Wedding Ceremony and Cocktails Harpist, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

The Fountain Room at Garfield Park

This was already my second time to Garfield Park Conservatory in 2026! I really like ceremonies with the fountain as a backdrop, and guests were able to enjoy the show room next door for cocktails, so they got a really nice feel for the venue in general.

The couple requested I learn "To Zanarkand" for the wedding party processional, and I think it came out really nicely. They used "Zelda's Lullaby" for the bride's processional, and "Married Life" from "Up" for the recessional. It reflected them, and that is always the best thing!

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Ceremony Harpist, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

 Garfield Park Conservatory is just a revelation every time you visit, and it is such a pleasure to play for weddings there! This beautiful wedding featured "To Zanarkand" from Final Fantasy for the wedding party. It was a special request (meaning I had never played it before), and they really loved it! Here is a video of me right after I learned it, if you are curious:

 https://www.youtube.com/c/chicagoweddingharpistreneewilson

What special request would you have me learn??

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Ceremony and Reception Harpist, Garfield Park Conservatory and Charcoal Factory Loft

 Garfield Park Conservatory is an iconic Chicago location, and you can see why in any photo of it, anytime. The Conservatory closed, the staff through up a few chairs, and the couple had a gorgeous ceremony guaranteed - you've got to love that! After pictures, everyone headed over to the Charcoal Factory Loft in Bucktown for the reception. It is a very distinctive venue, and I don't know of anything else like it in the city. They have a charming courtyard, and you definitely feel like you enter another time and place when you are there!

The courtyard, all set up for lounging!

At the Conservatory

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Wedding Ceremony and Reception Harpist, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

On this day, I took no badly composed photos. This never happens
to me, as I am actually kind of terrible at photography.
Bad pictures are, apparently, not even possible here.

I have been to the conservatory quite a few times, but never in this room.  It is kind of amazing.  I am a huge fan of being in locations that have an outdoor feel without the random scary factors of actually being outdoors, so this was heaven for me.  Plus the bridal couple had some really cool ideas.  The biggest one was to use a special piece of music, "Final Fantasy Prelude" as a processional of sorts for the parents, the groom, and his groomsmen.  It was fabulous!  I did a special arrangement for them, and it turned out great, but the best part was talking to the groom beforehand:  he was actually really excited about the music! In my experience, that doesn't happen all that often. Apparently, he and his friends are big gamers (I hope I am getting the lingo right here), and somebody had the great idea of incorporating the video game music into the ceremony.  Luckily, the music is really lovely, too, so that helped!

After the ceremony, I headed out to the back patio and played for the cocktail hour, too.  The crowd had super eclectic taste in music, so I really mixed it up for them:  Under the Boardwalk, Game of Thrones, Moon River.  It was a total blast!

If you would like to see if I can play something special for your ceremony, please write me!  reneewilsonharp@sbcglobal.net

Harpist's view.

Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago Wedding Ceremony Harpist

Set up #1 on the bluestone patio!

Well, thanks to the weather, this wedding turned out to be kind of an odyssey!  On the bright side, I did see all of the Garfield Park Conservatory wedding sites on a single visit!!

Lovely, but no shelter whatsoever.

I began the afternoon on the patio, as you see here.  Then the storm clouds rolled in, the staff came and got me, and we traversed the entire conservatory to get to their indoor site, which is also lovely. Approximately twenty seconds after we got the harp under shelter, the heavens opened up and poured buckets and buckets of water for about 45 minutes!  We, however, were comfortable, and dry, and all set for a lovely wedding.

Here is the fountain they use as a focal point for the indoor weddings.

The bride's wedding song picks were really fun, and added to the playful spirit of the wedding.  The couple actually processed to the theme from the Pixar movie "Up", which is titled "Married Life".  I have a wonderful, upbeat version of the song, and it was perfect.  She mixed it with some traditional classical wedding selections, and had an eclectic mix of prelude music from Gershwin, Stevie Wonder, and the Beatles!

The wedding party processed in from the adjoining room.

My favorite sites continue to be the ones that work in any weather conditions, and Garfield Park Conservatory definitely fits that bill. Stay flexible, have a beautiful wedding no matter what, right?