The Woman’s Club of Evanston

We were so incredibly happy to find the WCOE and have our wedding ceremony and reception there. Living in Chicago, we initially hoped to have our wedding in the city — but honestly, the value and beauty of the club swayed us immediately.
The club is gorgeous, in a great area of Evanston and they even let us bring in the caterer of our choice (for a small fee — which was totally worth it) and our own alcohol!
Caitlin was a dream to work with — the right balance of being warm and detail oriented. I felt very safe that everything would go to plan with Caitlin on the team! The space itself is incredibly versatile, but is so beautiful as is we didn’t need much decoration aside from flowers.
If we could do it all over again, we would absolutely choose the WCOE for our wedding :)

My spouse and I just had our wedding and reception here. It was a wonderful experience. When we first started planning, about a year before the event, Caitlin was new. But she didn’t seem new for very long. She was always able to give us answers or find them. She was quick to respond, and pleasant to work with. We did a lot of trouble shooting in advance and ended up with no troubles during the event itself.
The rest of the staff there, Michelle, Elvis, etc., were also a pleasure to work with: cheerful, helpful, and able.
The facility itself was exactly what we wanted. We didn’t want the windowless cardboard box of a hotel meeting room. This place has character and the ballroom has grandeur. We didn’t want to risk the outdoors given Chicago area weather. This place has air conditioning and sunrooms on both floors. We had guests who couldn’t walk or had difficulty walking. There’s an elevator. We wanted our food to taste as good as it did during the tasting. They have an onsite kitchen. My spouse and I needed a place to get away and catch our breath a couple of times – before and after the ceremony. Woman’s Club has a small room on each floor that worked perfectly with a security guard (it is required that you hire one, and they make it easy for you) in front of it. Its location is ideal for parking. There’s a beautiful garden outside for photos.
We waited over 20 years to be able to marry, and this was a once-​in-​a-​lifetime experience. I am so glad we had our wedding here!

We had our wedding, both ceremony and reception, at the Woman’s Club in September 2014. What a fantastic venue! We both fell in love with the place as soon as we saw it and couldn’t have had a better ceremony or reception. Despite the age of the facility, there are many upgrades that allow you to have any kind of wedding that you want. There’s the option for using a piano during the cocktail hour or you can directly hook up an iPod to the PA system. We went with the latter option and it worked like a charm! Everything was super straightforward and the Club was more than accommodating when it came to needing to visit for planning purposes. I was originally working with Lisa who was fantastic. Unfortunately, she decided to leave the Club just a few short weeks prior to our wedding. It gave me a bit of a panic attack initially, but Penelope and her team stepped in and took over and everything went off without a hitch! I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering the venue for their wedding. We had nothing but compliments about how beautiful everything was. Definitely worth every penny!!!
The only word of caution I would give is to try to watch the Northwestern home game schedule if getting married there in the fall. Since the venue is in close proximity to the school, it can make the parking situation a bit of a nightmare. We lucked out and the game was early enough in the day that we weren’t really impacted, but definitely something to keep in mind!

We had our wedding at the Woman’s Club in June 2014 and it is a beautiful and unique venue, but they also have very strict rules which make it difficult to, for instance, use a caterer of your choice, rather than one from their list of preferred vendors. Carol is no longer there, and Lisa is the venue coordinator now. We hired our own day-​of coordinator to help us set up, etc.

This review is long overdue… my husband and I got married 11−12−11 at the club. The first time we laid eyes on it, we fell in love with the beautiful architecture and history. It was the perfect place to have our wedding and reception. CAROL, was amazing!!! She was patient and helped coordinate the ceremony and made sure the gifts were locked in her office during the reception. She was like my own wedding coordinator for the day. I can only praise Carol for her guidance, professionalism, and her genuine attitude, and kindness.
All I can say is the ballroom upstairs is breathtaking. I had my ceremony and reception upstairs. The main level was where the cocktail hour took place when the caterers set up for the reception.
Amazing place to have a wedding! In addition, Carol is awesome. I highly recommend anyone to have their wedding here. I will never forget it! :)

Gorgeous venue! Just perfect for what we were looking for in our wedding reception. In pictures the place looks even better! Carol was incredibly helpful, prompt, a pleasure to work with — she really cares about your event. Everything went off without a hitch! I am not sure what other places cost in terms of rental for a venue because the other options always made you pick an entire package… but this place comes with tables, tableware so that helps with costs. I think it was worth every penny!

The search for a wedding venue is one of those things that combines fun and a little pressure (like pretty much all wedding planning). It’s a very exciting time but there’s a drive to get everything right — to do justice to your relationship. To make the wedding experience representative of you and your partner’s love. To take feelings that are huge and intangible and wonderful and translate them into things that are beautiful, unique, delicious, and a little magical.
I think we did it, and Carol and her beautiful club gave us the perfect place to do it.

The Woman’s Club (yes, singular — as if it were the club of any woman) was on the short list based on the photos online, but it had some competition from a couple other great sites. But when we visited and spoke to Carol, it seemed like not only the best choice but also the easiest. Carol is not only kind and gracious, but she is in the business of hosting special events in a special place: this is no one-​size-​fits-​all banquet hall or generic hotel ballroom. She was quick to respond to emails, and she was happy to talk each time I visited. I felt that she was genuinely excited for us, which was really nice. She cares equally for the historical building and the history her guests make there.
When we met with Carol, she took plenty of time to walk us through and describe all the options available on both floors. She also invited us to come look at the Club a few other times when it was set up for weddings, so we could see options for floorplans and things like linens and chairs. She gave us all the information we’d need, and offered advice based on her experience. Having the benefit of so much experience was a big help for two people who, well, do not have wedding-​planning experience.
We chose the upstairs ballroom and it accommodated everyone comfortably, and the sunroom was perfect for our cake, sweets and coffee (yes, we needed a separate room for these things — we like dessert in this marriage). The bar was conveniently inside the ballroom. The balcony gave us the opportunity for some aerial photos, which is a neat touch. Outside the ballroom there was space for a few tables for our guestbook and favors. If you are an «a place for everything, and everything in its place» kind of person, this is your site.

Now, a few months after the wedding, I drive by the Woman’s Club every day on my way to lunch. What is to other people a beautiful landmark, is to me also a very special place. I can’t recommend it or Carol highly enough.

My husband and I had our wedding reception here on July 24, 2010, and it was PERFECT. Let me start from the beginning.
In June of 2009, we were scouting out reception locations. We saw several of the same, boring banquet halls and hotels, and we weren’t «wowed» by anything. After looking around online, I found the Woman’s Club of Evanston, so we made an appointment to meet with Carol and see the Club. When we walked into the upstairs ballroom, my husband and I just looked at each other and smiled. This was definitely the venue for us. We booked right away.
I was a pretty easy-​going bride, and didn’t have many questions or requests. Whenever I did have a question, Carol was quick to respond. I waited until the last minute (two weeks before) to book a security guard for the night, but Carol came through with a fantastic recommendation.
My mom and I dropped off some candles that I wanted on the tables the Thursday before our wedding, and they had already started to set up our tables in the ballroom. Carol walked us through and seemed genuinely excited for my wedding. I know that she holds weddings there almost every weekend, but she still made me feel like my wedding was important to her. She took all of our vendor information and confirmed with them and provided all of the details necessary for them to schedule out the day. I thought that this went above and beyond the call of duty for Carol.
We also did our «first look» pictures here, before our ceremony. Even though we were probably going to be getting in the way, Carol was happy to let us in early so that my husband and I could have this moment to ourselves, without our bridal party.
Our guests loved this venue, and told us so countless times during the night. I could not have been any happier with our decision — I HIGHLY recommend the Woman’s Club of Evanston!

Wait. How does this beautiful club not have any reviews on here? Well… let me tell you. I had my wedding here and it was a GEM in Evanston! Everything was perfect from start to finish. I highly highly recommend!
We first visited the Club back in July of 2009 to see what venue would be great. Carol, the amazing manager of the Club took time to walk us through the entire venue and help us visualize our wedding. Our tour probably lasted at least an hour. We got to see the parlor (good for a ceremony) the beautiful sun rooms (also good for space for a cocktails) and the upstairs ballroom. The ballroom is amazing, full of light and open space and the entire floor can be used for a dance floor, so you can put tables anywhere you want. There is so much subtle decoration that flowers just enhance the space.
The place is immaculate. I know there are lots of events there, but every time we visited, it was perfectly clean and maintained. We were able to drop off things before the wedding (and have it locked up) and also able to come back the next day to pick up everything.
We got so many compliments on the space. It really was great fit. The ceremony was intimate and the ballroom was perfect. We had the upstairs woman’s restroom to get ready and it was a perfect space.
Carol, the facilities manager is amazing to work with. She is calm, extremely organized, sweet and so helpful in anything you need. She answered all my questions so quickly and offered advice. Every email ended with «let me know if you have any more questions!» She took the time to walk us through the Club, she met with my parents separately and gave them an extensive tour. She worked really well with our other vendors. I was extremely calm on my wedding day and a lot of that was due to Carol. She also knew the special touches: she closed the parlor doors so I could make my grand entrance and she was there to congratulate us once we got married.
This is an amazing, clean, wonderful, place to get married. You have the benefit of being in downtown Evanston, and so you are still close to the city for your guests but you are not paying city prices for a venue. Parking is free on Sunday in Evanston if you get married on a Sunday. We knew it was perfect for us when we walked in and I never regretted my choice. The date was held for us while we figured out everything and double checked and it was all part of making the day special and fun. I will always look back with fondness at having my wedding there.
Again, I highly highly recommend. 10 stars!