Chicago wedding venue cost index
Computed from 18 published fee schedules across the Chicago metro, checked on August 5, 2026. Median published starting price $510, with half the listings between $121 and $950. 13 of 18 (72%) start under $1,000.
Starting price distribution
Across 18 Chicago area venues in 11 cities, checked on August 5, 2026.
| Published starting price | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lowest published starting price | $10 |
| 25th percentile | $121 |
| Median | $510 |
| 75th percentile | $950 |
| Highest published starting price | $3,200 |
How many come in under each threshold
| Threshold | Venues | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Published starting price under $500 | 9 | 50% |
| Under $1,000 | 13 | 72% |
| Under $2,500 | 15 | 83% |
| Published fee of zero | 0 | 0% |
Cheapest published price by venue type
| Venue type | Cheapest published | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Courthouse & City Hall | Cook County Marriage and Civil Union CourtChicago, IL | $10 |
| Other Venue | Emily Oaks Nature Center - Program RoomSkokie, IL | $95 |
| Garden & Conservatory | Fabyan Japanese GardenGeneva, IL | $200 |
| Park & Pavilion | Schaumburg Park District Garden/Shelter RentalSchaumburg, IL | $200 |
| Estate & Historic Home | Mayslake Peabody Estate - Ceremony OnlyOak Brook, IL | $700 |
Courthouse ceremony fees
4 courts and clerk offices in the Chicago area publish a ceremony fee, all at $10. That fee is for the ceremony only and never includes the marriage license.
Indoor against outdoor
| Setting | Venues | Median starting price |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor space published | 11 | $700 |
| Outdoor space published | 10 | $600 |
Published capacity
9 of the 18 Chicago listings publish a guest capacity. The median among those is 75 guests.
Public agency against everything else
8 of 18 listings (44%) are park, courthouse, or state park sites, and 3 cite a source on a .gov, .us, or .mil domain.
| Listing category | Venues | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Park, courthouse, or state park listing | 8 | 44% |
| Everything else | 10 | 56% |
The listings behind these numbers, each with its source link and date, are on the Chicago venue page. The national cost index ranks 41 metros against each other.
Method: every figure on this page is computed from the listings in this directory, and every listing carries a link to the venue's own published price page or a government fee schedule plus the date that page was read. Venues that do not publish a price are not in the dataset, so nothing here is an estimate, a quote, or an average of quotes. Percentiles are linear interpolations over published starting prices.