Hello fellow Oregon brides! I just tied the knot last week on the 14th, and I thought I'd share my experience of using the Kennedy School as a venue for my wedding, just in case any of you were thinking about it or thinking about venues!
Time and Personal Set UpWhen you rent a space at McMenamins, you get the room(s) from ten in the morning to ten in the evening. When we arrived at ten the gym was already set up with tables and chairs and we were then allowed to decorate as we pleased. We were then responsible for taking our personal decor down at the end of the night. Additionally, we chose to use this time for our rehearsal. If you would like to rehearse the night before, you must rent the room again for an additional although lesser fee.
What McMenamins IncludesThe great thing about McMenamins is that it provides pretty much everything, which means you have a lot less to coordinate. This includes...
-Tables
-Table linens (a variety to choose from)
-Chairs (these are classic banquet chairs with black upholstery)
-Food (you have a lot of food options!)
-Food service
-Table/Chair set up
-A/V equipment
All of this is included in your minimum for the room. We rented both the movie theatre and the gym, for a minimum of $2,300. How this worked is that if we spent $2,300 on food then the rooms were free. If we only spent $2,000 on food, then the remaining was simply charged as a "room rental fee". The $2,300 had to be paid prior to the event date. If we went over the minimum (as in more drinks and food) then that was paid at the end of the event night. Additional fees were an 18% gratuity that did not count towards the minimum and that was calculated only from your food purchases and paid at the end of the night.
The PeopleWe worked with Erica, who was a very nice person and answered all of our questions within a timely manner, including immediate responses via email often. The persons who worked our reception were nice and did not detract from the event. Additionally, we requested to use one of the bars for a photoshoot, and they graciously let us do that.
The FoodWe did the pasta buffet, which proved to be very delicious. We had several guests return for seconds and thirds and compliment us on the food. McMenamins provides a dessert platter, but if you choose not to do it, then they take $1 off each dinner - so ours went from $27.50 a head to $26.50 a head. Since we were in the room so early, we also selected a breakfast menu to serve to those who helped with set up. This also counted toward our minimum and was set up upon arrival.
The Building ItselfThe Kennedy School is a fabulous building rich with history and has the quirky charm of a McMenamins location. There were several bars for our guests to explore, a movie theatre for those guests who stayed, a restaurant where we were able to hold our "rehearsal" dinner (really it was just a dinner the night before with family and friends who were already in town) and loads of fun spots to take photos.
As a HotelMany of my family and friends stayed at the School, since it is also a hotel. Rooms are $109 a night, plus tax and include access to a soaking pool. The rooms are small, but have a wonderful charm, and were big enough for myself, my maid of honor and three friends to get ready in. The rooms do not have televisions.
The School does provide a block option where they will create a block for your guests. This is a ten room block (they have only 35 rooms) and does not include a group rate discount. The block is held until one month before the date. Many of my family had issues with reserving their rooms, and making sure they were in the block, and one relative complained that she was put on hold for 5 minutes. So, I don't think that the hotel services are that organized. So make sure to double check reservations.
ConsOf course there are some cons...a few have been mentioned, but there are a few more...
The School does
not provide chair linens, thus if you want them then you must rent them or purchase them yourself. I found it cheaper to purchase chair linens than to rent them - so if you need 65 chair linens and 65 turquoise sashes, I'll sell 'em to ya cheap! I also have 80 silver chargers that I am willing to sell as well.
No Bridal Room. Unlike other locations that offer a specific room for the bride and groom to get ready in, McMenamins does not offer that, and instead you have to get a hotel room, which is what my husband did. I used my mother's room, who was staying the night before the wedding and the night after the wedding.
During the holiday season, there is a rather large and sometimes poorly decorated tree that sits in the corner of the gym. It was not a problem for us, since we had 65 guests, but for larger groups holding an even their during the holiday, it may prove to be a tight fit.
Overall, I would say that the Kennedy School proved to be a great location and worked out really well and I would suggest this as a venue!
A selection of pictures are available here:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=587243&id=135786875060
To those looking for a location, I hope this helped! And best of luck on your planning!