Grace Reviews
Reviews
4.9 out of 5 rating
4.9 out of 5 rating
31 Reviews
99% recommend it
Awards
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Whitney Sent on 02/23/2022
The Perfect Venue
After looking at 10+ venues, we decided to look at Grace and it was the perfect fit. We needed a venue that could accomodate 190, wanted an upscale feel, and wanted to be in downtown Portland to avoid the inevitable loss of momentum that comes from shuttling guests to and from a venue. We loved that Grace has tables, chairs, plates, glassware, silverware, etc. After helping plan my sisters wedding at an all DIY venue, I can say with certainty that Grace will save you a LOT of stress (and money) by having all the amenities available in-house. Meghan was wonderful - responsive, friendly, accomodating, helpful, and patient with my 10000 questions and requests. The entire Grace team was professional, attentive, and really helped to make our wedding special. We can't recommend Grace enough! -
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Rachael H. Sent on 10/12/2021Unique and special venue!
Meghan, Anne, and the rest of the staff at Grace were fantastic! When we first started evaluating potential venues (we are from out of town), we came into Portland and saw four venues in about three hours, and my partner and I both came away from the visit with Grace as the clear leader. We loved the idea of being able to host both the ceremony and reception at one location, but having separate areas for the two parts, so we wouldn't need to change over the space while guests were around. The downstairs space at Grace that we used for the ceremony was the perfect blank slate for floral and other décor. And then, once guests went upstairs for the reception and got their first glance of that space, everyone was taken aback by how stunning the main sanctuary is.
We had always thought of our wedding as an "upscale dinner party", and the feel of the sanctuary with the big open kitchen was absolutely perfect for it. Meghan's staff did a great job handling pre-ceremony drinks in the downstairs space while finishing up everything upstairs in advance of cocktail hour. The bar in the middle of the sanctuary is absolutely stunning, and we opted to forego the traditional central table or sweetheart table, to instead have the two of us sitting directly at the bar for dinner. It was a great central location, and the bartenders did a fantastic job making sure we were taken care of (and hydrated!) all night at the bar.
Meghan was easy to communicate with, and we bantered over email for nearly two years of planning. She did a great job working with our vision and fitting it into the realities of the space and staff capabilities - like having drinks available before the ceremony or accommodating our custom cocktails. We really appreciated that the venue rental included tables, chairs, and table settings, which reduced the amount of outside rental items. She was also quick to recommend other local vendors and resources, and she clearly cares about the hospitality and events scene in Portland.
All in all, Grace was a perfect city location in Portland, our guests had a great experience, and we heard nothing but compliments about the venue all evening. Highly recommend! -
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Kelley C. Sent on 07/15/2022The perfect venue
It was our favorite restaurant, and the dream location for our wedding. The only thing better was how much our family and friends loved it. Having the whole wedding in one place made everything seamless. Anne was absolutely wonderful to work with and we were so appreciative of their kindness during the pandemic. -
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Susan P. Sent on 02/26/2020Two weddings at Grace, and both terrific
As the mother of the two brides who have had wedding receptions at Grace, one in 2015 and one in 2020, I am experienced enough to offer a solid opinion on the new 2020 "Grace" - and it's just as wonderful as it was when it provided food, as a spectacular space to have a great party and a unique and stunning central bar, with excellent service and managed by the ever professional and warm Meghan. Meghan is a terrific partner in thinking about planning a wedding, and how to use the space best to maximize guests' fun. We have had DJs at both weddings, and the main floor easily transitions into a dance space. The evening lighting inside feels very romantic, and it's an easy space to dress up the way you want with table decorations, flowers, etc. Guests, especially those from out of town, really seem to be taken with the beautiful architecture and design inside Grace. Folks who have been there before say they are very glad to be inside the space again, and have fond memories of attending other events or having dinner at the former restaurant. The lower floor can easily be transformed into a pretty secular setting for the ceremony, with flowers and other decorations, and it's great to have everyone in one venue for the entire wedding. There is no other space like it anywhere near Portland. It's so close to the nightlife in Portland, that it is easy for people who want to continue partying after the reception to find a place within walking distance. I can't say enough good things about our experiences with Grace. -
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Christina R. Sent on 03/05/2020Stunning Unique Space - Everything You Need
Searching for a venue can be the toughest part of your wedding day decision. There are so many factors - table rentals, a tent, weather, decor, lighting, and most importantly are the people nice to work with. Working with Meghan and the Grace staff was such a positive experience - gracious, thoughtful, flexible. It made the decision to go with Grace easy for us. The space has everything you need and you can get creative with how you want your event to unfold. The whole process from start to finish was so amazing. They worked with our vision and were great partners with our other vendors - we so appreciated everything. On the wedding day itself, the space and staff were more than we had hoped for. Everything went off without a hitch and all our guests raved about the space. Bartenders were fantastic, taking time to make quality specialty drinks. All our thanks to the Grace team! Highly recommend!
Photos by Ben Conant Photography - http://www.benconantphoto.com || FB @BenConantPhoto || IG @lilbennycoco
Florals by Honeysuckle Way - https://www.honeysucklewayflowers.com || FB @honeysucklewayflowerfarm || IG @honeysuckleway
Catering & Coordination by Blue Elephant Events & Catering - https://www.blueelephantcatering.com || FB @blueelephantevents || IG @blueelephantcatering
Music by Young Love and The Thrills - http://www.youngloveandthethrills.com || FB & IG @YoungLoveAndTheThrills -
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Joy Sent on 01/06/2018From the start, Grace Restaurant and its staff were exactly what we had hoped for in terms of wedding planning and executing our big day. Event coordinator Meghan was our biggest support from the outset, from initial questions to booking to a pre-wedding restaurant visit and everything in-between and leading up to the end. If you can handle planning your own wedding, she (and the Grace staff) is a perfect day-of coordinator and you can save big bucks on that $Wedding Planner$. Grace itself is a gorgeous venue; just go visit (or check the photos online). There's a certain magic and grandeur to it that must be felt in person, especially the upstairs. If you choose to hold your event in the lower level, you won't be disappointed. Photos don't do the space justice: it's spacious, comfortable, and a perfect size for a crowd of roughly 100 people. The intimacy is what we wanted and still got to enjoy the upstairs space during our brief cocktail hour. Food-wise, we'd argue Grace is one of the best. As frequent wedding-goers (too many to count in our ripe late 30s...), this was the best food we'd ever had at a wedding and the bulk of our guests (yes, I made an informal poll) said it was also the best food they'd ever had at a wedding. Hands down. If you're reading this and plan on having your wedding in Portland, shoot Meg an email and go visit yourself. You'll be able to make an instant decision, it's that solid and wonderful. Congrats and enjoy Grace! [photo credits: Kendall Pavan Photography]
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Eunice Sent on 06/08/2017The term "grace" derives from the Latin "gratus" meaning "pleasing, thankful"; it is defined as both "simple elegance or refinement of movement" as well as "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the bestowal of blessings." And, truly, I cannot think of any sets of words or phrases that better encapsulate my experience with Grace in Portland, Maine. First of all, the venue itself is breathtaking; every single one of our guests was in awe and couldn't stop staring at the stained glass and architecture. Even with minimal decorations, the venue is stunning in its simple elegance. It was also a blessing to have had the ability to have both our ceremony and our reception in the same space... with a cocktail hour sandwiched in between. I didn't have to worry A SINGLE BIT about the quality of service, food, or drink because Grace does it all and does it to perfection. I literally have people texting me every day since the wedding telling me it was the best (insert food/cocktail) here that they have ever eaten... and I know it's true because during the planning process, I tried to eat here each time I visited Portland. I would be remiss to review Grace without also reviewing the most amazing, creative, levelheaded, and professional events coordinator I think I will ever meet in my life: Meghan Buck. She was a true godsend, and she made sure everything leading up to the event was perfect, that we actually ate our food at the wedding, and that people were safe throughout the evening. There's nothing more to say except that Grace, Meghan, and her team gave me a true fairy tale wedding that was pleasing, refined, and DELICIOUS... and I am truly grateful and thankful, and wish only the best of abundant blessings to everyone involved in making our special evening come to life. Thank you!!! -
Kathryn Sent on 12/26/2017I cannot imagine a better place than Grace to host our daughter's wedding. First of all, it is a beautiful space: both upstairs and down - and we used them both. I had some doubts about the Greatroom but we added candles on the tables and windowsills and the whole place glowed in a really gorgeous, classy way. SO much better than weddings I've gone to recently in ballrooms, with uplighting, everything strobing pink and purple!! No, this was really sophisticated and beautiful. We also wanted an area for games for those who didn't want to dance and that worked out too; I hired Megan Gilpatrick of Maine Seasonal Weddings to bring in couches and low tables, and that worked out perfectly. We did all of this just 4 months after the engagement -- nothing short of a miracle and only possible because of Meghan Buck, who was the consummate professional, so relaxed and experienced. She was a pleasure to work with! Everything went smoothly and the whole weekend was perfect. And a special shout-out to the kitchen: the food was fabulous! Our guests are still talking about the rib-eye steak. One wrote an ode to it that he plans to share with his grandchildren some day.
Grace's reply:
Hi Kathryn,
Thank you so much for your kind words. I mention you all when talking about how it doesn't take a year to plan a wedding; you definitely know your way around a party! It was a pleasure to be a part of, and thank you so much for sharing your experience, and your pictures!
~Meg -
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User2511520 Sent on 01/19/2016My husband and I cannot recommend Grace highly enough - from start to finish we are so happy we chose to get married there! We had the ceremony and cocktail hour upstairs and the reception downstairs. Looks like the Emilie Inc. (also wonderful) photo showing round tables set up downstairs is from our reception in fact!
The upstairs is stunning and such a fun twist on a church for a less traditional ceremony. The downstairs is cozy and in fact I had a number of people comment that they loved the chance to be in both spaces as the upstairs is such a wow factor, but the downstairs allowed for more intimacy (we had 100 guests). The food is fantastic - many people went out of their way to compliment us (well, grace!) on the food. In fact, people complimented us left and right for the wedding, from food to venue to how smoothly everything went. But on the food especially!
For what you get, we found Grace to be INCREDIBLY reasonable cost wise. They don't nickel and dime you on things like bringing your own cakes (we brought our own pies and they even graciously set everything up in a wonderful display), set up, etc...
And to top everything off, Meghan is AMAZING. She was responsive and helpful and was great about being flexible while also telling us what really worked in the space, so we didn't have to reinvent the wheel or get overwhelmed in decisions. I had heard from many people to make sure to get a day of coordinator, but every time I'd check to see if we'd be responsible for something, Meghan would just say, we'll take care of it. Set up, take down, working with a vendor on where to put the photo booth or the dj etc... - they did it all.
I had wondered whether having the restaurant open upstairs during our reception would have any impact on us, but no one even noticed and we certainly danced the night away as we would have anywhere else.
If we had it to do over again, we'd chose Grace again and recommend to anyone in a second! Just perfect!
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