This venue was recommended to me by my wedding planner. While we looked at a few other venues in DC and Maryland, nothing could compare to the elegance and beauty that is the George Peabody Library.
The beauty of the venue is unparalleled. It ...felt like a fairy tale. It felt like something out of a dream. I had multiple guests mention to me that they felt like they were in some otherworldly place during the night – it all felt so magical.
We booked a little over a year in advance – although I will note that by that time, they had already started booking dates for May and June 2019. (We were looking at a limited window in late May/early June, booking around other family events – graduations etc – during that time frame) They were pretty accommodating about holding our date open for us while we looked at a few other venues. Once we booked, we were able to make minor adjustments, for example, we initially booked the venue only until 10pm thinking we’d have an afterparty…then I realized I didn’t want to have to plan that so we were able to extend the reservation until midnight. The events staff were extremely responsive, getting back to me and my planner with answers to our questions in a very timely manner.
This was definitely the most expensive venue that we looked at and there were some other costs built in that I hadn’t necessarily expected. You can only use their 3 catering vendors – we went with Classic Catering, which was far less pricy than Occasions but still not inexpensive (they were, by the way, fabulous – well worth the money!). And, you have to do your alcohol through the caterer (so no saving $$ by getting it from Costco!). The plus side is that most of the vendors are all extremely experienced working with the Peabody and they know exactly how to do it, what is allowed, where to set things up, who to contact with questions, etc—the relationships are already in place. So what we spent in extra money we probably saved in the convenience of the caterer already having familiarity with the space.
They are pretty strict about times for when you can come do a final walk through, when vendors are allowed to load in, when guests are allowed to access the space, etc. The restrictions on visiting were sort of annoying, the load-in restrictions didn’t really affect me because I had a planner who was handling those logistics but just FYI because it wasn’t something I thought about on the front end. Also, they bizarrely charge an extra fee to take photos in a staircase that is part of the building.
All that said, because the venue was SO beautiful and magical, it was well worth the extra cost and restrictions. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a beautiful, special, elegant and magical day. I am really, really happy with our choice and would not have done it any other way!