The Space Downtown was the most perfect location for our Rehearsal Dinner & Welcome Party! Since most of our wedding guests had never been to Charlottesville before, we knew we wanted to have an event to welcome them and show them parts of the area such as the Downtown Mall. I actually run by The Space all of the time and would always dream about having a wedding weekend event there! We were so happy to have a beautiful event that made this goal a reality all while staying within our budget.

We opted to have a closed Rehearsal Dinner (family & wedding party only) before an open Welcome Party. The food options for dinner seemed endless, both in dinner style and in cuisine selections. The meal was also delicious, which will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been to other fabulous places like Bizou and Bang! We also appreciated that flatware and linens were included so we didn't have to hire a separate vendor for table settings.

The transition between the dinner and the welcome party was seamless, and we loved Laura's suggestion to have desserts and drinks as part of that transition so all of our guests felt welcomed. We decided to only offer beer and wine throughout the night, but there were plenty of other drink selections and even the option to have a cash bar. All of these choices, in addition to other items we could have incorporated, were transparently communicated to us by Laura, which we definitely appreciated budget-wise. She also provided us with multiple estimates with various combinations of services so that we could choose which one felt best for us.

The Space itself is a beautiful venue. The decor, layout, and overall vibe of The Space are lovely on their own, so we truthfully didn't have to do much - we did decide to have the lanterns lit, and we provided our own table decorations, but that was really it. Even so, there are plenty of ways to customize your event should that be what you're looking to do.

Overall, I highly recommend The Space Downtown for any private event. Thank you so much to Laura, Tim, and the rest of your team for making our wedding weekend complete!

The Space Downtown truly exceeded our expectations. It was the perfect place to host a rehearsal dinner and follow on welcome party. The communication with the event coordinator was very clear and ideal for anyone planning from out of town. The Space Downtown is a one stop shop for food, beverages, decor, linens, tables, etc. The food was amazing, the decor perfect and we received numerous compliments from our guests. Everyone loved the oversized dessert platter! The personal touches of the photo collage projected onto the wall and the chalk art (Jeremy Harris McDonell) made the evening even more memorable and personal. The wait staff was very attentive, friendly and anticipated our food and beverage needs. The entire evening was a blast and as parents of the groom we were able to relax and enjoy the rehearsal dinner and welcome party.

We hosted our son’s and his fiancé’s rehearsal dinner at The Space in late April 2024. It was a perfect start to a magical weekend.
The room was lit with lanterns on the ceiling and candles on the tables and up the walls. It made the space glow and was just so inviting. We opted to have the meal served family style at the tables, which everyone loved. This way they were able to taste all three mains and sides, the favorite one being the delicious braised boneless beef short ribs! Many of our guests came up to say that they thought it was the best meal they had ever had at an event.
We opened up the party after dinner to all weddings guests in town for dessert and drinks. This was such a smooth transition as a variety of mini desserts were located on the bar for all guests (dinner and welcome party) to indulge. I’ve been to other weddings where they try to do this and you sometimes walk in during the dinner and feel awkward. This transition was so smooth that I think most people did not even realize that there was a dinner before hand.
Everyone was having such a nice time that at the four-hour mark, the party was still going strong and we had to slowly encourage people that it was time to end. We could not have wished for anything better.

For reference, we had 50 guests for the sit down dinner and another 50 or so guests joined us for the Welcome party. The Space handled these numbers perfectly.

If I could do it all over again the only thing that I would change was to have the salad individually plated and cleared before the family style dishes were brought out. It probably would cost a bit more, but the meal seemed to be over too quickly and we would have liked to have lingered and enjoyed it all over a longer period of time. However, that is not the Space’s fault. Didn’t realize we would prefer this until it was all over.

Hats off to the Space, the manager (Laura) and their staff!!!

The Space Downtown was the perfect venue for our rehearsal dinner. The food and service were excellent and they even did our florals as well. Laura was wonderful to work with and we could fully customize our menu. The chalkboard artist was fantastic as well! We’d highly recommend The Space for any future events.

The Space Downtown in Cville is exceptional. We just recently had our company holiday party there and I cannot say enough good things about them. They were incredibly responsive and helped us work within our budget and were able to come in under budget.

They were also extremely patient with us gave us ample time to plan and never once pushed us to upsell and give us things we didn't need.

Years ago, I also had my wedding there and it's great to see a place like The Space Downtown continue to have amazing service throughout the years no matter the event type or occasion.

Do yourself a favor and work with The Space Downtown and Laura to plan your event, between the food, service, and atmosphere you will not regret it!

From signing our contract to the end of our rehearsal dinner and welcome party, The Space (we were working almost exclusively with Laura) was a dream to work with. I have an email chain of probably 50 emails back and forth with Laura as we figured our menus, layouts, décor, etc. She was so patient with us as we had so many questions during the planning process. They have a variety of menus you can built your dinner from (we chose a plated dinner), but they are able to really create anything you want even if it’s not on the menus. We requested a few different indian-style appetizers (paneer, samosa, etc.) which they absolutely delivered! All the food was amazing. Following the rehearsal dinner, we opened to a welcome party for all our wedding guests that were traveling into town for the weekend. We had desserts and an open bar available for our guests which they were able to seamlessly accommodate. The staff there was so attentive and continuously made sure we were happy throughout the event. They also have connections with someone who you can hire to decorate the awesome chalkboards they have behind the bar! They were the perfect venue for what we needed to kick off our wedding weekend!

If you are looking for a venue for a rehearsal dinner, welcome party or other wedding gathering, you are in the right place. The Space offers everything we wanted: a private upscale but casual atmosphere, a variety of menu choices, and impeccable service.

From our first meeting, Laura guided us through the process of organizing a rehearsal dinner and welcome party. I am a “notebook” kind of person, complete with highlighters and tabs. But I did not have a notebook because Laura was all the organization that was needed. While visits to The Space during the planning process were welcome, almost everything was handled through email correspondence. We most definitely benefited from Laura's talent of being able to see the big picture while attending to all the details. And all calmly and with a smile on her face.

This attention to both details and our needs continued through our event and was mirrored by Laura’s staff. Standing with a bag wondering where to stash it before the party, a young man noticed and offered to put it in the back. When the guests at our table returned from the buffet, our napkins were refolded on the back of each chair. Wine was poured during dinner, the microphone for toasts appeared right on time, and leftover desserts and the flower arrangements magically appeared boxed up and ready to go after we had said our good-byes to our guests. Working as a team, each member of the staff anticipated what was needed to make the event run smoothly and took care of the smallest details. Five star service.

We were excited to learn that The Space is associated with two of our favorite restaurants in town, Bang and Bizou. It was difficult to choose among all the delicious options, but staying within our budget was never an issue. The dishes we chose exceeded our expectations - and folks were still talking about the food the following night at the wedding! Five star dining.

Not being the type of people who delight in picking out linens and arranging flowers, we were looking for a venue where we could, if we chose, just show up the night of and greet our guests. Laura met with us to discuss what flowers we preferred and made the most beautiful arrangements for the tables. We took advantage of other options to achieve a festive and comfortable environment - the lanterns hanging from the ceiling were lit, our slideshow projected on the wall entertained our guests, and our Spotify playlist played throughout the evening. While they have an artist who will illustrate the chalkboards behind the bar, Laura welcomed my husband, our resident artist, to personalize the boards with his illustration of the bride and groom. Five star venue.

From the beginning, we felt so comfortable with our choice to host the rehearsal dinner and welcome party at The Space that we were able to enjoy the days and weeks leading up to the wedding weekend. And the evening was a smashing success. Our thanks to Laura and the staff at The Space for exceeding our expectations in every way.

Cheers!

We had a wonderful experience with The Space Downtown. Many guests at our wedding remarked that it was one of their favorite venues they'd been to. For a wedding of ~55 guests, it was the perfect size. Laura and her team are so professional, flexible, accommodating, and kind. We had a great time working with her. The food was AMAZING, too. Knowing the chef, I had a feeling it would be good, but wowza. Everyone said the food was almost the best part of the whole event and we agree. We cannot say enough good things about The Space and highly recommend it for your next event.

We hosted our wedding farewell brunch for 100 guests at the Space. The space is bright and charming, and you can pay extra for chalkboard art or lanterns. Their catering partner prepared an excellent brunch buffet with chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and fresh fruits and pastries. They served tasty mimosas and Bloody Marys at the bar, too! The Space is a great choice for an event.

Bang! is the same ownership as The Space Downtown. We were able to reserve their covered back patio for our rehearsal dinner of ~30 people. It was perfect and the food (served family style) was delicious. We had a blast!