Historic Oakland Reviews

The was perfect for our intimate wedding. They were very detailed and professional. The place was already decorated for winter, but she worked with our decorator, so that the decor could match our wedding colors.

The facility is excellent for smaller weddings of 74 or less. An outdoor ceremony is recommended if the weather permits because the ballroom on the second floor is not handicapped accessible. For a caterer I highly recommend Tino's Italian Bistro -- they are excellent!!!

Wedding next month so far the planning process has been so smooth, responsive and helpful. LaTasha the facility coordinator makes you feel like you’re the only client she has with her attention to the planning details of your event. Can’t wait and will be back to update!

The place was elegant! We had a fabulous time as well as our guests.

The venue was everything we were looking for. A beautiful back drop for our ceremony and pictures, a place we could decorate the way we wanted and a place that lets you bring your own alcohol and caterer (no bartender needed for our event). The staff was very friendly, helpful and flexible. A downside for me was that you couldn't decorate the night before and if your event is on a week day you can't get on the grounds until 2pm without paying extra. All in all, our wedding was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better day.

Tasha was absolutely amazing!! My wedding day was perfect!

I have used the Historic Oakland manor (Columbia Mansion) for the past 2 years for a business meeting every week. The venue is AMAAAZING!!! Gorgeous and clean. The people are helpful and very responsive when you need anything and the prices are reasonable for such a beautiful environment. Definitely A++++

I recently planned a business event at Historic Oakland. This was not a meeting but a fun night to thanks our customers. We had different food tables and activities (photo booth, caricaturists, henna tattoos, etc) in all the rooms, both upstairs and downstairs. Everyone had a wonderful time. The staff was very accommodating. I used the sound system and hooked up my phone for music. I also used the microphone to announce door prizes. I have done three events like this and this was the best location. The only one issue would be the stairs because some of the older guests had problems with them.

I am a business professional that holds events every two months at Oakland Manor for 30 guests. I cannot even begin to describe how helpful, accommodating and friendly the staff at Oakland Manor is in making our events successful. They go above and beyond in every way, take the stress off of me and ensure that everything is perfect for our event and guests. We never consider going anywhere else as any other venue would pale in comparison to the service and amenities we receive at Oakland Manor. A++ all the way around.

Ours wasn't a wedding situation so I'm not sure our review will help. Though, with the carpets gone, maybe the prohibition on red wines could be lifted, too?

I loved everything about my wedding at Historic Oakland. It was a great choice!! I married outside in the garden and held my reception inside. It's a great deal bc you pay for one venue to accommodate two services and it's absolutely beautiful and elegant. My guests were blown away!

The staff members were very helpful to me in planning the event and provided wonderful service on the day of the event. The venue was beautiful and many guests commented on a what a wonderful place it was to hold a baby shower. My daughter was thrilled with how amazing everything turned out!

The Historic Oakland is a beautiful venue at a great price. The mansion provided the perfect backdrop for my intimate reception. Nadia and the entire staff were very flexible and responded quickly to all of my questions and concerns.

Historic Oakland is such a wonderful place. It was the perfect setting for my vintage wedding ceremony. I will definitely be recommending this venue for others as well as considering it for future events. Everyone there is so nice and I could not have asked for anything better :-).

Historic Oakland is a beautiful pleace the people here are great, and very attentive. Can not wait to have my wedding here in a few months.

We had looked at other mansion type locations in order to keep our wedding intimate. Oakland was the perfect place for it. The Bishop's Garden next to the house was the perfect location for a ceremony. Even though it seats about 80, our 160 guests surrounded it and were able to capture the wedding from different angles. The bathrooms are clean, well-lit and inviting. The staff courteous and professional. Nadia was amazing to work with and the price was affordable. The tent in the backyard was the perfect spot to hold our reception dinner and dancing while the inside of the house was used for our photo booth and cocktail hour. Our guests felt at home. If you are looking for a place that feels inviting, relaxed and a bit like home, I highly reccommend Historic Oakland. If we ever renew our vows- this place would be it!

I was very pleased with the venue. We had our event in the Gaither Room. It was absolutely beautiful. The staff was very pleasant and helpful.

Nadia and her staff where very professional throughout the whole process. I would definitely recommend the Manor. Nadia met all my needs even up until the end.

The venue was beautiful and the staff as very helpful.

Historic Oakland is a beautiful romantic mansion. It's small and quaint and personal. The lighting in the ceremony room is a golden glow around dusk. STUNNING.

When selecting a wedding venue, make certain the venue representative truly understands the importance of creating a beautiful memory for the bride, groom and guests that will last forever. Nadia of Historic Oakland is that person. Oakland Manor is the perfect setting for your wedding day. The caterer, Rouge, delivers great food, drink and professional attention to every guest. Michael, the DJ with Entertainment With Class DJ's, had the dance floor packed all night. We will never forget how Historic Oakland made my daughter's wedding more than an event: it will be a day that will live in our heart's forever.
father of the bride

Gorgeous place to get married in or to just have a reunion or other family get together.

I loved this venue! They were a great help and so tentative during our wedding and reception. I have even gone back and done some other events at this location and have had nothing but positive dealing with the Historic Oaklands !!!! THANK YOU!

We had our ceremony at Historic Oakland Mansion. This venue was so beautiful and the room we rented was so intimate. We rented one of the upstairs rooms , "The Sterrett Room". The staff at the venue was so helpful and accomodating. Our family was impressed with the venue as well. We took some pictures outside in the front and that provided for a great background. I would recommend others to use this venue, and can't wait to go to a wedding there and see the whole place.

I agree with all the other reviews. I visited several times and spoke with Ellen a myriad of times. She was always friendly and helpful. I had the ceremony in the yard in the back behind the tree, next to the tent, the cocktail hour on the Verandah and the reception in the banquet hall. I had my makeup and hair done and dressed in the bridal room. Everyone loved the place! Oh and it has plentiful free parking.

Latasha was so understanding and responsive during the wedding planning process.
Hope was also very sweet and accomodating the day of the wedding.

We visited a few mansion options in the area before deciding Historic Oakland offered the best layout in our price range. We had the ceremony in the Bishop's Garden, appetizers/cocktail hour in the foyer, dinner /dancing in the ballroom, and cake cutting upstairs. We had around 80 guests and did not use the tent. All my guests said the mansion was beautiful and perfect for our classic wedding theme. We booked our wedding venue over a year in advance and I heard we received an even better price than brides that were booking in 2016. They had also power washed the outside of the building and everything looked even better than when we put down our security deposit. However, a few rules that we were told in 2015 had changed by the date of our wedding. I was under the impression we weren't allowed to have alcoholic drinks out unless they were being poured by a licensed bartender but when I asked about it again closer to our date, I was told it would be fine as long as it was not a 21 yo & under party. This was nice to know because this meant we could leave buckets of beer out for guests that didn't want to wait in line for the bartender. I was also unaware the red wine rule was no longer in use until I read a wedding wire review today. The staff was always very responsive to my e-mails/phone calls. I dropped by the venue the weekend before my wedding & we reviewed the layout. There a few disparities that were caught by me and the staff person on location and it was changed before the big day. Overall, everyone was very nice and the accommodating. My only suggestions would be to book early but then review everything before your big day to be sure everything is as you planned. I would highly suggest Historic Oakland to anyone looking for a mansion venue in the area!

From the moment I walked into Oakland, I knew it was the place that I was going to get married in. All of the employees were super friendly and helpful, they gave us great ideas and suggestions and they were there for me throughout the entire planning process anytime I had a question.

I rented the mansion for the entire day. My godmother and wedding coordinator were able to arrive early in the morning to begin decorating. There was a staffperson on site who was incredibly helpful and kind - she was an unexpected and much appreciated blessing that day.

We were able to use the ENTIRE venue - our ceremony was outside in the Bishop's Garden, our cocktail hour was out in the back and along the verandah, our dancefloor was in the atrium, our ceremony in the main ballroom, the childrens room was upstairs, we had our first look in the upstairs ballroom... We used the whole place and the pictures turned out beautifully as well. Absolutely I recommend this place!

This venue was beautiful and did not take alot of decoration to make it special for my day. The staff was ver friendly and worked with e to personalize my wedding and reception. I was able to bring in my own catering. It was a great experience with the Historic Oakland. I also recieved my deposit back within days of my wedding.

I had my wedding here and it was the perfect venue! The staff is great to work with to get all details finalized ahead of time and day of everything went off without a hitch! Definitely a reasonable price especially because our wedding was in December. I would definitely recommend this venue.

THE STAFF THEY HAD ON DUTY WAS GREAT AT ASSISTING ME WITH ALL MY NEEDS.

We were thrilled with Historic Oakland. It was beautiful and our family is still talking about how nice it was. The staff is great to work with, beforehand and on the day of. It is still a great price comparatively, but just be sure you realize all the extras you will have to pay, it's somewhat of a DIY venue and you have to pay the tent vendor separately. It is a great venue and we had the perfect day there.

Great venue to work with. Lots of space. You will never share your day with another bride no matter how many hours you have blocked off. Affordable for the area....even more on Fridays and Sundays! I lived a distance from the venue so I would always pop up when I was in town or call with questions. Ellen always welcomed me and returned my calls in a timely fashion. Since this is an Historic Site, they do not allow red wine. They do however, allow you to use their outside tent for a fee with Loanbrothers. They also have room as an African Art Museum you can rent by the hour.

Historic Oakland was great. We had the reception in the bishop garden and the reception indoors. It was very nice . You even have the option to rent the African Art Musuem which is upstairs in the Mansion for 100 dollars for 2 hours which added to the lovely occasion. Ellen( Historic Oakland Director) was very professional, she worked with me when it came to seating arrangements etc until I got it the way I wanted it. The great thing also about Historic is they even remove furniture that you find unneccesary to be in the building on your day. My decorators had the liberty of taking away vases adding their own pics. Everything was great. I booked my wedding on a Sunday so the other perk was I got 7 hrs any consecutive 7 I wanted and I did not have to share the day with anyone ! You pay a security deposit of 250 but you get that back promptly (a week after the wedding!) Total for Sunday was 1600 + security deposit of 250 + african art Musuem of 100= 1950 you get the 250 back which brings the toal to 1700! When you call Historic Oakland ask for Ellen and she will take care of you!

Historic Oakland is a wonderful venue for outside wedding ceremony. My husband and I felt like a King and Queen on our wedding day. The Mansion in the back of out photos was AMAZING. Our reception was held inside and the ambiance was perfect. We would highly recommend this venue!

Unfortunately I can remember the hound man’s name that gave us the tour. I want to say his hospitality was great! He was very funny and very informative. This was a beautiful venue just a little small for our wedding.

I held an awards dinner at the Historic Oakland last March. Our original venue fell through and Rebecca and her team were able to arrange for a beautiful event in a matter of weeks. I found their team to be extremely accommodating. The venue itself is beautiful and in a convenient location. I would recommend for any company event.

We had our wedding at Historic Oakland on October 12, 2013. Nadia was a pleasure to work with throughout the process and the day couldn't have turned out better. The entire venue is beautiful, we had our reception set up on the veranda and in the ballroom, and our ceremony was set up under the tent in the back. We had about 85 people, and this allowed plenty of room to move around, though the rooms aren't incredibly large. We were also able to get ready in the upstairs room, making the morning relaxed and easy.

The people at Oakland were accomodating and easy to work with, answering any questions we had and allowing us to stop by anytime to take a look at things or ask questions. I would recommend this venue to anyone looking for a beautiful, unique location with everything in the same place.

Historic Oakland was the perfect venue for our wedding reception cocktail party. My husband and I loved the look and the feel of the venue. Instead of having a decorate a hotel space to make it fit our vision. The venue already had everything we could need and also had a projector, so we could show our slide show. The only downside was the elevator is not completed, so some of our guests could not appreciate the upstairs.

This was a highly sought location that offers discount if you live in Columbia. The staff at historic oakland manor were great. They let me visit as many times as I wanted, unless there was a wedding going on. They were flexible with taking down decor that I wanted to replace with my own. Most importantly, someone from their staff noticed one of my bridesmaids had a wrinkle in her dress on my big day, and whipped out an ironing board and iron so we could fix it. I didn't even have to ask. It is also a beautiful location and already nicely decorated so the transition to the wedding was very easy.

The only issue i had was how long it took them to get back to me with my contract. Other thsn that the staff.was amazing and the building was perfect.

Beautiful Location. Not very organized.

Historic Oakland is beautiful and very affordable! I loved having the space all to ourselves and being able to customize every detail.

I had no complaints with the venue itself, but I found the staff less than helpful. Between the time I signed the contract and had my wedding they had fire marshalls come in and reevaluate their fire policies. They made several changes, including significantly decreasing the number of people that are allowed in the upstairs at one time. I understand that it wasn't the fault of the staff at Historic Oakland and that nothing could be done BUT I think it was unprofessional for them not to tell people about the changes. I found out on my own about 4 months after, and I had already done my seating chart, etc. So I had to redo the seating chart, programs (I put a map of the house on the programs), extend my time with my vendors so I could have a rearrangement in between the ceremony and reception, etc.

If the staff had been more responsive and professional and had told me when they found out instead of letting me find out on my own, everything would have been perfect!

Overall, I loved the venue.

This venue can be altered to fit many different event scenarios. Beware the noise ordinance, which goes into effect at 11pm, but it shouldn't interfere too much with your celebration, as you can move the music inside!! A beautiful place with very attentive day-of staff, who work seamlessly with your other vendors. Highly recommended, particularly for the price, which is obscenely low for the DC area!!

Beware before you book... there are giant apartment buildings right in front of the Manor that are a huge eye sore. Merriweather is right around the corner so if a concert is going on you'll be drowned out. There is barely any ceremony sites, and the dumpsters behind the apartment buildings have a very strong smell. Other than that the house is gorgeous, but the back yard where the tent is placed is very small and not a lot of room for decoration at all.

The staff at Oakland were helpful and kind. They were very clear on expectations and it was the least difficult vendor to deal with during the planning process.

The space was beautiful both inside and out. We had issues with some of the information we were told up front that was later changed. Ultimately the site ended up making things (namely our rehearsal "dinner") work, if you consider the morning of as making it work.

For the price I would have expected and liked a little more accommodation and understanding especially considering we were planning from out of state. There was very little of either of those things. After the event we called to check on somethings and were told several times we'd receive call backs but never did.

I just had my wedding here on June 4th and the wedding itself was a success and we received wonderful compliments on the location and how beautiful the day was but the stress that we went through with some of their staff was uncalled for. Between not recieving paperwork when we signed the contract to have to put out more money for some details they had overlooked with said paperwork to other details we apparently could not negotiate on it was a fight the whole way to the wedding day. Thankfully they did have some other wonderful people on their staff that did help us, from advice to paperwork from Freddy to Daniel helping us that night with any little thing that came up these two people helped in so many ways to make our special day happen. All in all I say if you choose this location for a wedding make sure to look into every single detail from inside to out and if you find it's the place for you I hope you enjoy your special day as we did!

This venue was an absolute terror the staff was very rude and not accommodating at all. I would not recommend for all the money spent I should have gotten so much more.

This is an absolutely beautiful venue, however the customer service is disappointing to say the least. The staff if very inflexible and often make promises they are unable to deliver on.

I was promised access to an air conditioned tent and a minimum of two hours to set up for our wedding and reception. Instead, only pedestal fans were available to us. Our caterer was given only one hour to set up for both a wedding ceremony and reception. As a result, our guests were not served dinner until 9 p.m. following a 6 p.m. ceremony.

I wish I could say the beautiful grounds made up for this poor experience, but no one wants to see their guests leave before dinner is served!!