The Abbey Resort

Loved The Abbey!!! From the moment we stepped foot on the property, I knew this was it! The gazebo overlooking the marina makes the perfect backdrop for the wedding ceremony and the Grand Ballroom overlooking the marina was perfect for our ceremony! So beautiful and the staff was AMAZING to work with! They really cater to your every need! So glad we went with them!

I am getting married this June, 2011 and have had the Abbey booked since FEBRUARY 2010. They waived the 2 night minimum for our guests and I thought they were doing us a favor. NOPE. They have a huge Illinois Bar Association meeting the week prior (including Friday night) and the hotel is completely sold out for Friday night. So my family and friends coming for the rehearsal have no where to stay and my fiance and I have nowhere to stay. WE don't even have a room on Friday night! My wedding planner found out that they had this event booked when we signed our contract and failed to mention to us that the hotel was booking up quickly due to the event and that we should probably make rooms early. NOPE. They just didn't tell us and now the past 2 months have been hell dealing with them and they suggested we stay at a Comfort Inn (which is fine, but not nearly as nice as The Abbey and I refuse to tell my guests to stay there) and haven't helped at all. They say there isn't anything they can do and all other decent hotels have a 2 night minimum. So now my guests either won't stay at all or will stay somewhere else, completely defeating the purpose of having the wedding at the Abbey where I thought everything could be in one place and people wouldn't have to worry about driving. The place is beautiful, but if you plan on getting married here make sure you request Fri/Sat night rooms and to know if there are any other events going on. Also, they don't give you any suites (which they also said they would and didn't) so try and get those too. Check in is at 4, which now that we have a Friday night issue, sucks for people trying to get ready for a 5:00 wedding and we don't have suites to get ready in. They didn't seem to care that I wasn't staying there Friday night, despite the fact that we are paying them THOUSANDS of dollars to have a 350-person black tie wedding! So I can't even get into a room early and they said they "might" be able to up check in to 2:00. THANKS for nothing! If I knew this would happen, I would NOT NOT NOT have chosen to get married there. Now I'm dreading what is supposed to be the BEST day of my life. ONLY plus side is it is cheap. That is all.

These people are wedding experts when it comes to planning out my reception. They worked out a menu to keep me within budget and accommodate my special needs. The food is amazing and not overpriced like many of the other places I looked at. And I don't feel that I sacrificed anything because this place really is beautiful. I think this was one of my best choices for my wedding and I know it because all of my family and friends had an amazing night on one of the most amazing nights of my life - THANK YOU AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU!

The Abbey was the perfect place to have a wedding reception. This was where my husband and I met. We had our wedding at St. Benedicts a block away from the Abbey so it was very convenient. Becky Dreyer took over for our original wedding planner about 2 months prior to the June 7th wedding. She was very professional and accomodating. She did an exellent job from start to finish. The staff was also very accomodating. We had our cocktail hour on the Waterfront Patio and there was terrible storm that hit just before we moved the guest to the reception area and they took our 120 guest by a shuttle so they would not get wet. The bellmen helped us pack everything up and cart it to our room That night we found 2 of our dinners left in the refrigerator with 2 salads and a lovely note from Becky. The next morning we were trying to finalize things and told the bar manager that we ordered 2 bottles of champaign and only got one. As I was leaving the front desk the bar manager rushed up to me and gave me a bottle of champaign to take with me. Everyone was so friendly and accomodating.