I'm a coffee loving, travel-obsessed, twenty-something based out of Central Illinois. I'm lucky enough to make a living doing what I love - photographing people! I specialize in weddings (destination + local), senior portraits, + boudoir.
A few weeks ago, news spread all over my Facebook feed about the newest upcoming wedding venue to the Champaign area. Prairie Glass House is the home of Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope who have now decided to turn their property into a venue for both small intimate events or larger wedding parties. Situated right outside of Champaign, Prairie Glass House sits on 17 acres, which is one of the only remnants of the “Big Grove” forest left today.
Bill was kind enough to open up the doors for me a couple weeks ago for my very own private tour of the house, garage loft, and grounds and allowed for me to take photos as we walked. He showed me all around and explained about different areas of the grounds including their history. It’s a very interesting house, with nooks and crannies everywhere you look, and TONS of natural light throughout the entire house, which is a photographers DREAM! Everywhere you look, there are amazing works of art from gorgeous grand mirrors to chandeliers handmade by Bill himself! There’s an absolutely gorgeous white table I need in my house yesterday! I am so excited to be able to introduce this to future brides and grooms as an option for their big day. It’s such a big place and there are so many things to see, get ready for a ton of photos, so let’s take the tour!
Believe it or not, the chandelier hanging in the main entrance of the house was made by owner Bill Cope himself using a branch he found on the property!He also made this chandelier out of champagne glasses. So crafty! The main house includes a full commercial kitchen to accommodate your event caterer.This is the main living space in the house, in which Bill had said they host many large dinner parties in here by the fireplace. This white table…. I NEEEEED it. The grounds and house are extremely customizable, unlike any space I’ve seen before. There are rooms with built in dividers so that you can make the bedroom suite (complete with a kitchenette!) into two separate guest rooms, and with every possible room divided, there are NINE bedrooms total! This bedroom/suite was my favorite, with the lace bed cover, modern living space, and a hidden kitchenette for those morning bridal preparations!
Going out to the back yard, it’s SO BIG and I love the back veranda!
This small building is “Victor”, the multi-award winning meditation hut by Jeffery Poss.
Fun Fact: this is the oldest tree in all of Champaign county!
Next I want to show you the carriage house, which would be perfect to host more out of town guests or take it over as your bridal suite away from the chaos!
That’s a wrap! Feel free to share away and help Bill show off his beautiful creation!
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