$1,500 starting price
251-300 guest capacity
This venue can host up to 300 guests
About this vendor
Nestled in the heart of University Circle's cultural hub, the Cleveland History Center is an elegant wedding venue in Cleveland, OH. Part of The Western Reserve Historical Society, this is a venue unlike any other. The center is a treasure trove of classic architectural details and historical collections, offering distinctive settings for sophisticated soirees. Intimate gatherings and lavish events can enjoy a wealth of unique spaces, from the lush courtyard to the nostalgic interiors of the glass pavilion. Whether you have a taste for ornate design or a deep appreciation for classic cars, this eclectic venue has the space for you.
The Cleveland History Center personifies versatility and diversity. Boasting seven acres of stunning backdrops amid a beautiful array of indoor and outdoor locations, you are guaranteed to find the suitable space to bring your vision to fruition. The Hanna Courtyard Garden is an idyllic outdoor setting with luscious greenery and historic stonework. The area is comfortably suited for micro weddings or cocktail receptions of up to 200 guests, including access to the indoor gallery. Within The Norton Gallery, 130 seated friends and family can enjoy a delightful banquet surrounded by enticing exhibitions. Inside, the Crawford Rotunda is a celebration of vintage cars and antique motors. Immersed in Ohio's rich transportation history, 500 guests can soak in the collection with signature drinks and hors d'oeuvres. The Hay-Mckinney Mansion is the height of Guilded Age decor with access to the impressive Hay Vanderbrook Garden. Its reception hall and formal dining room are perfect for micro weddings, while the garden can accommodate 80 guests for a personal ceremony. Nearby, an open lawn space is available for a standout tented reception.
The Cleveland History Center is a spectacular setting for receptions, ceremonies, renewals, and micro-wedding events. The staff is ready and waiting for you to make your first steps towards achieving a timeless wedding event. Dedicated to milestones, this team can assist you with any detail needed for your day, including valet parking, catering, and decorations. The venue also provides access to a large selection of outside vendors with extensive experience transforming its distinct spaces. From traditional tastes to forward-thinking visions, the center's online little white book of chosen vendors has something for you.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
On-Site Accommodations
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Guest Capacity
- Up to 300
Settings
- Ballroom
- Barn
- Estate
- Garden
- Historic Venue
- Museum
Venue Service Offerings
- Planning
Reviews
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4
out of 5.024 reviews
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When searching for a wedding venue, my fiancé and I came across this beautiful place. After touring with their coordinator, we fell in love. We immediately requested a hold on our date, which we were told was available. The coordinator told us she would send the contract our way. After waiting a week for the expected contract, we still didn’t receive anything. We emailed multiple times without a response. We also tried calling, to which the voicemail box was full. After not hearing back for over a month, we moved on. My fiancé and I were fortunate to find another location that we both love, but we were very disappointed in the lack of communication from the coordinator here. If the contract was sent to us, we would’ve arranged for our wedding to be here, but I am thankful we chose a venue that made us feel worth our time and money.
I’ve attempted to contact this venue multiple times via email and phone over the past 1 to 1.5 months but have yet to receive any response. Out of all the venues I’ve researched in Cleveland, this one stands out the most, but the lack of communication is concerning. The coordinator’s voicemail is now full, so I can’t even leave a message, and it seems impossible to reach her. I believe her name is Brianna. It’s frustrating because the venue looks perfect for my wedding, yet I haven’t been able to get any information.
CHC is a beautiful venue, including the Rotunda, the gardens for photos, and the library. We booked the carousel for our reception, and it was an memorable part of the day. They had plenty of parking. The guests loved the classic cars, and lots of guests commented on how unique and cool the venue was. For the most part, the staff members were friendly. The point person, Brianna, had a good understanding of the space.
Our biggest challenge with this venue (and our biggest challenge planning our wedding reception overall) was working with the point of contact at CHC, Brianna. We had read reviews online prior to selecting this venue that mentioned that Brianna was difficult to communicate with. We took those comments into account and planned to be proactive in our communications, but we did not realize the extent of the challenges we would face. Brianna did not communicate in a timely or complete matter. There were several occasions where it would take multiple attempts over weeks for Brianna to respond. Some of our questions were complicated, so we understood some delay, but she would not even acknowledge receipt. She was not flexible in scheduling meetings with us and would often arrive late. The most egregious example of bad communication was when we (the bride, groom, and father of the groom) received an email at 9pm the night before the wedding saying that some of the alcohol we had selected was not actually available. We only saw the message by happenstance, so we scrambled and made it work, but that's a serious misstep that suggests that CHC was only verifying their alcohol roster less than a day ahead of a large event. We’re not sure what Brianna’s backup plan would have been if we didn’t answer that email. Was she planning to call us the morning of our wedding? This did not feel professional and was extremely frustrating.
Two final negatives. During our reception, the Rotunda got uncomfortably hot, despite it being a nice day in April (maybe 70 degrees). The CHC staff at one point said the temperature could not be changed and was rude to the mother-of-the-bride about it. It was so hot that we (the bride and groom) had to leave the reception to go outside to cool down. A member of the staff did later come to us to apologize for the heat and the rude treatment of the bride’s mother. He explained that the HVAC had been damaged in the fire so it would take a long time for the building to cool down. In Brianna’s best move of the night, she brought the bride an excellent electric fan. After the sun went down and the air had been running for about an hour, things cooled down.
One of the reasons we picked the venue was because of a scenic library we could use for pictures. The library burned down six months before the wedding, and no one told us until we asked about it during our walkthrough a month before the wedding. To be clear, the fire was a tragedy, and we still got great pictures, but it would have been nice to know that we had to pivot.
Okay, let's wrap this up. CHC is a great location that seems to be suffering from mismanagement that introduces additional stress when planning a reception there. If you can handle that, it's an amazing venue, especially if you love the idea of a history museum. Keep in mind, it's expensive to hold your wedding reception here. The base cost of reserving the space is high, not including alcohol or the carousel fee. Be prepared to go the extra mile in handling logistics...because CHC won't.
Guests raved about how cool our venue was at the Cleveland History Center! It was a really beautiful and unique space for our wedding ceremony and reception! You have to respect that it is a museum first so they don’t close down early for your event; it was fine with me because the caterers were still able to set most things up ahead of time and just a few things had to wait until 4, when they closed. For this reason, I would recommend a 5 pm ceremony not 4:30 pm like I did, just for less stress. But overall, they worked well with my vendors in helping to pull off a really beautiful wedding day for us!
We booked the Cleveland History Center for our September 2022 wedding and it was a fantastic venue. I hadn’t heard about or been to this museum before despite being from the Cleveland area. It is also more cost effective when compared to similar venues. Our ceremony was in the Hanna Garden but we got a lot of amazing photos in different areas throughout the museum. I will admit that the museum seemed a little understaffed on the day of our wedding, since only one person was setting up the chairs and there was only one person to escort me and my husband separately to our first look spot. But the event space was gorgeous and I truly couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else!!!
We had the most incredible wedding in October! The venue is magnificent and everyone was super kind and accommodating! The man who ran the carousel was a bit rude to some of our guests and bridal party but in the end it didn’t matter because everyone had a blast. They even let us bring in a cotton candy person for our dessert. Our wedding photos on the carousel are so special and it’s a wedding no one will forget!
We’re so happy to have decided on Cleveland History Center for our wedding ceremony and reception venue. We got married on Sept. 18, 2021, and even though we really lucked out on the weather, the venue was still amazing regardless. Our guests loved it, too. It was great to have everything at one venue included a fun cocktail hour in the lower level. The pre-event coordinator and day-of event coordinator ended up being different people but our day still went smoothly and the staff was friendly. Now we need to visit again to have more time to actually look at the exhibits!
We did not want a run of mill wedding venue. Especially since we had so many coming from out of town, we wouldn't something with lots of interest. If thats you, this is the place!! The CHC was the perfect venue. Very easy to work with, though sometimes they can require to persistence to get a hold of. They did everything to help make our day amazing, despite cruddy weather the day of. Gorgeous and such an interesting space. Our guests are still talking about the venue, the carousel, and just everything. 10/10 would recommend. Also, the consumption bar they require, instead of open bar saved us so much money compared to other places we looked at.
We got married at the CHS on 10.26.2019. Between when we booked the venue and our wedding, there was some staff turnover. If the events manager we had to work with was there from the day we first visited the venue, we would have NOT held our wedding there. It was near impossible to get hold of her, even the week of the wedding. My vendors and I would have to send multiple e-mails to get a single response, which would typically come 3-4 weeks after my initial e-mail. In addition to a series of mishaps that happened during the wedding due to her negligence, no one thought to inform my husband or I that a 450 person event had been rescheduled to our wedding day, which led to a ton of confusion for our guests. I'm fine that another event was being held, however, I am frustrated that if we had been given advance notice we could have alleviated the confusion on the part of our guests. I will say the majority of the staff we came into contact with were absolutely fantastic- including Mike Kelly, Jim Norris, “Carousel” George, and Rich Arlesic. Mike in particular did everything in his power to work through the mishaps caused by the events manager's absolute lack of communication with both my husband and I and the rest of the staff. Although I did not get their names, the rest of the staff who worked Saturday night were equally marvelous. Honestly, these staff members saved the wedding for us. It's an absolutely beautiful venue, and we received a ton of compliments from our guests. But at the end of the day, none of that was worth the headache of working with the current manager and we ultimately regret holding my wedding here.
We used CHC for our wedding ceremony and reception and the event was a dream. Our guests were entertained and interested. The decor for the wedding was so easy because the space is so beautiful to begin with. I haven't heard any negative feedback about anything. We did go through some staffing changes in the year of planning, but the woman working with us on the night, Sam A., was the best manager I've ever worked with. I do event planning professionally and she was so calm and organized, it made the entire event flow easily.
If you are renting for an event or wedding, you MUST get the carousel. I didn't know it was possible to make so many curmudgeonly old uncles and aunties happy, but put them on a carousel and there you go! That was the best part of the night for many people.
The staff there was extreme helpful and we got countless compliments on how amazing and interesting the venue was!
Wow, this was such an amazingly unique and beautiful venue! We did not want a standard event hall, but also did not have a huge budget. The Western Reserve Historical Society checked all of the boxes for my husband and I. We were able to have an outdoor space with the Hanna Courtyard Garden and then had a modern interior space with the Crawford Auto Museum. Our guests said they had never been to such a fun wedding - there was so much for them to do with all of the cars, planes, etc. on exhibit and also so many great photo ops for them! We opted to rent the Euclid Beach Carousel for the entire event and are so happy we did. How often do party guests get to take unlimited carousel rides?? We needed very minimal decor for both interior and exterior which was great for our budget!
Jackie and her staff were wonderful the day of the event. Jackie was so great to work with for the entirety of our planning process. Anytime we needed to come and take a tour with a vendor, we were able to get into the museum for free and get our parking validated. There was a slight issue with our dance floor area being moved due to exhibits being moved, but Jackie worked with the curators to have the cars moved so that we could keep our original dance floor space. The venue provides white folding chairs (which I was fine with keeping) and also a number of tables, so we only have to rent linens and some high tops for our cocktail reception.
Overall, this was a really exceptional space with amazing architectural detail, history and many activities for our guests. Also, the photos were gorgeous because of the different garden spaces. We had a perfect day and a perfect location!
The event management is wonderful to work with! They were always easy to get ahold of when there were questions, and they worked to accommodate our caterer and lightening specialist. They really made everything easy!
I had a wonderful wedding here! I'm a fairly recent bride and I absolutely loved this space. The garden was lovely, the staff was kind (even as I was panicking about a late bridesmaid) and the girl I worked with was super helpful. The venue is unique and my photos turned out stunning since there were so many interesting places to take them. The location is also near a lot of hotels and other nice spots. Perfect spot for my perfect day!
We rented to Western Reserve Historical Society for our reception in June. The cocktail hour was in the garden and the reception was in the Rotunda. We also rented the carousel for the evening.
The day of the wedding was 20*s warmer than the previous days, so the reception room was hot. So much so that the cake actually began to melt! However, the carousel room was cool and guests would ride the carousel to cool off. Also, the guests loved the carousel and venue as they were able to look at the old cars and tour parts of the museum.
Jackie was very easy to work with and accommodating. Whenever I needed to tour the facility, she was agreeable and ready when I got there. I toured the facility multiple times with the wedding planner and other vendors to make sure everything went smoothly the day of.
The only other issue we ran into that day was that the contract stated we should have valet parking. However the day of, there was no valet. When we discussed this with the WRHS, we were offered a discount and are satisfied with the outcome.
The alcohol for the event is provided through the WRHS. It was very affordable. If there is something specific you want to stay stocked throughout the night I would recommend letting them know a quantity because we just gave a list of the alcohols we wanted and ran out of a few things.
Overall, I would recommend the WRHS for a reception. It is by far the MOST affordable option in University Circle and my pictures there look amazing!
I am thrilled that we decided to hold our ceremony and reception at the WRHS. The venue had so many different backdrops for beautiful photos, different areas for different parts of the day, and the carousel added an extra special element of fun. Overall, it was a wonderful place to get married.
The only problem I had with the venue was the staff. I communicated with the event coordinator throughout the planning process, and knew from the beginning that she may or may not be the coordinator the day of my wedding. But when I showed up to my rehearsal and met my "coordinator," I was pretty irritated when I realized he had absolutely no clue what to do. Apparently mine was his first wedding, and it was incredibly discouraging hearing his coworkers wishing him luck and giving him words of advice as I led him around the venue telling him what was going to happen the next day, and telling him the rain plan. The next day, I saw him twice during the 10 hours we were at the venue, and he did absolutely nothing to help, as far as I know. I had been told that the coordinator on the day of the wedding would be with us the entire time, making sure we had what we needed, could get to where we needed to go, help keep us on time, you know, basic coordinating. He was pretty useless. So definitely hire your own day-of coordinator to be with you if you choose the Cleveland History Center.
We had also been told that we could bring snacks and beverages into the History Center for the wedding party while we were getting ready, so we did. At the end of the night, we cleaned up our things from the conference room and library, and a staff member took our leftover beverages from us. Physically took them out of our hands, telling us that we were not allowed to have them in the first place. Not drinks from the bar that were served during the reception, the drinks we were told we could bring ourselves for the wedding party, and keep privately in the rooms while getting ready. Staff earlier in the day never said anything about us not being allowed to bring in beverages. Apparently this person was on some sort of power trip, or really just wanted the beer for himself, go so far as to steal five beers from a bride and groom at midnight.
Everything else was absolutely wonderful - just don't count on anyone actually providing help, and hide your belongings at the end of the night!
We used Hale Farm and Village for our Ceremony and our Reception. Keep in mind that this is a historic farm/park, so it is open to the public until around 5pm. Also note that it is within a Federal park so there are certain rules that you have to obey, i.e. you need a police officer if you have alcohol, your ceremony can't start until the park closes and you have to be cleaned up and out the door by 12am. You pay by the location, i.e. we paid for the ceremony site and the reception site. There are A LOT of different locations to choose from which is nice! We were able to book a back up plan, at no extra cost, in case there was bad weather. And boy are we glad that we did! It rained and rained on our wedding day, but one of the really old barns (Aten Barn) turned out to be so beautiful and worked out better than I could have imagined. The reception was in the Carriage Pavilion, which is basically a barn, and it turned out amazing too! It fit around 120 people comfortably and had bathrooms! There were a few hiccups along the way, mostly getting mail to them. So if you use them make sure to hand deliver your check or send it weeks and weeks in advance. Our first payment took weeks to get there and our second payment got lost, which resulted in a cancelled check fee. There were also a few hiccups in communication, but when it was all said and done my wedding turned out beautiful! All of the staff members really pitched in and worked really really hard to make sure that everything went smooth due to the rain. I'm glad that I chose this venue and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a farm/barn themed wedding.
The Western Reserve Historical Society was a beautiful backdrop for a beautiful ceremony. I loved our ceremony photos and the post ceremony photos. The chairs looked great and they were very accommodating in setting up the minimal decorations we had (you don't need many!)
There were a few things that bugged me. The person I worked with up until the day of the rehearsal was not the person that was there the day of the rehearsal or the wedding; this was a little confusing (I was never informed I was going to have someone new). Additionally, parking was an absolute disaster. When booking the wedding cerwemony, we were told the parking lot would be done and we would have no concerns. I have a father that is partially disabled and a 95 year old grandmother who uses a walker so this was a huge concern for me. We showed up for the rehearsal and it was a mess; and I was never informed the lot wasn't completed! There was no signage and everyone in the bridal party was lost; imagine how confusing it was for all the guests the next day. I had several guests miss the ceremony because they couldn't figure out where to park or where to go. It was added stress that did not sit well with me. Lastly, the room that the bride is supposed to get ready in (the library) was not air conditioned; again, something I was never told while looking at the venue. We ended up stealing the air conditioned room from the guys but did not have the beautiful library for photos which was what I had originally envisioned.
Over all the Western Reserve Historical Society is a beautiful backdrop for a ceremony and I would recommend it to others but they could have done a better job with communication on a few items (parking lot, air conditioning (or lack thereof), same person the day of the wedding/rehearsal that you originally work with).
I rented the Hanna Courtyard Garden from the WRHS. Due to rain, however, I ended up using the Crawford Rotunda. The space is absoulutely beautiful, but the WRHS books weddings to closely together. My ceremony and picture taking were rushed because another wedding was scheduled two hours after mine. My ceremony started at 3:00 p.m. and they wanted us to clear the space by 4:00 p.m. Additionally, the parking lot that my guests were originally supposed to use was dug up due to construction and my guests had to park far away. Many of my guests were late or altogether missed my ceremony because of the parking issue and the time constraint we were on. None of the specifics on time were disclosed to me until about a month before my wedding when I had paid for everything already.
We had my reception in the GateHouse. My guests loved walking around the area around the Gatehouse. We also had a beautiful so it was nice that people could go out and enjoy the grounds! Robert was was very nice to work with and the day of went without a glitch!!
If you are looking for location that is unique then WRHS is it. My husband and I were married in the Hanna garden and then had our cocktail hour and reception in the Crawford Auto Museum. We had access to the entire museum which was great! The cars, planes and other displays kept our guests up and moving rather than being stuck at a table all night. We couldn't have picked a better location that fit our personalities for our wedding.
When choosing a wedding venue we had some very specific requests 1. We wanted a location that would be an outside garden wedding. 2. The wedding ceremony and reception could be held at the same place 3. We wanted guest parking without paying for valet 4. I wanted someplace that showed off the history and culture I love about Cleveland. The Western Reserve Historical Society really fit the bill. I researched at least 12 locations and we visited at least 6 different sites. WRHS offered what we were looking for. Our contact person at WRHS was very easy to work with and was just as excited about our day as we were.
We put a lot of effort into making the space look elegant and the space did turn out beautiful however during dinner the Gatehouse was overcome with the stench of sewage. Disappointing considering how much time, money & effort we put into planning our big day. We felt terrible for out guests. Staff was not helpful or accommodating.
I cannot say enough great things about Hale Farm and Village! The grounds are beautiful, and the staff were great to work with. The one negative is that you cannot start prepping the grounds for your wedding until after they close as a museum (4:30-5:00), so the ceremony got started late, but because of that the light was absolutely gorgeous. They handle the bar, and the options and pricing were the best I found anywhere. Seriously, I give them 10 stars out of 5.
Contact
10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH
Cleveland History Center at Western Reserve Historical
Cleveland History Center at Western Reserve Historical's photos