Morton Arboretum Wedding

As a wedding coordinator and planner that has worked over 150 weddings in the Chicago area, we have definitely seen all the good, bad, and ugly as far as wedding venues and what is all included. In our opinion, we know which ones are worth your time and money and we definitely feel it’s worth looking into Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. If you’re looking for a smooth experience, great location for wedding photos, and overall the best time on your wedding day, you should definitely check them out. Here is all of the information you might want to know when it comes to booking Morton Arboretum for your wedding day.

The Space

The venue itself is a botanical garden or living museum in Lisle, Illinois. It as a whole has over 1,700 acres that is perfect for picturesque outdoor wedding photos. It is about 25 miles from Chicago, but it is the perfect venue if you’re looking for a nature-filled experience well-within the area of Chicago.

There are various spaces onsite for your wedding to be hosted. For outdoor ceremony locations, you have the Grand Garden and Fragrance Garden. In some of the photos here, we also do have a Oak Tree location that is not listed on their website, so it’s worth asking more about that if you’re interested.

The reception spaces are the Gingko Room, Sycamore Room, Firefly Pavilion, and the Thornhill Education Center building that houses the Founder’s Room and the Arbor Room. Each have a vastly different guest capacity, so it’s important to consider that and see what works best for your ideal wedding day.

The Grand Garden is on the East Side and does not have a guest capacity listed. If you’re looking for a garden-vibe for your wedding and want an outdoor lawn ceremony, this is definitely one to look into. It has central lawn seating, a terrace that you can use for wedding ceremonies, and water features that stand out as a beautiful statement piece and brings you a European or Californian wedding feel.

The Fragrance Garden is on the West Side and it has a capacity of 50 guests. This space is much more intimate and has a trellis you can use as an arbor for your focal point for the ceremony. Unlike the Grand Garden, the Fragrance Garden has a patio for your guests to have even footing. There’s also a fountain, pond, and many more plants that make this space speak for itself.

The Ginkgo Room is on the East Side and it has a capacity of 270 guests. If you like the idea of the outdoor wedding without the worry of the weather, this space is great because of the floor-to-ceiling windows with beautiful views of the Arboretum. The main hall, or Orientation Hall, is a great place for cocktail hour to lead your guests into the main reception space.

The Sycamore Room is on the East Side and it has a capacity of 60 guests. This is inside the Visitor Center which surely makes it easy to navigate for your guests, and also has great views of the Ground Cover Garden with its large windows.

The Firefly Pavilion is Morton Arboretum’s newest space opening up in 2024. It is on the East Side and has a capacity of 250 guests for a ceremony and reception or a capacity of 300 guests for a reception-only style wedding. What we love about this space is that they have screens that can be raised or lowered so when the weather is nice you can have the full view and feel of an outdoor event. Our couples love that this is an open-air space and it also has an outdoor patio that is perfect for cocktail hour. There’s also a nice, large suite for you to store your personal items that we know our couples really appreciate.

The Founder’s Room is on the West Side in the Thornhill Education Center and has a capacity of 100 guests for a ceremony or 130 guests for a pre-dinner reception. This space used to be the library of the Morton family home and now is a great space for a pre-dinner reception. Some notable features are the carved woodwork, marble fireplace, and stained glass windows that make this space feel cozy and. intimate. This space also has a wedding suite attached so you can hide out or have easy, private access to the Fragrance Garden for photos.

The Arbor Room is on the West Side in the Thornhill Education Center and it has a capacity of 130 guests. You also have access to the stone Morton Terrace which is great for an outdoor ceremony.

About Morton Arboretum

Morton Arboretum was founded in 1922. The family motto was “Plant Trees” and they have continued to do exactly that! The founder, Joy Morton, is actually the founder of Morton Salt Company and built his country estate on the very grounds that hold Morton Arboretum today. Joy actually began his pursuit of creating an “outdoor museum of trees” that started his tree-planting legacy that has thrived here since. What originally was 795 acres is now over 1,700 acres of tree-filledspace. Morton Arboretum has classes, education, exhibitions, and so much more that they can host as well.

Morton Arboretum of course hosts weddings, but they can also be a great spot for corporate events, birthday parties, picnics, or other celebrations. Also, just bringing your family for a nice day is ideal here since everything is so well-kept!

The Thornhill Education Center was once the Morton family’s mansion that has since been converted to the education building and event spaces.

Morton Arboretum has an in-house catering team that will take care of your rentals, food, and beverage, but they also have an open vendor policy for any other vendors that you want to bring in.

Flow

Many couples will come to Morton Arboretum for their first look and photos prior to the wedding ceremony, but otherwise you can begin your day at a nearby hotel and head over to Morton Arboretum for the ceremony. Your guests will enter through the main entrance and use any of their free parking, however, there are 33 lots along the roads so it’s important to figure out first where will be closest to their destination. We recommend couples map out the lots that are ideal on their wedding website - which we can help with as wedding coordinators as well. If you would like to do this yourself, you can find the parking information here.

When your guests arrive and park, there will be some signs to help direct your guests where to go, but we also recommend having your coordinators really help guide everyone to the proper location for your ceremony or cocktail hour. Many of the spaces have places in mind for the wedding party to hide away beforehand so guests don’t see you until you’re ready.

One thing that is fun about Morton Arboretum is that they have wedding trams available for special tours of the grounds on the Acorn Express tram that would ride during cocktail hour.

When the reception ends, your guests can head back to their cars and if they need a place to stay can go to the nearby hotels like Chicago Marriott Naperville, Hyatt Regency Lisle, or DoubleTree Hilton Lisle/Naperville. There are some other hotels in the area, so if you need more options, feel free to ask us at our contact page what you’re looking for.

Amenities

There are many things about Morton Arboretum we love, but here are just some of the amenities included:

In-house catering team, Signature Events, with their menus for food and beverage listed here
5 hour venue rental (either from 10am-3pm or 6pm-11pm)
Tables
Chairs (reception only, if you need ceremony chairs it’s $5 per chair)
Standard rentals (linen, glassware, flatware)
Onsite venue manager
Free parking
Waived photo permit fee
Getting ready room or wedding suite

If you are looking for upgrades to rentals or hours, you can ask for adjustments so your package works best for you.

Pricing for Morton Arboretum

As of June 10, 2026, their pricing is available on their website so for future couples it’s best to check out their listed pricing brochure. Their pricing brochure was revised in August of 2025, so it’s likely that they will soon update the pricing from what we have listed here and it also only includes the venue rental rates, but because they have in-house catering you will also have to factor that into your total cost as well, which you can see their menus here.

For the main pricing, the costs are split into the specific venues, the day of the week and if they offer daytime/evening time rentals. For The Ginkgo Room and Terrace, it is $6,000 for a Friday evening, $9,000 for a Saturday evening, and $5,000 for a Sunday evening. For the Sycamore Room, it is $2,000 for a Friday evening, $1,000 for a Saturday in the daytime, $3,000 for a Saturday evening, $1,000 for a Sunday in the daytime, and $2,000 for a Sunday evening. For the Firefly Pavilion, it is $6,000 for a Friday evening, $9,000 for a Saturday in the daytime and in the evening, or $5,000 for a Sunday in the daytime or evening. For the Grand Garden, it is $1,800 for a Friday evening, $1,800 for a Saturday evening, or $1,800 for a Sunday evening. For the Arbor Room and Founder’s room in the Thornhill Education Center, it’s $4,000 for a Friday evening, $3,000 for a Saturday in the daytime, $6,000 for a Saturday evening, or $3,000 for a Sunday in the daytime or in the evening. And for the Fragrance Garden for a ceremony only, it’s $600 for a Friday evening, Saturday in the daytime or evening, or Sunday in the daytime or evening.

Morton Arboretum also has Winter and Spring Wedding Packages that are a lower rate between January and April - The Gingko Room is $5,000 for the room rental and the Thornhill Rental is $3,000 for the room rental.

If you also need chairs for the ceremony, keep in mind that the chairs are $5 a chair. The rates also are impacted by holiday weekends like Memorial Day or Labor Day. We highly recommend reaching out at the venue’s contact form for the most accurate pricing.

We know how hard it can be to narrow down your favorite wedding venues to just one, so we have done the hard work for you and gathered all the information on Morton Arboretum here. This way, you can choose a wedding venue that you love and checks all of your boxes! We have coordinated over 150 weddings and each time we get to be at Morton Arboretum it is surely a treat. If you are looking for a wedding venue that’s great for photos, has indoor and outdoor elements, and has the ease of a more all-inclusive experience, you should definitely check out Morton Arboretum. We would highly recommend it! For more information, you can email them at events@mortonarb.org, fill out their contact form, or call them at 630-719-2457.

Want to see more venues like this we recommend? Check out our blog on best Chicago suburb venues for large guest counts.

Need help planning or coordinating your wedding at Morton Arboretum?

Reach out at our contact page for more information about our day-of wedding coordination or planning experience helping weddings run smoothly.

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Want to see a real wedding at Morton Arboretum?

See more photos from Rachel and Anthony’s wedding!

This May wedding in Lisle was really one to remember because of how it was a perfect mix of sweet and fun! Rachel and Anthony were given the PERFECT weather for their wedding day, which was really helpful for having an outdoor ceremony and a pavilion reception! They had both their ceremony and reception at Morton Arboretum and the pavilion was only finished a few weeks before their wedding - but it looked absolutely beautiful! They really put their trust into the space and Morton Arboretum definitely delivered a stunning wedding venue. We helped coordinate their wedding day with our day-of coordination and everything went off without a hitch!

The day started off with the girls at her parent’s house and the guys at their hotel. They both were really able to sit back and relax with hair and makeup only starting at 7am and the guys getting to just chill before the afternoon got started!

There was plenty of time for the ladies to get some really cute photos in the morning of the wedding, which we always adore in these cute getting ready robes!

First Look and Photos Onsite at Morton Arboretum

Rachel and Anthony had an all-in-one space and were able to do their first look and all of their photos at the venue. It is such a large space with SO many opportunities for photos, that this really was the perfect spot for everything to happen! And we got to see the first look and it was definitely was super sweet!

They had such beautiful grounds it really made for such amazing photos. Nikki did a fantastic job with their album and working with the lighting of the day too!

Rachel and Anthony had a pretty large wedding party but that really only made it more fun. Large wedding parties can either be an added stressor to couples to make sure everyone is still around, or they can really bring the heat and make the wedding feel like a PARTY - and this group did just that!

Outdoor Wedding Ceremony at the Oak Tree at Morton Arboretum

The ceremony was by this iconic large tree and it was absolutely beautiful. They did their own personalized vows that really were so sweet to listen to too!

Definitely some of our favorite photos from the wedding are the first kiss and recessional - they are always so sweet and happy!

Rachel and Anthony definitely wanted to take advantage of their cocktail hour, so they walked directly there when they finished their family photos. It truly is one of our favorite things to see the groom carrying the bride’s train - such a sweet act of kindness!

Cocktail Hour at Firefly Pavilion

Tori got them their signature drinks as they arrived and they mingled the whole time! Couples that really value the time they can celebrate with their family and friends definitely love having most of their photos finished so they can enjoy cocktail hour too!

The setup was perfectly simple - the pavilion didn’t need many extra decorations because it was lovely on its own! The pavilion walls were raised at the end of cocktail hour and the guests were able to have the reveal and find their seats.

The lighting was interesting from being so backlit so it was a perfect time for Nikki to do some flash - filmy looking photos. Everything looked so stunning!

Sunset Photos Outside Firefly Pavilion

Rachel and Anthony finished up their dinner and went outside for sunset photos. These photos truly are some of the best in the whole day because the lighting is always so perfect for sunset! It’s also nice to have some sweet, independent time away for the two of you to really soak up that “just married” feeling.

It was finally time for dancing and they got right to it. They had a few choreographed moves and it makes it more fun to watch! We knew that they really wanted as much open dancing time as they could get, so we made sure to do our best to keep to the timeline and get to dancing as quickly as possible.

The father/daughter dance went from typical to choreographed and that really got everyone excited! They invited everyone onto the dance floor after they finished up their moves and people were already so hyped to be out there.

One of the most fun parts about this wedding was the DJ supplying them with their smoke cannons - the couple couldn’t wait until the reveal and they LOVED getting the crowd so hyped up! It was definitely an iconic moment from the wedding that we will never forget and we are sure that their guests agree!

Rachel and Anthony spent the rest of the evening attached at the hip - most of which was on the dance floor! They really wanted to have a good time together and that they surely did. It was such a pleasure to see them enjoying themselves the whole day with their family and friends!

It was such a joyous day with Rachel and Anthony at Morton Arboretum and we are so glad to have been a part of making sure their wedding day went exactly as they had hoped. It was clear that they both had an amazing time through the whole day! Everyone clearly had SO much fun the whole day and we are so thankful to have had a hand in making that happen!

If you’re hoping to have a wedding like this and want to enjoy your day with your family and friends, reach out to us at our contact page and we would be happy to ensure you can be out on the dance floor instead of worrying about logistics.