The Historic Ramsdell Theatre

Absolutely phenomenal. Michael Terry was SO helpful and was always willing to work with us on anything we needed. He even ran the lights and music for our ceremony himself! We got a TON of comments on how unique and beautiful the venue was, and we LOVED getting married in the theater and then heading straight up to the ballroom for the reception. We barely needed any decorations in the theater because it's so stunning, and the ballroom is simply breathtaking. The wooden floors and benches, the chandeliers, the tin ceiling, the big windows, the fireplace...it all just came together to make everything look super elegant (and at an extremely reasonable price!). I saw in other reviews that people have complained that the Ramsdell didn't provide stuff like linens, catering, etc. - and no, they don't provide these things. But that is PLENTY evident when you book your event, and they are more than willing to help you find reliable vendors that have worked events there in the past. If I could give the Ramsdell more than 5 stars I would. This venue made my wedding as special as it possibly could have been. Plus now I can go back and see plays on the stage where I got married! :)

I had my reception at the Ramsdell Ballroom, which was absolutely gorgeous. This site provides the room, tables and chairs. Everything else you have to provide on your own. Heather worked with us to answer any questions and provided us with a few different tours beforehand. They also have someone available the day prior if you have any questions or issues during set up, then two people were available during the reception. Amazing atmosphere, beautiful building. Well worth the cost and I would definitely recommend this place for your reception!

I grew up in the Manistee area so I was very familiar with what was available as far as wedding venues go. I knew I wanted an all in one location for both the ceremony and reception so my options were limited. The Ramsdell was not actually my first choice but once I found out that we could get married in the actual theatre part I was sold. Overall, our experience was OK. The city had just spent milions of dollars apparently to have AC put in and well, the night of our wedding it didn't work. The day before when we were decorating, it was freezing but the night of the reception it was so hot. Actually, most of my guests left earlier because it was too hot! I kept getting excuses from the people there about needing to call someone to come turn it down, or it had already been turned down and it just takes awhile to be effective. I was just upset that no one would be honest with me about it not working, instead of making excuses for everything. Either way, I was not happy about that at all! Overall, the experience was OK. They provide tables and chairs and that it is for wedding items. The staff there barely helps out when decorating or setting up, the light and sound guys weren't worth the $100 I had to pay them to be there because they screwed everything up during the ceremony anyways. If it weren't for the beauty of the building I would have been really upset! I don't think I would recommend this location to another bride unless you have an army ready to help you decorate or you are doing a very intimate setting in which case the ballroom would be huge for something like that!

The ballroom was beautiful and so big they set up the tables and we did the decorating but much wasn't needed. One thing is you have to be out by 12 and that's with clean up.