I did not have my wedding here, but I organized my students' senior prom here and they were fantastic! Karen and the catering staff were amazingly accommodating, even when we had to change the date TWICE in the beginning. They allowed us plenty of time to get everything set up and were so helpful whenever we needed help with lighting or a ladder or finding an extension cord. The catering staff ALL wore berets that we bought since it was Paris themed prom. The food was delicious and the staff was attentive and quick to respond to our needs. If I were getting married in the Philly area, I would certainly consider this venue. It is good for a tight budget and a beautiful space with wonderful staff.

One of the biggest challenges we faced when thinking about wedding venues was where we could expose our guests to the heart of the city without the limitations of a traditional ballroom venue. My husband asked for nothing during our wedding planning process except for photos on Broad Street - he knew how much I hated Philadelphia wedding cliches, but I knew how badly he wanted photos of the city he's called home his entire life. As we bounced around the city from Fishtown/Kensington to Old City looking for spaces that allowed us to bring in our own catering and alcohol, UArts popped into my head as a venue I had only ever visited once before to support a friend who was then auditioning for their music program. I remembered a bright and airy space, I remembered the lush green courtyard, I remembered that this was a school and the likelihood of us having a wedding here was slim. Luckily, upon inquiring, we didn't have a firm date set for our big day and when Karen (UArts amazing Events Director) offered us Labor Day weekend - we know that we had found our space.

A quick visit here confirmed that we were where we wanted to be. There was no challenge with spacial capacity, though not traditionally a wedding venue they still provided tables and chairs for a full sit-down dinner, and Karen was incredibly knowledgeable about the technical requirements that our DJ would need to work within in order for us to have a killer party. The space is very plain, but grand, with its glass ceiling atrium feel and beautifully maintained courtyard, we didn't need to do much to the space aside from a few tree rentals and nice centerpieces. The terra cotta colored floors are beautiful and made for a built-in dance floor.

Karen was incredibly flexible when it came to the layout of the space, she was quick to respond to every email with every little question I had along the way, she just genuinely put my mind at ease in preparing for an almost all DIY wedding...the downside to not using a traditional venue. She was familiar with our catering company (though they also offer up the use of their own dining services, we paid a kitchen fee to bring in our own caterer), was there to meet with our DJ ahead of the wedding to walk him through the space, and stopped by on wedding day to make sure that everything was taken care of in anticipation of the event. Because there was no wedding the day before or after us, she was also incredibly accommodating around when rentals were dropped off and picked up. I truly can't speak more highly of her.

We still have friends talking about how awesome a venue this was almost a year later. It was a perfect location for all of our guests between those who live in the city, those that stayed at our host hotel (I hightly recommend the Cambria hotel a block up the street), and the ease of parking at the Kimmel Center just steps from the UArts entrance for those that made our wedding a day trip.

My only knock here is on the "value" category simply because you're only renting a room, tables/chairs, and access to tech along with a public safety guard that would have been there regardless because this is an active school with year-round programming. Is this an inexpensive venue? Not in the least, but it's literally in the middle of everything Philadelphia has to offer, it's beautiful and a blank canvas to make your own, and it comes with an amazing point-of-contact that helped our day go off without a hitch.