Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

My husband and I were extremely disappointed with our experience at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Event Center. From the start, we took the time to tour the venue and explicitly expressed the importance of having a full kitchen available for our caterer. We were assured emphatically that a kitchen would be available. However, about a month before our wedding, we were shocked and dismayed to learn that the venue does not, in fact, have a kitchen available for our caterer. This last-minute revelation forced our caterer to scramble for a solution, which included renting an Airbnb, hiring additional help, and securing a vehicle to transport the food. The fact that the venue does not have a full kitchen is even more surprising given that they insisted we use catering services from their preferred list. This was in addition to us hiring our preferred caterer, a detail that was known to the venue from the very beginning. To make matters worse, their preferred caterer list was incredibly limited, with only three options, and only one of them—“Putting on the Ritz”—was barely responsive. One of the caterers on their preferred list even claimed that they do not offer the services we required. Several guests also reported that their staff was rude to them during the ceremonies. We (The Bride and Groom) were stopped at the door of our own reception because they assumed we no longer had the hall booked after 10pm… mind you, we were contracted till midnight. Even if our wedding ran over, we were assured (before they secured our business) that they would just charge for the extra time. We are exploring our legal options as well, especially since the venue would not even have a conversation with us after the way they handled our wedding day. Throughout the entire planning process, our attempts to contact the venue with details about our wedding were met with more questions that made it painfully clear they had not been attentive to the vision we had meticulously planned for our day. It was incredibly frustrating to be met with such lack of coordination and responsiveness. Overall, our wedding day could have been so much smoother and less stressful if we had more experienced hands handling the coordination and fine-tuning. The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Event Center failed to deliver on multiple fronts, and I would caution others against relying on them for such an important event.

We got married here because it offered the best value with the ballroom, the garden, and rentals, and the parking. The staff were great, but there were a few hiccups with communication that I would have preferred straightened out sooner. If you are Maryland alums, definitely consider getting married here but hire your own planner! The day turned out lovely though and the Riggs staff definitely played a role in that!

As Maryland alums, we couldn't have been happier with Riggs as our reception venue. We worked with Rhonda and Shannon and felt cared for every step of the way. The space is large and versatile with indoor and outdoor spots. We used the atrium, patio, and garden for cocktail hour and then moved to the ballroom for dinner and dancing. With COVID, we were able to spread out nicely, and still have an intimate feel. All of the communication with the team was timely and professional. The day-of, everything went off without a hitch. Testudo even made an appearance! A beautiful, meaningful venue with a great value!