Mellwood Art Center

ditional decór, and the gorgeous natural light that pours into the Van Gogh Room is a photographer’s dream. We had about 275 guests, and the large open space made it easy for everyone to move freely without being crowded. The tall ceilings and chandeliers make the room feel big and beautiful. There are some parts of Mellwood that are eye sores in my opinion, and the amount of construction that occurred during our weekend was not ideal (Mellwood told us when we booked our room that construction on their new room, which was next to ours, would be complete MONTHS before our reception. This did not happen in the slightest, which is why I’m not giving our experience 5 stars. In fact, they had to cancel events in their new space because it kept getting delayed - I feel sorry for the people who booked that room for a special occasion!). Overall, I would recommend this space to anyone looking to host an event!

very clear about all policies and we never had any issues.

vendors in the area that allow you to use your own caterer. I couldn’t imagine havymy reception at any other location.

owed for both. Joalid was easy to work with, and out of all of the vendors I looked at, Mellwood gives you one of the longest time slots to have access to the room. This allowed my family to decorate the room early in the morning, have our reception last until midnight, and still gave us time to clean up after. More of the work is on you for this venue, but for financial and flexibility reasons, it was worth it to us. Also, it was 90+ degrees all day and humid outside and the room was kept cool all day long.

. First, there are simply not enough electrical plugs for a 21st-century wedding! We had a photobooth, Deejay, and caterers and there were not enough plugs to install overhead hanging lights. We had Joella's cater (and they brought two waffle makers) and the outlets in the kitchen could not supply enough voltage for them and we kept tripping the breaker. The day of, there was no ladder even though we had requested one and we had to go track down a facilitator. Finally, one of my guests tripped over a loose tile on the floor and the whole tile section began to disintegrate! We had to cover it up with a doormat. So, you get what you pay for: the Monet room is a good price, but comes with major issues.

e asked and were even told it would be as we prepared and planned leading up to the wedding was an issue. It was locked and had to keep rescheduling. The set up of the venue wasn’t followed through on correctly. (Chairs weren’t set up according to diagram). Then we reserved four bar top round tables for the courtyard from Mellwood instead of our rental company to make it easier for set up, which they confirmed they had, but day of the wedding Mellwood could only find three and just left it at that. I still haven’t heard back about being reimbursed for the linen and the table we rented that wasn’t ever used. So I could have had a worse experience but Joalid was their saving grace!!

not the choice for you. This is an option for those who want to plan their own day and bring in whatever vendors/alcohol/music they choose. The cost was unbelievably affordable compared to other venues and allowed us to splurge on the things we really wanted. They do have someone who is available during business hours to answer any questions, and the Van Gogh room where we hosted both the ceremony and the reception was beautiful and perfect for our day!

couldn't have made a better decision for my reception! It was beautiful.

e loved that we could bring any outside vendor we wanted! I cannot recommend Mellwood enough to any bride and groom-to-be!!

ns through out the process as we planned a whole year and a half in advance and they always returned my emails with quickness and were very polite any time I visited. I'm so happy we picked this venue.

significantly helped with the cost compared to other venues. The room was gorgeous and we couldn't have been happier with our courtyard ceremony.

g about an insurance policy. It was never clarified that this insurance policy she mentioned would cost extra. So 60 days before our event we had to pay for an event liability insurance that we werent originally planning on. So please clarify this with her before you sign anything! That way you can maintain your budget. Also, if you book event room 1 or 2, you will have to share your bathroom with the other event. That was never mentioned. Other than that, everything was beautiful and everyone was great to work with. We had a medical issue during our reception which made it impossible to get all of our stuff out by the 2:00 am cutoff time. The facilitator allowed us to keep our stuff there overnight until someone could come get it all. Great venue if you want to choose all of your vendors, no set list that you have to choose from. You may also host your own bar, which proved to be much cheaper than hiring a bar service. Your booking includes tables, chairs and they will set it up the way you want it.

days before and received a confirmation of it, but then was told it never came. It was no big deal, but a tiny bit inconvenient. Also, it would be nice to have had a cooler at the bar in event room 3. It was a pain to drag the liquor and ice all the way from one side to the other. I also had no idea the ice was included? Ohh and I knew that we had until 2 am to leave, but never knew that our $500 deposit depended on it. Just things to consider before booking. Other than that, I loved my beautiful ceremony and the amazing space offered. The wedding was worth all the small things and I wouldn't change the venue at all!!!!

nice because you can bring in your own liquor and choose whatever caterer you want. With that being said, other than the chandeliers our wedding was beautiful because we made it that way. When you rent Mellwood you are renting the space and that's pretty much it. They provide tables and chairs but beyond that they do not provide any other services. It can really be a beautiful venue but as it is a very plain room expect to budget more for decorations.

to call and even threatened to kick me out of the room a month before my date. They know they have the best rates in town and can book their rooms no matter what so they behave that way. I was in the small room that has very little decoration so you'll have to put in effort to make it nice but I loved the way it looked day of. Overall, everything worked out but they were the biggest problem up to the wedding.

wo seperate occasions. If you don't have to deal with her you are set!

down). Minuses: Lost deposit because of "damages" but can't be proven that they happened the night of my reception...our word vs. theirs

wood cafe was awesome and very reasonable. the bad side is that everything has to be out by 2 am. which may not sound bad at first, but remember this... after the wedding and reception when everyone is heading out, someone has to stay and clean and take down decorations. whether it be the decorator, friends, or, more than likely, you.. when you want to be going back to hotel or wherever, you are stuck cleaning.. if you decide to have delivery and pick up, you will be charged a minimum of a 500 pick up fee because scooter wont even let vendors pick up next day, so for every service you have, you will have to pay premium because of this, which really takes away from the wonderful place that it is.

a one time cost without any hidden fees. I had a lot of family help to set up and take down you lease the room and everything is your responsbility.It fills up fast and we were forced to have a Friday wedding and you do not get another day for rehersal but other then that I would 100% recommend

. I thought I was alone in feeling bothered but fiance actually said as we left that the woman was so rude he didn't want to have our reception there. They would not make a set time with us for an appointment. They treated us like a pest the instant we told them that we wanted to use the smaller room. We were having a smaller wedding! We discussed that we wanted the wedding and ceremony in same place with people seated at tables and the woman rudely told us that it was an outdated ceremony type and not a good use of the room. Then proceeded to pitch a room that was entirely too large and would've looked deserted. When inquiring about the rules and regulations she had the nerve to say, "We may LOOK like a mom and pop company but we're a professional business!" Her attitude, dress, and general demeanor said entirely otherwise-- at least as far as professionalism is concerned. They may have decent pricing but it wasn't enough for us to deal with nasty people. Look elsewhere.

ed much.

n Event Room 1 and were able to get the ceremony and the reception in the same room easily with 160 guests. You get the room all day (8am-2am) at a price that beats most venues that only give you 4 hours. Only hang up is that it is difficult to schedule free rehearsal time. Thankfully, the staff bent over backwards to make it work for us.

pace to turn the room into exactly what we dreamed of and made our day very special.

m at 8am on the day of the event and do not have to be out until 2am. We were able to save considerable money by decorating ourselves. You can also purchase event liability insurance which allows you to purchase and serve your own alcohol...another huge money saver. They are very helpful in recommending vendors and I was very pleased with the suggestions. The atmosphere is unique and a good choice for a couple looking to bring character to their wedding.

and interesting things to look at and be a part of. It was wonderful to have a venue that had an open caterer and bar option. We did not have to choose from a list they had compiled. The fee for the room also includes tables and chairs that should be sufficient in meeting all of needs. Mellwood will have these all laid out according to a diagram you will give them a few weeks out from the wedding, so that was one less thing that we had to do the day of the wedding. It would have been nice to be able to decorate the day/night before, but this is not offered due to the rental times (someone probably has the room booked the night before and the night after your event). Overall, a beautiful venue (that you can make your own with your decor) at reasonable cost!!

eat you as though they are doing you a favor by renting the space to you. I felt like I was treated much differently before I put down a deposit and signed a contract.

350 people on our guest list. BUT b/c they were budget friendly, they provided nothing but some tables and chairs. Which left us finding decorations, bar's, tables for the buffet, gifts, etc., and also we were required to put up and take down everything we brought ourselves. And even though our wedding was a Friday night (and there was nothing in the room on that Thursday before us) we couldn't get in the room to set up until 8am on the day of the wedding. This meant all of my family volunteers and my mom and dad were both not able to spend the day with me, but instead spent it waiting for the other vendors to get there to set up, trying to get everything set up and looking nice for the reception, and since pictures were at 2pm, this gave them from 8am-12p before they had to leave to get ready for pictures. AND on top of everything else, b/c Mellwood doesn't have any staff that coordinate the other vendor deliveries or make sure that no one is in your room before the wedding, we had to hire someone to sit there in the reception room to ensure nothing was stolen or messed with!!! While it's nice to save money, it would have been leaps and bounds easier if I had had a wedding coordinator to take care of all of those little details that ended up being a pretty big headache on our wedding day...

allows you to use whatever catering service you choose. We had the room from 8am until 1am which was great! My only complaint was that we weren't able to rehearse there because the room was booked for the night before. Other than that everything was great! There is plenty of parking and easy access for other vendors. Also, Mellwood Art Center contains many wedding related vendors such as a wonderful decorator and jewelry shops.

mirrors, ceiling and lighting was amazing with hanging lanterns and lights around columns. Magical.

e have trouble with Scooter (event coordinator) but we didn't have any issues. You can use ANY vendor you want and can stock your own bar!

cohol is a HUGE savings, and the staff is incredibly easy to work with.

space is open to lots of creative decor and beautiful photographs! We used Ballroom 1. Loved it!