Historic Overlook House Reviews

I believe the prices increased just after we had our event, but it was an amazing value and an absolutely beautiful place for a smaller budget wedding. We feel like we didn't have to cut any corners and everyone had a wonderful day.

The Historic Overlook house was a fantastic venue for our diy wedding!
I wanted control over which vendors we hired and that was one of the biggest reasons we chose the house. (That and the fact that the backyard is beyond gorgeous!)
We had fantastic service from the house coordinator Jessica. She kept in contact with our catering vendor to ensure we had the right paperwork and she did so much to ease my workload with the paperwork involved in throwing a wedding at the Overlook House.
This house has a fantastic backyard and comes with a lot of amenities that other places charge much more for. My husband has already said he can't wait for our 10th and 20th anniversary so that we can go back to the house for another big celebration.

We planned an outside wedding and had to make quick adjustments due to weather. Jessica was great at giving information, the local vendors had all worked with the site before so rental delivery and pick up was very easy. We loved that we could visit the site on Tuesday evenings so it was easy to plan how we wanted to set up for the day. We put up a large tent and had a beautiful garden wedding. The photographer especially liked the many shapes and textures that provided really great photo ops. The on-site person was very helpful the day of the wedding and went over the check out list with us before we left to make sure all items were taken care of an we received a full refund of our security deposit. It was a wonderful day, site and experience!

If you’re looking for a place that will give you a planner and does the wedding/party work for you…this is not the place for you. I got married at the Overlook House in 2007 and had a fantastic experience. I wanted a place that gave me the location for a cheap price and let me bring in my own vendors and plan everything the way I wanted…this was the place! They were always available for me for ALL my questions and made suggestions for vendors and such. My Grandparents also had their 50 wedding anniversary and my family just threw a surprise 80th Birthday party for my Grandmother there last month. Needless to say the Overlook house holds a special place in my family’s hearts and we plan to use it for upcoming family events. I have to say that all events I have done at this location have been outdoors (their backyard is a gorgeous canvas for any event). I would not recommend using the inside for an event because it seems small (but maybe you could make it work?).

We recently had our wedding at the Historic Overlook House and were very pleased with the final product. This is definitely the venue for a do-it-yourself wedding, which is exactly what my husband and I were looking for. The house and grounds are gorgeous and the perfect setting for a moderately sized wedding (we had 75 people). We utilized both the indoors and outdoors of the property, which was ideal for our early Fall wedding. The large top floor of the house worked wonderfully as a private place for the entire bridal party to get ready in peace. It also provided us with tons of fabulous photo-ops, incorporating all of the historic charm of the house. We held our ceremony outside, and our dinner reception under a rented tent, but also used the bottom floor of the house as an area to mingle and have our cake cutting ceremony. The large outdoor cement deck and patio below was a great spot for our DJ to play while we danced into the night!
Jessica, our Event Coordinator, was extremely friendly, professional, helpful and always available via email to answer all of our questions. We were able to visit the property several times on Tuesday evenings during their Open House to take measurements, check out possible set-ups and even take a test run down the lawn with my heels on to make sure I didn't sink in! The staff in general couldn't have been more attentive and available.
Again, this is the perfect venue if you are excited and ready to take on the project of putting on your wedding yourself. You will have to find all of your vendors, secure your own insurance and are responsible for both the set-up and clean-up, all of which Jessica will thoroughly explain to you. Being in the service industry, we had lots of friends and family willing to help us make our day the most amazing of our lives! Make sure to book extra hours to allow for set-up and clean-up. We booked a 10 hour slot for the day, and were still amazed at how affordable it was. This property is truly a blank slate for you to put your own unique touches on. So many of our guests asked us, "Where did you find this place? It's amazing!" We concur and couldn't have asked for a better place to start the rest of our lives together.

Mother of the bride, here, with only one child, so not much experience with weddings! The Overlook House was terrific for our needs. Our caterer (Typhoon) worked with them on everything, including setting up the last-minute tent that sheltered us all outside from the rainstorm. Everyone was lovely and helpful. I gave them a "4" in professionalism above as a backhanded compliment, because it's pretty much (as others have said on this site) your own show - they are renting you the space, and it's a nice old house and lovely garden. You are providing the worker bees, other than the one staff member who will stay in the background while your event is in progress. If you want something that feels "professional," that's not the feel, here. This feels like your rich aunt offered you her Old Portland place, and then left town. I would advise that you happily book extra hours and pay for them if you want to set up early, or if you will only have a small crew to clean up with you afterwards. We had an absolutely wonderful event, and worth every penny. I'd do it again in a minute!

We got married here September 8, 2018, and I am so glad that we chose this venue. Originally, I had my eye on a few other venues that were more expensive and didn't have any amenities included. We chose this venue due to the beautiful backyard, indoor option for food prep, bathrooms, and a rain plan B, and the included perks (DIY flexibility, tables, chairs, dishes, glasses, AND they wash the dishes for you after the event!) I wanted a low-stress, low-cost, beautiful and intimate wedding, and we had that.

Our wedding had 60 people, and we held the ceremony and reception in the backyard. I rented chairs and a pallet bar because they chairs that they have, while free, look a bit like cafeteria chairs. The chair rental was my one splurge. The venue needed minimal decorations to make the space beautiful- the landscaping and arbor make for a beautiful backdrop. We used vendors/friends with businesses for: flowers, video, photo, chairs, ceremony musicians, and sound equipment. We went the DIY route for decorations, food (a friend coordinated cheese/meat trays), drinks (had a friend who has an OLCC license), and everything else.

The couple who manage the venue are kind, quick to respond, and volunteers, so not available at all times of the day, like at other venues. That wasn't a problem for us. We emailed when we had questions, drove by when we needed a refresher, and visited during open house hours on Thursday evenings when we needed to visualize things. The venue rental is for 6 hours, with a fee for each additional hour, but that is my only complaint. I think if it's booked for the day, it would be nice to not have to worry about timing as much. A 7-8 hour rental feels reasonable to me.

We were able to have a beautiful wedding that we could afford. I think their materials and website could be updated to reflect how great of a venue it is, but then it would probably get more competitive, and I was grateful to not have to worry about that. :)

Not a wedding reception, but we held a party, with about 40 people attending, for three of us that were having a birthday. Really like the house and the ability to handle an event inside or outside, or both. The coordinator was very helpful in working with us over several months to make sure that all the details were taken care of. Also found a bartender that has insurance coverage, which saved us $137. Had a great time, and everything went smoothly. Received our security deposit back within 3 weeks. One minor issue: set-up and take down time was not included in our original booking schedule. Resolved by adding 30 minutes on both ends of our event schedule, and only had to pay an additional $50 for that. Would definitely recommend it as a facility to hold an event, keeping in mind that you do have to do some of the setup yourself.

A lovely and quaint setting for a smaller wedding.

I really enjoyed having my wedding here. There wasnt alot of troubles with this company and thats what made it enjoyable. I love the trees and flowers and natural setting around!

We used the Overlook House as our wedding venue, and I'm glad we did. However, I would recommend it with reservations. On the plus side, it was beautiful, and everything ran smoothly on the big day. It was also much more affordable than most venues, especially since we could use the tables and chairs already on site, avoiding rental fees. We also appreciated the flexibility in choosing whichever vendors we preferred.

On the down side, the Overlook House coordinator with whom I did most business (Michelle), could be difficult to work with. She has very limited hours, and if you do not have a job that allows for taking time off during the day on a week day, it can be next to impossible to find time to meet at the venue to make plans. It is a DIY venue, which means you will need to make decisions about where everything will be, decor, and set-up. Good luck visiting the inside on any other time than Tuesday mornings! I spent over a month emailing between Michelle and my caterer, trying to find a time that worked for the venue so we could go through the kitchen together. It was an unnecessary hassle given all the planning required.

It is a very nice old Portland house in one of Portland's nicest areas but it is not worth the money and work. Basically it's a do it yourself venue. On top of the expensive rental you have to provide insurance for $137, rent chairs, bring in any linens and take care of all the clean-up. You are supposed to get an hour for your rehersal but the volunteer was wanting to get to a poker game so he was rushing us out 15mins early. The day of our wedding the employee came up to us as we were getting ready to walk down the aisle to make sure we knew we had to be out in an hour. The coordinator will call you 3 days before your payment is due and let you know if they don't get the payment you will have problems. Even though she's called a coordinator, she doesn't help you coordinate your event. Now they are not wanting to give us all of our security deposit back!

Overall they were not happy, excited and helpful like you would want a venue to be on your wedding day. Too expensive for everything you have to do yourself and very rigid on rules. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.