About Chicago's Chicago Lakefront & North Suburbs

One of the benefits of having good friends with boats, it gives you the opportunity to have material for a Wordless Sunday Blog. Here’s was my seat for yesterday’s Air & Water Show on Lake Michigan.

 The Drake Hotel
140 East Walton Place
Chicago, IL 60611-1501
(312) 787-2200

Anita Dee II
Anita Dee Yacht Charters
600 E. Grand Ave., Navy Pier-Anita Dee II
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Phone: 312-379-3191

We went to Chicago for the Memorial Day Weekend to attend an Indian Wedding at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL.  We had a great time.  For those of you who have not attended an Indian wedding, they tend to be 3 day affairs.  This Indian Wedding at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL did not disappoint. 

On Saturday, we went on a boat cruise on the Anita Dee II which left from the Navy Pier in downtown Chicago.  It was raining pretty hard.  There was a mall ride in the center of the Navy Pier which allowed us to wait for the boat in a dry place.  There were about 200 people on the boat.  One of the nice things about the Navy Pier is that they had a free wheelchairs for senior citizens.  Just got to the front desk, ask for a wheelchair.  They will ask you for a driver's license as security.  The front desk was open until midnight.  When you return the wheelchair, you can get your license back.

Though it was raining for most of the weekend, the boat cruise on the Anita Dee II was nice.  The rain let up and there was a bar on the roof.  Everyone else stayed inside.  I got some KILLER pictures of the Chicago skyline.  There was also a beautiful sunset, so there were some beautiful colors in the clouds.  All in all, the food was good and boat was pleasant.  It was a great pre-wedding event for 100-200 people.  I recommend it.

Our cousin's Indian Wedding at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL was on Sunday of the Memorial Day Weekend.  For those of you not familiar with an Indian wedding, an Indian wedding generally starts with the bharat or jaan which is effectively a parade where the groom's family sings and dances to announce the arrival of the groom.  Generally the Indian groom rides in on a white horse.  In this wedding the groom and the groom's family used a light blue classic car.   The parade (also called the Bharat or Jaan) started about three blocks away from the hotel.   A black SUV was blasting dance music and an Indian drummer (also called a dholi walla) lead the procession.  The best man who is the groom's brother lead the dancing.  We had a great time.  We had blocked off the road for the parade and had a police officer escorting us.  Take a look at the pictures we had a great time.

After about an hour of dancing, we arrived at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL for our cousin's Indian wedding.   The Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL, was a great location for an Indian wedding.  It had a nice historic feel and was a beautiful venue.  You can check out pictures of the venue below.  The entrance and lobby may have been a bit crowded as 300-400 people descended upon the hotel for the wedding.  There were a couple of Indian ceremonies in the lobby of the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL before the actual Indian wedding. 

The Indian wedding was in the Grand Ballroom of the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL.  The white mandap was stunning.  (If I find the name of the vendor, I will post the name here.)  The flowers and chairs were great as well.  The priest did a good job keeping the wedding moving.  An Indian wedding can last 1-5 hours, with the average being about 2-2.5 hours.   The room was also beautiful.  I really liked the gold chairs and the flowers. 

The wedding itself finished with a lunch.  I was actually amazed at how good the Indian food was.  The Undhiyu (an Indian Gujarati eggplant food) was excellent and I am a picky eater.  For an Indian wedding, the food was superb.  I am not sure if they ordered in from an Indian restaurant or if the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL actually made the food.

The reception is later tonight.  I had an hour in between the wedding and the reception, so I figured I would blog about this.

All in all, I highly recommend the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL is a great venue for an Indian wedding.  Great location, close to downtown.  Stunning rooms.  Friendly staff.  Two thumbs up.