Chicago Hotels & Accommodation

We’ve had great success with Airbnb in cities all over the world and would strongly recommend taking a look to see what is around during the wedding reception in October.

You will likely want to limit you search to the Loop – which is near the reception at The Cliff Dwellers – or near the Alittos in Hyde Park.

For guests looking for a traditional hotel, we have reserved a block of rooms near The Cliff Dwellers at the Palmer House Hilton.

To take advantage of block pricing (single and double rooms from $189), reserve online using this link or call the hotel at 1-877-865-5321 and reference the wedding block code AGW.

Whether booking online or by phone, you must book your room by Wednesday, September 3 to secure the wedding block rate.

If you’re looking for somewhere else to stay, here are some other hotels to consider:

Silversmith Hotel: (312) 372-7696

Hotel Palomar: (312) 755-9703

The Burnham Hotel: (312) 782-1111

For your convenience, here’s a map of all the above hotels:

Wedding

Getting Around

The festivities on September 20 will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Sts. Peter and Paul Church on West 38th Avenue near Granville Street.

The wedding ceremony itself should take about one to one-and-a-half hours, after which guests can make their way to Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar, located at 1138 Homer Street in Downtown Vancouver.

The reception at Brix begins at 4:30 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.

Click here for a Google Map showing the church and restaurant, and directions between the two.

By car:

Head west on W 38th Ave toward Granville St
Turn right onto Granville St
Go straight along Granville St and on to Granville Bridge. Keep right and take exit for Seymour St.
Turn right onto Davie St
Turn left onto Homer St

By bus:

From bus stop at 38th and Granville, take bus ’10 Downtown’
Get off at Davie St stop
Walk down Davie St toward Homer Street
Turn left at Homer Street

By bike:

Head west on W 38th Ave
Turn right toward W 33rd Ave
Turn left onto W 33rd Ave
Turn right onto Angus Dr
Turn left onto Matthews Ave
Turn right onto Pine Crescent
Continue along Pine St
Turn left onto W 1st Ave
Turn right onto Burrard St
Go over Burrard Bridge
Turn right onto Pacific St
Turn left onto Homer St
After you pass Davie St, Brix will be on your right

Wedding

Contact Information & RSVP

Thank you for visiting! If you haven’t already done so, please let us know whether you expect to attend the the celebration in Vancouver and/or Chicago.

You can find the RSVP form for the September 20 Vancouver wedding and reception here, and for the October 4 Chicago reception here.

If you’d like to get in touch directly, please email us at wedding (at) emilyandandrew.org

What to do

About Vancouver

Living in Shanghai, and with family and friends located all around the world, we decided that Vancouver would be a wonderful place to gather to celebrate our wedding.

For guests with free time on their hands, here is a very incomplete list of places we like in Vancouver. For more ideas, try visiting The Georgia Straight, Lonely Planet or Tourism Vancouver.

Granville Island
High on any list of things to do in Vancouver, Granville Island is a former industrial area redeveloped by the federal government in the 1970s. Its main attraction is a large public market, but it is also home to a community centre, art galleries, a marina and a good brewery (and now a distillery).

From the pier at Granville Island, you can rent a small speedboat to explore English Bay and beyond. Licenses are granted on the spot, so you don’t need any previous boating experience.

Commercial Drive

Arguably home to Vancouver’s largest concentration of hipsters, Commercial Drive is packed with coffee shops (try Continental Coffee), bike shops (try Dream Cycle), restaurants (try Absinthe Bistro) and used record stores (try Audiopile).

Stanley Park & Seawall

Stanley Park is a 1,001-acre public park adjacent to Downtown Vancouver that includes, among other things, a 400-hectare West Coast rainforest, gardens and a public aquarium. It is ringed by a an 8.8-kilometer seawall with lanes for walking, running and cycling.

Deep Cove

A 30-minute drive from Downtown Vancouver, Deep Cove is beautiful waterfront community. Wander along the beach, or rent a kayak at the Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre and paddle up Indian Arm.

Deep Cove is also an excellent starting point for hiking trails in Mount Seymour Provincial Park.

For a traditional Vancouver workout slightly closer to Downtown, try the Grouse Grind, a challenging 2.9-kilometre climb up Grouse Mountain. If the weather is good, you’ll be rewarded with fantastic views of the city from the top.

Nitobe Memorial Garden, UBC

A 2.5-acre traditional Japanese garden on the grounds of UBC. Considered one of the top five Japanese gardens outside of Japan (at least according to its web site), it’s a serene and lovely place in one of the world’s most spectacularly situated campuses.

Restaurants

Some of our favourites in a city that’s rightfully famous for its food:

Absinthe Bistro – As mentioned above, located on Commercial Drive. A small menu done well.

Burgoo – A small chain of restaurants serving a variety of very good stews

Burdock & Co. – Located on Main Street — Hipster Central before Commercial Drive — this is one of Vancouver’s many excellent locavore restaurants, serving local, seasonal ingredients.

Fuji Sushi - Not actually in Vancouver, but in the suburb of Port Moody, we would argue that the quality of the fish at this sushi restaurant makes it worth the 45-minute drive.

The Naam – A Vancouver institution, the place to go for vegetarian comfort food. Open all night. Queues can be long at dinnertime.

Nuba – Very good Lebanese food.

The Oakwood Canadian Bistro – Another excellent locavore restaurant, located across the street from The Naam.

Sophie’s Cosmic Café – Comfort food at an eclectic retro diner.

Note: There is excellent Chinese food in Vancouver — mainly Cantonese, and mainly located in the suburb of Richmond. But since we live in China, we don’t go out of our way for Chinese food in Vancouver and can’t offer any specific recommendations.

Bella Gelateria and Thomas Haas Chocolate

Award-winning gelato and artisan chocolate, respectively.

Spanish Banks

Named to commemorate the meeting of Spanish explorers Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores with British Captain George Vancouver in 1792, the Spanish Banks are a series of beaches along the shores of English Bay. The western end of the Spanish Banks isn’t ideal for swimming, but is wonderful for a walk at sunset.

Home

Andrew’s family lived in Vancouver from 1984 through 1992, before moving to Tokyo. His parents moved back into their old house after returning from Asia in 2008. Despite spending most of his life outside of Canada, Andrew feels about as close to home in Vancouver as he’s capable of feeling anywhere. After 10 years in China, he has also learned that long-time residents of Vancouver have only the very faintest understanding of how beautiful their city is.