A New Leaf - Wedding Venue #2

When I was searching for lofty type spaces in Chicago, I stumbled upon A New Leaf. The pictures I saw caught my attention, and I knew I had to see what it looked like in person. I'll talk about the pros and cons after the pictures. Again, you can get a better a feel about the place from the pictures. If you want to view their website, you can click here to get more information.

40 of these chairs and 8 tables are available for use. 

These are the stairs that lead to the dance floor.

Stairs again. I thought they looked cool. 

This is where Joe and I would put the dance the floor. It was large enough for sure! 

If you look at the previous picture you can see that there are two steps that go into a random hallway. 

There are a couple of windows, and I thought it made a good photo op. 

Hallway

This is the first floor in the front of the space. I thought it was another perfect photo op!

Dance floor again!

This is the first floor. 

There are stairs that lead to a second floor. (Not the dance floor, that is separate).

Stairs.

This is a video I took of the space. I think I showed the place best with this video. 

Ok so this place was nice. We knew from the moment we walked in, it was too small for a sit down dinner for 130 people. After that we kind of strolled around the place and took pictures. 

Pros:

1. It was nice and those tables/chairs were pretty.
2. Good photo op with the store front. 
3. The place is located in Lincoln Park. Since we want a Chicago city wedding, the location is perfect! 
4. Multiple floors can be beneficial. 
5. You get all floors as well as the courtyard garden. Good for smokers I guess? It wasn't breathtaking or anything, but perhaps it looks better in the summer? 

Cons:

1. The place was too small! After seeing Kitchen Chicago I realized it is possible to have a sit down dinner so A New Leaf turned me off. Even for a cocktail reception, the people would be scattered on any of the three floors!
2. The dance floor I talked about was completely cut off from the rest of the place! What if some people don't want to dance? I won't get to see them or pull them onto the dance floor! This was a big turn off. 
3. The place only has 40 chairs!!! Those chairs are so beautiful, but even for a cocktail reception I think I would like more then 40 chairs. 
4. You have to pick from their list of caterers. It is an extended list which I appreciated, but I don't like their list very much. 
5. No parking lot. This wouldn't be that big of a deal but Joe and I had a hard time finding parking for one car! Image a whole wedding party trying to find parking in the Winter! Yikes! That was a turn off. We are trying to save money so Valet is not something we want to consider and want to avoid if possible. The only parking garages are a few blocks away.

The price is neither a pro or con. It is a con when comparing it to Kitchen Chicago, but it isn't horrible. It is $3500 for a Sunday and $4000 for a Saturday night which is better for your budget then other lofts I've seen online. It really adds up for the bride on a budget when adding food from their list though. That is why we decided that we will not be having our wedding at A New Leaf.

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