Bridal couples with towering aspirations and a love of Instagram head straight from the ceremony to The Ledge, on the 103rd floor of Chicago’s Willis Tower.
If you want to combine a gasp-worthy wedding with a few million likes on Instagram, it’s hard to find a better venue than Chicago’s Willis Tower (old-timers still call it Sears). The Western Hemiphere’s second-tallest building has a private event space on the 99th floor, complete with 50-mile views courtesy of floor-to-ceiling windows (and a dozen or so telescopes), lounge-y furnishings, and a built-in dance floor. It’s sophisticated and stunning, and the service is first-class: express lobby check-in and a dedicated elevator zooming you into the sky—no need to share.
But what sells most couples on a Willis wedding is VIP access to The Ledge. Up on the 103rd Sky Deck, four of these glass boxes jut several feet out from the building over the city, attracting mobs of tourists all year long; in summer, the wait to get your picture taken on one of the clear balconies can stretch to two hours. But book the 99th floor for your wedding and you’ll have a full hour of VIP Ledge access; one of the boxes will be roped off as up to 250 of your guests take turns posing in front of sunset (all four boxes face west) and the darkening sky as flights circle at Midway.
Of course you’ll set aside a good part of that hour for your own photo session, which—depending on your acrophobic tendencies—can feature you two reenacting your vows, dancing, or lounging on the floor as though there was a lot more between you and your maker than a 1,500-pound glass panel.
