Monday, May 25, 2009

Grand Piazza Weddings

I had never been to the Grand Piazza or even heard of it for that matter and then I had two weddings there on the same weekend. The Grand Piazza located at 1431 West Taylor Street Chicago, IL 60607 and is home to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, a museum that pays tribute to athletic greats such as Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Lasorda, and Mary Lou Retton. Natalie Arakelian is the contact person and she can be reached at 312.226.5566 or kperez@levyresturants.com

One of the best features of the Grand Piazza is its rooftop terrace, the views of the downtown skyline are incredible.


But, with outdoor weddings there are a lot of things that can go wrong. The first wedding was on a Friday night and it rained almost all day and evening. So, the wedding had to be moved inside into the ballroom. The space was nice and worked well but it would have been nicer outside.

The wedding was about 30 minutes late because I had not carefully thought through how to get the guests up to the third floor on a very slow elevator and then how to get the bride, who had not seen the groom that day, off the elevator without being seen by the groom. She ended up riding up and down the elevator for about 20 minutes while the groom waited patiently at the front. Nevertheless, I think they were happy with how the ceremony turned out.

The second wedding did take place on the terrace but in the midst of gale force winds. You can't see them in the photo above but there are actually guy wires holding down the hupa. The aisle runner had been tapped down but as the wedding party walked to the front it sort of billowed up in front of them. The ceremony however came together beautifully and the bride and groom were cheered as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife.

Marcia Hemphill and her staff from An Urban Affair coordinated the Saturday wedding, they are always a pleasure to work with.

The other cast of participants included:

  • Daniel Gin, photography, 312.285.0388 and dg@dangin.com
  • Kate and Rachel from Toast & Jam provided the music for a wedding and reception. I’ve worked others from staff in the past and they are first rate.

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