Salvatore's Wedding and Event Venue — Attraction in Lake View Township

PHOTOS BY PRUDENCE PHOTOGRAPHY

Where do I even begin? Finding Salvatore’s was the beginning of everything coming together for our wedding, which is especially important because we wanted to get married within a year of engagement! It truly is a hidden gem.

The TL;DR – my wife and I were so happy with how everything went, that I am writing this extremely long review because I have no idea how to concisely express our satisfaction, or how to choose highlights without leaving out pieces that were essential to making the best day of our lives.

The thing that drew us in to Salvatore’s was the appealing package for micro weddings (50 people or less). We had almost given up on finding a venue in Chicago that could reasonably accommodate our wishes for the right venue space for a wedding. It seemed like we were going to have to choose between getting married somewhere else (inconvenient to friends and relatives) and getting married at a restaurant that didn’t truly feel like a reception venue. But then there was Salvatore’s!

As soon as we saw the pictures of this gorgeous and classy venue, we knew we had to schedule a tour. And things only went up from there. The team is excellent with customer service, and we knew from how they treated us on the tour that we had found a place where our guests would feel right at home. Thanks to their experience with weddings, they were able to point out considerations that we hadn’t even thought of in making our decisions.

Just as we thought we couldn’t be more impressed…the tasting blew our minds. We had the opportunity to try a WIDE variety of their samplings, and each one of them was either “pretty good” or “incredible”. This was fun because we were able to bring my wife’s parents (for a small fee).

We had about four months between picking Salvatore’s and the wedding. Their communication throughout that time was consistent. I went back and forth with them so many times and they never seemed annoyed or irritated. Emails were always answered within 24 hours, and if something was urgent, it was only a phone call away. We really appreciated their flexibility with add-ons. Initially we went with the base package, but we ended up adding a few extra guests (I think the final count was 56 instead of 50), some extra time for the bar to stay open late, and a signature cocktail.

Fast forward to the day of. Everything went off perfectly. We were able to visit the venue a few times in the weeks leading up to the wedding to visualize and plan. They allowed vendors (and a few helpers) to arrive early for set up. Our guests loved the champagne greeting and cocktail hour. AGAIN, THE FOOD IS INCREDIBLE. For part of cocktail hour, they had an unused room for my wife and I (and close family) to decompress and enjoy appetizers before getting introduced for the reception. Dinner was incredible too, and it was one of the things that our guests complimented us on the most. THE TORTELLINI. I couldn’t get enough of the tortellini, it’s easily one of my favorite meals of all time. The tiramisu offered is also amazing. We had a wedding cake too, but the tiramisu is so good that you could probably get away with that being the only dessert.

What else. The piano is such a great touch for cocktail hour (and later for holding dessert). The sound system is good and can be heard through the whole venue, and easy to adjust (I was free to get up and adjust during dinner as I saw fit). The space for dancing was perfect for 50 people. The bartenders were great, they made all of the drinks very well, but I especially appreciated the care they put into our signature cocktail. We spent weeks thinking about the recipe for it, and they made it just as well as we did on our own (even including some garnishments). Also, they had batteries for the remote control for my projector.

I could go on and on and on. This is it, everyone. This is the place where you should have your wedding if you want your guests to have the best classy...

Our wedding reception at Salvatore's was a beautiful evening that we will remember forever. Unfortunately, there were several issues during our planning that resulted in us having a difficult experience with Salvatore's. For starters, there are misleading and inconsistent portions of information on Salvatore's brochure. The brochure says that they "accept deposits in . . . Credit Card." However, when we booked with Marco he told us that they do not accept credit card payments for deposits, but that he would make an exception for our initial deposit. In addition, on their Concierge Wedding Planning Services form it reads that a Signature Planning package with their in-house planner includes "1 complimentary tasting for 2, followed by a meeting with your coordinator." What they fail to mention is that the tasting is not complimentary if you choose specific food items that you would like to sample. Also, the brochure we received said that final payment was due 10 days prior, although the brochure currently on their website shows 15 days prior. In addition, nowhere in Salvatore's literature, and in no discussions upon booking, did they indicate that we needed to purchase wedding insurance for the venue. But four months before our wedding, we received an email from Marco stating that the owner was demanding that all couples purchase wedding insurance for the venue, which cost us an additional $200 that we had not factored into our budget. Also, Salvatore's contract is not truly a "contract." It is an excel spreadsheet with a few line items at the bottom. It was difficult to know whether the brochure, excel spreadsheet, or any other literature governed our contractual relationship. We also unfortunately had a poor experience with their in-house wedding planner, Erin. When we reached out to her to have a phone call about her services and learn more, she simply read verbatim from the wedding planning form. Also, I would recommend that you only hire Erin if you plan to have both your ceremony and reception at Salvatore's because Erin does not provide off-site services. This resulted in us initially hiring an off-site third party coordinator to plan just the morning of the wedding in addition to Erin, despite Erin's insistence that we could just have a family member help coordinate our ceremony. One question that we had for Erin during the planning process was whether we could place flowers and/or real candles on the steps leading into the main dining room of Salvatore's, as pictured on their wedding website. Despite Salvatore's featuring a wedding in their "360 Tour" feature that clearly shows real candles leading up the steps, Erin insisted that the policy was changed just last year...yet nothing has been updated on the website or advertising to indicate that. They offered an alternative to use fake candles or plastic pots for flowers, but we ended up decided against it. In the end, our contractual relationship ended with Erin, after she emailed us 25 hours before our tasting that she had been sick all week and would not attend the tasting in-person. Erin knew that we were traveling in from out of town, and had we received notice during the week that she was sick, we could have changed our travel plans. We're thankful to Camryn and the event staff for their work. But Salvatore's literature is sloppy, inconsistent, and difficult to decipher. If Salvatore's wishes to be competitive, they need an overhaul on their website...

When jumping onto the web in search of a reception venue in Chicago, you've probably found there are A LOT of choices out there. But clearly, Salvatore's caught your eye (because you're reading this!) and for a good reason. You will not regret looking into this lovely venue and will CERTAINLY not regret booking your event with the amazing team there. Trust me.

When starting the hunt for a wedding reception venue, my now-husband and I had just a few guidelines when searching: the location had to be right, the space had to be unique, and the food had to be great. Not only did Salvatore's fit all of these points, it exceeded our wants a hundred times over.

Location & Look: Our first visit to the venue we really, really liked it. Blocks from the lake in Lincoln Park, a mile from our home AND our church. Easy. We were hoping for something not too big, not small, cozy but with an old-time elegance (go back to those photos again!) The decor speaks for itself, and to be honest we didn't want a space where we would have to "start over" with decor, and Salvatore's was perfect for us.

Food: In my circle of friends a common theme of wedding food is "The tasting was amazing but the day of was just okay..." NOT the case at all with Salvatore's. Everything myself, my hubs, our families, and guests enjoyed throughout our experience was delicious. Cooked properly, served at the proper temperature, attractive (important!). If Salvatore's held normal dinner hours I'm pretty sure we would have been back within weeks of our reception to enjoy their food. The drink selection was great too. Not one complaint at all, only rave reviews. NOTE- we had a few dietary restrictions/requests (myself included) and all were handled perfectly.

One last and very important part of our planning process and the day-of guidance that definitely made the whole entire experience fabulous - the staff at Salvatore's. From day one Suzi and Lauran answered my countless emails, always welcomed me to come by just to revisit the space while planning, and took control of everything the night-of in a way that really put us and our guests at ease. All details were attended to, any situations were taken care of, all stresses abated. All in all, we owe a very large bit of the success of the event to them. And let's not forget the great service staff!

One of the best compliments we received about the reception came from a friend. She said her favorite wedding overall was her own, however, that changed when she attended ours. I think that...