The Joinery Wedding | Amanda + Mallory

Wedding ceremony at The Joinery in Chicago

Love Stories

March 5, 2025

If you’re looking for an industrial-chic wedding venue in Chicago, The Joinery is a standout choice. Located in the beautiful Bucktown neighborhood (but just steps from Logan Square, Wicker Park, and Humboldt Park), this wedding venue blends historic charm with modern design. Exposed brick, high ceilings, and a flexible floor plan make it perfect for couples who want a stylish and unique setting for their big day. Whether you’re planning an elegant dinner party or a outgoing and hype reception, The Joinery offers versatile layouts that can be customized to fit your vision. Amanda and Mallory took full advantage of The Joinery’s flexible space, all while designing an amazing day for them (and their guests) to enjoy while celerating their union!

Getting Ready Options for The Joinery Weddings

Luckily, The Joinery has a variety of options for getting ready spaces before your wedding. The venue features a private getting ready suite/green room for the couple to use. Additionally, The Joinery had two rentals available. First, The Hideout, located on the second floor of the Joinery, is available for couples getting married at the venue. The Hideout is a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment. Second, The Millhouse, located directly next door to the Joinery, is available for rent. Featuring 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, and sleeping up to ten adults and four kids, The Millhouse is the perfect extension of your event.

Amanda + Mal’s Preperation for their big day

Amanda + Mallory chose to utilize the Millhouse to get ready in. They got ready with their closest friends and family in the Millhouse before getting dressed seperately for a first look. It was truly the best of both worlds for them. They got to spend the morning together with their favorite people, while getting dressed seperately for a first look allowed them to have an element of suprise and intimacy.

Ceremony Space for The Joinery weddings

The Joinery’s ceremony space features a bright, open-concept layout with warm wood tones and industrial elements. The capacity for a seated ceremony at The Joinery is 160 people. Seating arrangements are flexible, allowing for a traditional aisle setup or a more modern, circular layout. As a photographer, I really appreciated the venue’s signature skylight and bright, white painted brick. The skylight floods the room with natural light during the day, which is so beautiful. The exposed beams and brick walls add character without needing much additional decor.

Amanda + Mallory’s wedding ceremony at The Joinery

For the ceremony setup, Amanda + Mallory chose to exchange vows at the far end of the main hall, creating a natural focal point with their gorgeous floating floral background (one of my faves I’ve seen as a photographer of over 100 weddings). The red carnations were the perfect delicate-yet-bold touch to draw your eyes to the ceremony. Mal + Amanda exchanged rings and sweet, soul-stirring personal vows. I know I definitely teared up a few times!

Once the ceremony came to a close, the event seamlessly rolled into cocktail hour outside on The Joinery’s 1500 square-foot patio, complete with an outside bar. The cocktail hour featured signature drinks and an amazing charcuterie display. The patio is used in multiple ways, but I love how Mal + Amanda used it for cocktail hour and to create an indoor/outdoor feel to their reception.

Reception Space for the Joinery Weddings

The ease of transitioning from ceremony, to cocktail hour, to reception is one of my favorite things about The Joinery. Each space is distinct, yet the venue has an overall cohesive feel. The open floor plan allows for multiple table arrangements, whether you prefer long, family-style tables or a mix of rounds and rectangles. There is an additional smaller loft space up the stairs from the main reception hall. This space has a bar, booth seating, a few tables, and chairs. Amanda + Mal used this space for their more introverted guests. If guests weren’t feeling up to dancing, they could head upstairs to mingle and play board games.

Amanda + Mal’s Reception

The couple began their wedding reception at The Joinery with introductions of the wedding party. Since Amanda + Mal love basketball (especially Chicago Sky), as each member came in, they threw little plastic basketballs. Little did the guests know that when Amanda + Mal were finally introduced, they had a surprise up their sleeve. One of the basketballs was marked and indicated they had won a prize – an Olive Garden gift card, true to Amanda + Mal’s dates. There were many heartwarming toasts, most noteably a hilarious and sweet speech by Amanda’s younger sister. Once dinner was eaten, the cake was cut, and A + M shared their first dance, the dance floor was open. Amanda + Mal partied with their friends and family into the night!

Amanda + Mallory’s Love Story

Mal + Amanda met through their mutual friend, Molly. Mal had just taken her professional engineer exam, and went out with some of their mutual friends. They connected again a few weeks later at a viewing party for a dating show that Molly was on. Amanda slid into Mal’s messages after that night, and the rest is history!

They were engaged in June of 2022 in Colorado. They were visiting Mal’s sister and Amanda had scheduled a tour of a wedding venue just for fun, since they had been talking about marriage. Mallory ended up turning the experience into a proposal and engagement photo shoot!

Amanda + Mal love being in their hot tub together, attending Chicago Sky games, and hosting friends at their house for ping pong.

Kind Words from Amanda + Mal:

“I came across Tawny a few years ago when she was tagged on another Instagram page that I followed. I was immediately drawn to her style, and her inclusiveness as a photographer. I knew someday, when the time came for me to get married, that Tawny would be on the short list. After getting engaged and beginning our vendor search, Tawny’s attention to detail, and personalization of her services stood out amongst all the other inquiries we sent out. Something as simple as the personalized video she sent us after our initial inquiry, detailing her packages and what she felt would be best based on what we were looking for.

When we finally met for our engagement shoot this past February, we had an instant connection! Tawny was so inclusive, and captured our vision so perfectly that we could not wait until wedding day! This past weekend, we had the pleasure of spending the entire day with her, and as a bride, the biggest piece of advice I can give other brides is to choose vendors who you vibe with, and want to spend your whole day with! I would get married a million times over if Tawny was going to be on my team!”

Thank you so much, Amanda, for your sweet review!