McMenamins Kennedy School Reviews
Reviews
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![Tesla]()
Tesla Sent on 04/01/2025McMenamins Kennedy School is great!
From planning to set up to partying to checking out the next day, everything was easy and perfect. Everyone we worked with was kind, thoughtful, easy going but professional. I didn’t anticipate how convenient it was to have the different bars and restaurants to meet up with out of town guests before and after. They had everything we needed ready to go. I would absolutely use them again for another event and would recommend if you want the complete package and don’t want to worry about anything. -
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Lt Sent on 10/03/2024
Wonderful Wedding Venue
My husband and I just had our wedding at the Kennedy School and could not be happier. We booked the space about a year ago and they have been very communicative with us about the logistics. One of the big reasons we chose this space was because it has affordable prices for events that cover the space as well as food and furniture/cutlery. The second reason is because McMenamins hotels are so special and unique in their style. Our photographer was able to get so many good photos of us around the school, with all its big windows, green areas and lighting. McMenamins helped us book a room that led straight to our private outdoor ceremony area that was lush and green and only needed our addition of a trellis for our ceremony. The gym itself is beautiful and large with star lanterns. They made up the tables for us and we just needed to plop a vase of flowers in the middle. We were on a budget so we just DJ'd with our spotify playlist and it worked great with the bluetooth on their speaker system. -
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![Remy]()
Remy Sent on 01/02/2024Magic quirky venue that was perfect!
Mandy and her team were amazing to work with at Kennedy School. We had LOTS of questions and Mandy was always on top of answering everything so we could plan the perfect wedding. The ceremony was in the courtyard where we put up a tent and it looked amazing with the lights and arch. Then we held the reception in the gym and an unofficial after-party in the boiler room. The gym was arranged perfectly, the set up was seamless. The food was amazing, they were great about all of the allergies our group had and making it all nut-free. All of the guests said just how perfect of a venue it was to match our personalities. We had an incident with a guest having wine spilled on her dress by another guest and the staff were amazing about helping to get the stain out and her dress dried quickly so she could rejoin the party. They were above and beyond on so much! Not to mention that we stayed there for a week with our guests, some guests just staying the weekend though. But it was such a nice venue to be able to walk to each other's rooms and get to hangout in the soaking pool and go to the movies as a group all in one place. The venue also has so many photo opportunities inside and out that made it perfect for our wedding photos. Overall had such a perfect fanatic wedding and the venue made that possible. It was really reasonable we felt price wise and you got so much included with that price, really made it stress-free with everything they do for you all included. -
Alejandra Sent on 09/10/2023
Great venue!
The venue space was exactly what we wanted. The coordinators and staff were incredibly friendly and professional. -
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![Rice]()
Rice Sent on 07/30/2023Perfect wedding at The Kennedy School Hotel
We were so lucky to snag The Kennedy School Hotel for our wedding. This venue has so much going for it -- there is so much natural charm that we did almost nothing to "decorate" it, which saved us both money and planning time for our wedding. We also had the service in the gym courtyard and the reception in the gym, but had access to both indoor and outdoor spaces throughout, which gave our guests tremendous flexibility (and would have allowed us to reimagine the wedding to be entirely indoors if the weather hadn't cooperated). Many of our guests stayed in the hotel as well and enjoyed the experience tremendously. The McMenamins staff were on top of everything from planning to execution -- I can't point to a single thing that went wrong. -
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![Grace]()
Grace Sent on 07/21/2023Great value!
We used The Attic event space for our wedding reception and everyone had a amazing time! It was great to have it at Edgefield because there is alot for people to do there and it is a fun location. The staff was great, the event staff did a great job with helping to coordinate our event and any questions we had. They give you the event space just with the minimum food and beverage fee reached, so this was very cost effective for us! -
Jessi Sent on 01/03/2023
Perfection
Everything you could ask for in a wedding venue. Beautiful space, helpful coordinator and staff, and affordable. -
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Alex Sent on 10/06/2022
Absolutely amazing, absolutely perfect, absolutely delish!
Our experience having our wedding reception at Kennedy School was AMAZING!!! Working with Mackenzie Daumen was an absolute pleasure every step of the way. She was very communicative, responsive, bubbly, kind, and easy going. We appreciated her input on questions we had that we were not sure about based on never having planned a big event like this before as well as creating templates for us to decide on how we wanted our tables to be arranged and what types of tables to use. Mackenzie was patient with my indecisive abilities and was able to easily accommodate last minute (the week before) requests such as needing to use the projector. Mackenzie was on top of our event every step of the way!
The area was BEAUTIFUL. We love the style of the Mina Parson's room as well as all of Kennedy School. Everything was laid out perfectly, table cloths, napkins, chairs, silverware, the buffet table, everything. It was a perfect layout with plenty of space to walk around as well as be seated. The natural décor of the room was absolutely fabulous such as the chalkboards (super fun) and the tiny desk in the corner with the light (beautiful.)
Our service was FABULOUS. Working with Poppy was the greatest. She was so friendly, communicative, patient, and kind with our party. She had the warmest demeanor. She checked in consistently and was able to answer all questions. She was also patient in when she needed to talk to me about anything and kind when communicating with me. We had a couple of other servers come in and out of the event and I was unable to catch all of their names. Our carver was polite and very kind. Service was perfect! Food came out on time, drinks were often replenished as needed, and we never felt rushed to move onto the next part of our night or delayed to wait for anything.
Food and beverage was DELICIOUS!!! The food was so great, we got many comments from our guests as well that they loved the food, too. I wish Prime Rib was on the menu because I'd love to go to Kennedy School again just to sit in the restaurant and order it! I also loved the crab cakes, shrimp, and cocktail sauce. Everything was just delicious and amazing. Perfectly cooked, prepared, and served. Drinks came on time and were wonderful as well.
My parents, aunt, and my husband's aunt, uncle, and aunt's mother all stayed at the hotel. They LOVED their stay. The chalkboards were fun, the decorations were amazing, and they loved the style of their rooms including the names above the door. All guests felt it was truly unique and well maintained. Beds were comfortable, as well.
I want to have another event just so I can book with Kennedy School and work with Mackenzie and Poppy again! Highly recommend having an event with Kennedy School.
My husband and I just felt so pampered and appreciated on our special day and everything leading up to when working with Mackenzie. We could not have asked for a better venue or service. Everything was perfect. We also were so appreciative of our cute little gift of the cards, pint glasses, pencil, and lunch box. Thank you so much for your time with us. We really hope to work with you again.
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![Marie]()
Marie Sent on 03/09/2020Wonderful wedding reception
The planning was made easy for us. The space was beautiful. Food and beverage was delicious. -
![Elise]()
Elise Sent on 10/23/2019perfect wedding in a beautiful setting
cannot recommend this place enough! my wedding was truly perfect because of the venue, staff and everything that went on during the planning process and on the actual wedding day! the edgefield coordinator, tyson, was a dream to work with: always available for questions, suggestions and 100% transparency until the very end. the venue was beautiful, staff was attentive, friendly, and could deal with any minor mistakes that always end up happening. the food was delicious, hotel was clean and everything was set up according to the wedding day plan (reception/ceremony). we also used an outside day of coordinator and a photographer from their referral list and they were awesome as well! it's so easy to have the catering, reception, ceremony, and rehearsal dinner at one place and to be able to stay there as well! do yourself a favor and have your wedding here, you won't regret it! -
Mary Sent on 01/27/2018This place is a gem and they have weddings down! They made the planning process so easy for us and they took great care of us and our guests on the big day.
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Tashaka Sent on 11/01/2017Peter gave us the tour.... knowable and fun! Mandy was our main go to for the event. She was there every step of the way to answer all my questions in a very timely manner. She even helped me pick the colors of the liens and the tables! The space was perfect for our small Hogwarts wedding! I can’t say enough about the staff. The team captain was quick and always one step ahead of us! They even help these first time bride and groom managed the flow of the reception. Everyone had a great time and I felt extremely less stressed knowing I had them on my team.
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![Hannah]()
Hannah Sent on 09/26/2015I had my wedding at the Kennedy School on September 12, 2015. It was such an incredible day, and the Kennedy School was a major factor in making it that way. From the time we booked with Amanda, I was amazed at the speedy customer service. She was so quick and helpful with any questions we had. The service on the night of by the staff was top notch as well. Most of my guests had never been to a Mcmennamins and were blown away by the charm and quirkiness that our venue provided. I hardly used any decor so the schools unique personality could shine through. I got several complements on the food and beers as well. Look no further if you want a beautiful and unique venue that will make your wedding shine. -
![User2322424]()
User2322424 Sent on 09/18/2015We stayed our entire wedding weekend in our venue. We were treated like rock stars! Our day was perfect! The staff was amazing! I wish I could relive that weekend over and over! -
![Nicole]()
Nicole Sent on 03/21/2014I knew I wanted to get married at the Kennedy School from the first time I went there for a movie. It's quirky, beautiful, and has amazing beer. I worked with Amanda in the sales department. She was so responsive, helpful, friendly, and wonderful. They took care of everything and I always knew what to expect. My wedding day was perfect.
We were married in the gymnasium courtyard and had the reception inside the gymnasium. The value for this venue is insane. Everything else I looked at was laughably more expensive. The food was fantastic (I had a ton of compliments) and everything went as planned. I highly recommend this venue to everyone. -
T Sent on 11/12/2017My husband and I are very glad we chose to have our reception at the Kennedy School gynmasium. It was the perfect low-stress choice for a laid-back but still fancy wedding. Jennifer, our sales coordinator, knows the venue really well and had great recommendations for making the space work for us, while also giving us plenty of room to be ourselves. We selected a wide range of foods and everything came out great. We mixed a bunch of vegetarian pasta buffet options with a few of the carved meat options, which worked out pretty well, and covered a range of allergies and aversions (vegan options are a bit limited, but not impossible). The catering captain (with whom you end up working with the day-of) was a cool and collected wonder, and everyone else we interacted with was 100% on top of what they were doing.
Set-up and clean-up for our reception was a breeze on our end. We had a band setting up, and I also had a laptop with music for breaks and after their performance. I was a little nervous that a/v setup would be difficult, but the second I even walked toward the sound equipment, I was getting all the friendly help I needed. We plugged in, I learned what channels were what, and boom, good to go. Amazing! We went pretty light on decorations since the hanging star lights and painted patterns on the wall already do a lot for the space. At the end of the night, a few friends and family managed to clear what we needed to and stash things in the hotel room we rented in ten minutes flat; having Kennedy School to take care of all the dirty dishes and tablecloths and shut things down was pretty much a dream. We didn’t quite hit the food and beverage minimum (our party ended up being about 50 people) but compared to the costs of venue +food +drink +service +sound system +furniture +clean-up, etc. the overall rate worked out favorably compared to pretty much everywhere else we checked out. I also loved that they boxed up the leftovers for us for pick-up the next day. -
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Iva Sent on 10/23/2017Loved having my Sunday brunch wedding here! It was perfectly fun and quirky! The staff were very helpful and made planning a breeze. Plus it was honestly the best bargain I found. If I had to do my wedding all over again, I would do it exactly the same!
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Annie Sent on 03/05/2024
Kennedy School staff made hosing a party a breeze!
We worked with Mandy, the sales manager, who was incredibly responsive, thoughtful, and detail oriented. She helped us with all the details related to our room set up, music, playing a video, and hotel room rental. It was easy to communicate with her and I felt like she listened to what we wanted. The day-of staff was also great and helped make sure the set up was exactly what we wanted. Being able to enter the room at 10 with it completely set up with linens, napkins, silverware, and cups was also such a relief!
We wanted to host extra events like yoga & soaking in the pool--she was able to help us figure out budget friendly ways to host these at Kennedy School.
Our guests LOVED staying at Kennedy School and it was so fun to have folks from out of town have such a great experience and have so much to do.
Photos by Allie Tellez, Beautiful Feeling Photography https://www.beautifulfeelingphotography.com/ -
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![Ashley]()
Ashley Sent on 10/16/2022The Jefferies Totally 80s Wedding
We had our wedding in the Kennedy School Gymnasium and Courtyard. We loved the venue! The food was great, the service was accommodating and we were able to make our 80s style wedding come to life! We stayed at the hotel and had the most epic weekend party. Special thanks to Mackenzie our event planner for making our wedding easy and stress-free to plan and bring to life! -
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![Caitlyn]()
Caitlyn Sent on 09/22/2019Beautiful venue with wonderful staff
I loved our venue! We had the ceremony in the outdoor courtyard and the reception in the gym. It was beautiful and it was great to have all our out of town guests be able to stay onsite. The staff was very kind and helpful and it was the best wedding. I will stay that the biggest problem that I had with this venue is that I didn't get any cell phone reception in the building and so I wasn't able to keep up to date with all the planning that was going on the day of the wedding. You might want to double-check your signal before you book. -
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![Rachel]()
Rachel Sent on 10/16/2018Great Experience- Would book again
Kennedy School was so amazing. Planning with Jennifer was so easy and efficient. The day went so smoothly and the staff did an amazing job. We had an open bar and the bartender was a part of the celebration by joking along with guests getting drinks and our banquet captain did a great job moving the timeline up a bit so that we could have more time for dancing at the end. The only thing that was slightly inconvenient was not having the space available the night before to rehearse (it can be made available but you pay in full for each time you use the space)- however I knew this would be the case upfront when booking so it really didn't bother me at all and we ended up rehearsing outside in the parking lot near the cypress room which is where the rehearsal drinks were had by my wedding party. Overall a 10/10 experience and would do it all over again with Mcmenamins Kennedy School
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