The Hunt for the Perfect Chicago Wedding Venue

Finding the right venue for a wedding is sort of like finding the perfect apartment. "Perfect" can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, and everyone is different. There's your list of non-negotiable, gotta have it amenities and then there's crap that's extra but doesn't really matter too much. The problem is, if you're as broke as we are, finding a happy balance in a big city has proven to be more difficult than we'd hoped.

For example, if I were looking for a new place, I think that having my cell phone actually work in my apartment (as opposed to making me sit on the window sill and pray for reception) might be high on the list, right next to the cost and location. Likewise, accommodating our very large wedding of 250 people for a an outdoor wedding in the fall, in Chicago, is having a little bit of difficulty.

So, here's all the "gotta have it's" we're hoping to land for our wedding space:

• Must be available for rental in Fall 2010.
  
• Must be in Chicago (or in IL, but very, very close to Chicago)
• Gotta have room for 250 people. People who may like to sit down and eat and a dance floor big enough for everyone to get a little crazy if they feel like it.
  
• Outdoorsy element. If it's not an actual park, it needs to be woodsy with windows.
  
• The party cannot end before midnight. It's our big day, and nothing worth going to ends before midnight.
  
• If we have to use a list of preferred caterers, can they please not be the most expensive options in the city? Also, they have to be vegan-friendly and just giving us a salad is not an option.
  
• If it's over $4,000, we're hoping to get more than just the rental of the space. Some tables and chairs would be nice.
  

If you're mid-planning mode or just really savvy to event spaces and grassy knolls for hire in Chicago, any advice you have would be much appreciated.

Also, I've read all this crap about negotiating things and how the recession has people knocking down prices, but from what I can tell, all the affordable places have actually raised their prices for this year and next year while the big-deal, out-of-our-league, who-the-hell-spends-$40K+-on-one-day places are the ones who are knocking off a few hundred bucks (as they should be!)

Help!

<3!