to start booking as they book up fast for the Summer dates and you'll definitely want to book ahead for this place, so you don't miss out. :)

I did not have my ceremony here but we did do our wedding reception here and it was wonderful. From the moment we signed the contract Melissa and Katie walked me through every step. The food was wonderful and the cake was amazing. Thank you Narnia!!! I wish I could do my day all over again this November. I am just sad that it is over : (

I had my wedding in June at the Narnia Estate. It was an absolute fairytale. All of my guests were so impressed by the grounds and the tent. Rachel is incredible, booked a party bus for my guests to get home in, called in an extra bar tender when my 100 person wedding outdrank most 100 person weddings, and made sure everything ran smoothly!

Professional and very helpful. The ladies working there can be your wedding day coordinator, and they are awesome. Beautiful place - outdoor ceremony, tented reception.

we had our wedding at the estate last summer and I could not have asked for a better experience. Everything was beautiful from the estate grounds to the glorious tent. We were able to have an outdoor cocktail hour that our guests are still talking about. The grounds are exquisite. The staff at Narnia could not have been more helpful from attending to the bridal party to helping the guests. The food was great and the staff serving it was very attentive; picking up after the guests as well as getting them anything they need. I could not have had a better wedding day. Thank you to for all of the hard work the staff at Narnia put in to make my day a very special one.

Narnia Estate was the most beautiful place for a wedding. It truly blew my guests away! The food was excellant and the cake so delicious!! The wedding coordinators were awesome and returned calls quickly. The day of, they took care of everything. Such a great place for pictures. If you want to have location that is differnt than most, this is the place!!

We had our daughter and son-in-laws baby shower at The Narnia Estate in early June. It is the most spectacular place! Our guests were amazed at it's beauty! We had a wonderful time, and couldn't begin to adequately express how incredible it was to be there, and work with the staff (especially Raven). Even though there were some minor snags leading up to, and during our event. It was all far overshadowed by how beautiful it was. We were so very, very happy. The day of our party Melissa hosted with us, and she was there throughout the whole event. Her guidance, support, and professionalism were really special. If you are looking for an unforgettable, unbelievably exceptional place to share your special occasion with family and friends, please visit Narnia. You will fall in love with it, and the great people that will help you organize your celebration.

Our daughter's wedding was one of the first at Narnia. We had planned on an outdoor wedding, but it poured all day. The staff set up indoors and everything was beautiful. The estate is exquisite and was extremely clean...the grounds are beautiful but could have been kept up more meticulously considering the estate is only used for private events and is expensive. The food was excellent (MaiChef Cuisine from Chicago) but the bar tab was extremely overpriced for what we received. Overall, if you are looking for that uniqueness and NOT a cookie cutter wedding, I would highly recommend Narnia.

The venue was beautiful for our ceremony and reception. The staff was very nice and helpful both before and during the wedding. We could not have picked a better place to get married.

Narnia Estate is absolutely gorgeous both inside and out! We loved the woods, the “gazebo” and the interior of the house for our October wedding. Our day went pretty well. Minor snafoos will always happen. But they were dealt with quickly and professionally. We had a Sunday morning brunch wedding for many reasons including loving brunch, location availability, and cost. Cost wise Narnia is very expensive, but by not going with the traditional evening wedding package and instead having mostly the regular brunch package we were able to save money and afford it. However, the negotiation process was very difficult with Narnia wanting to charge me lots of money just to be able to wait inside an hour before the ceremony or take photographs before hand. I felt this was unnecessary, as it wouldn’t cost them any money or extra manpower since I only had 2 bridesmaids and they would already be setting up for the reception anyway. However, the day of was cold and without my even asking they let guests come in before the ceremony to stay warm and I thought that as very nice. I would get married at Narnia again, but I wish they would work out more reasonable pricing and would have assigned me one person to work with which would have made finalizing the deal and getting my questions answered much easier

The Narnia Estate is incredibly beautiful. My guests really enjoyed themselves. There was also a great area to get ready in for the guys, they got to play pool which they were very excited about.
The original linens I chose were no longer available, so that was a pain to deal with. They also don't respond very quickly as far as phone calls, but it wasn't too bad. I am really glad I had a day of wedding coordinator, because she directed the whole day. I think otherwise it would have been a little chaotic because no one else from Narnia was really there to direct things.
I would still recommend the venue, it's very beautiful for pictures!

Narnia was a beautiful and unique venue for our wedding! All of our guest were completely in amazement of the tent and the grounds! It really sets the tone for the evening and everyone had a wonderful time. There were a very few minor things that I would just warn future brides and grooms. First, was that they tell you that only the bridal party is allowed in the house prior to the ceremony which wasn't true. It was extremely annoying to have guests coming into the bridal room and tons of people in the front foyer while you are finishing up getting ready. I would have appreciated those few minutes with my bridesmaids to relax a bit as they had promised. Also, some very small issues were they didn't put a plate and fork up by the cake when we cut it and if you leave anything behind that evening expect never to get it back. Lastly, the meals are unexpectedly smaller compared to what remembered from the tasting. Many of the men were still hungry. None of these issues are severe enough not to recommend Narnia! Katie and Melissa and extremely nice and make it a very comfortable! If you are looking for a unique private venue this is the one! We maxed out the room and yet it still felt very intimate!

Narnia Estate is beautiful and unique and secluded, letting you have a very personal, private day. However, although I loved the atmosphere of the estate and it was perfect for us, there were several drawbacks.

The major minus is that dealing with the staff is very confusing, as other posters have already noted. I would send an email to Katie and get a reply from Melissa and ask a follow-up and get a reply from Katie again: which in itself isn't too bad since at least someone is replying. But, it became hard to keep track of if everyone was one the same page over there (which was not always true). There was a lot of confusion for me because even when I was told to go over there to drop off a check, I would go in and there was someone to take my money but not answer any questions I had! I wish they were better at communicating to their clients and even if there are multiple events in a weekend, well this is the business after all. Be prepared to track your conversations yourself on your end because you need to keep yourself and them straight. I had last minute seating changes (not really last minute since it was still half a week before) which my mom actually had to argue with the staff to get them to fix the number of chairs at a table even though it was still resulting in the same headcount number.

This is not a cheap location, but I thought it was worth it for the privacy of having the whole place exclusively for us, and we had both ceremonies and the reception here. Many times going to the suburbs is cheaper then a downtown location, but if you think that is the price of having your event at Narnia that is not true. They price themselves very similar to the Botanic Garden in that they know they have an atmosphere that people want, just like restaurants with great views of the city and lake do, so just know that going in. This place is most worth it if you are doing both ceremony and reception to get the most of the grounds.

The Narnia Estate is a unique and beautiful place to get married. I just had my wedding at Narnia two weeks ago and it was perfect! It is a beautiful place to get married and it feels like you are getting married at home. The staff can be challenging to work with - at times I waited over a week for a returned phone call, and e-mailing can be risky because they don't always seem to read the entire e-mail message. The staff on the night of the wedding was good, but dinner service was a bit slow to all the tables. There were no problems that evening - I had an outdoor ceremony and a cocktail hour inside the house and then the reception in the gorgeous tent. Everything was exactly as I had picked out and specified. On the day of the event, they know what they are doing, but leading up to the event, they can be a little hard to work with. Their hours are not always convenient (closed Sundays & Mondays, and close other days at 5pm, so you really have to work to get out there). Overall, I would recommend Narnia because it's simply beautiful!

This was a tough review to write because the Narnia Estate is GORGEOUS. As a bride that had to pick my venue from long distance (my dad then went to check them out in person), it was clear to me that this venue was my #1 choice based on the grounds.

It was also tough because the level of service given prior to the wedding and then on the wedding day were kind of night and day (at least from what I could tell). For example, before the wedding:
- When we made an appt to first come and visit, it was like they didn't know we were coming, they were more interested in talking about their titles then showing us around
- When I came in to discuss the cake and other details, they didn't have paper to write down what we discussed, then when they did, it didn't appear as though they wrote everything down, they ended up taking my dad's notes, etc....and then ended up getting the cake order wrong (fortunately, they called to confirm, so I was able to correct it before the wedding day - although I asked them to call back to confirm they received my message, and they didn't)
- They told us we could bring in Indian food, but then were very inflexible about letting us actually do it -- if my dad hadn't written it into our original contract, they would have told us no _ GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN WRITING!

During the wedding:
- They were FANTASTIC with handling details, taking care of vendors, getting things where they needed to be, helping to coordinate timing, etc.
- They had a bottle of champagne in the bridal suite and were generally around to help

Flexibility-wise they were not great, although I understand the concept that they are not a hotel which has space/need for food daily and multiple facilities, however:
- I felt like ANY change from the norm incurred a charge (extra chairs, substituted food choice, etc.)

It's not an inexpensive place either, but that just depends on your budget, I suppose...

All in all, I would definitely recommend Narnia if you want an outdoor wedding, can afford the price, and have somebody that can keep them honest in the planning process. If not, you might be well served to try somewhere else...

If you want a beautiful wedding venue, Narnia is absolutely the place for you. We fell in love with the location and the setting. Absolutely Beautiful! The vendors they recommended were ALL phenomenal. Some of the staff at Narnia, however, were lacking in flexibility and professionalism, while others on staff were just great! Getting them to return phone calls was often difficult. Maybe that's because there were three weddings going on that holiday weekend? Some of them were pushy and demanding regarding the planning of the wedding. When offering critiques about the property (ie. there are some weird sculptures and statues in the yard), some staff took personal offense. The gardens however had just been landscaped and were picturesque. If you book the Narnia Estate, I recommend working with Sharon. She is great, really helpful and responsive. Finding a time to rehearse the wedding on site was very difficult. I recommend Narnia, because it is the most beautiful venue around. Hands down. However, if you are looking for a smooth wedding planning process, I would look elsewhere. When all was said and done, Narnia was where our lives forever changed and the memories of our day are, and will always be, priceless.

I have mixed feelings towards Narnia Estate. The place is beautiful and very unique and we were completely happy with the setting and how the night turned out. It is very expensive though. And the staff were very hard to work with. They are just not very responsive; I felt like I was bothering them every time I asked a silly question. All in all, the wedding turned out beautifully; it was just a little stressful getting there.

We held the wedding and reception for our daugher at The Narnia Estate in late May, 2011.

The venue is very beautiful for an outdoor wedding. Additionally they have a fine backup in the reception tent in the event of bad weather. Our wedding was held indoors because of storms (the thunder added a bit of drama to the actual ceremony). The Narnia staff was very helpful and accomadating in all the arrangments and the ceremony was wonderful.

At the reception the first three tables were served chicken breast which was raw inside!. Of course the kitchen was immediately notified and there ensued a delay of about one hour before the remainder of the 189 guests were served their main course. Consequently the evening's programme was a train wreck (guests have to be out by 11:00pm).

I understand problems happen in kitchens (a bad oven in this case). But at around $70 per guest, you expect a higher class kitchen service. Believing we had not gotten value for what we paid, I approached the management about compensation. I suggested 20% and they offered 5%. Because friends in the entertainment and service industries stated that 20% was quite appropriate, I replied that I did not think 5% at all fair. They responded by asking what sort of compensation I would think fair to not post any negative comments on the internet. I replied that I had no interest in that level of discussion and that they should do what they believed was good. No compensaton has been forthcoming.

The venue is extremely beautiful but it costs. Becase all is paid up front, make sure that your contract has provisions for any such situation as we experienced.

I attended a wedding and reception at Narnia Estate. I was impressed at how they used the space and quickly transitioned from hosting a wedding cerimony to the reception. Well done by the team working there. That being said, I had a plate dropped on my lap during dinner. The plate broke on the edge of the table going through my suit pants and putting a 1/2 inch cut in my thigh. They were somewhat quick to respond, but suprisingly were more concerned about which person did it and how it happened than the food in my lap and my pants. Many questions around who did this rather than bringing extra napkins and water. I followed up around my damaged suit, thinking that they would replace it, but was instructed to contact their attorney. They offered me $10 for the dry cleaning, not that cleaning a suit with a 1/2 inch cut in it would do much good. I did not follow-up from there, but was highly disappointed in how they handled the situation. Buyer be ware if something goes wrong and your guests get the same treatment that I received...