It was an absolutely stunning location and we really enjoyed having our reception here. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful venue, and it was well worth it since the chairs and tables were included with the rental cost (unlike most other locations). Thank you Maria!

I could not have asked for a better venue for my Memorial Day weekend wedding! Maria was so helpful and attentive, and really helped to make our day special. We had our ceremony out in the Linden Grove. It was a picturesque setting. The guests sat beneath the trees, which helped to keep them cool on a warm May day! We had about 140 people, and everyone fit comfortably in the 2 connecting rooms for the reception. We had dancing in the large room across the hall, which I was a little worried about at first, but it actually worked out wonderfully! The guests had the freedom to come dance, sit at their tables to chat, or take a stroll outside, as it was a georgeous evening! The venue is expensive, but if you are looking for a grand location for your ceremony and reception, it is well worth it!

I need to preface this review by saying that I married at the Meridian House on probably the most beautiful spring day that someone could ask for. I'm sure my review would vary slightly had the weather not been as beautiful and we had to have the ceremony and the entire reception indoors.

As it was, the Meridian House was a phenomenal location for both our ceremony and reception. I still have a hard time believing that it was my wedding because the photos from the day are completely breathtaking and gorgeous. The grounds of the gardens and the linden grove are immaculately manicured and truly of a level of beauty that few places could ever relate to. Before the ceremony, we had our photographers take our pictures and our family portraits in the garden. We were initally planning for our wedding ceremony to take place in the garden but since the weather had been rainy leading up to the day (we were all thinking it would be rained out the day of) my wedding planner decided to move our ceremony to the linden grove. The linden grove turned out to be a fantastic location for the ceremony, completely unique. Even if it had been rained out, we would have had a really special plan C (plan A - garden, plan B- linden grove) by having the ceremony in the loggia where we had to practice for our rehearsal the evening prior.

The day and evening were perfect at the Meridian House although we had the most amazing weather (no rain and perfect outdoor temperature) to enjoy the linden grove after the ceremony for the cocktail hour and reception. You could dance up a sweat in the dance hall and then go outside underneath the paper lanterns strung on the linden trees and enjoy the cool spring evening. It was perfection. And my parents had a lot of people coming up to them saying they'd never been to a more perfect venue for a wedding. (Again, we were somehow so fortunate as to have had the most desirable weather possible.) The staff of the Meridian House, particularly Maria, was very easy to work with. And the chairs and tables that were provided for our reception were all wonderful.

The only reason I didn't give the Meridian House a perfect score for quality of service was because of two things I happened to notice. First, you really need to bring in a lighting team to help with lighting the reception since the lighting they offer isn't quite the best. And second, during the reception, the drawing room and library became hot very quickly with all of the people eating in them since the Meridian House does not have a very good air conditioning system. Luckily the were able to open the windows and have the cool, perfectly temperate breeze from outside come into the house and cool off the guests in the library. I would not recommend marrying at the Meridian House in the summer since this could be a serious issue with our hot, humid DC summers.

All in all though, I couldn't have asked for a better location for my wedding day and we somehow ended up with the best case scenario with the weather. It was perfect. My husband and I have a favorite moment after we'd had our meal during the reception when we went out into the garden to walk around the grounds by ourselves (no photographers, just us). It was a special quiet time away from the noisy chatter of the reception and I will always remember those magical moments amongst the spring green garden and in particular, the lavendar wisteria draping the gates of one sitting area in the garden. I felt like I was in a fairytale, the garden was so perfect in beauty. If you are getting married on a spring or fall day (and don't have to deal with rain), there is no better venue in the D.C. area than the Meridian House.

Meridian House is a beautiful location for a wedding. Maria Canellis, the Director of Events is great to work with and very responsive. The beauty of the House and the lawn/gardens saves some money on decorating and tables and chairs are included in the rental that saves some additional costs. Maria was with us during the duration of the wedding which helped to alleviate anxiety.

Maria Canellis with Meridian House is fantastic! She is so professional, nice and accomodating! Meridian House is beautiful and a wonderful venue. We had our ceremony in the garden (beautiful day!), cocktails in the Linden Grove, and sit-down dinner inside. Meridian House is expensive and all vendors must be brought in. However, Maria is so helpful and kind and our event was perfect!

What a lovely location. I can't think of a better place to get married or have a reception.

We paid 10,500 to use the facility. We chose it because of the outdoor space. Unfortunately, it rained throughout our entire wedding day. For the money we spent on this beautiful venue, we would have expected the A/C to be up to par. Needless to say, it was not. It was so hot that evening, two of our guests went to the hospital because of the heat. Meridian House said that the historic house was not equipped with an A/C unit to keep the entire house cool. It was very disappointing.
April, our event coordinator is quite possibly the most useless human-being on earth. She is obnoxiously rude and doesn't take the time to answer your questions. If she does, she is incredibly rude. If you decide to go with Meridian House, although I think there are many more locations in DC that are just as beautiful for half of the price, you should definitely ask for a different event coordinator.

I fell in love with this place via pictures and after seeing it in person I knew it was a must for my wedding. There's no place like it in the city. The price tag is daunting but once you compare what is included (chairs, tables, parking, etc) with the price tag of other places it is certainly more attainable. Most other places with an outdoor option required a tent which raised the price considerably. It was my absolute favorite part of the wedding so I was happy to make the rest of our budget smaller to get married in this beautiful location.

There is not a more georgous hidden site in all of DC than Meridian, we looked high and low and Meridian was by far the most elegant, picturesque place their is! PLUS they include all your chairs and tables, which is hard to come by when looking at venues!

My husband and I fell in love with the Meridian House the first moment we walked in. The house looks like an old European mansion and the gardens are beautiful. All of the guests could not stop commenting on how beautiful the house was and how perfect it was! The staff were very professional and responsive throughout the entire wedding process - very user friendly!

Meridian House was a spectacular venue. People were commenting on the breathtaking scenery both inside and outside the house all night! The house is decorated so beautifully that it required few additional decorations.

The Linden Grove was my favorite part from the time we first went to look at Meridian. Our wedding day was unbelievably hot (far, far, far exceeding the regular average temperature- on our wedding day in early June, the heat index was something like 107 degrees!). We had planned our dinner and seating to be outside in the grove, and I was *VERY* worried about the heat. I called the caterer at the last minute and asked if we should move everything inside!

The linden trees are amazing! It was still a little hot outside, but under the trees, it wasn't nearly so hot. We had the florist hang LED votives in the trees, and the effect was stunning! I could not have asked for better scenery.

April and her assistants are AMAZING!!!!!!! I have never worked with such a responsive vendor. She really went above and beyond to answer all of my questions. The only thing that would have been helpful would have been a FAQ document when we booked the site. As it is a historic site, I had many questions about Meridian House and the rules. A FAQ would have saved many e-mails back and forth. :-)

Overall our wedding at Meridian was great and we are very happy we chose this venue. The house and grounds are gorgeous, in a great location, and provides a unique setting. We really didn't want the large-boxy-banquet hall type of wedding, which is definitely not Meridian. It is pricey, although less than other similar places because you don't have to rent a tent or tables/chairs. They also do a very good job mantaining both the house and the grounds.

However, I can't give it a really high rating due to the inadequacy of the staff that works there. The event planner was very difficult to work with from day one - unresponsive, always annoyed at any question I had, and generally not helpful. She also tried to make me purchase a completely unnecessary insurance policy that was not in the contract, and I had to talk to the CFO to get it cleared up. A different staff person was actually at Meridian the day of the wedding, even though the event planner told us she would be there, and that person was equally bad - she gave random people (not guests) tours of the Meridian during set-up and right before the ceremony while we were trying to take pictures!! She also went grocery shopping in the middle of the day, which is ridiculous. Luckily I had a few friends there overseeing everything and they were the ones taking charge. So, while I highly recommend Meridian due to its fabulous setting, I strongly recommend you have either a wedding planner or friend there for the setup to make sure there aren't any problems.

My wedding at Meridian House was absolutely beautiful! I would highly recommend this venue to anyone who is looking for a wonderful historic property in the heart of Washington DC. The house and gardens were gorgeous.

As far as the staff goes, April and her team were great. I had the chance to meet with her a few times and she was always happy to help no matter how stupid my questions were! In response to the brides who commented that it took her a long time to respond, I would point out that April is literally the only person in her “department” although she hires professionals to occasionally work events that she can’t attend. Although it sometimes took a day or so for her to respond to non-urgent phone calls and emails, I found that perfectly reasonable for one of the busiest venues in DC. Any emergency, last-minute issues were taken care of immediately and professionally.

Overall, Meridian House was the perfect place to hold my wedding, and I would highly recommend it to everyone!

I have nothing but praise for my wedding at Meridian. Our family and friends to this day talk that this was the best wedding that they have ever been to. We totally lucked out with weather and really felt like we were entertaining people at our own home.

From the beginning, the staff at Meridian were a joy to work with on the planing. The on-site coordinator walked me through the steps to make sure that I got everything done.

It was very comforting to enjoy the ceremony, knowing that everything would be taken care of. Looking back at the pictures and the memories, I will always be grateful that we had our wedding reception there.

One final comment, I wanted to mention that the morning after the wedding we woke up to a horrible rain storm. In all of the chaos of the party the night before, we failed to make sure that our oriental rug - left outside from the afternoon cocktail reception - was pulled in. The following day, en route to our honeymoon, I was able to find out that they had in fact put it away and I could pick it up later. It was like for everything, they were one step ahead.

I would like to say that my ratings given on the star system do not accurately reflect how pleased I was with our wedding venue! I will begin by explaining each of the factors rated:

The venue itself is absolutely beautiful! If you are looking to get married in DC, I HIGHLY recommend previewing this space. The quality of service was excellent, on the day of the event as well as the rehearsal the night before and any tours prior to the event. The events manager made the process very easy. As for responsiveness, it did sometimes take up to 2 days to receive an email response, but usually we were bouncing back issues that did not require immediate attention.

The rental rate for the Meridian House is a little expensive. We were married "off season" and received a $2,000 discount from the regular rate. This is definitely a place for a budget of $30,000 or more. To us, it was worth every penny!

The place was beautiful, and a great venue for a wedding. The price is a bit steep though, even for DC. And, there are a lot of rules regarding liquids, confetti, etc. Overall, I am happy that we chose the venue.