About this vendor
Built in 1924 as a live-stage theatre, the doors shuttered around 1950 and it became an industrial space. In 2013, 8-Count Creative renovated and revitalized the space to a mixed-purpose arts and events venue, focusing on local arts. With the original yellow brick and blue tile facade, proscenium arch, and various brick and plaster walls, you can "set the stage" and bring your style and vision to life for your day.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Settings
- Historic Venue
- Industrial & Warehouse
Venue Service Offerings
- Rentals & Equipment
Reviews
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4.1
out of 5.09 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
When we first booked the Rialto, it was under different ownership. When I found out it had been sold about two months before my wedding, I *almost* freaked out.
Christal had a me...
eting with me and showed me all of the plans that they had to improve the Rialto and I can say I am so glad that it is under new ownership!
The theater itself is absolutely stunning with the huge arch, and exposed brick wall, and they thankfully did not change any of that. But they did improve the look of the outside of the building, added a bridal suite and turned a very simple art gallery into a stunning garden room.
There is a ton of natural light, which made this venue perfect for me. My husband and I fell in love with it as soon as we walked through the front door, but the new improvements have made it that much more beautiful.
If you find beauty in simplicity, and you’re looking for a venue with tons of natural light then you’ve found it.
I would get married here 1000 times over.
I am excited to attend tea in the newly added tearoom in the near future.
The Rialto is a GORGEOUS venue with a ton of character!! My husband and I loved the history and the unique touches that the building held, the brick wall is stunning as well as the...
detailing around the arch. Hope was wonderful to work with throughout the planning process and we couldn't have imagined a better location for our big day!!
The Rialto Theatre was the perfect venue for our smaller intimate wedding. The older architecture left over from its days as a theatre was the perfect backdrop for us and our visio...
n. The restored proscenium, black curtains and exposed brick allowed us to have a very unique backdrop for our minimal ceremony. We are restaurant people, so a weekend wedding wasn't going to work for us. The Rialto Theatre was the perfect place to have an easy breezy Thursday wedding. They were really accommodating and helpful in getting everything set for our day. It is a really cool vintage space and if you are looking for a venue that is not cookie cutter typical this is the place for you. My family was very impressed and they all commented on how they loved the space.
Loved this venue with beautiful exposed brick & concrete floors.
Hope Connelly provided the beautiful Rialto Theatre for my wedding free of cost due to a personal situation. She went above and beyond to make my special day happen and was extreme...
ly professional, responsive, and kind. The venue was absolutely phenomenal in every single way!
I would rate this venue 4.5 of out 5! It was clean, beautiful, presented a stunning and unique venue for gorgeous wedding photos. We were very pleased with the comfort of the brida...
l suite. Also, Hope was great to work with and was timely in responding to all my emails. Only downside is that I thought the AC could have been cranked more considering it is a Florida venue. We survived but it was uncomfortably hot. Overall, it was the most gorgeous place and did not regret getting hitched here!
The perfect venue for us! We loved the historic, industrial feel and the fact that we could bring in all of our favorite vendors! Hope was wonderful and easy to work with. You can ...
see how passionate she is about the space by all the work her and her husband have put into the theatre. Our wedding day was perfect and we are so unbelievably happy we chose to get married at the Rialto.
I need to start this review off by saying that the Rialto is a gorgeous venue and the space itself was exactly what we wanted. With that said, working with the owner, Hope, was a n...
ightmare. As a venue owner, Hope has few people skills and makes no attempt to support her customers.
As we went for our tour, she explained how it’s a blank canvas and you can do whatever you want. We were looking for something where we could also have a brewery-like feel and she specifically showed us the side alley way and explained how we could open this area up and have cocktail tables, lighting and games for our guests. However, it turned out that Hope was renting out space that was not hers to rent!
My day-of-event planner informed me that her other bride was told that she could not use the alleyway because there were some legal problems. We had not been made aware of this and had received no notifications from Hope and the wedding was less than 2 weeks away. Come to find Hope is not only not legally allowed to use this space anymore, but figured she would tell us when she saw us at the rehearsal and it would be no big deal… WHAT?! Hope showed no empathy, concern, or responsibility for this situation. We were required to make many last-minute changes to our plans for setup, cocktail hour, and reception causing disappointment! I was determined to use the games that we had worked hard on, so incorporated them into cocktail hour inside, which was not ideal at all and only allowed for 30 minutes of use, and I didn’t even get to see or use them!!
There is no storage at the venue for décor to drop items off beforehand, and set-up is not allowed to begin until noon. Those requirements made for an extremely tight schedule for all our vendors for a 4:30 wedding. Hope does not budge on these contractual requirements. Although, the venue is beautiful, the air conditioning at the Rialto was lacking. Guests were drenched in sweat throughout the party.
Two weeks after the wedding, we had to again pursue some remediation for the alleyway from Hope. Her only offer was $250 explaining that that was the amount she “would” have rented the alley space for (if it were hers to rent). We told her this amount was unacceptable. Hope then tried to hold part of our security deposit! Hope was not at the venue at the end of the evening; her husband, George, was the representative on-site. My mom specifically asked if he was satisfied that all was completed in accordance with the contract to get a full refund of our security deposit and we received the “all clear” from George. Yet, during the emails negotiating refund for the breach of contract for the alley space, Hope then states that there were issues that would require us to receive only a partial refund of the security deposit. This only came up because of the disagreement over the refund for the alley space.
After numerous emails and requests, Hope would not work with us to conclude this matter satisfactorily and we received a check for our security deposit and a the minimum refund
While I still believe it is a beautiful space, it is a shame I must warn to be very wary of utilizing this event venue!
I sent an initial request for information on availability and a tour and provided our potential date. Since I have been corresponding with many historical venues in the area, I was...
caught off guard when I received a curt and inconsiderate response from the owner, Hope Donnelly. My fiance and I would have considered changing the dates based on the venue, but because of the unprofessional and rude response, we immediately removed The Rialto from our list.
We are fortunate to live in a city with many historical landmarks and buildings for weddings and other events, such as The Orlo, Armature Works and The Floridan, just to name a few. I have found the owners and personnel from each of these venues to genuinely be excited to work with us on hosting such a special day in our lives.
Contact
1617 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL | FL
Rialto Theatre