ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Reviews

My wife and I loved the ECHO Leahy Center for our recent September wedding where both the venue and ECHO Team were great partners in our special day. The entire ECHO Team were responsive, attentive to what we wanted our day to look like, and were flexible in helping adapt to any unplanned changes that occurred throughout our planning. In not being originally from Vermont, were weren't certain of our options to get married when we moved to Vermont and choosing the ECHO Leahy Center was the easiest choice we made in our planning. We would recommend anyone interested to check them out and to learn more about their team and the venue. Would also absolutely recommend asking how to have their creemee stand become a wedding dessert option; all of our guests loved it and we were thrilled to share what we love about Vermont through the help of the ECHO Leahy Center and team!

ECHO was the perfect venue for us. We had a lot of weird checkboxes we assumed couldn't all be checked, but ECHO did it -- could fit my large family, outdoor ceremony space, indoor reception space, built-in activities so guests had something to do if they didn't want to dance, a place that didn't require a lot of decorating, well-treated animals, non-profit organization, on the water, an event coordinator included in the package, in a New England city with lots to do on a fall weekend. ECHO really was all of that and more! Kelsey & Sabiha made sure things ran smoothly, and they made it all very easy for us. I've been to some weddings where the wedding party basically has to go straight into clean-up mode the second the event is over, and I really appreciated that this was something that ECHO covered, so that our guests and ourselves could just wind down and go home stress-free. They took everything that didn't belong to them and packed it up in a few boxes so that it was all ready for the Best Man to pick up the next day. They also really worked with us on our developing vision, like how to fit everyone on the upper deck and setting off confetti cannons. All in all a great experience!

My partner and I work very busy jobs and were looking for an outdoor venue without the need for a lot of DIY-ing. ECHO was perfect - beautiful outdoor ceremony location with stunning lake views with the added fun benefit of the museum and exhibits for guests to explore. They use an exclusive caterer Sugarsnap whose food is amazing, streamlines the timeline, and does all setup/cleanup. ECHO's coordinators are also great, communicate promptly via email and really run the show the day of (the best day of coordinator ever!). Sabiha went above and beyond, even sewing a bridesmaid's dress and moving our ceremony under the awning at the last second for rain. All our guests (about 115) LOVED the venue and had a ton of fun being on the water for cocktail hour, exploring the exhibits, commenting it's the best wedding food they've had and loving the underwater dancefloor vibes. All in all, was amazing value for the price and would 1000% choose ECHO over and over again.

Choosing Echo as our wedding venue was the best and easiest decision we made throughout our wedding planning process. We live in California, so a turnkey style venue was critical to us and this is one of the few (maybe only?) venues near Burlington that offered this option. It was also one of the more affordable locations and we loved that our money went to a great cause! Echo is built for indoor/outdoor experiences - no weather planning needed, no worrying about capacity issues if it does have to go inside, and no wet swampy fields to maneuver. There are several hotels nearby so guests were able to walk, and there is a ton of on-site parking if desired so driving guests had super easy access. Ease of getting to/from the venue and around during our wedding weekend for both us and guests was huge for us, which is why we chose Burlington and Echo. We were lucky to have out wedding on the upper deck before it rained later but would have still gotten to be outside on the lower deck even with rain. The caterer, Sugarsnap, comes with the venue, so I didn't have to find another caterer in the planning process, and they are incredible with the client experience and offer a versatile and exciting menu. They did an excellent job with supporting our day. Our guests loved everything about our venue (the built in entertainment of the aquarium, the clean and spacious facility with lots of bathrooms, the fun dance floor, the list goes on!). As the wedding planning bride, however, my favorite part of all was the Echo team (shout out to Sabiha and Kelsey). They answered every single question (and there were MANY over the year of planning) in detail and quickly. I never had to worry about getting information or waiting for a response and they worked super well with all our other vendors (DJ, Ben and Jerry's, photographer). And during the actual weekend they were ON TOP OF IT. They decorated the space perfectly according to my vision and checked in constantly throughout. I felt like we were in the best hands leading up to and long past our wedding weekend.

I cannot say enough good things about our experience at Echo and would tell anyone considering this space to DO IT!!! Thank you Kelsey, Sabiha and team at Echo for helping make our wedding so amazing!

We had our ceremony and reception at ECHO and it was absolutely beautiful! It’s a perfect location and very unique. We received many comments from our guests about how amazing it was.

My husband and I were fortunate to be able to have a rehearsal brunch at ECHO before our wedding day. We had a private area in the Sugarsnap cafe and enjoyed an intimate experience with our bridal party and close family. The food was delicious, the scenery beautiful, and the exhibits added an interactive and fun part to the morning. ECHO is am amazing asset to the Burlington waterfront and a perfect place to introduce out of town guests to all that is Lake Champlain.

ECHO is a spectacular space for a wedding, or any other event. All of the staff is 100% friendly, professional, and excited to help make your special day go smoothly. They are, first and foremost a museum, not a wedding venue, so you do have to keep in mind that their duties to museum guests come first - but it's such an interesting and unique place that it's totally worth it. The food is incredible, the views are just jaw dropping, the exhibits are entertaining for kids and adults, and it really does convert into a party atmosphere really nicely.
Event-coordinating staff could be a little more responsive, and they will occasionally forget to tell you things, so it's on you to be thorough. But the "boots on the ground" folks who are at the actual event are simply flawless.