University of Wisconsin – Parkside Student Center

We used the ballroom for our wedding reception in August of 2017 and it was BEAUTIFUL! We worked with Wilson and he was amazing! We were able to go in on the Thursday before our reception and set up everything. He was great with communicating with us and answering all of our questions. The food was absolutely delicious and I have considered ordering the chicken we had plenty of times. The view at night was stunning and all of the staff were professional and friendly. I loved everything about using Parkside for our reception.

Great! My husband I were very please with our reception. Everything went as planned our guest were very very please with the food. Wilson Carvajal was very much involved with all the details he made sure that we didnt have anything to worry about and the staff was on point. The whole setup was beautiful. Can't say enough about how great everything was for us.

We used UW-Parksides University Ballroom for our wedding reception. The Ballroom and campus are beautiful! BUT if I could go back and redo it, I would not have had the reception there again. When we originally booked the Ballroom, Parkside was using Sodexo as their caterer. We met with the Catering Director, John Sill from Sodexo and chose our menu and discussed many of the details that we wanted to make our day special. We were assured that none of our requests would be an issue. A few weeks before the wedding we were notified by email that the catering company had changed to Aviands and that the Catering Director was changing too. Luckily they were able to make similar dishes to the ones we chose with the original caterer but I felt that a lot of the "promises" originally made to us went out the door when Sodexo did. For example, I wanted a decorative light curtain behind the head table. This is also where the projector screen is for slideshows. We were told it wouldn't be an issue to have both. The day of setting up, after we spent tons of time making the light curtain and slideshow, the building manager said no way, it's one or the other. We also talked about taking pictures on campus and were told that we'd have free range to all areas and that if there was a specific room we wanted to get in to that the building manager would have keys to let us in. It was pouring rain and about 100 degrees outside so we didn't get to take many outdoor photos. We wanted to take photos in the library but wasted a lot of our photo time waiting outside of the library to be let in by the building manager only to be told that we weren't allowed in there. Dinner service was incredibly slow. I understand that we were one of the first weddings with the new catering staff but the head table had been served and finished eating and it was still another 45 minutes before some of our guests even got their food. Finally, like I mentioned before, it was probably the hottest, rainiest day of the year. It was sooo warm in the Ballroom. I kept asking the staff if they could turn down the temperature. They never mentioned anything to me about the air being broken but I was later told by one of our guests that also asked if the temperature could be turned down that the storms earlier in the day had caused the power to go out and that they needed an HVAC technician to come and turn the air back on. They said since it was the weekend that they couldn't get anyone in there. REALLY?! You have a wedding reception with 300 people in the room, paying thousands of dollars on the hottest day of the year and you won't bring someone in to fix the air conditioning? Everyone is really sweaty with their hair matted to their faces in our reception photos. Some guests even left early due to the heat and a good majority of our guests that did stay spent the rest of the evening in the hallway where it was cool. Overall, it was an amazing day regardless. Short of the heat and serving time our guests are still talking about what a great time they had. I'm sure there were more hiccups because we were one of the first weddings with this new caterer - hopefully they've worked through some of that stuff.

John was great to work with through out the planning process. The space was beautiful and the food tasty. The staff provided great service and attended our every need.

I really can't say enough about this venue and the director John Sill. The day truly ran smoothly from start to finish. If there were any hiccups I was totally unaware which I think is what every bride or groom wants to feel on their wedding day! John was so wonderful to work with. His attention to detail, responsiveness, and kindness was wonderful throughout the planning process and on the day of. We chose UW-Parkside because we knew after meeting with him that he knew how to run the show and that we would be well taken care of. Originally our wedding was supposed to be outside but due to the weather we had to move it inside. At his offering we were able to use the student center near the library which was a beautiful room. John along with his AV staff were there to make sure the ceremony ran smoothly. He has staff available to take care of the music for the ceremony as well as making sure the dj/band were set up with everything they had. They were also able to play a slideshow we had created for the day which took a lot of pressure off of us by turning this over to the professionals. The food was DELICIOUS! Our options for the wedding were: Beef short ribs, asiago crusted chicken with red pepper sauce, or spinach and cheese lasagna. I had the lasagna which was very good and sampled the other options which were also soo good! A lot of our guests were commenting on how good the food was and how they wished they could have seconds! We also ordered pizzas to come out around 10. I did not get a chance to try them but I heard that these were very good also. The staff was very attentive. Food was served in a timely fashion. I did not hear any complaints about having to wait a long time to be served which can be an issue at buffets.We had a total of 266 guests and everyone was well taken care of and are still talking about the day over two weeks later. As far as pricing goes I think there are good options for any budget. John had a very detailed event schedule with pricing emailed to me before the day for my review which was very close to the actual costs of the day. All in all if you want good food, attentive staff, and a nice venue I highly suggest UW-Parkside

John was wonderful! Everything went just as planned and I didn't have to worry about a thing!

My husband and I are beyond happy with the service that we received at Parkside. We had been to a couple weddings here prior to booking our reception and had been very impressed. The hall where the reception was held is a large room with floor to ceiling windows along one of the walls. What I liked the msot about this space is how open it is. Guests won't feel like they are being left out of anything because they are seated in a corner and can't see what is going on. There is a lounge space right outside of the hall where we hosted our cocktail hour and where guests can go to to sit quietly during the reception if they need a break. John, the man in charge, is amazing and was on site the day of our wedding to ensure that everything went well. We didn't want a traditional head table and he worked with us to give us exactly what we wanted. The food was delicious (you can't always say this about large catered dinners) and we even worked with them for our wedding cake which was not only fantastic, but saved us so much money. The staff are students, but are all professionally dressed and were great. I honestly do not have one complaint about this venue.

It was great! John Sill is the coordinator that I had the pleasure of working with. He is on top of it and is always available for any questions or concerns you may have. The staff was professional and friendly. I couldn't have picked a better reception hall or staff. Absolutely no complaints!

My husband and I were extremely pleased with our experience in the ballroom at Parkside. Our guests raved about the food and the catering director was very helpful throughout the planning process. Everything looked wonderful when we got there for the reception and there was plenty of room for our 250+ guests. Our wedding was three months ago and our friends and family still talk about what a great time they had and say it was the best wedding they had ever been to.

We used the student center for our wedding reception and I loved everything about it! The banquet director was so great with us and respected every request we had. The staff was so nice. The student center was very affordable! Our budget was a big part of our planning (like most couples). I loved the lounge area which is included in the price. We had our cocktail hour while keeping our dining area a surprise until dinner was served. I highly recommend this place!