Grand Valley State University - L.V. Eberhard Center

ons, kept us on task, and ultimately coordinated with all of our vendors to make sure everything was set up and executed as planned. She was even present at our reception the entire time! Our guests appreciated the river/downtown view during the cocktail hour and had nothing but great things to say about the food. Out-of-town guests had their choice of several hotels all within walking distance, and loved the wide variety of other activities nearby (The Public Museum, Founders, etc.). I would recommend The Eberhard Center to anyone planning their reception in Grand Rapids!

when I would think of questions, and we met once about two weeks before the wedding to finalize everything. At that time, I was a little stressed because I had so many questions and things on my mind - I was having a hard time visualizing how everything would come together. Ali answered all of my questions so quickly and had such an easy answer for everything. I was so relieved leaving that meeting. Then, we came back the day before the wedding to drop off the guestbook, name cards, table numbers, favors, etc., and Ali set everything up for us! I didn't have to lift a finger! I couldn't believe how easy it all was. The reception was absolutely gorgeous. Outside of the reception area there is a lobby where the cocktail hour takes place. The bridal party wasn't at the cocktail hour so I didn't get to experience it, but I was told it was beautiful. The cocktail area over looks river and the city, and we had a band playing (we got to use Eberhard's grand piano which was a nice touch), and we had an hor's devours display with an ice sculpture (this comes with the wedding package that we purchased). The first time that I saw everything set up in the reception room was when my groom and I were announced after getting off the party bus - when I walked in I was SO happy with how everything looked. The up-lighting was beautiful, the head table looked amazing, everything was set up just perfectly. They even had a stage for our band. The food was delicious, the bartenders were great, and Ali was there making sure everything went smoothly. She even came up to check on me a couple times. I couldn't have asked for a better experience, and I got many many complements on what a great venue it was. My guests had a great time, and my husband and I loved every minute of it! I highly recommend the Eberhard Center!

had only good things to say about the venue and food. My out of town guests enjoyed walking to the hotels and enjoying sights of the city.

tion was great for our out of town guest who enjoyed free parking at the reception and lots of close hotels to choose from (Amway and Holiday Inn). The food was great; we had a variety of appetizers and the buffet. Go with the Flank steak- it was wonderful! Also, get with the late night hot dog bar; our guests loved it!! Lastly, our coordinator Kelly exceeded all our expectations. Having a coordinator to assist, answer questions and coordinate the event made working with the Eberhard worth every penny. Truly a celebration we won't forget!

he cocktail area in the lobby and the space available for the reception in the conference area. We had a live band and 250 guests. Space was not an issue. There is a 20% service charge added to the food and beverages order. I understand now that this is industry wide. It was a surprise to me then because I had never planned a large event before. Honestly speaking, communication was an issue for them at times. The menu was changes and the food prices were increased between the time we signed our contract and submitted our food order. We were not notified. (the contract said this was possible and I knew that) I was surprised we were not notified at the time of the change and found out later when I was planning our budget/menu. Overall the food we ordered was reasonably priced. Kelly, our coordinator, was great overall and very helpful the week of the wedding. Because the event the night before our wedding canceled we were allowed to setup Friday afternoon. This was so great and very helpful. They have some issues working with the security team of Grand Valley. There were two times I was told I could view the space and security wouldn't let me in the building even after I told them I had an email from Conference & events permitting me access to the building. Overall the space was great and I am glad we chose this venue.

i House. They were great about answering our questions. We hit a few snags with Cook DeWitt on the day of the ceremony: 1.) We were never informed that they shut off air conditioning on the weekends. Our wedding fell on a day where the high was 83 degrees. The wedding party was getting ready and complained of how hot it was, eventually we got someone out there to turn on the A/C but it was maybe 1.5 hours before the ceremony so it hadn't cooled the building that much by the time all of our guests arrived. I would think that in the middle of the summer it'd just be a no-brained to have A/C for weddings, but I felt we should have at least been notified & had the option. 2.) We were told that the metered lot in front of Kirkhof would be available for guests to use, and that they could walk through Kirkhof. For our rehearsal we walked thru Kirkhof to get to Cook DeWitt but Kirkhof was locked on our way back. This concerned us so we checked in again that Kirkhof would be open for guests to walk through, and were told that it would be. It wasn't. So, guests had to walk all the way around the building if they weren't dropped off by someone else in front of the door. The weather was beautiful that day, if a little hot, but it could have easily been pouring rain or a 100 degree day at that time of year which would have made it a MUCH bigger inconvenience. I was told later that the sign said the building locked at 5:00, our ceremony was at 4:30. If we had known this to be the case far ahead of time we would have simply bumped up the ceremony by 1/2 an hour to make it more convenient for our guests. Other than that, the facility was nice, was cleaned before we got there, and the A/V tech did a good job. No additional complaints. I have no complaints at all about The Alumni House- everyone there was great to work with and things went very smoothly on the day of. The food was wonderful and the set up was just as we'd wanted. They even lit the candles in our centerpieces for us before guests got there for cocktail hour. I would definitely recommend this venue for a reception! If you are willing to risk the weather, there outdoor space for ceremonies is beautiful as well.

it seemed very pricey to have the reception there, especially since you have to do the food and drinks through them. Overall, great place to have your reception at. Kelly was great to work with and made everything run smoothly.

beautiful especially the view of the river from the wall of windows in the foyer. Cons: managerial staff seems inexperienced. Our wedding coordinator had a few mishaps with the caterer and was not great at communicating. Very strictly enforced the drinking age- they had a security guard bouncing our event which was very odd. Overall, they could have done much better at communicating plans with me (as the bride). Otherwise everything was beautiful and everyone had a great time. If you do decide to have the ceremony at this location, seperate from the reception, I would plan on no more than 140 for the ceremony to fit comfortably.

was a gorgeous day that over looked the grand river and every one was so impressed by the over all look, the food, and the bar service! I could not think of a bad thing to say about Eberhard. They were outstanding.

change is the bar set up- the bar was placed outside of the room- most people would rather be by the bar :)

d, service, and room set up was amazing. We still have family and friends compliment us on our reception. Very affordable and gorgeous view overlooking the river.

st this would have been our number 1 place.

. The rental is from 12PM-12AM, so it's just an up front room rate. I very much appreciated how up front they were with the costs, and how willing they were to work with me to get what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay. The service was great, the food was delicious, and everything was handled in a very timely manner. I loved my reception!

together. The Alumni House is beautiful and makes for very pretty pictures.

dding photos!

its giant wall of organ pipes and the side window facing the garden in the springtime. Kellie, our contact for the center, went out of her way to make my experience perfect. We ended up needing the center longer than we anticipated, and Kellie went out of her way to make this possible for us. They made sure wedding signs were out directing people to parking, and allowed us to pull right up the center for all of our deliveries. The GVSU student, our event coordinator, helped us with all audio. He showed up for rehearsal, and had a sign to hang out front. He ran through everything with me, and was very knowledgeable and professional. He showed up early on the day of, and did everything flawlessly. They were a great venue to work with. As a side note, there are SO MANY great places on campus to take pictures. My photographer was so happy with the location.

d, which was great.;The woman we worked with was frustrating to get ahold of. She was very rude at times and uncooperative. We felt like we had to really push to get what we wanted. The food was less than great tasting. I was very organized with centerpieces, etc. and they got most of it correct. Even though I took pictures of what I wanted my guest notebook to look like and the bathroom basket, they screwed it up. The guest notebook wasn't very visable so very few people signed it. Also, I spend money on the bathroom basket and it was NEVER even put out!!!!! Never an apology, nothing.