Paine Art Center and Gardens Reviews

We came from out of state (Alaska) to have our wedding at the Paine! Working with the staff and them working with our in-state family was a great experience and provided the most magical experience. The gardens were absolutely stunning and the reception spaces were perfect for our 100 person guest list. We especially appreciated their advice and guidance on the planning process as most of us in this position have never done this before! Many of our guests commented on how incredible this venue is and agreed it was the perfect place to celebrate our love!

Gorgeous ceremony and reception space. Held our ceremony here, rained during the day and if this is the case they do have numerous options -- be sure to ask ahead. Great place!!!!!

The Paine was a wonderful all around place to get married, the staff was so helpful and made the entire process very easy. We picked the Paine for the decorations during Christmas, it really brought together our entire wedding. Laura our wedding assistant was phenomenal, I cannot sing her praises enough. The entire day was perfect!

Kaytlyn our event coordinator was prepared and helped us make the big day go smooth!

The venue was beautiful and we were able to have everything there which my fiancé loved. The gardens are gorgeous and the staff was very helpful and accommodating. Laura was great at making things feel easy and helped take away some of the stress of the day. They were incredible about rescheduling/postponing our wedding due to COVID-19. I would highly recommend them for weddings and events.

Let's just start with how breath-taking the venue is! Beautifully manicured grounds with countless opportunities for photos. We had a mini Covid wedding at the Paine and a larger one this year. Both dates they were incredibly easy to work with, accommodating, and went above expectations to assist in making the wedding day go smoothly. Thank you so much Laura, Eden and Rachel!

We had our wedding ceremony at the Paine and it was the most perfect day. Not only did the gardens provide a beautiful setting, but Laura and her staff made our experience one we will never forget. This venue is top-notch for weddings and Laura is the most genuine, accommodating, and professional event coordinator you will ever meet. Don't miss out on having your wedding at the Paine!

Laura was fantastic to work with and walked us through the entire wedding planning process from beginning to end - including a few changes along the way.

booking the Paine was a no brainer! So kind and friendly and willing please.

The Paine Art Center and Gardens provided the most beautiful setting for my daughter & son-in-law’s wedding. Michelle Rector, the event manager, was amazing. She provided a sense of calm and direction in the hectic planning stage, rehearsal, and wedding day! With her help and guidance, as well as her wonderful staff, Kelly and Dave had a spectacular wedding. The Paine now has a beautiful new facility, the Conservatory. As the weather was a bit gloomy just prior to the ceremony, Michelle and her staff, provided us with the option to move the ceremony from the Garden to the Conservatory. It was a perfect choice…the wedding in the Conservatory and pictures in the Gardens. We had the best of all possible opportunities and Michelle made that happen! From the rehearsal to the wedding, all details were covered and everything went smoothly because Michelle and her staff are so professional and organized. Kelly and Dave were so happy with their ceremony and picture location and our guests were equally pleased with the opportunity to enjoy such a spectacular location. Thank you! (The reception was held at a different location. The wedding ceremony and pictures were held at the Paine!!)

We had our ceremony here and it went great! The day was beautiful and hot! The only downfall was that the guys were very hot in their tuxes standing outside on a patio before the ceremony. The girls were able to wait in an air-conditioned dressing room. We were very lucky that we were the only wedding that day, so we got the whole place to ourselves!

The Paine Art Center was the perfect backdrop for my wedding. We held the ceremony in the Great Hall. The space was large enough for our guests but still felt intimate. The staff was wonderful, making sure everything was taken care of and getting people where they needed to go. I got so many compliments on the venue. It was definitely a bonus that our guests could tour the mansion and gardens afterward. I felt completely at ease because we were in capable hands.

This is one of the most beautiful places anyone could ask for to get married at. The wedding coordinators were very helpful; they asked many questions leading up to the wedding so all I needed to do was show up and walk down the aisle. The cost for the site is expensive but the "value for the cost" had to be rated a five since the grounds provides a nearly priceless background of what I felt were enchanted-looking gardens.

(Just to clarify - Paine was just our ceremony site) Honestly - from my perspective, Michelle from the Paine is the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to weddings in Oshkosh. She is more than responsive, patient, flexible, honest, and delivers what she promises. She is a gem. The Paine was the perfect place for our nuptials - it was beautiful in every way! Our guests were super impressed and we were overall happy.
Overall big complaint is that they had too many weddings on our big day and they were WAY too close together. I was the middle wedding although we had booked almost two years in advance and unfortunately my guests saw BOTH of the other weddings before and after mine. Made our moment seem extremely unpersonal and a bit rushed towards the end. We were taking pictures (one of the most important parts of the day and one of the biggest reasons for picking the paine) and we felt extremely rushed to leave.. Only other complaint is that rehearsal dinner time - despite booking first we were given the worst/last time slot for the rehearsal the night before. We made it work but it was not ideal.
Despite the negatives, we were EXTREMELY happy with the Paine and even more so with Michelle and I would recommend both without a doubt; just know that your special day will also be special for many others.....

To clarify, only the ceremony was held at The Paine (outdoor garden). Our ceremony was wonderful. Even though the weather forecasted clear, we started getting patches of rain as close as 2 minutes before the ceremony. We were nervous that guests would be upset (understandable). On the contrary, the staff was standing by with a surplus of golf umbrellas and each guest had one in hand before the first drop fell. People commented on how prepared the staff was. Afterwards, guests were allowed to tour the property and mansion. We received many compliments on the ceremony.

The Paine is a beautiful venue,however, as a bride with blinders on when we signed up, I'd like to give future brides looking at this venue a few words of warning.

Michelle is there to sell you a date. We found she will say what needs to be said to sell the date. If you request anything outside of the basic contract, GET IT IN WRITING! There were several instances that Michelle burned us on our wedding day.

1) Nothing with the catering, bar, or venue is negotiable, it's a monopoly and they know it.

2) We verbally agreed to pay for extra hours so that we could have the place to ourselves. When we arrived to sign, they had booked another wedding over ours even though Michelle specifically said that if they had any other interested parties for that day, they would call us right away. Didn't Happen. This made everything stressful because they left us with no time to set up, take pictures in the gardens or get ready for the event on site!

3) At the Rehearsal, she told my family that the Paine would have an "army" of staff to set up all the cocktail hour and reception since, again, they over-booked our date. When we arrived at the reception location 1 hour before the ceremony, nothing was set up and there were only 2 staff members The ARMY Michelle referred to ended up being My entire family AND bridal party setting everything up 30 minutes before the ceremony.

In the end, AGAIN, Michelle is there to sell a date. We received everything that was in our original contract, but nothing more. I debate if the added stress to the day Due to the Paine was worth the beautiful setting...but I guess I'll decide when the pictures arrive. :)

Shopped this vendor heavily. Event planner was very unfriendly & the quality of service lacked. Unfortunate because the venue is so pretty. Would of probably picked this place if we felt we would have received a good value in service & venue for the amount of money they wanted.