National Press Club Reviews
Reviews
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![Matthew]()
Matthew Sent on 10/28/2020Flexible, adaptable, professional, but most importantly helped us put together our dream wedding
My now-wife and I initially booked the National Press Club back in October of 2019, when we needed a space that would have held 150-200 guests. Flash-forward to a spring and summer of uncertainty in 2020 that many had to deal with, and we were unsure that we would be able to be married at all.
Yet, that space and size turned out to be lucky for us, as we were able to use the National Press Club to have a socially distant, pandemic-restrictions-compliant, wedding and dinner reception for 30. Throughout the process of planning, George and his team were able to roll with all of the changes such a ceremony would entail, from rethinking seating arrangements to designing menus. Most importantly, he and his team were responsive throughout the entire process as we reconfigured the ceremony to meet the new normal: no concern was too small for an email or a phone call, and George was always able to come up with an answer that would help our day go off as smoothly as possible.
On our wedding day, George and his team at the National Press Club did a great job of managing all of the processes: from setting us up with "get ready" rooms, to working with our other vendors, to changing the decor from ceremony to reception, to even helping us manage our "surprise" entrance to the reception. (Of course, the food and drink were delicious as well!).
We received many compliments from our guests throughout the evening and after the wedding about how special of an event we held, and how safe they felt (everyone was wearing maks, completed temperature checks, and complied with the local Covid rules), even in these uncertain times. Much of the credit for that can go to George and his team at the National Press Club: they preserved our dream wedding date with a fabulous wedding. Highly recommended. -
![Rebekah]()
Rebekah Sent on 12/28/2025Amazing, Flexible Wedding Venue with a DC Vibe that Your Guests Will Rave About
We got married at the National Press Club in December 2025, and we had an amazing experience. We toured about 8 wedding venues leading up to the event, and when we toured NPC, it just felt different.
First, it was apparent that NPC was a great value compared to other wedding venues in the area. They waived the venue fee if you hit their food and beverage minimum, and they were up front with any additional fees/taxes. Since we were trying to reserve the venue at the end of 2024 but had to wait until 2025 to sign the paperwork due to the holidays, they still allowed us to be grandfathered in to 2024 prices. Additionally, NPC has different ways of charging for the bar - from bar packages to a ticket system to a consumption bar. Knowing our guests, we felt that paying by consumption would work best for us, and we were glad to have that option since not all venues offer it. Since we were having people fly in, we really wanted to have a venue that was in walking distance to hotels, partly so we wouldn't have to worry about paying for transportation to the venue and adding another logistical element. The NPC is nice because the JW Marriott is literally right next door, which makes for a great room block. Finally, NPC and hotels in the area are metro-accessible.
We ended up reserving the ballroom, First Amendment lounge, and Holeman lounge for our wedding as well as side rooms for the groom's party to get ready and for the wedding party to hang out before the wedding. The rooms themselves look so cool - from the First Amendment lounge you can see the White House, and the Holeman lounge is classic and picturesque for a ceremony. The blue carpet is beautiful and adds to the D.C. vibe. In comparison, some other venues we looked at had carpet that detracted from the beauty of the space.
Secondly, NPC is very flexible and responsive. We ended up asking our POC- Renee (who's amazing!)- a ton of questions as we were planning our wedding, and she was always responsive and professional. After we had a lower number of guests RSVP than we expected (120 instead of 150), we asked to move our ceremony from the ballroom to the Holeman Lounge about 3 to 4 weeks before our wedding, and Renee was able to accommodate us. Some other things we asked for were: specialty cocktails (French 75 and Old Fashion) (although the bar can make many different types of drinks for your guests); we modified the Filet Mignon to be served with Mashed Sweet Potatoes; we had three entrees for guests to choose from; we added a Dessert bar and used the NPC's projector; we asked to remove the flags hanging on the wall in the ballroom and the video screens in the lobby area; and we used a mixture of NPC glassware and rentals. NPC handled our rentals being dropped off and picked up without issue - you just have to communicate the times to them so there's not a conflict with another event. NPC also allowed us to drop off our decor the week leading up to the wedding and pick it up the following week, which made things a lot easier for us.
Finally, everything at NPC went so smooth the day of the wedding. The food was absolutely delicious and we had multiple guests rave about the appetizers, the main course, the dessert, and our additional dessert bar. They worked so well with all of our vendors to make everything run perfectly and on time! I had multiple people tell me it was the classiest and most fun wedding they had ever been to and a lot of that was due to NPC.
So many things about NPC made this such a beautiful wedding. Our wedding was one of the best days of my life! There are a lot of wedding venues in DC and it can be a big decision. For us, choosing NPC made our dream wedding a reality! -
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![Sarah]()
Sarah Sent on 05/25/2025Underrated wedding venue in DC with a fantastic team
National Press Club is a wonderful wedding venue. We couldn’t have been happier with our choice to have our wedding reception there! Renee and the whole team were incredible to work with - so responsive, detail-oriented, accommodating, and helpful. We looked at 12 venues in DC and NPC was by far one of the best values plus we loved the flexible space options, that all catering and furniture was in house, and it was a great location especially for out-of-town guests. The food was delicious and high quality was a huge menu of options and they were great about accommodating dietary restrictions too. Highly recommend! -
Denis Sent on 11/09/2023
Wonderful venue for a very DC wedding
After touring the National Press Club we immediately sent an email to book. This unique venue was the perfect fit for our DC wedding! George was an excellent resource from start to finish, explaining the Press Club's offerings, coordinating with other vendors, and making sure that we had everything that we needed to have an amazing day. And the food! Unlike so many lackluster venues, the food at the National Press Club was delicious. -
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![Jillian]()
Jillian Sent on 09/02/2023A night no one will forget and beyond our wildest dreams
Best kept secret in Washington DC! This was the best decision we ever made and it is insane this famous venue is accessible at this price point. Weddings have become outrageously expensive with a million moving parts and when we found the press club we couldn’t figure out the catch. We were able to accommodate almost 200 guests in downtown Washington DC with in house catering for better pricing than standard hotels and venues in Virginia or Maryland. Our guests were all coming from the west coast and some for the first time to dc so to bring them into a historic venue with views of the White House and reception in the same room of the correspondence dinner made it an unforgettable venue. George is absolutely fantastic and the definition of a true professional who loves his work. He helped us create our dream wedding and was available to assist us with any question or request. The food is absolutely to die for and the chef is incredible. This is restaurant quality food with a huge selection of options, perfectly cooked beef, and incredible house wines; our guests haven’t stopped raving about it. I have been told by so many of the guests that this is one of the coolest most memorable weddings they have been to. Thank you to George and the press club for the most unforgettable magical wedding. -
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![Carole]()
Carole Sent on 08/02/2022Worth the Wait - Reschedule 2020 wedding!
Long story short - our wedding was worth the wait! My husband and I started our wedding planning process in 2019. We were one of the couples who did a micro wedding in 2020 (at a different location) and rescheduled our big party twice - once in 2021 and finally had the chance to have our party in 2022. We wanted our wedding to be safe and DC to be open by the time we had our big wedding. NPC is a great one stop shop. They provide the rentals (tables, chairs, stage, dance floor, etc), catering, alcohol, and the space has plenty of rooms! We picked out the food in March 2020 and the food this past weekend was still perfect over 2 years later! George Arfken is who we worked with for years and he is very responsive, straight forward, and professional via email. We can’t recommend the venue enough, especially for busy professionals like my husband and myself! Our family and friends had the best time this past weekend and we appreciate the venue being so flexible with all our reschedules. -
![Jill]()
Jill Sent on 04/21/2022Historical and Unique DC Wedding Venue
Where do we even begin! The venue made our wedding. My husband found this place on wedding wire and we fell in love with the minute we walked in. It's such a historic, unique place to have a wedding, and the pricing is not that much different than doing it at a hotel. Not only that, the food is incredible, and working with Cara and Michelle who are the event planners for the venue were the icing on the cake. They handled everything for the day of coordination. They were also so accommodating when we had to move our original 2020 date due to COVID. We are so happy with the way everything turned out and we can't recommend this place enough! -
Abigail Sent on 12/04/2020
Winter Wedding!
National Press Club is a perfect DC wedding venue! It has everything you want amazing venue, food, and staff! It gives off a classic "old school" DC vibe. We loved that everything could be done in one spot and that there was plenty of room to get ready before hand. Since our wedding was in December the Press Club is already decorated with poinsettias everywhere and Christmas tree which brought a whole other beautiful vibe to the venue. The food is outstanding- best wedding food I have ever had! So amazing that my husband and I go back every year for our anniversary to the restaurant and have a lovely meal (same chef)! If you are looking to have a classic, unique, and regal feel of a wedding the Press Club is the spot in DC! -
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![Jennifer]()
Jennifer Sent on 11/25/2020Warm, welcoming, and flexible
We had an amazing experience working with the Press Club. From the get-go, we worked with George who was incredibly warm, welcoming and easy to work with. Although COVID presented challenges to our plans, George was a wonderful partner throughout and we cannot highly enough recommend! -
Cnewk Sent on 11/19/2020
Great staff at NPC, a hidden gem in Washington event space
George Arfken and the rest of the staff at the National Press Club were really great to work with -- experienced, responsive, knowledgeable, creative....all the good things we were looking for in the wedding experience for our 200+ guests. The NPC venue is a somewhat hidden gem in the downtown event space market; it's steeped in history and has a really cool vibe. Last but not least, a wedding at the NPC offers really great bang for the buck. -
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Jaya Sent on 03/18/2020
Your wedding will NOT be cookie-cutter!
You want your wedding to be special...and I cannot imagine a more flexible venue that would offer a more customized experience than NPC! Here are some of the reasons I'm so glad that I chose NPC:
Venue coordinator & staff: Cara, our event coordinator, was responsive, patient, utterly competent, and has a wonderful personality (interacts with you as a person, not just a client). Servers and bar tenders were great, and actually seemed happy to be there (like it's a wedding!) They will make sure your day is perfect.
Space: Not a boring ballroom...a place with history. We loved that we were able to use 3 separate rooms (including one with a fireplace) so that our guests didn't feel trapped. We had a band, and the acoustics in the main ballroom were great.
Food/Drink: It felt like "if you can dream it, they can make it". We served Peking duck and risotto at chef stations, and a variety of off-menu Indian dishes (my background) at the reception. We suggested adjustments to some of the Indian dishes at the tasting, and were nervous about how the final product would turn out, but chef Susan knocked it out of the park the day-of! I really wish I could eat that food regularly. Guests raved about all of the dishes offered, and several said it was the best wedding food they had ever eaten! We had a full bar with liquor; we loved the wine selections, and NPC was very accommodating with the beer menu.
Bottom line, NPC will make your event unique and unforgettable. Our guest have not stopped complimenting us for months! -
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Michelle Sent on 09/15/2019
Amazing venue and incredible staff!
We cannot say enough about the quality of our wedding experience. Cara and the whole staff at the Press Club consistently went out of their way to ensure our wedding exceeded our expectations. The food was phenomenal including passed horderves, seated dinner and vegetarian dishes. Highly recommend! -
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![akatian]()
Tian Sent on 06/06/2019Best Vendor of Our Wedding - Makes Things Happen
National Press Club is one of our favorite vendors for our wedding. Their venue is historic, classic and romantic and was located at the heart of the Washington DC - 2 blocks away from the white house! Their in-house kitchen 'the fourth estate restaurant' was awesome, the hors d'oeuvres, crab cakes and desserts are top notch and the price was reasonable. If you want the guests to enjoy a fresh out of the oven meal on your wedding day, then the Press Club is the place for you.
The event manager Cara was amazing, she went above and beyond of her duties and made our wedding day flawless and memorable. She is very professional and knowledgeable about the venue and the kitchen, she also took the initiative in accommodating our requests. I did not hire a wedding planner and decided to do it by myself - with Cara's help, the entire process was not too painful for me because I could just talk to her about all my questions of the venue, the food and the cake! It felt like 3-vendors-in-1.
The venue staff was friendly too, David was a great help setting up the ceremony/reception room the night before. The entire experience was amazing, we are so glad that we chose the National Press Club and highly recommend it to everyone! -
Chris Sent on 04/02/2019
Uniquely Washingto
The National Press Club was a fantastic choice for our wedding. We were aiming for a central location, unique experience, and easy logistics. It nailed all three. From our first interactions with Cara, she was there to answer any questions and provide useful suggestions. The food was amazing (our guests keep talking about crab cakes) and the planning was incredibly easy. It's nice that they have all the catering items in-house already. The whole team was flexible and accommodating, and Cara's extra coordination efforts to make all of our wedding party comfortable and organized was helpful. The venue itself is uniquely Washington with lots of available photo shots (including easy access to Pennsylvania Ave). We highly recommend having a look at the Press Club. -
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![AC]()
Ac Sent on 05/06/2018NPC was the PERFECT venue for our all-day, fusion Christian-Hindu wedding and I cannot say enough good things about our experience working with them and their events manager, Michelle Licht. Michelle and her team helped us plan two ceremonies, an afternoon tea, cocktail hour, and a reception, and didn't bat an eye at our unusual requests for open flames during our Hindu ceremony, use of their lobby for a traditional Indian welcoming ceremony, or our request for multiple private rooms to use as changing areas between events. She also met with us about 8-10 times for walk-throughs over the course of 1.5 years to help us plan our day. We were lucky to find a venue that allowed us to use three distinct gathering spaces--two lounges and a ballroom--so our guests didn't feel "trapped" all day, and that waived the room rental fee after meeting a minimum for catering. NPC's furnishings are really beautiful and the DC atmosphere shines through in the signed photos of politicians and celebrities on the walls and the antique newspaper print artifacts. Executive Chef Susan Delbert and her team patiently worked with us to craft an absolutely delicious, custom Indian menu that included vegetarian, meat, and dessert dishes (seriously--where else have you heard of a non-Indian caterer being willing to make Indian sweets?) specific to the region of India where my husband's family is from, and very graciously hosted us for multiple tastings, speaking with us about the specific recipes used and the sourcing of the ingredients. The Western-style dishes were also superb, and all food was BEAUTIFULLY served on platters artfully arranged on the buffets--NOT in predictable chafing dishes where the artistry of the food is completely lost. Our guests were especially wowed by the giant wheel of parmesan cheese the buffet-side chefs used to finish preparing guests' custom risotto orders. NPC is a beautiful and unique venue managed by absolute pros and is a total gem of a wedding venue. -
Julia Sent on 04/03/2018I cannot say enough amazing things about The National Press Club and Cara. If you are thinking of getting married here- do it!! Make sure you ask for Cara Lanza- she is the absolute best. She is super response to e-mails, and so easy to work with. She exceeded all of my husband and my expectations. She was very helpful and realistic in all of her suggestions- such a professional.
My husband and I were looking for a DC venue that was not a hotel, and The National Press Club was the perfect spot for our November wedding. The venue itself is so beautiful and filled with history, it was a great place for our out of town guests to really feel like they were in DC.
The various rooms were all gorgeous and our guests really enjoyed getting to stand by the podium, step and repeat, flags, photos, and newspaper plaques. The food was amazing- way better than the "standard wedding food". Service was great- so many servers all around making sure my husband and I, and our guests were comfortable throughout the night (and well fed)!
I am so happy we found The National Press Club and Cara. They truly made our wedding the best night of our lives!! -
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![Charlene]()
Charlene Sent on 08/09/2016Absolutely, positively GO FOR IT if you're considering the Press Club for your downtown wedding. I'd rate them ten stars if I could. The food was incredible - where else have you ever heard (almost all) the guests rave about grilled chicken breast at a wedding? The setting is very elegant and very DC, with all the press photos and wood paneling. The pricing was beyond reasonable for the location and amenities. But the real star of the show is Cara Lanza, who took such a huge load off this bride's mind with her incredible work ethic and expertise. She is attentive, communicative, proactive, and could probably pull off flawless weddings in her sleep. I am so happy with how everything worked out at our wedding, but I think the single best decision we made was the Press Club. It just made so many other things go smoothly, without any added stress on our part. We love you Cara! :) Matt and Charlene, July 30
Specifics: We ended up at about 150 guests (including 5 kids) and 10 vendor meals. Open bar for 4 hours, plus wine only during dinner. -
![Victoria]()
Victoria Sent on 02/06/2012My husband and I decided to have a very small wedding (about 40 people) and we were concerned that we'd either be swallowed up by the many giant venues in DC, and/or receive sub-par service because we wouldn't be spending a lot of money. However, when we visited the National Press Club, we knew right away that it would be the perfect venue to celebrate this very important day, and wine and dine our small party of family and friends.
The NPC has several different rooms for parties of varying sizes, each one with the classic feel of a traditional DC wedding with beautiful views. The planning staff at the NPC were a dream to work with. Cara Lanza and George Arfkin are true professionals who took care to ensure that our event would be perfect - no request was too big! Planning the event was seamless, and Cara and George made us feel very comfortable and welcome. We never once doubted that we were in great hands.
When we arrived at the event, everything was exactly how we had envisioned it. There was clearly an entire web of communication going on behind the scenes - between the NPC and the linen company, DJ, etc. - so we didn't have to worry about a thing. The staff was so friendly and welcoming - even the bartender, Felix, wrote us a lovely note on a napkin wishing us the best in our new life together.
Of course, the views of the monuments, White House, the streets of DC were breath-taking. The ambiance was warm and classic, and the food was exceptional. Many of our guests commented that it was the best food they ever had at a wedding. We still visit the Fourth Estate restaurant to get a taste of our wedding reception and say hello to the staff members that still recognize us (Stephanie knows her stuff!).
I would highly recommend this venue to couples looking for a traditional District of Columbia wedding. You will not be disappointed with the customer service, quality of food, ambiance of the venue, or overall ease of planning with their excellent staff. The National Press Club made us feel so special, and we wouldn't have changed a thing. -
![Brenda]()
Brenda Sent on 10/06/2011I had my wedding ceremony and reception in the Holeman Lounge, with my Cocktail Hour being held in the adjacent First Amendment Lounge. My event coordinator at the Press Club was Patty Powers, and she was great to work with. Patty definitely proved on my wedding day that she's a true professional at coordinating weddings. The NPC (on the 13th floor) is a superb location--I really enjoyed having a view from the First Amendment Lounge during my cocktail hour. I received nothing but praises from my guests regarding my choice of the wedding venue and the food served during my reception.
The NPC is definitely an A+ in my book. I don't know why anybody would not want to have there wedding ceremony/ reception here! -
![Erin]()
Erin Sent on 12/06/2010The National Press Club is a true hidden gem in the heart of downtown. My husband and I feel so fortunate to have had our ceremony and reception at the Press Club and would highly recommend it as the perfect venue for a wedding and reception. We had a somewhat difficult challenge looking for a reasonably priced venue that would allow us to hold both a ceremony and reception for 250 guests. Thank goodness we thought of the Press Club.
Patty Powers was an absolute pleasure to work with and was so easy to talk to. She answered our every question and always got back to us quickly. With the Press Club being such an historic and prestigious venue, we could never have anticipated the personal and relaxed touch with which the staff handled our plans. Four months later, our guests are still raving about the venue and especially the food, many claiming that they enjoyed the best meal they had ever been served at a wedding. Speaking of service, the service at the Press Club is beyond compare, which is not surprising considering they can count Presidents, kings, and various dignitaries and celebrities among their guests.
The National Press Club is the best venue in the DC area hands down. We'd do it all over again in a heartbeat! -
![Renée]()
Renée Sent on 11/18/2020One of a Kind
Amazing and beautiful venue. Every picture turns out great and your guests feel like VIPs -
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