Scrambling to Find a Microwedding Venue - nw Indiana or Chicago Suburbs

A month ago, my fiancé and I decided that waiting an entire year to get married, especially with COVID still looming over our heads, seemed rather dumb. We opted for a short timeline (December 12, 2020) since we happen to have a small break from graduate school and work before the new year rolled in.


Our original venue was amazingly priced: $35 per person for 45 people. This included the venue, tables, chairs, linens, food, open bar, and gratuity. With the sudden change in dates, I called the venue this afternoon to discuss the possibility of a micro wedding. They immediate said no to my smaller party size. Due to the current COVID phase in Illinois, they have opted for a min and max guest count of 50, and they were unwilling to book an off-season wedding for 30 (only close family). A friend suggested I invite the 15 people I initially removed from the guest list and find a few more friends. Unfortunately, these individuals are all out-of-state and are unable to travel (hence why I was able to narrow the list down so easily).
So here I am, 80 some days out without a venue... and knowing a backyard wedding in the middle of December in Illinois is impossible. 😂
I do have most of my other vendors. I’ve also picked out a caterer just in case my new venue does not include food/drink.
Firstly, does anyone have any recommendations for venues in the NW Indiana or the Chicago suburbs? I’ve already scoured and emailed everyone listed here on WeddingWire about the MicroWedding... hoping to hear something back within a few days. Our families are willing to drive up to 1 hour in any direction. My venue budget is up to $1000 without food/drink OR up to $2000 with food and drink for 30-35 people.
Secondly, is anyone else having issues booking MicroWeddings? I feel that there’s so much talk about ‘MicroWeddings’ and ‘Minimonies’ but all the venues I’ve talked to are very unwilling to do them for fear of losing money. Every venue that has refused to serve our wedding is requiring a min/max of 50...
Hope your wedding planning is going better than mine!