Chateau Bu-Sche’

GARBAGE, don’t waste your time or your money. Had my wedding here what a mistake that was. Between the owners racist remarks and the leaking ceilings on the dance floor, it almost ruined my day. He needs to be shut down. Then when we finally were served our food (by unprofessional snot nose kids with bad attitudes) not only was there not enough made for my guests but the horrible stuff they called food was disgusting. We stopped at white Castle and got food afterwards, that should tell you how bad they’re food really is. Not only would i not recommend this place but I swore not to ever even attend any functions I’m invited to at this place. My first word sums this place up perfectly. GARBAGE

There was a flower on our salad, a petal on our entrée which led me to wonder which flower would be paired with desert.
We attended a wedding last night and I was surprised by a few things. The décor and food are equally as dated. I’d guess both were developed in the 90’s. The salad course was down right confusing, comprised of berries, a tomato wedge and a cucumber slice. The bread was brought to the table cold and our server came through one time with wine during dinner and when she did when I asked her for the Chardonnay I had at the bar (they were serving four styles of wine) she stopped to look at the bottles in her hand and read both of the names out loud, even the merlot, as she was trying to discover if she had the one I was looking for. Then one of the bars had a closed sign so I went to the other bar, no sign, and I was turned away.
Because we’re planning our own wedding I get that the alcohol offerings and and availability may have been a cost serving measure, but that doesn’t preclude the château staff from professionally delivering the fare. That same consideration also doesn’t mean that the food can’t be current at the same price point.

I had my wedding there last week. It’s a beautiful place. My guest all had a great time. I would have given it 5 stars but couples beware. At first their contract seemed legit but as it got closer to our wedding and things came up last minute, the venue was very stubborn in accomidating us. I felt with all the money we paid for this venue, we should get our way. Also, an issue we had was that when asking the same question to multiple people at the venue, we got different answers. One person would say it was ok to do something, the next person would say its not allowed. My recommendation is to just stick with one person. Have them be the only one you work with personally.

I’m writing this review as a guest of an event at Château Bu-​Sche’.
We came here for a wedding, and this place is quite beautiful. The service staff were really friendly and accommodating. The bridal party took pictures during the appetizer time. The mother of the bride, who also did some coordinating was really hungry, and the appetizers were gone by the time pictures were done. One of the servers put together an assortment for her from what was left. Bravo!
The crab Louie and crab cakes were made with imitation crab meat. I don’t care for it, but both would be enjoyed greatly by anyone who likes it. The other appetizers were great.
One of the items served was broccoli with cheese. A few of the people at our table don’t eat cheese. I mentioned this to our server and before I could get the words out of my mouth, she was headed toward the kitchen to bring us some cheese-​less broccoli. They also served cream of broccoli soup. My wife is picky about cream-​based soups, and said it was the best cream of broccoli she ever had.
As I mentioned, I came as a guest, not a customer, which may explain why my review is higher than average. It sounds like Château Bu-​Sche’ needs to work on their sales process. In my opinion their execution is on point.

I went there for wedding and they did not have enough FOOD for every table– guests !!! Half of are table did not get dinner which we preordered when sending respond!!! Worse wedding ever !!! We had to go erly and stop by to get food ! Verry disappointed!!! If i could i will give 0 stars !!!

It looks nice but the food stinks. We left and went out to eat after the reception. If somebody had their wedding here again I would just bring money to go out to eat with a group afterwords.

I called this place for information and all I got we’re «yes» «no» «200» answers. I had to ask about obvious information they should have told me about right away, like the booking fee. Not friendly or informative at all.

In looking for a venue, recently I visited here. The grounds are gorgeous. I’m not an outdoor person but the pond and the gazebo were really pretty. The banquet hall itself was pretty standard for a banquet hall. They also have an attached atrium that is all white and it’s really pretty in person. The prices are reasonable for all you’re getting (about 6 – 7000 for 100 people).
So as excited as someone could be who thinks they have narrowed down a venue, we attended a tasting. (These tastings are only held once a month). The food didn’t taste great at all. Out of the 3 other people who attended the tasting with me no one had anything nice to say. Even the selection of wine was not that great.
Overall they get a 2 because I absolutely love the all-​white atrium, however good food is a priority for my wedding. So we keep looking…

There were some pro’s and cons about this place
The pro’s:
–There is an outside option for a wedding
–The atrium is connected to one of the main rooms
–Coffee was not watered down
–Turkey, Carrots, Potato’s Au Gratin, were good
–Bathroom was clean
–Women at the bar and servers were polite
–Plenty of parking
The Cons:
–Stuffing was very mushy
–Salad consisted of one or two slices of cucumber, one cherry tomato cut in half and lots of bitter tasting lettuce.
–The «thousand island» dressing had a weird color, and the ranch was clearly watered down I assume extra millk was added.
–My «Cream of Chicken» soup, my cup was filled half way, and it tasted more water than cream based
–The bread was not fresh and the butter barely tasted of butter
–Quality of alcohol was horrible. I’ve never seen some of those brands in my life. I think the only name brand thing I saw was Jack Daniels.
–The atrium was cold and chairs for the ceremony were placed directly over the air vent. not pleasant
–When we first arrived, a woman who I assume was in charge did not greet us and randomly pointed to the direction of the ceremony.
–Dance floor is small
–The tables along the wall are awkwardly placed, all night I had to take plates from the person next to me and hand them to the server because she couldn’t reach them
I had an amazing time at the wedding but I wouldn’t attribute that to anything that the hall provided.

I recently held my wedding at the Château and while dealing with the wedding coordinator staff at first was very difficult, the day went off without a hitch.
While the rules seem very rigid and it appears like you cannot get around them, this is not true. If you are a good negotiator and very persistent then you can easily make things go the way you want them to. Every rule we were told about was bent and nearly broken.
Our ceremony in the atrium was very lavishly decorated as was the reception room with rose petals galore. The rules say you can only decorate an hour before but we were let in several hours before and everything turned out perfect.
While this may not always be the case and we may have just gotten lucky, the food was spectacular. The menu we chose and the appetizers were amazing. We were the only party they had to cook for on the saturday evening so I believe we lucked out in the fact that all of their concentration was focused purely on cooking the food for our wedding. All of our guests loved the food and even commented on how it was the best wedding food they had ever had. Now again, we may just have gotten lucky because they were only concentrated on cooking for us and not 4 other weddings as well.
I was allowed to have the bridal suite all to myself which allowed for all of my bridesmaids, girlfriends, and mothers an area to freshen up in and help me change throughout the evening. The room was always locked so no one else could gain entry and it was great. There was always a fresh bottle of champagne waiting for us each time we entered.
While the planning staff was difficult and not always friendly, the floor manager on the evening of our wedding (Renata) was spectacular! this woman really had her A Game on that night and kept us as pleased as we possibly could be. I would have to say she was easily the best person I dealt with there and made our wedding and reception exceptional. The wait staff was very friendly and the bartenders kept the drinks strong and flowing for all of our guests, which they absolutely loved. I can say our guests easily drank at least ¾ worth of the entire budget we spent on this place.
Compared to other venues in chicago this place was right in our price range and didn’t break our parents completely. While I know people in chicago love to get married in scenester venues to keep up with the joneses, this venue was great within a reasonable price range for people who don’t want to continue to be in debt up to their eyeballs after getting married.
Planning a wedding is never easy no matter which venue or staff you are dealing with so if you can remember to be level headed, negotiate well, and outsmart the staff then this is definitely a good place to try. While each experience is different and each couples tastes are different, this place shouldn’t be ruled out. Ask smart questions and keep tabs on the staff because it will help you in the long run and I certainly hope that everyone can have as wonderful an experience as we had!

This update is for Brittany’s response. We did not need wi-​fi. Any connection would have done, and they went so far as to ask us if we still needed internet THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING. On THE DAY OF THE WEDDING they chose to not allow us to use their line, which was all that we needed.
THEY JUST WANT MONEY.
Also, notice how they cannot spell my first name correctly even though it’s here, directly in front of them just now. This attention to detail is the sort of thing you can look forward to.

We have seen a lot of reviews about the château busche. which made us hesitant about choosing them. but overall experience was pretty good for. The help prior to the wedding to be more as far as communication is concerned. If we did not follow up we would’ve missed our tasting. but the day of the event everyone was helpful it was clean it was organized and it went well. You get the feeling that you were just one of the many weddings did they do just in and out. Summer outdoor weddings are beautiful.

I recently went to the Château Bu-​Sche to view the banquet rooms for a wedding planned for a year from now. A girlfriend of mine went with me. I had an appointment the next day but we were curious to see it right away. I figured, as it was a Saturday, they might be having a private party already. But, we went in and tried to peak around. The staff quickly hurried us out the door. They offered to make an appointment to see it the next day, but I was quite disgusted at their attitudes so we just left.
As I said, I had an appointment the next day, and I was still curious to see the banquet rooms and the Atrium in particular. The pictures are beautiful online. I met with a saleswoman, Shannon. She was very nice and prepared with a folder full of pricing and package information. I was impressed by the price and all it included — this venue starts off at $ 46pp for 2013, which includes a 5 ½hr event and 5hr open bar. There is an additional 15% service charge, and sales tax you have to add onto that to figure budget. The Atrium is an additional $ 500 to have your ceremony there then dine in the banquet room and return to dance in the Atrium.
We went to look at the rooms. The banquet room Tamerlane was already having an event so I could not see that one. The Crystalane (with ajoining Atrium) was open so we looked at that. The banquet room is just that — a typical banquet room (which I really don’t like). But the Atrium is absolutely gorgeous. It has beautiful billowing ceilings of meshy fabric and glowing lights behind, beautiful crystal chandeliers, white tiled floors (might be marble I can’t remember), and a nice white piano. White garden chairs set up into rows that make for an isle, and the Atrium opens to a small garden area where the nuptials occur. The banquet room and Atrium are ajoining, and can be closed off. They don’t open for super smooth traffic between — just two double wide doors on either side. The décor in the two rooms don’t match at all, it feels like two totally separate atmospheres. The Atrium is small, when considering having the entire party in that room alone.
The ballroom upstairs has no access to an Atrium, only the two banquet rooms downstairs.
Negative: I cannot see myself sharing a bridal suite with another bride on my wedding day. The bridal suites at this venue are to be shared between TWO brides, if they book up with weddings (which they can have up to four in one night). The bridal suite is barely big enough for one bride and her bridal party. Then, I considered, I won’t need it to get ready or anything. I’ll already be ready. But, I just cannot see myself paying another bride any compliment on MY wedding day if we bump into eachother. I don’t want to see anyone else’s makeup or bags or anything for that matter. lol so that won’t be happening…
Negative: You cannot sample the food until AFTER you book the event. That is terrible. And, after reading all the poor reviews on the food (from brides and guests) I am really turned off to this place.
The pricing, payment schedule, add-​ons, are all pretty typical for any banquet-​wedding venue. None of that really surprised me as being unfair. I was actually pleased with their prices and options. But, I’m glad I thought to look at Unilocal before making any decisions (I was already telling my fiancé how nice this place is). I am dissapointed their food, service don’t have better reviews. I consider myself lucky for reading these reviews, and I will continue my search for a wedding venue of my dreams (at an affordable price)…

I have attended so many events here, they might as well just employee me as a professional guest.
Not even kidding, my husband and I embarked upon a string of weddings here from about, say, 2005 through 2008, and again in 2011. That said, I’ve been neither wildly impressed or wildly UNimpressed. Physically speaking, the venue itself is very classy. I’m not sure about that weird «add on» area (overflow?) that is kind of separated from the main «room» (if you’re attending an event that has a large number of guests); it seems a little… eh, I don’t know… too removed, maybe? As Michelle S. pointed out – and rightfully so – if you’re seated in the overflow room, you have no ability to see the newlyweds from where you’re standing (or seated, as the case may be). The outside weddings I’ve attended have been gorgeous. Lots of photo opps and all that good, wedding-​y type jazz.
The food is nothing to write home about, especially if you’re hunting down a vegan option or two. I get that it’s not the «standard» request, but having to explain to the serving staff that no, no… vegans don’t even eat fish left my confidence in their «vegan menu suggestions» non-​existent. Suffice to say, in ’11…I ate very little here. From my husband’s report and what I recall about the many years spent attending weddings here on the regular, it was merely adequate. The strangest thing about this venue is the lack of service. Anywhere. If, say, your life depends on finding a server in a timely manner – even during dinner, mind you – I can only hope you bought an excellent life insurance policy and pre-​planned all your arrangements to make the whole affair easier on your family.
In short, attending a wedding here is nothing spectacular, but it’s not OMGZtehW0rstEvA, either. We passed on booking our reception here (in 2006) and again for our renewal (in 2012) and I have no regrets. Yeah… definitely no regrets on this one. A-​OK as a guest, nothing more.

I attended a wedding here and did not have my own wedding here. This place has a gorgeous garden area if it’s nice weather and you can have a wedding outside. There are many picture opportunities and everything looks very nice for the location it is in. The upstairs room which my friend has rented for her reception was very nicely kept. The décor was nice and it was also very nicely lit. They had both rooms, so it was nice and spacious for 310 people.
The food. I am a vegetarian, so I did not try it all, but it was pretty good. They had family style food and it was better than other weddings I have gone to.
The staff was just ok. They took forever to get anything done.
The bar: well… the drinks were not the greatest. Since they had both rooms open, they had two bars open, but they must use the cheaper quality of alcohol.
Overall, the wedding was beautiful, due to my friends ideas, but there is lots of room for the Château to improve.

I think I have a case of buyer’s remorse.
I felt almost exactly the same as Samantha H. My number one complaint: the service. Everything here is very impersonal and it’s really, really hard to get a straight answer from anyone. I spent a lot of time calling and getting the runaround when I needed answers.
Non-​Negotiable
Everything at the Château is totally rigid and unchangeable. No excessive decorations, no flower petals on the ground, no change of seating chart, only 8 or 10 people at each table (not a combination of each), no more than 10 at the head table… the list of nos goes on and on. We couldn’t even get in here more than an hour before the ceremony (to decorate the gazebo) and an hour before the reception (to decorate the hall) so we had to hire a wedding planner to make sure someone could be off doing those things while we were taking pictures and having our ceremony.
Difficult Staff
The staff of ‘planners’ is huge and you never talk to the same person when you call or come in. You have to have an ‘appointment’ to talk to someone even if you’re just coming in for five minutes to ask a question or make a payment. I received different version of rules from different people and it took a long time to finally receive an answer. Each person told us a different story about table numbers and place card settings. I had to call three times just to figure out where to bring ribbon to add to the cake being baked on the premises. Usually, many of the staff members are also curt and clearly annoyed that they have to work with so many people coming in and out of the office every day. This didn’t make me feel good as a customer, especially since I’m giving you about $ 15,000.
Payments
For the price, this place wasn’t really worth it. Our wedding cost about $ 65 per person, more than half of which I’m sure was Miller Lite. The food was OK and the cake was pretty weak once it was made and out on the floor. The hors d’oeuvres that were passed around during our cocktail hour were horrible and tasted disgusting (especially the bacon-​wrapped shrimp… yikes). Again, considering all of the rules and restrictions placed on the party, $ 65 per person (topping out at 200) was pretty expensive. Also, beware: they only accept cash, money orders or certified checks for your final payment 30 days or less before your event. This places a HUGE restriction on someone trying to pay with a credit card (you know, me). This was a huge, annoying hurdle for me and it made me think I was dealing with the mob — who only takes cash payments?
Day-​Of
Our wedding day was the only reason I’m giving this place two stars. Once I hired a wedding planner, she dealt with the brunt of the nonsense from the Château so I ended up liking them a bit more since I didn’t have to try to get things done anymore. On the day-​of, we had a lot of people attending to us and staff was around in case we needed anything. I know this is only because my wedding planner was on top of finding them and making sure I had everything I needed. I got shuttled in a golf cart to our ceremony site (awesome) and had beer awaiting me in the bridal suite when we went inside to relax before the ceremony. I know this would have been a horrible experience if there had been two weddings upstairs on the night of our event, but there weren’t. Both brides have to share the same space (which is big enough for 5 – 6 people) which I’m sure would have been ridiculous. Our ceremony site was beautiful and I was really happy with that. The weather was beautiful and the gazebo makes for a great place to have a wedding. Our wedding planner, officiant, friends and family really made the wedding amazing.
Château Busche: blah.

I myself did not have my wedding here, but recently attended one
The facility is amazing, décor is grand, nothing cheap looking about it and the staff is quite accomodating.
It is quite a trek if youre coming from the northside, but all in all, a very nice venue.

Trashy, trashy, trashy! Do not have your wedding here. It’s so ghetto! I attended my friend’s wedding here. They used the atrium for the ceremony and the room beside it for the reception. It was a luncheon wedding.
The good:
1) Nice outdoor gardens
2) Ample parking
3) 1 Bartender only but he kept the guests well-​supplied with drinks
4) Complimentary coat check & the coat check girl was super nice
The bad:
1) Food: Ehh, it was so-​so. It was forgettable.
2) Right beside a highway. How’s that for ambiance? Icky-​lishious!
3) They had to shoo out the guests from the atrium after the ceremony so they could set-​up the tables for the reception. Meanwhile, all the guests were confused about why they were getting shooed out of the atrium.
4) There was no help from the staff at all. The best man had to stand on the chair & announce to the guests that they had to vacate the atrium so tables could be set up for the reception.
5) Servers were indifferent. I would be too, if I worked for such a disorganized company.

Now, let me preface this by: I chose not to have my wedding here, but have been to two weddings here and both were very nice.
When I went into the facility to do a tour, I had an appointment. I walked in and was assigned to one of their salespeople. I don’t remember her name. She didn’t leave a great impression.
We went into the room and sat down with her. We started telling her about the stats of the wedding (date, # of people, etc) and she took us on a tour of the facility. The atriums they have are BEAUTIFUL — but they only fit 200 people max. We are inviting closer to 250. If we had more than 200, they would have to go into the room next to the atrium, sort of an overflow room. My issue was that in the overflow room, you couldn’t see the bride and groom, so it definitely felt like you were «B» list — the rooms had no «flow». Moreover, the atrium was $ 1000 extra for the night, but they can’t rent the atrium if you’re using the attached room and vice versa.
When in the atrium, I was talking to our saleslady about how beautiful the atrium was and how we would definitely be interested in a room with an atrium over another room. She made a comment of, «Well, once we talk prices we’ll see what you can afford.» I was aghast, especially since we didn’t walk in looking like street trash and she had no idea what our budget was.
While on the tour, my fiancé was running his hand along the railing of the stairs and found a razor blade. He pointed this out to our saleslady, and she said it was from the wallpaper job they’d just had done. She apologized, but I was more concerned that when we went back into the office she mentioned it to the other salesladies and none of them went back to make sure there weren’t more razors that the wallpaper guy missed (and let’s keep in mind this was what she told me, I saw no wallpaper folks).
Once back in the office, we started to talk pricing. Our saleslady told us that the email we got (from whomever mans the email for the website) was wrong, that we could not have the carving stations set up on a Saturday. We suggested that we push the reception back an hour to see if we could have it set up later. She told us that by doing that we would take her right hand man out of the kitchen and she just couldn’t do that. The email we received from the facility said that they could set up the stations.
We were also told that we couldn’t do a sweet table from a family member (ok), but we weren’t given many other options. When asking about special meals for family members with severe food allergies, we were given the brush off when we asked if we booked, if we could make sure we talked to the chef to make sure the chef understood what these people could and could not eat.
We were told that the prices online didn’t include Saturday pricing, and that the paperwork they gave us also didn’t include Saturday pricing, which was about 15% more than originally quoted.
She did tell us, however, that we could get all the options we wanted at one of the other facilities that is owned by the same owner (in Joliet), but it was more expensive and probably out of our price range (we still haven’t talked pricing).
While we sat there, the saleslady called the owner (or so she said) to ask the owner about our questions (station, sweet table, food allergies), and she called him/​her, apologized for interrupting him/​her on the weekend, and went on to preface everything she asked with «I know you’ll probably say no, but they wanted me to ask anyway…» Once off the phone with the owner, our saleslady said she would call us back with the information and I confirmed she had my contact info. She never called back. It’s been nearly 3 months.
Overall, I found our saleslady to be horrible. Maybe it was an isolated incident, but I just found the customer service to be horrible. I have organized events for 300+ people before and am used to dealing with venue staff. Never have I ever had such a problem.
I understand they are a business and not there to hold my hand, but I ended up leaving and booking at another facility that same day. Our new facility has been great to work with, and that has illustrated to me how GLAD I am that I DID NOT book my wedding at Château Bu-​Sche’.

I am torn about how to write this review. First of all I have to separate the facilities from the food, wait staff and planning staff. Because I have mixed reactions about all of them
The waitstaff the night of my wedding were great. We had a plated dinner and also a chocolate fountain. They were both a hit. Espec. the chocolate fountain. The table they set up had service on 2 sides and a plethora of items to dip. The young lady working the table was also very sweet. She talked to the guests asking if they were having a good time and even recommended different ways of combining the treats. We also had appetizers between the ceremony and reception while the wedding party was taking pictures. But the staff was kind enough to place an assortment of appetizers on the head table for us since we missed the official order time. That was awesome.
The food was OUTSTANDING ! Definitely the best ever. We still receive complements a year later. We opted for a more expensive platted dinner with a meat and also crab stuffed chicken. When we went to the tasting we sampled other dishes (including family style packages) these were also great.
Problem: the tasting was PACKED! apparently people don’t understand that the bride and groom (2 people limit) are the only people allowed to the tasting. People were bringing their mothers, cousins and KIDS to the tasting!!! How ghetto! We were squished at a table. And on top of that people became rude because they had to make room for others to sit down. The staff should really crack down and send additional people away.
Problem: my cake was so small! I was really disappointed with it. I gave detailed pictures and instructions but obviously they skimped on the size. Make sure that you give exact measurements and descriptions if you have them make your cake. visually it was beautiful, I must admit. I had them make a special «Disney hidden Mickey» cake for me and it looked fantastic That was the only consolation. The pictures turned out fantastic because you can’t see how small it was compared to how I envisioned it.
Facilities: the château was beautiful. We had our ceremony in the atrium. our chairs were set up in the atrium and we were married «outside». The greenery made for wonderful backdrops for pictures. We had dinner in the dinning room and as we were eating they turned the atrium into a dancing room. The turn over was super fast and they were not distracting. The atrium was BEAUTIFUL! It was well worth the extra $$ .
Problem: we wanted our own music to be played during the cocktail reception and dinner. All they had was their classical music played on their speakers. we asked if we could change the «CD» or plug in a MP3 into their speaker system. They said no. Our DJ played the music from the atrium very loud with both of the doors open. We were able to hear it during dinner so that was fine.
The planning staff. They were very kind when planning the wedding. Giving detailed info throughout the process. I even called them MANY times to check on things and to ask questions. I never felt like they were just «pleasing me» to get me off the phone fast.
Problem: What I did have a problem with (which is the reason I took a star off of the ratings was the woman «assistant» assigned to me at the wedding to «manage» the ceremony/​reception. She was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!! I only saw her once when she introduced herself then she DISAPPEARED! My ceremony was delayed by 30min because I was waiting for her to get me from the bridal room and take me outside to show me where to enter the atrium. After bitching about the hold up (seriously I felt trapped, I had no way of knowing what was going on!) I sent one of my bridesmaids out and we just went by ourselves PRAYING that the gate was open so I could make an entrance. I wasn’t asking her to Coordinate my wedding just to show me where the damn entrance was!
Overall, I had the best wedding ever. People are still talking about it. What made it awesome was all of the over planning I did and all of the additional touches I added. (I had red candles on all of the atrium tables and the windowsills– custom card box– guest book guitar– huge centerpieces– wedding trivia cards at the tables-​flowers on the white piano– a friend played classical guitar b4 the ceremony-​CD favors-​candy w/​our names on them and more!)
In the end. You can’t plan a wedding and expect there not to be problems. I tried not to dwell on something if it didn’t work out or turn out the way I envisioned. I didn’t want to ruin the day for myself. With all of that taken into consideration, if I had it all to do over again would I have my wedding at the Château… YES! But, I wouldn’t depend on the «assistant» to help you the night of the wedding. In summary: Food, waitstaff, visually appealing facilities A++, «assistant» F– why even pay her? «planning staff» B– they «overbooked» my rehearsal too! so that suckr