Louisville Water Tower

iver (we had our reception out there), and an indoor option with beautiful, tall windows overlooking the river. This is a museum, but know that if you rent this venue, it will be open only to you and your party. To the public, the Water Tower will say "Closed for a Private Event." So you won't have random people in the parking lot or walking the grounds during your celebration. The ladies who work at the water tower are lovely and so helpful! A complaint I see in others' reviews here on theknot.com is that you have to use a specific company for your catering and rentals. The company, Michaelis, is a great vendor to work with. The food is delicious! Personally, I was okay with only having this one option because that meant I didn't have to find my own caterer and rental company (my husband and I live in Texas and couldn't meet caterers and go to tastings and whatnot). It was mentioned at my wedding here that Michaelis may not be the sole vendor for this venue anymore. So definitely worth asking/looking into more. To give you an idea of what you would have to use Michaelis for (assuming it stays the sole vendor): catering, rentals (chairs, any extra tables aside from what the Water Tower has), bar (there is an option where you supply the alcohol and Michaelis provides the servers and mixers- MUCH CHEAPER). But other things (florists, DJ, photographer, videographer, etc.) you don't have to use through them.

e was a bit of a cold snap, we were able to implement a weather backup plan to make sure that we could still use the great spaces at the venue. Repeatedly, our guests gushed about how beautiful the venue was! Main note to keep in mind is that they have an exclusive caterer/event rental company - so if your heart is sent on a specific caterer, this venue might not be for you. Additionally, the caterer/event rental company will add a "15% facility fee" that goes to the Water Tower - factor this in when you are creating a budget. All of the staff at the Water Tower were wonderful, and they were always available when I had questions. A great experience all around!

perience.... my suggestion is to make sure you have a MC or wedding coordinator. Some things that you may want to think about if you plan on using this venue: there is a 15% facility fee that is charged to you via the caterer & rental company. This can add up quickly. We worked it into our budget which worked out fine for us. It is explained in the contract, but it is not really talked about up front which I think the venue should do a better job about discussing that. Im giving 4/5 stars because the venue was strict on making sure I used a baker for my cake that was licensed and insured. I decided to use their exclusive caterer to make it easy and the caterer also sold me on using them. When I saw the cake, it was nothing like I had sent them. An assistant from the caterer also emailed me a few days before my wedding to confirm the picture and I even got a response that the picture was received. Our day would have been close to perfect if it wasn’t for the cake.

ith my overall vision.

n more onto your wedding budget unexpectedly. It was not mentioned in our contract at all but is actually a side contract they have with their food vendors. It's actually not legal either; my father consulted his lawyer but we decided it wasn't worth arbitration. The other fact that bothered me about it is food isn't even prepared in their "kitchen." Which is just a fridge, a prep space, and sinks. It was the only stress point to the entire thing and I really felt lied to and taken advantage of. It wasn't the caterers fault either because it would've kicked back to them and they would've paid money to the venue instead of me. Tacky tacky tacky.

was plenty of space for our ~100 guests.

o rent them which adds to the price and communication was rocky at first. But they helped tremendously with coordination the day of and for the rehearsal. Everything went flawlessly. Also, they kept the museum open which was perfect for the Photo Booth and to keep the children entertained.