The Joseph Bond Chapel

I feel stingy with three stars but I try to keep it all in perspective .This is a very pretty chapel with nice stained glass .We went to it on a weekday morning while waiting for our tour of the Robbie House. It was free, close and a good way to kill time. If you have the time, a worthwhile stop while touring in the area.

My first paying gig as a musician was here, I earned all of $ 20 to play in a little chamber group for a wedding back when Gerry Ford was President. I don’t remember who they were other than that they were University of Chicago alumni, but I do remember the wedding as one of the most romantic I ever witnessed. That stands true today hundreds of weddings later, because this little chapel is just so beautiful. My father was a professor at the University of Chicago, so I’ve been in here for weddings, funerals, and sometimes just to sit and be quiet. The Chief of Staff delivered a paper in the nearby Classics building, so I snuck back over for a few minutes. On a magnificent gothic campus, full of seriously lovely chapels, Bond Chapel is still my favorite.

The perfect place for my wedding! Bond Chapel’s Neo-​Gothic style is what attracted me to it. My husband is Belgian, and I wanted something that was reminiscent of Europe as a venue for the wedding. I am a Chicago native, and since my wedding was going to be in Chicago, I thought Bond Chapel would be just perfect for us. The pipe organ plays beautifully I would recommend music from the Baroque Era to fill the Chapel. The only thing I didn’t like was the lack of signage. The Chapel is very hard to find. I recommend directional signage to help guide your guests to the wedding. Also, the Quad is a wonderful place for pictures. I felt like I was stepping into a fairy tale as I walked around the grounds taking pictures with my husband. Ms. Catanese and and Tom the organist are wonderful people! Tom even reviewed our wedding program for errors. Nothing like accidentally spelling «Canon» as «Cannon»! It was a magical experience!

In my original review, only the first sentence of my third paragraph changes. In early 2013, a lovely new organ was installed into the loft at the back of the chapel (see photos). It sounds spectacular and is well up to accompanying any service or ceremony. I believe the school has CDs recorded of it. In addition, the floor area of the chapel was totally renovated. All of the original wooden pews were removed. This leaves a unobstructed wall-​to-​wall tiled floor, should you wish to dance. Seriously, this was to accommodate the varied and multi-​denominational uses of this space. Also they now have several hundred comfortable (custom-​made) wood chairs that can be arranged in any pattern, including the traditional congregational double rows with a central aisle that was here to begin with (see photos).

Beautiful little chapel. Often overlooked on campus but worth checking out.

A jewel box. For a small wedding (300 or less), this is perfect. But have someone arrive a litlle early to air it out. It can be musty. 1050 E. 59^th Street, Chicago. You must have some University of Chicago connection to book it; e.g., alumnus, student, employee, or child of one of these.

This place is GORGEOUS!
I was running late (typical) and snuck in right before the start of the ceremony so I didn’t get much time to initially enjoy my surroundings but after I got settled and realized that I wasn’t the last one to arrive I relaxed and took in the surroundings.
The ceremony was gorgeous, not just because of the couple getting married (Love you Mandy and Petar) but because of the chapel’s atmosphere as a whole. I generally don’t appreciate the history in old things but this place sucked me in. All the photos we took inside the chapel look ethereal and perfect… seriously, even pics on camera phones look magical.
My only neg was that it was sooo hot during the wedding. I needed a personal fan fo sho. I mean, a little warm is fine but it was at least 15 degrees warmer in the chapel at 5:30 pm than it was outside and I prefer that my mustache not start sweating until I get on the dance floor at wedding.

I work every day just across from it and I got married there last weekend but still — I cannot say much about this lovely chapel…
It’s not always open as someone else said because since we decided to get married there I tried to push the door a few times and was never lucky (I was too cheap to pay the little extra a rehearsal ceremony costs. I guess it’s what you get for sinning). I was not overly enthusiastic when we consider this option — I am a student/​teacher here and my idea of a perfect wedding, if any, doesn’t involve tying the knot on my workplace for some reason… — but it just made sense. It was very cheap and the chapel is simply gorgeous. Guests who arrived early for the ceremony got busy taking a ton of pictures of it — so I didn’t feel bad getting there a little late (it was my role anyway, right?)
As stated above I am not the best person to describe it in details; when I walked down the aisle my eyes were fixed on my husband-​to-​be, same thing when I was at the altar. But one thing I know for sure: it’s glowing with light thanks to the wonderful stained-​glass windows and that made our moment even more special despite the rain.

Gorgeous little chapel in the midst of the beautiful Oxford-​inspired campus of U of C in Hyde Park. The chapel could probably seat up to 200, but seems to be a perfect space for a smaller group of people either for a wedding or even for a musical performance. The chapel itself, while clearly Christian in its roots (you can tell this by some of the features of the architecture and details in the design and decorating such as the beatitudes inscribed along the interior perimeter) is a completely nondenominational part of the University of Chicago.
I had my wedding here this past weekend and while the ceremony itself was completely unrehearsed and didn’t go by without a few flaws, the beauty of the chapel was all the good impression and inspiration we needed to make it a memorable moment. It took many members of my family more than 10 minutes to sit down after entering because they were simply amazed at the details and features of the chapel itself. I for one could probably spend about an hour looking at the beautiful stained glass and the wood-​carved cherubs placed on the rafters.
I found the acoustics to be terrific. We hired a cellist to play a bit before the ceremony and with full access to the balcony placed towards the rear of the chapel– the sound of the single cello was all that was needed to fill the space with beautiful music.
Quite possibly the best part of this space is the cheap price attached to hiring it out. For anyone associated with the University (my wife is a PhD student there) it was around $ 130 for a two-​hour block of time. They also offer an organist if you want to hire one for around $ 200 for the two hours. I would also recommend it for anyone that is looking to put on a musical performance or even if a group would like to do poetry readings or so forth.

A gorgeous neo-​gothic chapel smack in the middle of the main quads of the University of Chicago. It’s non-​denominational, and everyone from Catholic to Episcopal to Jewish to Muslim organizations have services here, as well as interfaith prayer. Did I mention that if you’re a U of C affiliate (alum, etc), it’s only $ 250 to get married here? That’s my plan, if I ever find someone who’d marry me. Gorgeous wooden pews, stained glass, a phoenix on the pulpit. And it’s always open. I’ve once stopped in in the middle of the day just for peace and quiet and a space to reflect and escape from everyone.