Welcome to Loft on Lake
Corporate Events · Birthday Parties · Mitzvahs · Quinceañeras · Dinner Parties · Prom Send Offs · Fundraisers · Weddings · Photo Shoots · Pop-Ups · Brand Experiences · Panel Discussions · and more!
Loft on Lake is an original, independent event space in Chicago. Located in the Fulton Market District of the West Loop on Lake street, we’re nestled in one of the city's most vibrant and rapidly growing neighborhoods.
Our venue offers all the quintessential loft-style elements and is completely customizable, allowing you to express your vision exactly as you imagine—or keep it simple and let the space speak for itself. With over 18 years of experience hosting successful celebrations and events, we know how to help bring your occasion to life.
Our urban space features warm peach brick walls, 20-foot tall oak timber ceilings with exposed bow trusses, industrial-style ductwork, stunning gloss-finished concrete floors, and a unique 65-foot skylight that fills the space with beautiful natural light. We provide a blank canvas with soul, allowing you to use all of our included elements to enhance any event.
““We were looking for a cool space with a city vibe and Loft on Lake delivered just that!””
Unique Features
The interior boasts raw architectural elements such as beautiful exposed brick and vintage oak timber beams, warm stained concrete floor, 12-20ft ceilings, a bow truss roof, and our most distinguishing feature: a 65ft. long skylight running the length of the main space. Exposed metal ducting, venting, and conduits add an urban, industrial aesthetic. No outdoor space available, but all the outdoor vibes with tons of natural light!
“Loft on Lake was the perfect venue for our wedding. The setting was gorgeous and because of its natural urban beauty, required very little additional decoration.” - Rachel
A prep kitchen is a key component for any event since it allows for fresh food to be prepared, plated, and served on site. We have beautiful granite countertops, a large granite island, two ovens with stovetops, commercial refrigerator, and all the features of a modern kitchen to help your caterer feel at home.
Our kitchen is versatile in that you may reveal the kitchen during your event (perfect for cooking demos!) or it may be closed off.
If you choose to add a bar to the main space, we have a wet bar area to ensure you bartenders have all the tools they need to perfect your beverage experience!
You’ll enter the private suite through french doors - the room is about 300 sqft with lounge furniture, a full-length mirror, a sink for makeup touchups and plenty of storage space for personal items. This room is commonly used as a private suite to use to freshen up, a fashion show dressing room, storage room, private office, or a backstage greenroom.
This is a smaller area located near the front door, separate from the main space. This area is typically used for cocktail hour during weddings, a second bar area for private events, photo booth pop up, desserts, VIP area for fundraisers, or a breakout space for corporate meetings.
Once guests enter the space, they’ll also find the coat check in this area.
Photo by LoftyWeddings
Photo by Emma Petersen Photography
Loft on Lake is open to all forms of love. The Garrett family participated in the creation of Stand Up for Equality in 2012, an organization for professionals to show their support for marriage equality through open dialogue, positive perspectives, and viral video projects for increased awareness. The effort has been recognized nationally for its bold stance and received two Davey Awards (Big Ideas from Small Agencies). On November 20th, 2013, Marriage Equality became law in Illinois!
Our building is constructed with natural materials; timber ceilings, exposed brick walls, and concrete floors providing for a natural ambiance. Our bathrooms are stocked with bamboo paper products, we utilize environmentally safe cleaning products when possible and recycle paper, plastic, and metal from every event. We also provide composting service via The Urban Canopy and allow all vendors to use it!
We benefit from natural light through our expansive skylight roof and are able to conserve substantially on electricity when the space is not hosting events. We’ve also been a member of the Sustainable Events Collective (formerly the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance) since 2012! See more about our sustainability efforts on our SEC profile 🌿
“OMG. Where to begin…JILL!! She was the absolute best day of coordinator. The amount of ease and knowledge she provided to help our day go as smoothly as possible was beyond amazing. Cannot say enough how seamless and beautiful she made our day turn out. Look no further than LOL for your big day. You won’t regret it!”
Our rear entrance is street level and can open to 8 ft wide, making our space incredibly easy to access. Schedule your deliveries in advance and then just ring our doorbell on either front or rear entrance when you arrive. The entire space is ADA accessible.
"Amazing place, staff and accomodations… Jill is amazing and the best!!” - Nicole B.
There is self pay street parking surrounding the venue. While many guests use Uber/Lyft, there’s a Public Parking Garage located at 328 N. Ada, just a 3-minute walk to our front door. You’ll get the best prices by using Parking.com
Another garage is located at 1341 W. Randolph in the Plumber’s Union Building. Rates are listed at $4/hr.
We also have valet recommendations if you want to cover parking for your guests.
For those seeking an urban auto warehouse or showroom, we can accommodate a few cars inside ranging in size for auto-related events. Focus testing, new car model launches, auto show after-parties... our double-wide rear doors are street-level allowing for car access. We have adjustable spot lighting that can be adjusted to highlight the vehicles just right.
"The space is a loft with a huge beautiful skylight and big wood beams. There is brick and exposed duct work. You can truly transform the space into your vision." - Ashley
Loft on Lake originally began as a photo studio, so we can confirm how perfect it is for natural light photo shoots. We have Grip and Pro gear available for rent on-site.
The kitchen is complete with appliances and supplies for food shoots, as well. If you're in need of an experienced Studio Assistant, let us know, we’ve got you covered!
"We loved the atmosphere and lighting. I think the value was exceptional compared to other similar spaces in the area. Everyone is very flexible and helpful!" - Rebekah
Our in-house wedding photo team is experienced and affordable! When you book your wedding with Loft on Lake, we offer some special pricing for our Lofty Weddings photo & video packages. The team's easy-going approach and photographic knowledge will put you at ease.
"They were extremely considerate, flexible, professional and focused on making us happy. In the end, we came away with some beautiful photographs that capture how happy this day was for us and our families, and we are exceedingly grateful to Steve and his team for everything they did for us!" - Miranda
On our Corporate/Social side, Garrett Photographic team is professional, technical, and equipped to take on any photo or video job your company needs. Whether you’re having your event at Loft on Lake or elsewhere, Steve & Evan are a team that can handle large or small jobs. From photo/video documentation of your event, professional headshots to time-lapse videos, iPhone, DSLR or cinematic equipment quality and etc. Stephen has 30+ years of professional commercial photography experience while Evan has 10+ years of professional video and photo assisting experience.
"We felt that [Steve] had top notch gear and a good eye, and it showed through his photos." - John
Loft on Lake offers a lot of natural beauty and comes with an abundance of included lighting throughout the space, helping to create that perfectly warm ambiance. You can embellish with your own décor touches to create an even more unique experience. The space is completely transformable into whatever you envision.
"My husband and I were married at Loft on Lake, and they were so easy to work with. I wanted a DIY wedding and the space allowed us to make it our own. The intimate atmosphere and soft lighting really set the perfect mood. The day couldn't have been more perfect." - Katie
We want your pet to be a part of your special day! Loft on Lake is and always has been a pet-friendly venue, because pets are family, too. So how could you leave them out of your special day? Many couples have incorporated dogs in their wedding day, we even hosted a dog wedding as a fundraiser for a local animal shelter!
"Unlike all the other venues we had seen, Joel greeted us with his dog (yes, this venue is dog friendly) and he congratulated us on our engagement! He was so personable and helped us through booking the venue." - Shawna
““The venue is the perfect blank slate to decorate how you want without needing to do much. Its laid out perfectly for caterers and vendors to get in and set up.” ”
Our blank canvas, your creative vision!
Click on the event or service type below for more photos and information
1366 W Lake St.
Loft on Lake is located on the west end of the Fulton Market District on Lake street near Ogden avenue in the West Loop. The nearest CTA trains are the Green/Pink Line stations between the Morgan stop and Ashland stop. The nearest CTA Bus route is Bus #9 at Ashland & Lake.
“We had so many guests comment on how beautiful and intimate the space was - if you are looking for the perfect loft space in Chicago, this is it!!”
Two parking spots are reserved in our private parking lot for clients. The caterer will have one reserved spot, as well as one spot for band/DJ.
Search PARKING NEAR 1366 W. LAKE ST TO VIEW PAY PARKING OPTIONS.
Street parking is available in the area, there’s also public parking located northeast of the venue at Ada & Fulton St., just a short 3 minute walk to the venue. A new Parking Garage is located at 1341 W Randolph in the Plumber’s Union. Pricing is listed at $4/hr.
If you’d like to provide valet for your guests, VIP Valet and 5 Star Valet are both great options.
Wheelchair accessible parking is located directly in the back of the venue in our private parking lot. Loft on Lake is a fully accessible venue from front door to back door.
Family Owned & Operated
Jill is your day-to-day contact, managing all events and client correspondence.
She is always on hand to help you before, during, and after booking with any questions you may have. She is available to attend vendor meetings as you plan your event and she can also provide day of coordination services to facilitate your event details.
Her event experience began over 15 years ago working events, large & small, in both city & suburbs. Fast forward through several event-related jobs, including hotel catering management, she’s found her permanent home at Loft on Lake.
Jill met her husband, Evan, while attending an event at Loft on Lake in 2013. Six years later they were married in roughly the same spot where they first met! See photos from their 2019 wedding in the LoftyWeddings Photo Gallery.
Jill looks forward to showing everyone what our magical space has to offer!
The building had a vision of its own and soon began to unfold as a welcoming space for so many to launch businesses, products and unions; life changing and transformative opportunities and events. Cher laid the strong foundation for Loft on Lake’s continued success with solid industry relationships, customer service and marketing expertise for our first 10 years.
She previously lead her successful design and branding firm, KGA and has had a strong entrepreneurial presence in the West Loop for 30+ years!
Steve has worked as a commercial photographer in the West Loop since 1990.
As our resident photographer, he leads the Lofty Weddings photography team, as well as his corporate and event photography team Garrett Photographic.
An avid wood-worker, Steve & Evan have built several pieces of furniture that you see in the space, including both of our custom bars!
““The value the staff at Loft on Lake added was far beyond what was anticipated. Their commitment to the success of our event was second to none. I would happily have future receptions or even corporate events in this space.””
Accolades Affiliates & Press
Loft on Lake has become one of Chicago’s premier destinations for any event since our start in 2008. We captured the coveted "Best New Chicago Venue Award" from the event industry forecaster BizBash a year after opening, and the Chicago Events industry so kindly embraced us. We have set the trend and led the way in standards and have offered consistent and exceptional services proven to be the tried and true answer for urbanites seeking the ultimate alternative experience. We've received countless accolades from third parties and stellar reviews on Loft on Lake listings across the web by past clientele.
awards
2022 The Knot “Best of Weddings”
2022 Luxury Wedding Wire Couple’s Choice Award
2020 "Best of 2020" Best Venue on The Wedding Spot
2019 Luxury Travel Guide Winner - Best Urban Event Venue
2019 LUX Life Magazine - Best Wedding & Events Venue
2018 LTG Wedding Awards Shortlisted
2011 - 2017 "People Love Us" on Yelp
2017 "Best Event Venues in the Country" The Salonnaire
2017 "Real Weddings" Feature on 100 Layer Cake
2016 "Best Event Rental Companies Chicago" Expertise
2016 "Best of 2016" Best Venue on The Wedding Spot
2015 Wedding Featured On Style Me Pretty
2014 "Real Weddings" Feature on 100 Layer Cake
2014 Wedding Featured On Style Me Pretty
2013 Wedding Featured On Style Me Pretty
2012 "Best Venue Manager" BizBash Finalist
2012 "Best of Chicago" Award Venue and Event Space
2011 "Best Venue Manager" BizBash Finalist
2009 "Chicago Event Style Awards" BizBash BEST NEW VENUE
