Howell Opera House Reviews

Finding the venue for our wedding was by far the most stressful task of wedding planning for us. I wanted something classy and timeless but not stuffy, and it had to be affordable. My husband and I were paying for everything ourselves and had a tight budget. It was the best decision we made for our wedding to go with the Howell Opera House. It was by far the most gorgeous venue we looked, it has so much character, and it was the most affordable place we found. $1400 flat fee plus $150 (I think) for the ceremony. It was a bit of a hike for us but well worth it and all of our guest loved it. Sharon is the contact person and she is so nice and flexible. She helped us so much at the rehearsal dinner since our officiant was a family member and we basically had no clue what we were doing. You have to pick one of their catering options and we went with CC Catering (the cheapest option) and had a Mexican buffet. The food was AMAZING and people were raving all night about how cool the venue was and how incredible the food was. You also supply your own liquor, and even with the extra purchase of liquor insurance and a bartender (both required, $150 & 15/per hour respectfully) this still saved us thousands. Everything about the night was amazing and the photos you get in the opera house look like they belong in a magazine. I couldn't image a better place and can't recommend it enough!

This location fit us to a "T" in the sense that it was a gorgeous blank canvas- wood floors, brick walls, and lots of windows in the main floor reception space; and a stunningly historic, original opera house on the second floor, which we had access to for our photo session. All in all, it made the perfect backdrop for our photos, and the fact that we brought in all of our own decor made it possible to personalize every detail. We used to front window to display some paper lanterns as well. Sharon is great to work with. She is organized, answered all of our questions and was very nice. You can tell that she has done this many times, as everything was seamless, from her initial tour of the building, to signing the contract, to the functionality on the day of the event. The cost to rent the space, as well as the linen service they offer, was very reasonable. This is a really unique and beautiful venue, an absolute treasure!

We used the Howell Opera House for our ceremony and reception and were so pleased with our experience. Sharon and team are very helpful and accommodating. The evening staff even gave our attendants tours of the building! The Howell Opera House is a beautiful historic building. We feel grateful to have had our wedding there!
-Alison Gass

We used the opera house for our reception and we couldn't have picked a better venue. This place is beautiful and the staff were so helpful. Sharon was there to answer my phonecalls and any questions and made planning so much easier. Would recommend 110%.

My daughter and I searched for months for the perfect venue and when we found The Howell Opera House we knew it was exactly what we were looking for! The theater upstairs is beyond gorgeous and made a perfect site for photos and videos. We love the look of the main floor where we had the ceremony and reception. It has wood floors and brick walls and had the perfect feel for my daughter's quaint and unique wedding! Sharon who runs the Opera House was great to deal with and responded to every question and was always open to having us come look around and take photos and measurements. In fact, everyone that works at The Opera House was great! We got our bartender Beth through them and she was awesome too! It was a perfect day at the perfect venue and we couldn't be happier!!!!

Sharon was wonderful to work with. She's not really an email person, but was ALWAYS available by phone. The venue is beautiful and the price is amazing. We had 100 guests at our wedding and we had more than enough room. Our photos turned out amazing from the second floor. Be aware if you have a Dec wedding: there is a huge Christmas tree in the very center of the stage on the second floor that they cannot and will not move or delay setup.

They did our linens and setup, too. Best price on linens!

Highly recommended venue!

We could not have picked a more magical setting for our Vintage Travel themed wedding. Everyone we interacted with at the Opera House leading up to and the day of the wedding was pleasant, friendly, and accommodating. We were very happy with the location we chose and if we had to do it all over, we wouldn't have changed a single thing. Our guests were impressed and pleased with the intimate setting and everyone had a fantastic time!

The Howell Opera House was the perfect location situated in downtown Howell to have our wedding ceremony and reception! They are very easy and accommodating to work with, plus will work with you to make your day just as you imagined. They have a list of vendors they work with that helped us narrow down our choices. The Opera House itself is a beautiful place that your guests will love. I would recommend having your event there to anyone!

The Howell Opera House was a beautiful setting for our reception and we LOVED having it there! It is so unique and has a lot of charm with the old wood floors and brick walls. We received so many compliments on our venue; our guests absolutely loved it. Sharon was great to work with and was always available to answer my questions, which relieved a lot of wedding stress! She also has worked with so many vendors and set up so many weddings that she provides really great, professional advice. Another appealing attribute of the venue is the flexibility it provides. The bride and groom can really make the venue fit exactly what they want, without all the restrictions that most venues have! Lastly, the 1800's Opera Stage upstairs provides for some really awesome photos. I would recommend anyone thinking about this venue to Google the venue and look at photos of weddings held there in the past, and you will see how beautiful it really is. I highly recommend this venue!

Provided help when needed and made sure everything went smoothly. Beautiful place and I love booking events there!

The Opera House was the BEST wedding venue we looked at and I was amazed to be able to book it for our wedding. We wanted a non-traditional wedding and were able to do so in a unique, gallery style setting. The space was immaculate and the 1800's Opera Stage provided a perfect setting for photography. Sharon was great to work with and accommodated all of our requests promptly. I couldn't recommend the Opera House more!

This was an absolutely wonderful venue. It was very unique and all our guests loved the ambience. We loved being able to take pictures upstairs in the original stage area. It was exactly what I was looking for when I wanted something non traditional.

We very much enjoyed having our wedding at the Howell Opera House. The venue is lovely, it's set in a sweet little downtown, and it looked especially charming in December all decked out for the holidays. Sharon was accommodating; we found that although there are definite rules in place for the venue, if we kindly asked permission she could often work things out in our favor.

The hall did all the set up according to my specifics that I had detailed about a week before the wedding, all I had to do was go in and set up everything how I wanted it. The people I talked to were very nice, the only requirement they had was that we use one of 3 local caterers. they did have a lot of small fees if you wanted to serve alcohol (which we didn't) or rent the front windows. for just over $1000 total, we had a nice place and everybody loved the look! Plus the upstairs I a great place for pictures, just make sure you have a short dress or it's already bustled.

The Opera House is a beautiful and unique venue! Our guests were commenting on how they loved the old wooden floors and brick walls! Sharon was easy to work with and very helpful in planning our day. She even opened up on Friday afternoon to let us in to decorate and agreed to take us upstairs with the photographer for some photos before our ceremony. However, you could tell Sharon is a bit overwhelmed during the summer wedding season as it would take her a day or two to get back to me when I called.

We had our september wedding at the howell opera house. We worked with a few people there, Sharon who does the majority of the planning was nice and easy to get ahold of. She went on vacation and we had two fill in managers for the day of my wedding. Well I got a call day of my wedding of the day manager yelling at me because my guys weren't there to set up when she opened in the morning, sharon said they could come any time, then when my guys did show up she was extremely rude to them. Before the ceremony a 2 year old was waiting upstairs with us and she was singing and playing and so the same manager came up and yelled at her. extremely unprofessional and hurtful. I never saw the night manager, he never came to introduce himself. My wedding was fun and I enjoyed myself very much but being yelled at multiple times for small little things is just insane to me. If sharon is there you won't have a problem.

The Howell Opera House is a gorgeous location. Our wedding photos there are beautiful and our guests had a wonderful time. That unfortunately is the best I can say about the venue, because the successful event occurred in spite of the abysmal, unprofessional staff that were a stress and hindrance to every part of our process. The site manager was extremely unresponsive unless a payment was due, in which case she would call my husband two times a day asking where the check was. We agreed on a deadline to be done with rehearsal, but when we arrived for rehearsal an hour and a half ahead of that time, she informed my family that this was unacceptable and we had to be out within half an hour. The wedding day staff seemed downright irritated at our presence and created many roadblocks in our day including locking us out of our prep space with no advance notice, stopping our pictures in the opera stage halfway through, and refusing to let us use the kitchen facility. On top of it all, we paid an additional 30% on top of the rental fee for the space for all of these "services." Bottom line, a wedding in this space will give you beautiful pictures and a fun guest experience - but the experience for you and anyone helping you will be one of suddenly changed deadlines, hostility, and added expenses.