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Weddings

About

For couples seeking a unique, historic, and inspiring venue, Glen Echo Park is the perfect choice. The Park is a magical place situated on the Potomac Palisades near Bethesda, Maryland.

Our Bumper Car Pavilion, built in 1923 during the amusement park era of Glen Echo Park, is the perfect spot for small to medium-sized wedding ceremonies and receptions. Glen Echo Park offers additional unique venues for rehearsal dinners, wedding ceremonies, and receptions, as well as Indian wedding sangeets, mitzvahs, showers, galas, and corporate events. The Park is also home to the renowned Spanish Ballroom, a beautifully restored 1933 Mediterranean style Art Deco building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Ballroom is a formal and glamorous venue for large wedding receptions, galas, and other events.

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have a site fee for wedding receptions at your venue?

Yes

What is the starting site fee for wedding receptions during peak season?

2,100

What is the starting site fee for wedding receptions during off-peak season?

1,800

Do you have a site fee for wedding ceremonies at your venue?

Yes

What is the starting site fee for wedding ceremonies during peak season?

$600

What is the starting site fee for wedding ceremonies during off-peak season?

$400

Which of the following are included in starting site fee?

Parking

How many event spaces or rooms does your venue offer?

7

Describe your venue:

Ballroom
Historic Building
Park

What kind of settings are available?

Indoor
Covered Outdoor
Uncovered Outdoor

Which of the following wedding events does your venue service?

Ceremony
Reception
Bridal Shower
Engagement Party
Elopements
Rehearsal Dinner

What event services do you offer?

Get Ready Rooms
Pet Friendly
Wifi

What transportation and access is available?

Parking
Wheelchair Access

What months are included in your peak season?

April
May
June
September
October

What months are included in your off-peak season?

January
February
March
July
August
November
December

Reviews of Glen Echo Park Partnership

Alora
Alora Sent on 03/23/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Unique wedding venue near DC

We had an amazing wedding day at Glen Echo Park! Guests and vendors alike raved about the experience, and we couldn't be happier with the service provided by the GEP team (especially Mikea, who worked with us from day one to set up and execute a perfect day, and LaShea, who was there on our wedding day assisting with everything we needed and keeping spirits high!)

The scenery at Glen Echo is amazing - you hardly need to decorate to have a fabulous and beautiful day. We held our ceremony in the Cuddle Up pavilion, which was so fun and unique, and our reception in the Bumper Car Pavilion. The Bumper Car Pavilion had heaters in place, so even on a chilly March evening, it ended up being perfect and comfortable. Our photographer was spoiled for choice when it came to locations, and our guests enjoyed meandering the park taking photos as well.
Linni
Linni Sent on 11/01/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect Art Deco neon national park party!

If you love interesting architecture, national parks, history, or design, and are looking for a semi-outdoor, semi-wooded wedding destination that is nevertheless easy for your guests to get to, Glen Echo is the spot. It's also great if you don't have a ton to shell out on a venue, because the National Park status makes it very affordable.

The experience had a few hiccups, but I think that's to be expected with any wedding. We booked the venue over a year in advance, and over that time period our coordinator quit, which meant we had to work to make the vision we'd executed with coordinator #1 make sense to coordinator #2. (Glen Echo only accepts approved caterers/vendors, but we really wanted to serve pizza / keep food costs low. Coordinator #1 said we could hire a pizza vendor and just have an approved caterer on site to oversee compliance with venue policies.)

Our new coordinator worked with us to make it happen and ultimately we got everything we were hoping for. In retrospect, though, you may not want to get married here unless you're ok with the approved caterers. It wasn't always easy to do things the way we did.

All that said, this venue is a photographer's dream, it was accessible, it was breezy. There are multiple locations on the property for your reception, ceremony, cocktail hour, whatever. We had our rehearsal dinner there the night before as a potluck-style picnic and that was really great, too (although heads up: We asked for approval of our rehearsal date many months in advance and were granted it, then in the months and weeks leading up to the date we were told the date may or may not be booked by someone else. Basically, it seemed like they can't hold that date for you, you only get it if no one else books. This was really nerve-wracking, so for peace of mind, you may want to just go somewhere else.)

My fiancée and I wanted privacy, and were nervous because it's a public park. We were so caught up in our wedding, though, that I could not tell you if a single stranger walked by. I literally never thought of it once! I was so caught up in this idea, and then never considered it night-of. Just in case that's something you're nervous about!

We were also nervous the sound wouldn't be loud enough to really get a dance party going, because we were told the rule was you have to be able to stand in the parking lot and not hear the music. We never tested that, but our music was LOUD and people got down. So don't worry about that :) They also let us store a harp and lots of decorations there overnight on Friday, decorate all morning Saturday, and use some of their fun stage lights to make one area of the Bumper Car Pavilion PINK! The overhead twinkle lights were too dim for our photographer, so we had to turn the pan lights on, and these didn't provide the best ambience (not terrible, just not ideal). I'd recommend testing your lighting out ahead of time and talking to your photographer about it, if it's something you care about.

Ok, that's it! Recommend it highly, it was very unique and SO convenient, yet felt secluded and woodsy. Ample parking, too! Leave plenty of time for pictures, we had an hour and it wasn't enough to capture all the cool parts of the park.
Kerry
Kerry Sent on 10/10/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Our dream venue and our dream wedding!

We always loved Glen Echo's bumper car pavilion as a potential venue and were psyched there was an opening we can snag after we got engaged. Laura was awesome to work with--super helpful, responsive, and easy going. She guided us through the prep and drop off the days leading up to the wedding, and made sure everything went so smoothly on the day of. We have gotten so many compliments on the fun, quirky, beautiful venue, and it was truly the dream wedding we'd hoped for!
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Awards

41
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2012 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2011 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2010 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

9 Endorsements
Matheson Communications, Inc. - Videography Matheson Communications, Inc. - Videography Wedding Videographers

Our company has videotaped many functions at this park – usually weddings in the Spanish Ballroom or even Bar/Bat Mitzvahs in the Bumper Car Pavilion. Our clients were happy with their choice of venue and our videos will help them remember those happy times forever. Can’t wait to get back to the park again and videotape another function.

Blue Canary Events Blue Canary Events Wedding Planners

One of our favorite wedding venues -- Emily is SO great to work with, their prices are affordable, and they have rules, but not too many ridiculous ones! GREAT venue!

Flowers by Suzann Flowers by Suzann Wedding Florists

Glen Echo Park is one of the most FUN venues in the area. The open air bumper car pavilion has so much personality and lets you have an 'outside' wedding without a tent, but protected. The other 'rides' entertain your guests and provide a lot of conversation. The staff is easy to work with and very helpful.

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