$2,300 starting price
151-200 guest capacity
This venue can host up to 200 guests
About this vendor
The German Society of Pennsylvania, the oldest German-American organization in the United States, offers several venues for every stage of your celebration, for private functions such as weddings, corporate events, and for photography, film, or video. The Joseph Horner Memorial Library offers a unique space for an intimate ceremony, with two stories of galleried bookcases. The Auditorium, with its distinctly Colonial architecture, is an elegant ceremony venue, but is also perfect for a reception of up to 180 guests, with plenty of space for dining and dancing. For your cocktail hour, celebrate with your guests in the Ratskeller, a cozy dining room with a tavern atmosphere, or on the spacious and shady Leidy Terrace.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Guest Capacity
- Up to 200
Settings
- Ballroom
- Garden
- Historic Venue
- Library
- Trees
Reviews
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4.4
out of 5.07 reviews
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The German Society of Pennsylvania was the perfect location for our winter wedding! We used the Library for our ceremony and seamlessly transitioned to the Auditorium for our reception. It was so easy not having our guests need to travel in the cold weather between the two events. The Library was a beautiful space that needed little decor to look even more amazing than it already is and the Auditorium was very easily customizable to fit our needs. Liesl was such a huge help in answering our questions and letting us see the space on multiple occasions to help plan our wedding vision. The space was very affordable and doesn't have a contract caterer which allowed us to save quite a bit of money finding our own caterer. They also let us use their tables and chairs for free which saved on costs as well. We were so happy with them and would recommend them fully to anyone looking for a lovely and affordable wedding venue in Philadelphia.
My husband and I were married here on 5/11/19. We would absolutely recommend the German Society for other couples looking for a unique & beautiful venue for their big day. Our ceremony took place in their gorgeous courtyard & we had our reception in the historic auditorium. GSP allows you to totally personalize your day. Liesl in the front office is quick to communicate with you and answered all of my many questions. Our day of chaperone, Cathy, was also wonderful and Tony, the President, was friendly when we worked with him directly & actually came to the venue the day of to deal with a leaky fridge issue personally. All in all, a wonderful experience start to finish!
We fell in love with the German Society of Pennsylvania the moment we walked into the Library. The space is fantastic, and needed no decoration! The staff there (particularly Liesl) are easy to work with and good about answering questions and providing information. The rates are very reasonable and they are good about outlining and explaining their specific requirements as a historic venue.
The German Society is in a good location and worked well as both our ceremony and reception venue. We very much recommend them to anyone!
The German Society was the perfect place for our wedding. My husband and I are both librarians, so the German Society's amazing library was the perfect setting for our ceremony. We had cocktails in the Ratskeller, and dinner and dancing in the ballroom. I loved how flexible the venue was - we could use any caterer and rental companies we wanted - most other venues make you use their caterer. This was especially important to me, because I wanted an all vegan meal and wasn't interested in eating just salad on my wedding day (most caterers are seriously clueless when it comes to meatless meals). Since the German Society lets you bring in any vendor you want, I was able to make this happen. Another great thing about this place is that you get the space for the whole day - many other places only give you a 4 hour block. Our contact gave us lots of detailed information about the venue that helped us with the planning. This was really important, because unlike a traditional wedding venue, the German Society doesn't have a planner or coordinator available to help you do this. We spent almost 2 years planning our wedding, and during that time, our contact at the German society changed 3 times due to staff changes. This could have meant disaster, but the staff was great about communicating with us and each other to make sure everyone knew what was happening. I loved having my wedding at the German Society, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique and flexible venue.
Do not use this venue for your wedding! The building is beautiful, yes, but the staff is horrible to deal with! Just to name a FEW things that happened: they made my sister (maid of honor) cry on the wedding day because they were so incredibly rude, they locked our guests outside in the heat because they came a few minutes early, they started construction on the building without telling us forcing us to change our entire wedding around after things had been planned, there were no steps or accessible entrance to the building until we had to show up and force them to install both, they originally told us we could move tables around and when we did we were screamed at (on the wedding day), they were just horrible. It is not worth the stress they will put you through!
We had our reception at the German Society, and it was absolutely beautiful! We fell in love with the building when we went to another event there a few years ago. It has a lot of original historic details, and was perfect for our reception.
It was unlike any wedding I've ever been to. The place was absolutely incredible. I almost don't want to tell you more and just save the experience for only my wedding. I fell in love with the place first and we made our wedding fit the venue.;I would just tell them to be respectful. The building has so much history to it and is so unique.
Contact
611 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia, PA
The German Society of Pennsylvania
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