Like every other girl, you must have imagined what your wedding would be like. You must have daydreamt right from the moment he got down on one knee, about your bridal look and your first kiss as a bride and groom. So, what kind of wedding do you desire? A nature-inspired out-in-the-open or a lavish elegant one. A fall-winter wedding amidst the whimsy of the mist and snow or a spring-summer wedding, surrounded by blooms and warmer sun. Cantigny Park in Wheaton is a wedding venue that makes all kinds of wedding dreams come true. 

Cantigny Park has been witnessing the stepping of newly engaged couples from Chicago and its suburbs into marital bliss since its opening in 2018. It is a classic Chicago wedding venue for any kind of wedding - intimate or large. 

The quaint little city of Wheaton is located in the suburbs of Chicago, roughly, 25 miles west of it. Located around a half an hour drive from the hustle and bustle of Downtown Chicago, Wheaton is rich in culture and natural beauty. And Cantigny Park captures all the scenic beauty, combines it with excellent decor, and packages it with exceptional service to give you a perfect wedding day! If you have always wanted to feel like a princess on your wedding day, Cantigny Park provides you with the perfect Cinderella setting. This gorgeous wedding venue is one of the best wedding venues in the Chicago suburbs and caters to the newly engaged couples of Wheaton, Chicago, Northbrook, Wilmette, Winnetka, Clarendon Hills, Naperville, Buffalo Grove, Long Grove, Evanston, and many other suburbs in the Chicago area. 

Cantigny Park proudly boasts not just one, but many event spaces where you can have your wedding ceremony and reception. The entire property is home to various spaces that are photogenic and can be utilized for wedding purposes such as the four gardens and the three indoor event spaces.  Along with that, it also houses 500-acres of beautifully landscaped gardens that are a treat for the eyes and provide breathtaking backgrounds to your wedding photos. 

Let’s tell you more about the amazing wedding facilities at Cantigny Park, which make it the best of wedding venues in the suburbs of Chicago. 

The beautiful property at Cantigny Park in Wheaton welcomes you with lush greenery all around. The formal gardens make you daydream about an outdoor wedding ceremony, in the lap of nature with nothing but the sky above you! The serenity, coupled with beauty in the form of topiary sculptures, statues, sparkling ponds will take your breath away. For an on-site outdoor wedding ceremony, the surrounding greens of the land and blues of the sky will tempt you to do so many things such as play with the wedding decor, introduce a wedding theme, design your wedding arch on your own, decorate the aisle, choose a wedding color, or introduce more eco-friendly elements. 

You could pick from four outdoor wedding ceremony spaces - Rose Garden, Rock Garden, South Grove, or East Lawn. The grand stairs that lead to the gardens are perfect to set a tone for the wedding. Our Chicago wedding photographers love capturing the nuances of a wedding procession, full of love, emotions, anticipation, and excitement. The vivid botanicals and soothing water adds to the feel and look of the wedding ceremony, as you walk down the aisle surrounded by the people you love. The greens form a glorious blanket wrapping its arms around you as your soulmate waits for you under the arch. As far as your eyes can go, you’re surrounded by the beauty of nature. So, if you and your partner are nature-lovers and want an Al-Fresco wedding ceremony surrounded by the tranquility of nature, Cantigny Park can make your dream wedding come alive. For an outdoor wedding or an eco-friendly wedding, this gorgeous Chicago wedding venue has the most beautiful gardens with a promise of dreamy Chicago wedding photography. 

For your wedding reception, Cantigny Park has three even spaces that you can choose from  - Le Jardin, Red Oak Room, and Woodside Pavilion. Le Jardin is adorned with elegance and style and can accommodate up to 230 wedding guests. The huge windows let the scenic outdoors in, taking the ambiance a notch higher! The golf course, ponds, and the fountains add beauty to your indoor wedding reception in every frame, by just smiling in the background. The rustic brick facade lends an element of vintage to the wedding party, so you could include a vintage wedding theme to your party for uniqueness quotient. Interested? Click here to get more inspiration. The Red Oak Room is ideal for a relatively smaller wedding of up to 140 guests. The soaring cathedral ceiling and breathtaking views of the golf course make this room a treat for the eyes from every angle! The elegant interiors are enough by themselves, however, you could add more glamor to the decor to amp it up. And finally, the recently introduced Woodside Pavilion is everything love in an all-white chic look! You could match it up with the surroundings with some nature-inspired wedding decor or contrast it with some glamorous gold-hued elements. It’s surrounded by the splendor of nature, overlooking the gorgeous pond and immaculately manicured lawns. The serenity adds the most blissful music to your ears, making your entire wedding reception feel ethereal and magical! Right from your romantic first dance to the last dance of the night, the feeling of calmness and tranquility stay with everyone. The magnificent hardwood dance floor tempts all your guests to indulge in some wedding dance shenanigans. 

One of the best Chicago suburbs wedding venues, Cantigny Park, is home to boundless photo ops for your wedding photography. After the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds can escape to the grounds for a romantic photoshoot. Or when all your guests are busy enjoying themselves, you and your husband can sneak out for a bit, away from the wedding shenanigans! How about stealing a few moments just for yourselves. Take to the lawns and let our wedding photographers in Chicago capture the effervescence of your new-found marital status. We absolutely recommend the bride and the groom to find some escape to let the magical feeling of being newly married sink in, in complete solitude. And while you both cherish those precious moments, your wedding photo album would get the most romantic photos of the day. The golden hour is a perfect time for this momentary elopement! Just be yourselves, and let our Chicago wedding photographer capture the gorgeous tones of sky enveloping you both in a warm hug of love as you share an intimate moment reveling in your happiest day! The spectacular backdrop of the lush landscape of the golf course and pristine water features add to the myriad beauty of the moment. 

Cantigny Park also has a lot of photogenic options for both pre-wedding ceremony photography and post-wedding photography. You could have your first look in the lush gardens, with nature being the best backdrop of all! From the lawns and the white wooden trellis to the pond, you’ll find beauty in every nook and cranny! If your wedding is in the winter months, you can wear a faux fur shrug as you venture out in the open lawns for romantic couple portraits? The lawns are too magnificent to ignore for your wedding photography. You could even have your family portraits shot in the outdoors. It’s a perfect place to have adorable photos taken with your father. For more inspo on father-daughter wedding photography, check out our blog. The greens are also great for your photos with your bridal party for the picture-perfect celebration of friendship.

And after you are done with your wedding exit, you could indulge in some post-wedding photography to relish the lingering effect of your wedding day! As Wheaton is close to Chicago, you could simply visit some amazing places according to your convenience and timings. Chicago boasts spectacular architecture and nature bites, which can give you a classic Chicago wedding photography. If you are looking for inspiration on engagement session locations in Chicago, then you might want to read on.

Places like Adler Planetarium, Blackwell Forest Reserve, Herrick Lane, Lake Katherine, Whalon Lake, Naperville Riverwalk, Lakefront Trail, and North Avenue Beach offer some of the most amazing backdrops for stunning Chicago wedding photography and an iconic Chicago engagement photography. We’ll take you through some quintessential Chicago photography locations where you can head to for some stellar wedding photos. So, whether it is an on-the-way-to-your-wedding venue photoshoot and you shoot on the way to Cantigny Park or a post-wedding photoshoot where you shoot on your way back, these locations are perfect! 

Chicago Riverwalk

To capture the soul of Chicago for your wedding photography, what better place than the Chicago Riverwalk, which is located just 42 minutes from Cantigny Park. Right in the heart of Downtown Chicago, there lies a gem of a walkway, which stretches for 1.2 miles along the south bank of the Chicago River. You might have been to the Chicago Riverwalk, but on your wedding day, it’ll feel like a totally different experience. The place buzzes with people, waterfront cafes and restaurants, wineries, museums, all of which means - a lot of people around. Therefore, we have the perfect location to have a quiet and romantic post-wedding photography. Right before the river flows into Lake Michigan, a paved path, that lies on the northeast side of the river and is adorned with wrought iron benches and cast iron lamp posts. That magic spot is the answer to your super romantic post-wedding photoshoot which has a heartbeat of the mighty Chicago River!  

Millennium Park

Located only 41 minutes from Cantigny Park, Millennium Park is home to various unique photo ops. A state-of-the-art collection of architecture, landscape design, and art make the Millennium Park a great place to shoot your romantic post-wedding photos. The place is a hub of photo ops! Starting at the iconic the Cloud Gate (the Bean), then covering the Lurie Garden, and walking down to the lake - the POA is flawless!  The Millennium Park is even better after sunset as the place is a glittering wonderland that looks surreal in photos. The city lights form an uber glamorous backdrop to your Millennium Park post-wedding photography.  

La Salle Street / Board of Trade

This one is about 41 minutes from the wedding venue and promises that quintessential Chicago feels, with high rises of Downtown Chicago all around you. La Salle Street is mostly recommended for a weekend wedding when all the offices are closed and the area is relatively less crowded. However, if you happen to be getting married on a weekday, we would advise you to get here after work hours for a more relaxed post-wedding photo session. 

Chicago Theater

This looks ultimate in Chicago wedding photography. Your wedding dreams just came alive in the whimsical city of Chicago, there’s no better way to shout it out to the world than the iconic Chicago Theater sign shining right behind you, in all its glory. This landmark of a spot is located within the EL and belongs to the Chicago Theater established in 1920. It’s equivalent to six stories and a post-wedding photo shoot at the Chicago Theater conveys your love story that bloomed in this amazing city. This gorgeous post-wedding photo session location is located only 42 minutes away from the wedding venue. 

Chicago Skyline

The symbolic skyline of Chicago is considered to be one of the most beautiful backdrops for pre-wedding and post-wedding photoshoots. The spectacular views of the skyline can be absorbed from various locations like the Riverfront Walk, the Cloud Gate, Grant Park, Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Bridge, Adler Planetarium, Millenium Park and Navy Pier. The golden hour is a perfect time for the Chicago Skyline romantic photography! Let our Chicago wedding photographer capture the gorgeous tones of sky enveloping you both in a warm hug of love as you share an intimate moment reveling in your happiest day! The city lights in the distant add whimsical glamor to your romantic post-wedding photos, making the photos light up in surreality! If you are capturing the skyline along with the gorgeous Lake Michigan, the spectacular backdrop of breathtaking landscape and pristine water add to the myriad beauty of the moments. Chicago skyline gives the ultimate finish to your Cantigny Park wedding photography. 

Now, all of the places mentioned above are close to a 45-minute drive. Depending on the timing of your wedding, you could head to any of these locations right after your spectacular wedding exit. However, if you are staying on or the after-party leaves you with very little time for your post-wedding photography, you could simply make the most of this wedding venue. Cantigny Park is not just an ideal place to celebrate the happiest day of your lives but also a photographer’s delight! Witness our Chicago wedding photographers capture all the nuances, raw emotions, every little tear, every joy accompanied by smiles and laughter, and relive your wedding day anytime you want! 

If you are looking for photographers near Chicago, we at George Street Photo & Video provide an exceptionally talented wedding photography team and highly competitive packages, starting from USD 1,500. Click to know more about our wide range of wedding photography and video packages by scheduling an appointment with us!