We’re having two ceremonies! The first one already happened, on June 1, 2018, in Douala. So we’re half married?! But we couldn’t finish tying the knot without the rest of you, so our second ceremony will be later this year in Chicago:
October 20, 2018
4 pm
In the Solarium at the
South Shore Cultural Center
↤ The ceremony will be in the Solarium.
↧ Our traditional Bamileke ceremony took place at the home of Xavier Tankou, Jo’an’s father, in Douala, Cameroon. Check out the pictures!
Our traditional wedding in Douala was followed by a crazy party with lots of dancing. We’ll be reprising the energy and excitement in Chicago, if not quite the length—we closed down the party at 6 am. This just means we’ll have to party even harder to squeeze it all in!
The reception will start shortly after the ceremony ends, just down the hall in the Dining Room. We’ll have stations of food positioned around the room, so you can eat and drink, mix and mingle, and most importantly, celebrate!
October 20, 2018
5:30 pm
In the Dining Room at the
South Shore Cultural Center
↦ The Dining Room may look like a staid, classical affair, but the party in it will be anything but. ↧
Chicago has two airports, Midway and O’Hare, both of which are an easy ‘L’ ride to the Loop. Or if you want to embrace its railroad history, you can travel to Chicago on Amtrak, which will drop you right next to downtown. But since the South Shore Cultural Center is not in downtown, you have a choice to make about where to stay, depending on how long you’ll be in Chicago and what else you plan to do while here.
Stay in the LoopThe simplest option is to stay downtown. It has the best transit connections to the rest of the city and the most things to do right at your fingertips. But to get to the wedding from the Loop, you’ll need to travel. Depending on your mode, it should take 15 to 45 minutes.
Congress Plaza Hotel ‣ We have a discounted block of rooms at the Congress Plaza Hotel, a classic Chicago hotel on Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park and the lake. Call their reservation department before September 7, and let them know you’re with the Tankou-Foreman Wedding: 312-427-3800 ext. 5025 or 800-635-1666. Even if it’s after September 7, they might still have discounted rooms available.
If the Congress Plaza isn’t for you, there are dozens of other options. Here are a few lower-priced places that you might find interesting:
- Found Chicago, in River North—just north of downtown—has a mix of private and shared rooms.
- FieldHouse Jones, in Near North—just north of River North—has lots of room configurations, including private rooms with a variety of bed setups, suites, and shared rooms.
- HI Chicago is a highly rated hostel right around the corner from the Congress Plaza Hotel.
- Airbnb has options in the Loop and throughout the city.
Stay in Hyde ParkIf you want to stay closer to the South Shore Cultural Center, your best bet is Hyde Park. To be sure, it’s still at least a 45-minute walk, but that’s about the closest you can get, unless you book an Airbnb or something along those lines.
Hyde Park doesn’t have many hotels, but here are a few options: Sophy Hyde Park, Hyatt Place, and La Quinta.
Get to South Shore The South Shore Cultural Center is at 7059 S. South Shore Drive, at the corner of 71st Street. Although the ‘L’, often the best way around Chicago, does not come anywhere close—it’s an hour walk to the nearest station—the #6 bus and Metra Electric both stop right in front of the Cultural Center. If those modes of transit aren’t your cup of tea, you could ride a Divvy, but your best bet is probably to drive or take a Lyft, Uber, or taxi. There’s a metered parking lot on the grounds of the Cultural Center: $2 per hour until 9 pm, then $1 per hour from 9 to 11.
What Else to Do When you’re not at our wedding, there are so many things to see and do in Chicago that any partial list will miss lots of great options. But here are a few ideas near the South Shore Cultural Center that you might find interesting.
- In South Shore: The Stony Island Arts Bank is a historic community bank, abandoned for decades, then reborn as an art gallery, archive, library, and community center by Theaster Gates. The South Shore Nature Sanctuary is next door to the Cultural Center, right on the shores of Lake Michigan.
- In Jackson Park: Wooded Island and its Japanese Garden of the Phoenix (formerly Osaka Garden) are remnants of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The building housing the Museum of Science and Industry was the fair’s Palace of Fine Arts. The future Obama Presidential Center will be built around the corner from the Museum and across the lagoon from Wooded Island.
- In Hyde Park: The University of Chicago dominates the neighborhood. You can spend hours exploring the campus—itself a botanic garden—visiting the museums, and appreciating the architecture. One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces, the Robie House, is right next to the university.
- In Washington Park: The DuSable Museum of African American History is one of the oldest and largest independent museums dedicated to black history in the U.S.
- One final idea you might not otherwise come across: Lifting as They Climbed: Mapping a History of Black Women on Chicago’s South Side. If you’re interested, buy the book before you arrive.
Your presence at our wedding is the gift we most want. But if you’re inclined to give more, we set up a honeymoon registry with a twist. For each piece of our honeymoon, we selected a charity to which we’ll give half of whatever we receive. In some cases, you might notice a connection between the charity and the item. But for most of them, we just think the organization does good work, making the world that we’re blessed to be able to explore a better place.
- What’s the dress code?
- What’s the best way to get to the South Shore Cultural Center?
- How did you two meet?
- Where are you standing in the background photo on your website?
- What else is there to do in Chicago?