Castaway Portland Reviews

I have nothing but positive things to say about the Castaway team. Very responsive and helpful and just a great group of people. You will absolutely not regret having your wedding here! If I could plan a wedding all over again I would pick castaway every time. A beautiful space that you can make your own and the best team to help guide you.

Castaway was great to work with for my wedding. The staff is professional, responsive, and helpful. I loved that some items were already included in the rental price which helped with my wedding budget. The space has a lot of character and versatility for events. I recommend Castaway and I would host another event here in the future.

Oh my goodness the Castaway space is a dream. The space is modern and clean but still has lots of character. I can't wait to see our photos from this beautiful space. We had 140 guests and it didn't feel cramped at all to have both the ceremony and reception in the space - not to mention photo booth, DJ, buffet, etc. The patio was also a wonderful addition so our guests could get some fresh air throughout the evening. We feel so lucky we got to have our wedding at Castaway!

We could not have been more pleased to work with the incredible staff at Castaway.

My partner and I toured Castaway before the pandemic and were thrilled to use their beautiful venue. Like many couples, we sadly had our plans dashed due to the pandemic. Castaway's staff and management were incredibly helpful and supportive as the pandemic unfolded and completely supported our decision to cancel our reserved date and instead hold a small ceremony at home with immediate family.

The Castaway venue is a special place and is managed by a group of dedicated people who care about making sure their clients have an incredible experience. I highly recommend it for any future events, large or small.

Castaway is just the best! We had the most beautiful wedding (and rehearsal dinner at Blockhouse) and we could not have asked for better people to work with. Emily was so responsive and had all the answers!

This venue is incredible. The people Who work here are incredible, and the space is beautiful. They include the tables and chairs which saves you a ton of money, and paying for any kind of draping helps bring the room to life. Not to mention the amazing lounge room is perfect for getting ready photos! What an incredible space for an amazing price! Highly recommend also heading to fields park nearby for photos!! Only about a 3 min drive!

We booked Castaway while living abroad and Emily did a fantastic job painting a picture for us over FaceTime.

Our experience was everything you would want from a venue; organized, attention to detail, and great communication. We had our rehearsal dinner at Blockhouse and would highly recommend doing the same. Being able to work with Emily on both spaces made this incredibly easy and we wouldn't change one thing!

I recently had my wedding at Castaway and I can't recommend it enough. The venue is such a convenient location and has the option to rent parking spaces at a nearby lot if you think your guests need it. Their list of recommended vendors was great, I ended up using a caterer and photographer off their list. The flow of the wedding was PERFECT. There was no awkward pile up getting in/out of the ceremony or cocktail hour, and we had 225 guests. We ended up tenting the courtyard due to weather, and even though it ended up not raining, I think the tent really added to the cocktail hour and made it cozy. We even got lights to hang around the edge. Overall, it was as perfect night and a perfect location and I can't wait to get all the pictures back to relive it!

We picked the Castaway for our venue, and used Blockhouse and Pomarius nursery for our ceremony and cocktail hour. It was the perfect blend of botanical and NW industrial, which is just what we were looking for.

The staff at Castaway are friendly, professional and highly communicative. We really enjoyed working with them over the last year and would highly recommend this venue to anyone!

In scouting venues, Castaway was our top choice based on what we saw online in photos, and when we saw it in person, we knew it would be the perfect setting for our wedding. We were flexible on the date and took our 2nd choice date in order to book the venue. The space has a ton of character with the paned windows, exposed beams, and string lights. Because we wanted a simple, romantic look, the additional décor that we needed to bring in was minimal. The space was a great size for our group, which ended up being just around 100 – we were able to have both the ceremony and reception setup in advance so that there was no need to flip the space and our guests were able to immediately move from one side of the room to the other for our cocktail hour.
They have a preferred caterer list that you will need to choose from, otherwise you would have to pay an outside catering fee. They can recommend which caterers on the list may work based on your budget. The green room was a good size and comfortable space for our wedding party to get ready. Tables and chairs were included, which made our rental needs very simple and minimal. There is pretty open street parking around the venue for guests (you can rent a nearby lot if needed, but we didn’t need to) and we appreciated the small lot in the back patio area for our wedding party and family.
Paige was very knowledgeable and ready with recommendations for us (especially regarding catering and floor plan), and responsive and available for questions. Early on, I had one conference call with her, we had an in person meeting, and she was onsite all afternoon to coordinate vendor setup along with our outside day-of coordinator. Because our wedding was in the low season (March 2019), the price point was a great fit with our budget. We had a wonderful time and would recommend Castaway as a beautiful, unique venue with a lot of character and charm!

Castaway was the first venue we toured when looking for wedding venues, and it was love at first sight. We loved the openness and the ability to make the space our own and the large windows that let in lots of natural light. The back patio was the cherry on top as we were looking for an indoor/outdoor venue.

We worked with Paige as we were planning our wedding, and she made wedding planning easy for us. At our first meeting, she was able to whip up a floor plan as we were talking and even altered it several times for us leading up to the wedding. She was such a pleasure and joy to work with and made the day seamless.

The best part of Castaway - the outdoor space was the perfect place to surprise our guests with the Wedding Llamas! The blue wall is the perfect backdrop and we couldn't have imagined a more perfect wedding at Castaway.

We fell in love with Castaway the second we walked in if that gives you any idea of how beautiful of a venue it is. Not only is the venue beautiful but all of the added value they provide was amazing; 200 chair, lights, welcome table, tons of dining table options, etc., I could go on and on. Once we booked them we received a Welcome Email with a lot of information that was so helpful to have during our planning. Paige & the Castaway Team answered my millions of questions throughout the planning stage and was always happy to recommend her ideas or advice which was very helpful as a couple who had no idea what they were doing. The day of the wedding went FLAWLESSLY and throughout the whole day Paige was checking in on me, making sure I was comfortable and if there was anything she could do to help. I can't say enough good things about the venue itself and the Castaway Team and would 100% recommend Castaway as somewhere to get married in Portland, heck, even Oregon as a whole. Thank you Castaway for helping make our dream wedding come true!

Castaway, and our venue coordinator, Emily Moore, were absolutely perfect. We knew immediately that this was the perfect venue for us.

Emily was a joy to work with and immensely helpful when we ran into trouble with one of our vendors. She went above and beyond her job description and we could not be more thankful. She was quick to respond to emails, helpful answering questions, and we really enjoyed getting to know her during the planning process.

The location and space itself are amazing and beautiful. We had our ceremony/cocktail hour in the outdoor courtyard and reception indoors. It really needs minimal decoration to stand out, but works well as a blank slate too. Even in mid-July, our guests were comfortable - they even complimented the AC after several hours of dancing. Castaway was a dream and a huge part of why our wedding was such a blast. Absolutely recommend!

We are so happy that we picked Castaway for our wedding ceremony and reception. The space is open and adjustable so you can really make it your own. Plus the location is awesome - our guests could walk from their hotels to the venue. The Castaway staff were great and made the entire process really smooth, easy and low stress.

I cannot say enough about this amazing venue. It was a perfect size for our 250 guests. We were able to hold the ceremony in one half of the space, send our guests out to the patio for the cocktail hour, and when they came back in, the room was flipped and the tables were ready. The cafe lights and lights strung on the patio were beautiful. If you book Castaway, you MUST book the patio. Our wedding day was cloudy, and once the sun set it was in the 60s outside. It was the PERFECT place to cool off after dancing inside. In fact, it was so comfortable, I spent more time outside chatting with friends than I did inside dancing! Our guests raved about our venue, and one even declared that she plans to have her wedding there. If I redid my wedding planning, there are a few things I would do differently, but I would never in a million years choose a venue other than Castaway. Simply the best!

We could not have chosen a more perfect venue for our wedding. We loved working with Emily, and the space is just incredible. We had our ceremony inside, and then our coordinator and caterers flipped it into an amazing reception space while our guests enjoyed cocktail hour inside as well. I just happened to be 98 degrees in Portland that day, but the space stayed cool and comfortable. Overall it was just amazing and we are so glad we used it!

Working with Castaway was an absolute pleasure. We chose Castaway for our wedding venue a little less than a year before our recent July 15, 2017 wedding. Emily, who we worked with closely, was extremely responsive and helpful. We really feel she went above and beyond in terms of answering questions and making herself and the space available to us at anytime.

We utilized the new space, Block House, for our pre-wedding family and wedding party photos/hang out area. It was beautiful with a really pretty outdoor patio space. It also has a beautiful entrance between Pomarius Nursery and Versailles Gardens.

Our ceremony and cocktail hour were hosted in the 'back parking lot' which was completley transformed into a beautiful and spacious area. Our party moved inside for dinner and dancing, then back outside where our dessert food trucks pulled into the parking lot area. We ended the night back inside with a lot more dancing and late night activities.

The inside of Castaway has a very industrial feel, but the space is open to create whatever you want. We loved that the openness and simplicity of the design allowed us to really dream up our wedding. Emily consistently guided us in the right direction and made sure that our ideas were in line with what she has seen work well.

We will forever recommend Castaway and working with Emily/Sara on your event.

We chose Castaway as our venue for both wedding and reception because of the downtown (industrial Pearl) location, flexibility of space and options for both indoor/outdoor spaces. We learned quickly that our vendors loved working with Castaway too! The space is attractive (huge windows, permanently hung lights, big beams) while also being a bit of a blank slate. They included enough chairs/tables so we didn't have to rent. Camila was incredibly responsive, knowledgeable and flexible. Very easy to work with! Our wedding day was unexpectedly warm and the climate control in the venue was spot on. Also the outdoor spaces were killer and our guests enjoyed both the Versailles Garden during cocktail hour and the back "parking lot" during the wedding. We would highly recommend Castaway for events!

I can’t say enough about the Castaway and working with Emily Moore. We had our wedding at Castaway about a month ago and it was perfect in every way. Emily was super flexible throughout the year that we were engaged regarding us meeting up with her, checking out the space for the 5th time or asking any questions. She was super helpful with recommendations, layout, and misc questions that come about. She was prompt with responses to emails and I felt that she was honest in every way (which I definitely didn’t get from every venue we looked at). The Castaway in itself is beautiful, industrial, parking is pretty easy, nice that it’s in the Pearl and close to downtown and hotels. You can dress it down or up and either way is elegant. A huge bonus for us was the rental included tables and chairs, which accommodated our wedding of around 200 people. Very pleased with our decision and would recommend it to anyone.

The Castaway is a beautiful venue located in Northwest Portland Oregon. It has been such a joy to work with the staff and Cordinator. They have helped us meet our budget, plan out the floor space, directed us toward other vendors, and even helped us find a caterer. We are so excited to have our wedding under twinkly lights, industrial windows, and polished concrete floors.

We loved having our August 2016 wedding reception at Castaway! The staff was so helpful to us every step of the way. We mostly worked with Emily Moore and she was a dream. She was super responsive, very helpful in communicating with the caterer when I ran into major frustrations with them and proactive in informing us of any changes in the venue. There was some construction going on at a property adjacent to Castaway and Emily was great about letting us know well in advance so that we could make some changes to the layout of how/where we wanted our cocktail hour on the patio. Emily was super flexible about allowing us to do walk-throughs with my parents, my husband’s parents, the caterer and our wedding coordinator on separate occasions.

We were looking for a city venue that was handicap accessible and provided an indoor-outdoor option. We wanted to make sure that our guests didn’t have to drive or be transported too far from hotels or the church where we were married (St. Andrew’s at NE 8th and Alberta). We also have several family members in wheelchairs and it was important to us that they feel comfortable and not burdened with trying to navigate across lawn, gravel, etc. I really wanted our guests to be able to be outside on a beautiful Oregon summer night – the patio space allowed guests to enjoy the beautiful 80 degree weather. But we also knew that summer weather has been really unpredictable recently (crazy heat, rain, etc) and it gave us such peace of mind to know that our guests would be totally fine indoors if need be. The big beautiful windows still make you feel close to the outdoors! Many of the venues we looked at in the Portland area don’t have AC and we felt like this was a must if we were asking my husband’s 96 year old grandparents to come endure what could have been unbearably hot weather. Even in the 80 degree weather, many elderly guests went inside early to find their spot for dinner which was a great option for them.

We looked at a ton of spaces around the area both before and after seeing Castaway, but we basically knew it was the place for us as soon as we did the walk through.

Beyond being a beautiful venue, we loved working with Sara and Emily, They were both awesome and made the whole process easy and smooth.

we really could have stopped

We loved working with Castaway as our reception venue! We loved that it was a blank space to make our own and they were so flexible with working with our out-of-town schedule. Sara was great at making our ideas a beautiful reality and we loved the use of the up-lights and indoor trees. Definitely recommend Castaway for a NW feel with exposed beams if you need an indoor space.

I cannot say enough good stuff about this venue. We live out of town, so booked the site based solely on their website and pictures found on Google. When we visited the first time a few months ahead of our wedding, we were stoked to see that it exactly matched everything we had seen online. No photoshopping or doctored pics as far as we could tell. A clean, modern, industrial space with an awesome garden area right next door. The full kitchen and greenroom kind of thing were great amenities that just gave us a few more options for our catering and bridal party.

For our actual wedding and reception, there was plenty of space (restrooms, seating, etc.) for our ~100 guests and everything went as smoothly as we ever could have hoped for. I do not have one negative thing to say about the space or the people that put everything together for us.

The staff of Castaway make the venue more than just a place to have a wedding. Emily took over for the previous coordinator and did not miss a beat with anything. She is a real professional that asked all the right questions and got everything perfectly aligned for us. All of the fees are clearly spelled out in the contract with them, and all of them seemed at least fair, if not a pretty good deal on their own.

We loved our wedding! Castaway was great because it was this big blank slate that is so classy with little added or you can add any kind of theme and it works! We brought in ton of foliage and created a natural wonderland that was beautifully contrasted by the urban look of the venue. We rented the greenhouse next door to take photos and they were absolutely stunning, being next to a nursery has some serious perks! The staff (we worked with Sarah and Ali) were very friendly and helpful. All our guests loved the space and kept raving on how beautiful the wedding was. I could not have been more pleased with our wedding and the venue we chose!

Wonderful venue- so fun, so many compliments for the unique, industrial space. We used indoors for the wedding, dinner, and dance floor, and outside for the cocktail hour (the fantastic caterers at vibrant table flipped the whole thing). Can't say enough about this place, though. Really awesome for a young, fun wedding. We had ~200 people and it was magic (plus there are some fun dive bars for those who want to continue the party into the wee hours)

Castaway is great on about a hundred different levels. A few things I love:
* The polished concrete floor
* The picture-perfect lighting
* The high ceiling
* The private room in back (for getting away from the crowd)
* The service and flexibility
* The fact that it used to be a bronze casting studio

They provided me with a floor plan, detailed contracts ... basically everything I needed to get ready for the wedding. And when I walked in day-of, it was even better than I'd expected. A wonderful event space for those who want something fresh, open, and more modern than a ballroom.

Castaway is a top notch wedding venue. It is not the most economical option, but you certainly get what you pay for. The oversize strung lights, old wood beam ceilings and expansive views of the Fremont Bridge are a truly amazing backdrop for any event. I love the tone it set for my celebration. The cement floors kept the pinks and stripes in my decor from getting too precious and preppy while the wood beam ceilings enhanced the other nostalgic details in the decor.

Recent renovations have also completely closed off the kitchen area and added AC.

For brides with a smaller guest list, we hosted a successful event here with only 75. We definitely had open space but it never felt cavernous. Don't let a smaller head count deter you from booking here.

I got married at Castaway on July 6th and it was wonderful. Casey and the entire staff were so friendly, personal and helpful leading up to the wedding day and after. We had the ceremony in Versailles Gardens and the reception in Castaway, and it worked out great. The space is always improving - from the new bar area to the lighting, etc. Overall, the space was magical from sundown to midnight - great for mingling, eating, and plenty of dancing. Highly recommended!

Castaway was a dream come true! The perfect place for our wedding ... Th staff was wonderful to work with.. The space is absolutely beautiful... Open space, large windows, market lights... The perfect back drop for our event.

I cannot say anything negative about working with Castaway. Emily was so sweet from the beginning and the planning process was very straight forward. This venue is truly a blank canvas and allowed for us to really personalize and style our wedding exactly how we want it. We are so grateful that it worked out for us to book with them (particularly because it was peak season). I was worried about our guests being hot since it was July but they have umbrellas outside and A/C. It was very comfortable. If you are have more of a modern style, this is the place to go. :)

We could not have been more thrilled to have our wedding at Castaway. Not only were they flexible, communicative, and a pleasure to work with, but the venue offers up a bevy of options so that you can make the room look exactly as you like. There are so many great things about the venue, but to name a few: plenty of free parking, great locations and backdrops for photos, they let you use food carts, terrific sound system, and everyone who works there is personable, especially Alli, who might just be our new favorite person in town.

Castaway will no doubt soon become one of the more popular places in Portland to get married. Rightly so!

A gorgeous venue. Our needs were many: an indoor spot for a November wedding, a space that could accommodate 100+ guests for the ceremony AND reception (so people didn't have to go to more than one place), plus a space that felt beautiful and very "Portland." We were so turned off by the traditional wedding venues until we found Castaway. No "flipping" necessary and beautiful, too. I must have called our venue coordinator Danny with questions about measurements of some obscure part of the space 20 times and he never batted an eyelash. They take service very seriously. The bar is super rad and there is a killer view of the Fremont Bridge. And if you are getting married in the late afternoon/early evening, the light streaming in the west windows is divine.

Yes – you might find that some other venues are less expensive. But the attentive staff, included tables/chairs, and beautiful surroundings justify that cost.

We loved having our wedding at Castaway. We were lucky to get a Saturday in June and from the day we went to check it out to the day we got married, the Castaway team was wonderful. Emily was always quick to respond and helped us as we needed it. We ended up going off the preferred list of caterers which we were nervous about, but other than paying an outside caterer fee, there were no problems at all! The venue is beautiful and the room to get ready in made the day so easy. Myself and my bridesmaids all got ready there, and it served as a low key place for the whole bridal party after pictures before the ceremony.

They do have an outdoor space you can either have as a parking lot or where you can have your ceremony as well as open during the reception. We decided to do everything indoors because of weather as well as we wanted parking for our families. Our guests still used the balcony on the side of the building which was nice for people to get outside for a little but but we are glad we did not rent the larger outer space, otherwise people would have been very spread out.

The venue is a little more on the pricey side, but I think the ease and beauty of the whole event was well worth it.

Overall, Castaway was wonderful and I would recommend it to everyone!

We had a 200 person wedding here (ceremony and reception), and we loved it!
What we loved:
-the team. Sara and Emily were incredibly professional, responsive, and reasonable. They were completely willing to work with you regarding Plan B weather options, floor layouts, scheduling multiple walk-throughs, early or late pickups.
-the space is really unique and raw, it can be made to look however you want it to although it looks great left as is.
-works with a large or small wedding.
-the surrounding industrial buildings make for really cool pictures (a greenhouse, a brick building, bridges)!

What was a little hard:
-to no fault of Castaway's, there's high demand so scheduling a ceremony rehearsal was a little difficult so you're at the mercy of their scheduled events at all times. We had our ceremony rehearsal at 10AM on a weekday, which was hard for some wedding party members.
-This is a venue only- you have to provide all of the catering, rentals, staff, etc. This is a PRO for most as you can control every aspect of your wedding, but keep in mind.. it's a lot of work!

My husband and I got married at Castaway in August 2019. It is an amazing venue that is so beautiful we barely had to decorate it! Paige, our venue coordinator, was very flexible and met with us as many times as we needed to make sure all of the details were ironed out before the big day. There was a scheduling overlap with another wedding at Block House so we couldn’t take photos in the nursery at the time we wanted to originally, but Castaway was very helpful in making sure our timeline would work out and we could still take pictures there- one of the reasons I chose the venue! The nursery is gorgeous, but it is a separate business and you have to get permission to take photos there as well as pay a fee. That’s the only thing I wish I would have known more about beforehand! The Castaway staff was very helpful the day of the wedding. Everything was so beautiful and we had an amazing day! Our guests loved the venue. So happy we chose Castaway for the best day of our lives!

We had a fantastic experience at Castaway for our October 2017 wedding. The venue is amazing and incredibly flexible, so you have the opportunity to do whatever you want with the space. We toured multiple venues in the Portland metro area and chose Castaway based on its size, location, and the opportunity to have both an indoor/outdoor experience. You have some unique options when you book the venue, including renting the adjacent nursery for cocktail hour (bonus: tent is already there and included in rental price!) which is a great option given how unpredictable weather is in Portland. Huge windows, allowing for really pretty portraits, and a large "getting ready space" is included in the rental rate. My only gripes are that it's fairly pricey compared to other venues we toured, and the requirement to choose from a pre-selected list of caterers further limits your ability to be flexible with budget allocated towards venue/food (though the options are all great and reputable names). Thanks again for making our wedding so special!

Castaway was going the be our venue from the first time we saw it! It is a magical space, so much great light, excellent amenities, sound system, and the space comes with tables and chairs for 200 guests! We have some BEAUTIFUL photos taken outside against the periwinkle exterior and also on the train tracks just a half block away. Our initial contact was Casey, he helped us narrow down vendors, very helpful! Thank you Castaway for an amazing venue for both our ceremony and reception!

This was amazing venue to be married in. They are really good at working with you and other vendors. They work best with there vendor list of course (which all options on this provided list are top notch). We had communication with many of the team members but Camille was our go to and she was super sweet and worked well with our month of coordinator. The only sad part for us during the winter time the tree's they had were damaged from the weather and that was going to be the only "greenery or nature" provided in the warehouse space. Thankfully two were salvageable and they were able to bring them in. So all was saved!!!

Like everyone has mentioned, Castaway is a beautiful space what you can customize to meet your vision. I had a lot of out of town guests, felt like it was a good representation of Portland and got many compliments on how beautiful our wedding was even though we did minima decorations (just went with the basic decor that came with it).

I will mention how quickly and easily things add up. Up lighting, outdoor spaces (cost more if there is set up but is free if used for parking - yes stated in the contract but still annoying), fees for projectors, fees for moving chairs from media room, and fees for using the attached garden/greenhouse for one hour even though it is open to the public.

What bothered me the most was how the trees were not guaranteed and is stated in their well worded contract. In the photos online there are about 7 or 8 fake, potted trees with lights in them. During our run through they had 4 and if they continued to look 'weathered' and got down to 3, they would remove them all. I was given the option to rent more from a rental company at an additional fee, and the month before my wedding day they still had 4 which is what we used. I just found it a little deceiving in the photos to make it look like a natural/urban space when really it was just urban.

All things said, we would still have our wedding there despite ALL the added fees because it worked best for our style, the number of guests and indoor space/optional outdoor space.

We held our wedding and reception here. It is a raw space and can be transformed into a wonderful reception space, and it was for us. Versailles, next door, provides a great cocktail area.

But it may not be for everyone. It is right next to train tracks and we had at least 3 trains come through during the outdoor wedding ceremony. Also, there is no air conditioning and, on a hot day, it can be somewhat uncomfortable inside for an evening reception.

But, all in all, we really loved the space and thought everything went great. Also, they have ping pong and pool tables. Our guests loved them.

Where do I begin...

Let's start with the positives: the space is an amazing warehouse with a fantastic view of the freemont bridge. I love the concrete floors, the huge windows, and the location being right in Portland (even though there's quite the homeless population hanging around outside). We also booked the adjacent space- Versailles Gardens which after A LOT of discussion with the owner and forcing him to keep to his word about rearranging his pots, turned out perfect for the ceremony and cocktail hour.

A few negatives:
-unprofessional staff (ie. weeks, WEEKS go by with no response to emails or phone calls. And this was not just one occasion). The only person who actually answers the phone or responds to an email in any kind of timely fashion is Alli. She is their redeeming quality on the customer service front. It was pretty evident that they lack experience compared to other venues/vendors we worked with.
-fees for days! When we first looked at venues, castaway only seemed a bit more expensive than some of the other options. When it was all said and done, I think we spent thousands more here. If money is not a problem, then this won't be an issue. But for me, I was pretty annoyed to pay extra for uplights (that weren't even noticeable), extra to NOT use a tent in the outdoor space, 50/hour for labor for setup, 300 cleaning fee, 10% food/beverage "maintenance" fee, having to purchase liability insurance for the indoor and outdoor space, an extra 1050 for the outdoor space, 350/hr if you go past midnight (even if you're within your 12 hour rental time frame). It all just adds up. I understand that all venues are there to make money. And that's fine. I just leave with a sour taste in my mouth because it seemed as if every time I turned around they wanted more money.

There are some great options in Portland that offer a really similar look and feel as castaway. And I would strongly urge you to look closely at those other options.