The Metropolitan Club
About The Metropolitan Club
Event Spaces
Recommendations
Had our September wedding reception at this venue, and everyone loved it. Having looked at a number of venues in the city (including the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago History Museum, the Rookery, the Chicago Illuminating Company, and Ravenswood), I honestly think this venue offers one of the best values out there. (Of course, this is all relative, and said in the context of the insane and disturbing wedding-industrial complex.) Although it is still pricey, it manages to be very competitive on costs because there is no separate venue rental fee. Rather, you simply have to spend a minimum on your food/alcohol package. This alone can save thousands of dollars. Having an event here is also logistically easier than at many of the other places where I looked. For example, the catering is done in-house, they have tables/chairs/linens so you don't have to rent those from an outside company, and they even provide free parking vouchers to guests who drive in (in contrast to the Adler, for example, where you have to rent out part of a parking lot and also pay for full-time attendants). I honestly don't think the inside of the venue is as pretty as a lot of the other venues that I considered -- it has a kind of upscale-corporate-hotel-chain feel. However, the views are beautiful, and many of our guests were so excited to be in the Sears Tower that it made up for the fact that it didn't mesh exactly with my personal tastes. (And I'm sure that many of our guests would prefer this venue's style to the renovated factory building look that I like.) The staff who worked at the event were wonderful. I showed up with a blister on my foot, and they gave me a band-aid within a few minutes. Waiters were very attentive and nice, and everything went very smoothly. I'm a vegan, so worked with the venue to create food stations that were all vegetarian and partly vegan. The venue was very willing to work with us on this, and we got a lot of compliments on the food (about which I had worried, given the Midwestern meat-loving contingent among our guests). I thought some of the food I tried was excellent, and the rest was decent; my parents were pleasantly surprised at how good it was (after a tasting that had not inspired high hopes). Overall, I definitely recommend this as a wedding reception venue.
For my wonderful winter themed wedding, my husband and I chose the Metropolitan Club for our venue. Overall, the Metropolitan Club is a lovely place to host a wedding. They are a one stop shop, with space for both a cocktail hour as well as a lovely reception. The first thing about the club that stood out to me was the excellent service. Whether it was during the meetings for planning our wedding, staying in touch throughout the process, or serving guests during the dinner and dancing reception, the staff was friendly and as helpful as possible. Secondly, the amenities were great. Although there were no spa or beauty packages for the venue, there were lovely bridal suites that were well stocked and functional. Furthermore, the catering was fantastic. The food offered a wide variety of options. The bar was stocked with hard liquors and a variety of draft beers as well as a whole wine bar. For food, there was a large variety of meats to choose from as well as the option of having a sit down dinner or a buffet. Overall, I was incredibly impressed with the lighting and effects as well. The dim lighting set a romantic mood and the elegant features of the ballroom really added to the intimacy of the gathering. The ballroom was well decorated, but beautiful on its own as well. The entrance was well taken care of and the ballroom was looking new and clean when we rented it. The only complaint I have is that all of this came for a price that was quite high. Had I planned the dinner, lighting, and decorations on my own I could have saved a ton of money at another venue. Overall, though, if I were to redo the whole thing, I would pick the Metropolitan Club for my venue again, though.
- ADA/ACA Accessible
- Full Bar/Lounge
- Fully Equipped Kitchen
- On-Site Catering Service
- Waterview
- Wireless Internet/Wi-Fi
- Max Number of People for an Event: 400
- Number of Event/Function Spaces: 12
- Total Meeting Room Space (Square Feet): 11,206