General

When is Blackberry Creek Available?
Blackberry Creek is available during the Fall, Spring, and Summer.  Our facility is closed from Oct 31-March 1.

Is there heat?
Most of our buildings are not insulated.  We do not have furnaces or heaters in the buildings.

Is there Air Conditioning?
The camp does not have central air, however, in our dormitory and bunkhouse, we have window units set up.

What sorts of events can be held at Blackberry Creek?
Weddings, meetings, retreats, concerts, fund raisers, expos, conferences, and others.

Weddings

May I use my own caterer?
Yes, you may.  We use Reuland Food Services (http://www.reulandfoodservice.com/) mostly and have great success but you can use whomever you choose.  The caterer must have insurance and if they want to use our kitchen, they must be certified in Kendall County.

May I bring my own cake
Yes, you may.

May I use only the chapel or the reception hall?
Yes, you can use either the chapel, the reception hall, or both.  Contact us for more details.

May I decorate the chapel and reception hall myself?
Yes, you can.  You can coordinate with us to show up a day early or the morning of to decorate as you please.  We just ask that the facility look just the same way when you leave at the end of the day.

May I take pictures at the center
Yes.  Included with our wedding packages is the opportunity to take pictures at our facility.

 

Is there lodging at the center?

Yes.  We have rustic style housing where you bring your own sleeping bag.  If you are looking for hotel like accommodations, Yorkville has many great hotels to choose from.

May I bring my own band?

Yes, you can.

Do you provide a DJ?

For an additional charge, we can provide a DJ with all the equipment.  The DJ will play your choice of music.

Can we bring our own alcohol?

Because of our license, only we are allowed to buy and sell alcohol for our premises.  Please inquire about our alcohol packages.

Is there a space for the bride and groom to change and/or relax?

Yes.  We can provide quarters for you to relax in.

Who will be supervising / troubleshooting on the day of the wedding?

We will have a Blackberry Creek staff member there to make sure that everything on our end works well.  Depending on the needs, we can assist you in specific areas.  Our staff are not wedding coordinators or wedding planners so what we do mostly has to do with the facility and making sure everyone knows where everything is.

 

Retreats

How many people can sleep at the camp?

Approximately 100 people can sleep in our buildings.  If you want to use tents, we can sleep many more.

What sorts of activities do you have?

We have basketball, soccer fields, a pool, woods, a creek, and a river.

What sorts of activities can be used at the camp?

You can bring inflatables, laser tag, almost any camp game you can think of.  However, paintball is not allowed on our property.

Can we set up camping tents?

Yes.

 

Events/Concerts

How many stages can we have set up?

You can set up 2 outdoor stages and 2 indoor stages.

How many people can come to a concert?

You can have up to 3000 people at our facility for a concert.

Can we have different vendors come to our event?

Yes.  They must comply with county standards and provide a certificate of insurance.

 

Corporate Meetings

What types of facilities do you have for meetings?

We have a reception hall that can seat 200-250 in row seating.  We also have a dining room that can seat 200 at tables.

Can you do team building activities?

Yes.  We have many relationships with consultants and companies that specialize in team building at our facility.  You can also rent our facility and bring your own facilitator.

What food arrangements do you have?

With the caterers that we partner with, we can pretty much provide any type of catering you need for any size group.