Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital

We held a literary event at the Hill Center last weekend. The staff there was very responsive and easy to work with. The venue is a beautiful old building filled with local art. Our caterer reports that the kitchen area was fine to use (though I didn't check myself). The AV was just what we needed. This is the second event we've held at the Hill Center. It will not be our last.

My wife and I have lived in Capitol Hill for several years and pass the Hill Center a few times a week, but never thought of it as a wedding venue until we first toured when searching for our fall wedding. A little background, the Hill Center is a historic building (old naval hospital commissioned by President Lincoln) that has served many purposes of the years but now is a community center serving Capitol Hill. It's a striking building from the outside and has amazing grounds. We fell in love with it instantly. We worked with Lisa Olson as the venue event coordinator. Lisa is flexible, responsive, and supportive. I would work with her again to plan any event.

We reserved the garden for our ceremony and cocktail hour (117 guests) and the second floor for our reception (Lisa was very helpful at coordinating a backup rain plan). We had guests seated in two separate rooms for the reception on the second floor. Other rooms had our bar and photo both. Dancing and DJ was in the biggest ballroom. I liked the separation of activities, so it didn't feel like everything was all crammed in a single room. For decoration, the Hill Center is equip to support uplighting. They also have an AV system that is coordinated between all the rooms for music and announcements. Also, the Hill Center has rotating artists showing works in the room which added a great touch of decoration to the evening.

A few things to note: the Hill Center is a historic building, so they have a list of preferred vendors that they work with (most important for catering and dance floor). This actually helped us narrow down for our caterer (Eat and Smile Catering who was fantastic). Also the Hill Center provides tables and chairs and set up for ceremony and reception which was a huge cost saver.

I can't say enough how happy I was with the Hill Center. It was a perfect venue for us celebrating in a neighborhood that has become our home.

We had a great experience having our wedding at the Hill Center! It is a beautiful location, and Divinity and her team were great! I also loved having our wedding in a historic building so close to the Capitol, which made for beautiful pictures. The price was excellent, and no one in our party had problems with parking! We would highly recommend the Hill Center to someone who wants a venue with more character than a hotel ballroom.