We planned our wedding in six months, nine hours away from Tampa. Although we are both from Florida, we no longer live there, but still wanted to hold the wedding so it would be easy for family to attend. This short time table left us few available venue choices. Some venues were booked solid for the entire year, even on Sundays! So, we were really excited when we found the Lions Eye Institute, and it was available on a Saturday during our ideal time of year. During one of our wedding-planning trips to Tampa, we visited the historic venue and fell in love with the exposed brick walls and vintage-style lighting – the venue was oozing with charm, and was so much more unique than other places we had found. Gail Messamore, who is in charge of special events at Lions Eye, toured the venue with us, and answered all our questions.

The carpet was worn and tired-looking with quite a bit of staining, and the dance floor had seen better days, but we were told that it was scheduled to be replaced before our event. Handicap accessibility was a concern for some of our guests, so we looked at the route they would have to use to enter – it was a disaster but, again, we were assured it would be fully repaired before our event. Gail informed us that we were limited as to how the room could be set up, as we were not permitted to relocate the dance floor (it is in the middle of the long, narrow ballroom). If the dance floor was placed in the far corner of the room (which, I thought, was the best possible location, and was a setup featured in photos on their website), the noise would disrupt the 24 hour eye bank that operated downstairs. Since we were in a hurry to secure a venue and our options were limited, we went ahead and signed a contract with Lions Eye. Gail seemed to answer questions to our satisfaction, and you couldn't beat the price for the number of hours you'd have access to the room.

As the wedding grew closer, I began to realize that Gail's purpose was to rent out the venue, and not much else. We hired a wedding coordinator to help us on the day of the wedding to make sure all our vendors had access to the ballroom, and the setup went smoothly (which we highly recommend!). The day of our wedding, Gail basically unlocked the ballroom and immediately left. Had it not been for our wedding coordinator, there would have been absolutely no one there to receive deliveries or coordinate the setup of tables, chairs, linens, the DJ, the catering staff, etc. I also think it's worth noting that the improvements to the venue that we were told would be completed before our event had not been addressed – the carpet and dance floor were the originals we'd seen when we toured, and the handicap accessible entrance was still a mess.

When the wedding party arrived at the venue, we congregated in the reception area downstairs. We were having fun and laughing and taking pictures with our photographer. On multiple occasions, we were hushed by the security guard and told we needed to be quiet, because she didn't want our noise to disrupt the eye bank. We weren't yelling and screaming, but there is a certain amount of noise that occurs when organizing a group of 12 people. I felt that if the regular noise that comes with renting out a room in your venue causes too much disruption, maybe you shouldn't rent out the room.

The real problem started once we got upstairs to the ballroom. Our wedding was in April, so it wasn't quite the blazing heat of summer, but the weather was still pretty warm. The wedding coordinator pulled us aside and told us that there was a problem – the air conditioning was not working! The ballroom was extremely warm and uncomfortable, fluctuating between 81-83 degrees. She had tried to call Gail multiple times and had left several messages on her cell phone, but got no response. She asked the security guard at the front desk downstairs who the emergency contact was, and they didn't know who to call.

There we were, in the middle of our wedding reception, and there was no one at Lions Eye that was in charge! Our guests were sweating, the catering staff in the kitchen was miserable, and there I was, in the heaviest and most expensive outfit I've ever owned, soaking in my own sweat as well. I even remember a friend bringing me a towel that had been soaked in ice water to drape across my shoulders to cool me off. Some of our guests, who had come long distances to attend our wedding, left early because they couldn't stand the heat. I understand that things happen that are out of a venue's control, but there is absolutely no excuse for not having someone present or at the very least, an on-call emergency contact in the event that something should go wrong.

We still managed to enjoy our wedding day, but we were so disappointed in the way the Lions Eye was managed. We were also disappointed when our family called the Lion's Eye the following Monday, and Gail went so far as to say that she did not receive a phone call from our group, but there were plenty of phone records to prove it. It was as if no one believed that this was a major inconvenience to our celebration.

While the architecture and atmosphere of the building are unique, we definitely would not recommend this venue, especially for an event as important as a wedding. We ended up getting a partial refund (since the contract explicitly stated that the venue rental included air conditioning), but I would much rather have paid full price to have a pleasant atmosphere for my family and friends to join us in celebrating our wedding day.

I discovered this site from my florist when my original reception venue got snatched up before we could put the deposit down. This location is off the beaten track of the area traditionally known as Ybor, but that makes it a better location to hold a reception in my opinion. Originally a renovated cigar factory, the Lion's Eye Institute is the perfect place for a wedding reception. Imagine brick walls, wooden pillars holding up the ceiling, and exposed beams with gorgeous antique style hanging lights. The venue came with more than enough tables (cocktail and guest), plenty of seats and a dance floor (they even have an attached working kitchen). Included in the price is a gated parking lot and security. Gail Messamore was professional and very helpful in designing a layout for our tables that would work with our guests.

pros: the historic feel is nice...very warm & charming
we had a "mobster movie" theme so the old cigar building look was perfect

cons:1) the security guards came up in the middle of our reception and asked our cateres for food!
and stayed until we were finished... who does that???
we were not loud or crazy or anything... they just stayed!!!!

2) there were better locations in the same price range that offered more for a wedding...
we went with the Lions Eye Institute because of our theme
If i had chosen a different theme i would have never used them
looking back we had a blast and it was beautiful...
but if i could do one thing over, i would have changed the location to a place that is better suited for weddings

- Mrs. Freeman

I love this building - inside and out!!!! Our theme was a country fall theme - the inside bricks went great with it along with the wooden pillers. We had to use the meeting room (it's on the same floor just outside the ballroom) for food so it wouldn't be so cramped. We had 250 guest plus a bar area, dance floor, cake cutting area, and sign in and gift tables and there was still plenty of room to move around. The cost is great plus all the money goes to someone getting an eye transplant not back to the building. Would use this building again if I had another big event.