Multicultural Arts Center

etting of the ceremony in the classic Cantabridgian brick courtyard, cocktail hour in the gallery with gorgeous art, and the amazing ceilings of the main hall. Many of our guests stayed nearby in Kendall square and got to explore the city the days before and after the wedding, which was a big bonus given that we had a lot of folks visiting from far away. Adria and Jonathan were very easy to work with, responsive to my many questions throughout the process of planning and executed everything perfectly. They worked well with our other vendors so that things happened seemlessly. We also loved the mission of CMAC and to get to celebrate in a place that is both beautiful and doing something positive for our local community was extra special. The cool lighting on the dance floor was an added bonus!

g is beautiful and stately, and our ceremony in the courtyard was beautiful and exactly what we imagined. Adria and the CMAC staff were incredibly helpful, responsive, clear and accommodating -- especially through the process of rescheduling our wedding due to COVID-19. Having our wedding at the CMAC was everything we could have wanted it to be, and their rental fee is very reasonable, especially compared to other options in the area. I couldn't say enough good things about it!

way in a courtyard. We didn't buy any decorations for the ceremony because it's a great space on its own, with a lot of good places to take photos. After the ceremony, guests immediately walk into MCAC gallery for drinks. The ballroom has an amazing ceiling and staircase. Couldn't be easier - no need for getting shuttle buses. The staff is super easy to work with, and they have a good list of approved caterers. It's easy to get ready in the rooms on the top floor, a real one-stop venue. Definitely on the affordable side of getting married in Greater Boston. Fits 100 people comfortably.

down the aisle! The ceilings even looked better when they were lit up! The staff were actually fantastic and got back to us as quickly as possible whenever we had a question. They also have two dressing rooms that you could get ready in if you needed to. We were surprised they were so affordable considering other venues in the area were charging upwards of $5 or 10 grand. We had a small wedding of 25 guests, but I believe the center can hold up to 120 for a seated dinner. You get so much value in this beautiful space!

he year it took us to plan our wedding. Day of, the staff on site helped our coordinator (definitely recommend getting a day-of coordinator for the space!) and caterer make sure set up, lighting, and breakdown all proceeded without a hitch. The theater space itself is so lovely and distinctive, and it's a perfect size for a medium wedding. The option to use the park outside for the ceremony and the gallery for extra cocktail space provides variety and convenience all in one. An unforgettable spot for a wedding in Cambridge!

icies were), and being inflexible about it. A lot of it has to do with how mercurial their director (Shelley) is. We signed a contract to start at 4p with the ceremony at 5:30p, and then we learned from our caterer that we needed an extra 2 hours set-up time. We contacted Jamie and asked her to add those hours. Her response on 8/30/2017 was: "Thank you for your quick response! That will work well. You're welcome to add two additional hours if you'd like, currently with those details the 8 hour rental timeline would be the following (we start all rentals at the top of the hour, not half hours) I'd recommend adding one more hour if you want a longer reception: 3pm- 5pm Set up / 5pm - 10pm reception / 10pm - guests depart / 10pm-11pm Break down." All good, right? Except that Jamie never updated our contract, so when she left CMAC and our new contact was Jen, our timeline was news to her, so we had to ask her to start the wedding at 3pm again. She confirmed on 1/30/2018--five months out: "You’re all set for 3pm-midnight. That’s a total of 9 hours (8 plus 1 additional hour). Please let me know if you need anything else!" Then on 2/3/2018, the director refused to honor Jamie's email and told us that the event couldn't start any earlier than 4: "2/3/2018: We cannot accommodate the additional hours on this THURSDAY NIGHT EVENT because set-up cannot begin before 4pm. We have her, per her contract, in for 4 – midnite on Thursday June 21." Our caterer called to explain the situation, but Shelley wouldn't budge. We had to pay $400 for extra staff to our caterer, as opposed to $100 for the extra hour to CMAC so the caterer could speed up the process. On top of this, Jeff (the site manager) and Shelley (the director) had different ideas about whether it was okay for the vendors to load in equipment the day before: Jeff told us it was OK during the walk-thru, and then Shelley pulled me aside during the rehearsal to say she'd only allowed the early load in as a "courtesy" (something I confirmed was OK with Jeff in the weeks before) and acted annoyed that the vendors had delivered their equipment the day before. When I told her that we already confirmed all these things with her staff, she blamed them for not updating her own "notes." Finally, we were told several times during the months leading up to the wedding (including during the walk-thru) that parking in the garage was $5 cash for guests on the day of, and it wasn't until 11:30p that night when I was trying to exit the garage to help load-out our stuff that we learned the $5 cost is only for weekends--instead it was $16 per car. I'm sorry to say, but my overall experience with CMAC was very frustrating. I think a lot of this stems from the director's officious attitude: I remember during rehearsal, when the DJ was loading his equipment in the corner of the theater hall where he planned to set up, she made him move his equipment to a different wall, for no other reason than that's where she wanted it to be. Thankfully, the venue had little influence over the wedding itself, so for that I'm happy. Just be sure if you book here to get everything in writing (especially updated copies of your contract whenever something changes) because at CMAC the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

e did, the Centanni Courtyard is perfect for an outdoor ceremony. I like that it's mostly shaded, surrounded by trees, flower beds and pretty urban brick buildings. We got wonderful pictures outside before the ceremony. I would also recommend the Kimpton Hotel Marlowe if you want a separate place to get ready/have a hotel room block. It's a scenic, under 10 minute walk between the hotel and the multicultural center and also made for great pictures of the whole wedding party walking over together. The downsides of the Multicultural Arts Center are that they don't help you with much! Jeff is a great contact at the venue (once you are transferred to him from Jamie who only works there part time to take initial inquiries) and he was a pleasure to work with, but you use the caterer for all actual coordination. CMAC has a lot of rules and, while some of them are regulated by the city like no open flames, there are other things that they could do to be more accommodating especially as it seems the rate for this space increases every year. There should be a designated space to hold all decorations for pick up the following day instead of requiring everything to be removed the night of the event. Also they should offer appointments to let people see the space on weekends. That said, it is a great, pretty unknown venue in Cambridge.

ith our preferred caterer as needed. We would recommend this facility to hold your reception for 140 people or under. Thank you for all your help CMAC in making our dream day come true!

loved having both the large room and the upper gallery for our guests to mingle. The site was really responsive, allowing us to drop off decor and other items the day before and scheduling a second tour for us after booking in order for us to show our parents the venue.

as exactly what I was looking for. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw pictures of the ceiling. I began working with Amanda, who was very helpful and informative. About four months before my wedding, Amanda left and Nicole took over. The staff transition was seamless. I understand that the position has changed and Nicole works part time ~which meant she wasn't able to get back to emails quite as quickly, but all of this was communicated to me before I was left wondering and there were no issues or problems at all. Jeff was the staff on site for the day of the event. He was so great and kept everything running smoothly. One super helpful detail about the CMAC is that right now they only allow one event per weekend, which meant we could drop off decorations etc. the day before during the rehearsal and pick them up the following Monday. I am so happy we found the CMAC it is a beautiful and unique site, with professional and friendly staff.

r hotel and the CMAC was so historically beautiful and the grand room with its high ceilings was the perfect reception option.

picked for our big day, it was perfect!

nning and set-up and with Jeff who was on-site on the wedding day itself. They were complete professionals and made the rental and planning experience very easy. Jeff coordinated with our band and DJ and helped them set up for an amazing night of music and dancing. The site speaks for itself – its gorgeous. We got married outside in Centanni Way Park surrounded by historic, brick buildings. The ceiling in the theater space is breathtaking and our entrance down the stairway inside was unforgettable. We used the upstairs gallery for our cocktail hour. The variety of spaces and sites all within the CMAC was really appealing to us and made for an unforgettable event.

e bar. Plus the kids could run around in the courtyard outside. People couldn't stop raving about it.;We chose to use an iPod rather than a DJ and the timing with the site manager was a little rough. I wish we had been able to meet with him in person but as our contact person was different the communication got a little messy.