DOWNTOWN — Some 2,500 diners clad in white descended upon the Queen's Landing waterfront dock in Grant Park for Diner en Blanc, packed with many returning revelers on Saturday.
"The atmosphere, the ambiance, the people," that's how Svetlana Kaplan, at her third annual dinner, described what she loves about the festive outdoor pop-up, now in its fifth year in Chicago.
The event, which costs $37, requires attendees to bring their own tables, chairs, linens, plates, glasses and gourmet dinner. The outdoor location is not revealed until an hour before the event starts, so it's a bit of an adventure for diners.
Touted as "mysterious and refined," Diner en Blanc started in France in 1988 and has taken place in 22 cities across five continents. Chicago's past three events, including Saturday's, were sold-out, according to a spokeswoman from Apothic Wines, the dinner's wine sponsor.
The event is organized through social media and marketed by old fashioned word-of-mouth. Friends of the dinner hosts and friends of friends are given priority on the invite list and public tickets are available through a waiting list, according to the group's website.
Basia Milan, 31, and Adrian Ortiz, 30, who live in the Southwest suburbs and met on a blind date almost three years ago, got engaged at the dinner, according to Milan's best friend, Gosia Bednarz.
Basia Milan and Adrian Ortiz got engaged at Diner en Blanc on Saturday. [Gosia Bednarz]
"They are perfect for each other! I can't wait for a combined Polish/Mexican wedding!" Bednarz said of her friends.
Bedmarz said that Ortiz asked Milan to marry him shortly after the couple participated in a post-dinner sparkler lighting.
"I have known that Adrian was going to propose for months, so keeping it a secret from [Milan] was tough. Hands down, it was one of the happiest moments of my life," Bednarz said.
Shawn Wagner, a Wicker Park resident, was tossing his group's table flowers into Lake Michigan around 9:30 p.m., as a rainstorm sent folks scurrying for cover and ended the evening early.
"It's about to become the biggest white T-shirt contest ever," Wagner joked.
Wagner and his wife were at their fifth Diner en Blanc as they celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
The dinner had originally been set for Friday night but was rescheduled to Saturday. There was 3,000 folks lined up to attend on Friday but the numbers were slightly lower on Saturday because of the last-minute weather-related cancelation, the spokeswoman said.
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