Purdue Memorial Union

and instant mashed potatoes and frozen lemon pie instead of “key lime pie with torched meringue” as ordered. Grilled chicken breast instead on “bone-in chicken” as ordered. Canned sliced beets as the “beet salad”. It was shocking how bad the food was.

to adapt to all of this as well. I also was trying to plan this wedding while living in another state. Yet, it was overall stress-free because of the staff! I really appreciated all that the staff did to make it an amazing day for us! They even got us Mr. & Mrs. masks, which was incredibly thoughtful. We had a ton of fun celebrating and got some great pictures! Only things I would do differently is make sure that the pricing is clear before signing and to make sure your guests get the passes for the parking garage. Even though it was announced, it was hard for guests to figure out how to get the pass and some unfortunately ended up paying. Otherwise, incredible venue, great staff who works well with our other vendors, and it was a very care-free next morning for us. My guests mostly commented how great the food was and how convenient the location was for night out activities after the reception or to just go back to their hotel rooms or explore the town. It’s a great feeling as a bride to know everyone had as much fun as you did! Thanks again PMU staff, and Rebecca and Keri!

They make the planning process extremely easy and have lots of extras that are included. Special shout out to Keri for being there every step of the way!

arsal space and a storage room to get ready. My only complaint was that there was some confusion in the billing process. We paid a deposit of $2,250 then the wedding planner gave us a preliminary estimate for the final amount owed. The final bill that we received was MUCH higher than the estimate even though the headcount, food choices, and bar option did not change. This venue is gorgeous, and I loved having my wedding here especially as a Purdue alum. But make sure you are willing to stay organized especially with the billing.

arming, elegant, and easy to decorate. 2nd: The catering staff is wonderful! The food is amazing. I had so many guests compliment on how polite the wait staff was and how great the entries and appetizers were. Chef Aaron was easy to work with and made us a wonderful feast! 3rd: Great photo opps in and around the building - you'll appreciate especially if you're an alum. Here's the not-so-positives. The PMU Event staff, that helps you plan & book your wedding, were a little scattered (partly due to turnover and under staffing). We were passed around to 3 different event planners over the course of a year, which resulted in us having to repeat ourselves too many times. It made us worry that something would slip through the cracks. The event staff is difficult to get a hold of - multiple emails, calls, voice messages would go days/weeks without responses. (Tip: be sure to follow up frequently and be persistent or you will be overlook). They ultimately ended up making a big mistake on our final invoice, which was upsetting... However, the venue itself, the food, service, and nostalgia of being on campus made us overall love our reception at the Purdue Memorial Union. Our guests all had an AWESOME time and we enjoyed being back at Purdue to celebrate! I would overall recommend this venue for a wedding, just be prepare to stay organized when working with the event planning staff.

my wedding planner. She was so sweet and helpful. I felt like she really cared about what I wanted and made the time to talk me through all the details. She was patient with me when I changed the room layout several times and when I had chairs missing from my table set up and had no idea where they were supposed to go!! Don't miss the food tastings, you get to see so much. But you also get a ton of personal attention from the chef, managers, and bar staff. My husband and I were able to ask about things not "in the package" or "on the menu." I wanted mac and cheese passed during cocktail hour in tiny tea cups. The chef got excited and shared all kinds of ideas about ways he could make it happen. He was willing to let us get creative with all of the food offerings! Amazing service! I had the golden rings package, which is a ton of extras, but if you're doing an open bar anyway it's totally worth it. They were so flexible going through what's included and letting me "trade" things I didn't care about for more things I actually wanted. For example, I wanted the popcorn station, they let me trade parts of the fancy dessert bar and replace it with popcorn! The little details other venues would roll their eyes at, like napkin folds for example, Keri shared all the options they had done in the past but gave us the freedom to find anything online and send her a picture, and they would make it happen. Another cool thing is that the staff are mostly made up of students so they are excited to try new things. The day of my wedding the staff found out I was obsessed with Disney, and wanted my mom to hide a few hidden mickeys around the ballroom. The staff got excited about this and ran with it. They hid mickeys all over the place! On the signs, little cards in between the napkins, under plates! It made it my husband and I feel so special. It also gave us that personal touch our guests noticed and loved! The ballroom was beautiful, I wanted a seating area, they let me pick any furniture from the lounges around the union and set it up by the bar. They also moved things around after setting up to center the head table on the dance floor. Also since no one was using the ballroom the day before my wedding, they set up Thursday. Friday my bridesmaids, family, and I got to spend the morning setting things like chair covers, picture frames and other little details. My wedding was beyond perfect. I don't think anyone else in the area could deliver the outstanding service, amazing food, and beautiful ambiance.

everything really smooth. They were very patient and helped make my vision come to life. If someone didn't know the answer to my question, they found someone who did! The food was amazing, from the appetizers to dinner to after dinner treats. My guests all really enjoyed the food as they had many options. I also had so many options to choose from to pick what I thought my guests would appreciate the most. The only negative was that at be bar, you could only get one drink at a time. So when I (as the bride) went to get a drink for my husband and I, I was told no, I was only allowed to grab one drink. So I had to grab someone standing by the bar to order the drink for my husband. I'm not sure if this is a state law (I've never been to a wedding like that) but it was an inconvenience for myself and my guests. Now I understand if people are getting crazy getting multiple drinks, but if a person goes up there for 2 drinks, I personally think they should be able to get them! It was also fairly priced compared to a lot of other venues I looked at. The cost covered everything I needed it too without having to bring in other vendors! As both my husband and I are Purdue alumni, it was ultimately the best reception venue for us! Boiler Up!

e ultimately received would have turned us off to the location. We worked with Ashley, who for the most part was easy to work with. However, during our planning process, she was absent a lot, which meant we were constantly talking with different people, and a lot of our communication got lost. We were not given access to our reception hall until the morning OF THE WEDDING--which as a nervous, already flustered bride, was extremely hard to deal with. If this was going to be the only option, it should have been told to us early in the process, and we probably would have booked the previous day as well, to give us plenty of time to organize everything. Our bartenders were horrible, denying a lot of our guests drinks, since apparently they are given the freedom to determine who has been "overserved"--one of our groomsmen was told he'd "had enough" about ten minutes into our cocktail hour, which was definitely not the case. My father had to go and talk to the "head bartender" and express our disappointment in their service. For the amount of money we paid for the bar service, we expected a more professional staff--but keep in mind, the staff is all student workers--so beware. Also, while it was in our contract that if the head table's meals were not ready at the beginning, it was ok to start serving the other wedding guests--all fine and dandy, except our head table WAS SERVED LAST! My husband and I did not even get to eat our meals, as by the time they got to our table, we'd been waiting for over 45 minutes, and had to start going and thanking our guests for coming. The final straw was with our special request meals--our photographer, who was pregnant at the time and has a severe lactose allergy, had requested a lactose-free meal. What she was served was anything but, with cheese and a cream sauce included on the plate. As a bride, I entrusted these details to the coordinator, and unfortunately was severely let down. When it comes to the health of our guests, I expected much more, and was livid at the fact that they could not handle such a simple request. The Union was an absolutely beautiful setting for our wedding, but I would not recommend the service part of working with the Union.

eing surprised after the wedding.) It was also wonderful to have all tables, basic linens, dinnerware, etc. included. I loved working with the staff - Ashely and Casey are great! This may not be the cheapest venue, but it is a fantastic deal when you consider what you are getting. I would recommend PMU to anyone getting married!

the limited bar time (4 hour max by university law- which really wasn't a big deal) and I don't think a lot of our guests (and myself or the groom) got our desserts. The cake was served but that was when people started moving around (using the restroom, visiting the bar, etc) so the service staff started picking them back up too soon. I would have preferred that they cake & strawberries stay on the tables for a little longer. I specifically asked a server to leave the desserts at the head table, and when I went back up, it was all cleaned up. Other than that, the venue was a great venue. The space is already very nice so there is not a need for too much decoration. I would recommend this location to others.

, room was gorgeous, service was excellent, and the wedding planner was so fun!

essert table. The Union is very easy to work with and accomodating - Ashley was very helpful and works with you throughout the planning process. I felt that our reception was very elegant and classic and everyone had a great time!

g. They were able to add in our decorations with their own seamlessly. The food was excellent, and we received many compliments on the food, many saying it was the best wedding food they had ever had.

RFECT for our venue!