Chicago Outdoor Event Options

Chicago Outdoor Event Options

We’ve all been stuck inside for a while now. The current pandemic quickly turned event plans for 2020 into cancellations and postponements. However, with the change of weather in Chicago a whole new world opens up to us – that is the outdoor event! The great outdoors – filled with lots of germ free fresh air in our lungs, sunshine on our winter skin and the opportunity to add a bit more social interaction than we’ve had in months by hosting an (intimate and social distanced) outdoor party.  

If your 200 person ballroom wedding or your graduation party at a park district building are no longer an option, how about you turn your eyes to – you guessed it – the great outdoors! Life really is a series of choices – when a choice no longer fits, we pivot and make a new choice.  Covid19 has cast a dark shadow on our current world and forces us all to make new choices. While it is easy to stay and dwell in sadness, we can also choose to step out into the sunshine and find a way to focus on the milestones happening and things we still have to celebrate!

Outside Wedding Ceremonies and Receptions

Since March, our MDM Entertainment team has seen our entire calendar of 2020 events tackle the questions of what do we do now? Do we postpone until 2021? Get married at a micro-ceremony? Cancel all together and wait to see what happens in our world? This is a difficult question, made only more difficult by the emotional investment couples make in planning their wedding day. This is not just cancelling or postponing a party, this is the loss of a dream.

But, dreams can be redefined. You don’t have to abandon the idea of a large wedding, but that celebration will likely have to wait until 2021. What about keeping your original wedding date and hosting an intimate wedding ceremony. Say your “I-Do’s” under the tree that held your childhood tire-swing or ask your florist to  set-up the floral arch on your sun drenched back patio. We can install a soft fabric tree swag or backdrop, your florist can provide you that dreamy bouquet filled with peonies and your officiant can say the words that make you husband and wife!

Groups of ten are permitted and soon enough groups of 50! That is the perfect size for a romantic garden wedding ceremony and intimate dinner. String lights over a huge barn wood table would make you feel like you are in a vineyard in Napa, a sideless open-air tent with drape swaged ceiling and crystal chandeliers would still play to the wedding elegance you envisioned. Options like these allow you to safely celebrate with your closest family and friends and mean you don’t have to put your world on hold.  

Your big wedding day can still happen – get double use out of that dress! – have a 2020 micro wedding ceremony AND a 2021 vow renewal and wedding reception once it’s safe to gather en-mass again, but in the meantime you and your betrothed can already be living in marital bliss!

Drive-By Event Displays 

I had a baby on March 5th and will celebrate my 40th birthday on May 30th. I can feel for you all with the loss of what you thought this year would be. It has ended up much different than I envisioned as well. My baby has yet to meet her aunts, uncles and cousins and my 40th will be spent at home… I feel this with you. But, in the idea of pivoting, let’s explore a redefined celebration.

Drive-By Graduation

We have all seen drive-by parties, but let’s take that up a notch. Your graduate may not walk the stage in their high school auditorium, but they can walk the driveway! Think big! Create your own graduation! We can install a stage, backdrop, hanging school emblem and play Pomp and Circumstance right there in your driveway. And, don’t forget to live stream your outdoor event all to Grandma and Grandpa!

We can also provide sound systems with custom playlists to create the soundtrack to your drive by party while your graduate greets guests in their cars or on the driveway, wearing their cap and gown!

Outdoor Celebration Signage and Decor

If you prefer to have something up to honor your life milestones – be it a baby shower, graduation, birthday or any occasion for celebration – but don’t necessarily want to make a full party of it, custom yard decor is where it’s at.

If your preference is something that can be outside for a while and withstand the weather, custom yard signage is a great option! Each sign will be created to your specifications for size, design and wording and will be printed on a weatherproof material.

Though other options won’t last as long exposed to the elements, things like balloons arches and displays are eye catching and fun! If you have a theme with your signage, props can also make for a great instagrammable moment for your outdoor event.

Standing marquee letters are also festive. MDM Entertainment has 36” marquee letters that can be set to spell your graduate’s or baby’s name (with custom colored light bulbs to match the school colors or baby pink-blue). No memory board to put up at your gad party? How about a TV monitor in your driveway to showcase photographs from throughout the years.

Outdoor Theme Party

With 50 person gatherings on the horizon, thinking in terms of a larger group than has been together in a while, keeping the party outside will help to maintain social distancing standards and contain the spread of germs. When I sit down to design an event with any client, the first thing to do is consider your space. If your event space is the outdoors, think theme party!

Our MDM Entertainment crew LOVES a good theme party! Want to do an outdoor baby shower – how about Glamping?! Or Safari! Your food buffet and drink station could be set up in a tent, complete with crystal chandeliers! Weathered shelves can display your take-away cake pops and mini pies! Safari themed prop decor will add an experience element to the party. Baby elephants, seriously what is cuter?! Have you ever seen a pregnant woman try to get out of a hammock? Joking on that one, of course 😉 

Live Streaming for Outdoor Parties

Zoom and FaceTime have been a sanity saver during this pandemic. We have been apart physically, but these platforms have allowed us to see and talk to our friends and family. As parties start again with size limitations, we can provide live streaming capabilities to open your outdoor event to even more guests. We can’t change the pandemic, but we can change how we experience it. This is a moment in time – but so are the birth of your baby, watching your child graduate or marrying the love of your life – don’t let those moments pass by without celebration!

Services We Offer For Outdoor Events:

Most importantly, we have the expertise to bring the sights and sounds to your outdoor event!

Types of Outdoor Events We Provide Services For: