We cannot say enough good things about Neil and the team at Union Station Banquets. The main takeaway is this: Union Station allowed us to have the full vision of our wedding become a reality, and in a financially practical way. From the first ...meeting, Neil was completely welcoming and unassuming. Any time we met in person, Neil was as excited to plan the details of our wedding as we were. If we emailed, he was always responsive within a day and answered our questions directly.
Compared to other places where that was “an additional offering” or “couldn’t be done in this package,” we never felt like we had to keep our wants close to the vest out of fear that we would get pushed into spending more money. If it was doable at a cost we could afford, it was done, and if it wasn’t, there was no problem moving on without it. Neil truly wanted us to have a wedding that was everything we wanted and nothing we didn’t. He offered his suggestions and ideas, but never put pressure on us to include something and we never felt like we had to “bite the bullet” on any decision. At one point during our tasting, we had asked for a late night snack menu and Neil said “the staff is really excited to work with your menu” and it genuinely felt that they were as much a part of our planning as we were.
The banquet hall itself is a beautiful, cool, early 20th century aesthetic that is attractive on its own, but also presents plenty of opportunities to be personalized. There is an obvious travel aesthetic with the space, but with the open brick and brass bar, the turn-of-the-century advertising around that space, old, recessed ticket windows turned to mirrors, and a huge fireplace, the space welcomes any variety of themes you might have in mind.
We would be remiss if we didn’t also thank our Lead Bartender, Rob. He was amazing, both attentive and intuitive. We were never going to be the couple who “forgot to eat” at their own wedding, but without ever saying that, Rob was always available to us first with hors d'oeuvres. Three things we loved about Rob -- aside from just what a wonderful and enthusiastic person he seemed to be -- included, when we were first taking photos around the venue, he found us outside before our time together had even started and he brought us water while we were outside on a 98 degree day. Similarly, he was always around us with appetizers and drinks at the ready, but he also never made our guests feel out of place. Of course he brought us appetizers first and looked to us first, but we’ve been at weddings where that tray was withheld from guests because it was “for the bride and groom.” He never shut anyone down if they grabbed for that tray, which is exactly what we would have asked of him. Finally, on the only stressful moment of our day, he recognized that we were maybe feeling overwhelmed by the attention of our guests and, without interrupting, took it upon himself to find us and bring fresh drinks. He was the person we engaged with the most directly, but so many of our guests applauded the service of the staff at the bar and on the floor. They were all amazing
The team at Union Station was completely unexpected. In an overwhelming industry dominated by fixed, generic, overpriced, wedding packages that make you feel hamstrung, Union Station Banquets was everything you wish you could have for your wedding and we can’t thank them enough or recommend them highly enough.