Aldrich House-Rhode Island Historical Society

ve the exact wedding that we wanted and were not micromanaged or coerced towards certain decisions. If we had to do it all over again, we wouldn’t have changed a thing.

it was fine for our party of 80 guests. We also had photos done at the John Brown House, as Renata had mentioned when we met her, and I thank GOD she mentioned it. They're by far our FAVORITE photos from the whole day. Gorgeous! Aldrich House (and John Brown House) have the "look" of a Newport mansion without the enormous price tag. I read that in a review before booking, and that sold me; its completely true. Renata also recommended our wonderful caterer, Emery's catering. Both these vendors will set your mind at ease while you are planning. Such a unique, intimate spot, with also a "garden vibe" that I loved. Its great especially if you don't want to, or cant do the whole country club/hotel route.

meet with Renata. There were a few verbal exceptions that were made that we were charged for later so just ensure you're all on the same page(in writing) from the beginning. Other than that the house was accommodating and a beautiful backdrop for our photos.

ely needed decor. If your into history/classic look, there is huge wall with a 1800-ish wall painting of providence rhode island. The place is whimsical and romantic. As for the staff- the head person for events is super friendly, and professional. Throughout the 10 months or so leading up to the wedding, the point person would get back to me via email always within 24 hours answering whatever weird question of the day i had regarding vendors, chairs etc! She also allowed me to show the place and made herself very available for showing it to photographer, fiance etc. She was just very accomodating! Like i said, the place speaks for itself. It is so historical elegant just like the way the neighborhood surrounding it is. Parking was plenty too and the green-ness grows effortless around the domain as well! Thumbs up!! Super satisfied with this place!

dibly helpful and responsive. I am very happy to have gotten married at the Rhode Island Historical Society HQ, it made our day that much more special to us RI natives.

sy. She recommended several caterers who were familiar with Aldrich House, which also made it easy to plan our wedding (since I was in Boston and then DC) until a week before the wedding. We had 87 people at the event and we fit perfectly. We chose to have the band and dancing outside in a tent with a dance floor. For a larger wedding, eating outside could accommodate a much larger number of guests either in a tent or outside under the stars with mini lights overhead (and reserve a tent in case of inclement weather). Dancing could be inside especially if a DJ (uses less space). The ballroom and venue is air conditioned and they leave the large french doors open to the outside the entire time so the music easily flowed into the ballroom (or vice versa). The ballroom itself seats 80 people if you choose to eat inside but we also put some tables steps outside the ballroom towards the tent. (The guests at the two tables outside loved being close to the band and having their own space to be as loud as they wanted during dinner!) Everyone congregated outside around the grounds for the cocktail hour for the most part since the bar was outside and then again after eating was outside where the dancing was for toasts and the cake cutting. Music does have to stop at 10:30pm since in Providence but that was our only restriction. We used Pranzi for the caterer since they do everything (coordination, rentals, tent) and work often (among others) with Aldrich House. Our regular florist, Claudia, at East Side Market was wonderful with the flowers. We had such a wonderful experience and wish to thank Renata and Aldrich House for making the planning and execution of our wedding so easy yet wonderful!

y staff was professional and helpful. The layout worked very well -- after dinner, the tent on the lawn turned into an all-out dance party, while guests who preferred not to dance were able to go back inside the house (into the beautiful ballroom) for coffee and quiet conversation. We loved that the venue has historic value and many of our guests commented on the unique setting. Would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a fun and functional venue with a great staff!

nd look even more so in the photos. The place was all our style.... the perfect place for a garden party / BBQ in the heart of providence and all at an affordable rate. Highly reccomeded.

geous venue for a gorgeous day!

available. The venue rental manager did not contact us, but the caterer to verify the entry info, keeping in denial of our entry time. What was more frustrating was that, exactly after one week of our wedding date, one reviewer of AH wrote one website that the rental manager was there to help them, unlike for us. The AH director told us that he has a video evidence that we entered the venue after 15 min of the scheduled time, which is not true and we haven't seen yet. We end up disputing the part of the charge we paid. Overall, the wedding went well, but dealing with the rental management team's denial and lying about the late rental time has been unpleasant.

pacious grounds. The historic component of the ballroom~~especially the oil-on-canvas theatre screen depicting the City of Providence which scanned one entire wall~~gave way to very interesting conversation. The staff at The Aldrich House could not have been more accommodating or helpful, especially Renata Luongo who was with us for the entire event. I would not hesitate to recommend The Aldrich House to my friends or business colleagues for an event!!

eception. Our wedding was in late October and we chose to have the ceremony outside among the brightly colored foliage. The charm of the house and grounds made for wonderful photographs as well. Working with the staff at Aldrich House was a dream. Renata, the rental manager, was so sweet and collaborative. She let us know right away what kinds of things we couldn't do (such as no open flames or exploring the second floor of the house) and she was very open to the ideas we had. She was very accessible any time I had a question, and made it quite clear she wanted to make sure our wedding was everything we dreamed it would be. On the day of our wedding, they provided security staff (to make sure there was no damage to the historical home) who also worked hard to make sure everything was going well and we had what we needed. This venue was the perfect location for our small wedding (65-70 guests), but they can accommodate larger weddings (up to 200, I think) by using a tent in the yard. They offer use of their tables/chairs and will set these up for you. As for decorating and event coordination, you will have to look elsewhere. However, I found it especially helpful that I was able to drop off and set up some of the decorations the day before. I would not change a single thing about our wedding and highly recommend the Aldrich House to others. It is truly a hidden gem!

e indoor space is stunning, and the large outdoor space holds many possibilities for fun!

uch East-Side character and beautiful outdoor space. Renata was professional, responsive, and welcomed us back for multiple visits with different family members--she was so accommodating and helpful, a real pleasure to work with. The outdoor ceremony, tented dinner + dancing, and bar in the elegant ballroom all contributed to making exactly the wedding we wanted. We wholeheartedly recommend the Aldrich House!

us and I am so very grateful for her! The ballroom was just the right size for our 80 guests. It boasts pretty chandeliers and floor to ceiling windows/doors that opened up onto their immaculate lawn space where we took some of our wedding photos. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with our decision to have our ceremony here and would definitely recommend the Aldrich House to those looking!

40 guests it was just the right size; any more than that and it would have probably felt crowded. Renata was fantastic, super nice and very easy to work with. She answered every single question we had and responded very promptly to every email. Highly, highly recommend!

we looked into, the fee was very affordable. We corresponded with Renata Luongo and met with her. She responded immediately and emailed once our wedding date was approaching. She was sure to have security available to open the doors and stay until we were done. The Aldrich House has character, and the ballroom is beautiful! We have viewed some of our photos, and they look great. We cannot wait to see the rest!

an location very close to downtown on a property large enough to feel expansive, even with 150 guests. We held cocktail hour in the House's charming ballroom and put up a large tent in the yard to accommodate our guests for dinner. The grounds are well cared for and while the space itself is historic, it is not overwhelmingly styled as such, adding to the flexibility of the venue, which has very few restrictions for its use. For us it provided the perfect platform from which to build a wedding exactly to our taste- a combination of casual and formal, indoor and outdoor. At night the space is very romantic and our guests loved being able to roam the grounds and move in and out of the different spaces on the first floor. We are so happy we chose it! All three staff members assigned as security to our event were friendly and unobtrusive which was perfect as the beauty of this venue is that it is available for rent as is, allowing you the freedom but also the responsibility to fill the space with the vendors, decor and people you love. Renata, the site manager, was a complete pleasure to work with throughout the entire process. She was always very responsive and helpful, addressing all of our questions and concerns as quickly as they were raised. We couldn't have asked for a more pleasant experience!

I Historical Society, which owns the house, is flexible about what you can do there and generous with the amount of time you can spend. I have absolutely no regrets about having our wedding there. If I could do it all again I wouldn't change a thing! I read a recent negative review about the staff on site during the wedding not being helpful. We were clearly told that the staff would be there just to keep an eye on things and we did not expect anything else, so I think perhaps the reviewer misunderstood the staff's role. I highly recommend this venue!!

experience. Renata is always available to answer any questions or issues, no matter how small. She responds to emails very, very quickly...even when she is on vacation! Renata also encouraged me to join the Rhode Island Historical Society for a nominal fee, so I could receive a significant discount on the rental fee at the Aldrich House (not to mention discounts at other historical society venues, such as the Newport Cliff Walk and many museums throughout Rhode Island). Despite such a great deal, the Aldrich House had very few rules and basically let us do whatever we wanted with the space, including installing a custom outdoor parque floor in the backyard for our tent. We were also able to choose any vendor we wanted to work with as there was no restrictive "preferred vendors" list. Renata was very kind, flexible and accommodating to all of my vendors, and God knows I threw enough at her! In addition, the Aldrich House is a gorgeous historical mansion, impeccably and beautifully decorated and landscaped by Renata and the rest of the staff. It is every bit as comparable as the mansions in Newport, for a fraction of the price. My 140 guests were so impressed by not only the setting, but by what I was able to do at the house. The day of the wedding, the Aldrich House provided a staff of 3-4 to make sure everything went off without a hitch. The day was perfect and wonderful in every way possible thanks to everyone at the Aldrich House.

ate me in any way they could. This changed quickly, however, once they had our money. Shortly before my wedding, I mentioned that, since I was having an early ceremony, I wanted everyone to show up at 8:30. The event coordinator insisted that it be 9AM or she'd charge us a (large) additional fee. I agreed. She had two employees that were supposed to be "working" my wedding. The one who was supposed to open the doors didn't even show up until 9:05, and never opened the door. The florist put the flowers on the front doorstep and my hair and makeup artists were lugging their big cases around waiting for this lady. Finally, at 9:15, I snuck in and opened the door myself! THEN I had to walk around holding all the flowers. The woman who was supposed to be doing all this for us was literally sitting in a chair near the door the entire time. The caterer finally took the flowers from me. Then, another employee showed up, and they BOTH just sat around talking the entire time. I don't think that I was a high maintenance bride whatsoever, and didn't really need their help, but it would have been nice if one of them maybe even asked us if there was anything they could do to help. In fact, both women refused to help any of us in any way, shape or form. One of the groomsmen requested help pinning the boutonnieres, but they refused. The one thing they did do, is have the woman who couldn't open a door at 9AM, continue to barge into the room where I was getting ready, telling me to hurry up and asking when I'd be done with hair and makeup. My husband later told me that they treated him and his groomsmen as if our wedding was simply an inconvenience to them. We took plenty of pictures for proof of their employees literally sitting around at several hours of the day. Luckily, I had a great wedding party, hair and makeup artists, and photographer who helped in any way they could, which ultimately made the day a success. The pictures came out wonderful as well, since, like I mentioned, the place is beautiful. The staff just really made me angry, as my dad graciously paid for the venue and I'm sure a big chunk of his hard earned money went towards paying these people to do absolutely nothing.