Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Reviews
Reviews
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Featured
![Victoria]()
Victoria Sent on 10/11/2021The best venue!
PAFA is incredible, it's the only venue we looked at and it didn't disappoint! We got married in the Historic Building and the photos are gorgeous. Everyone kept commenting on how cool it was to have the museum to ourselves and be in the gallery and it's so special to us that we can go back anytime as museum visitors. We LOVED getting married at PAFA and the staff was amazing to work with. I could not recommend it more!! -
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![Jamie]()
Jamie Sent on 04/22/2022Beautiful venue
From the moment we walked into PAFA, we knew it was our wedding venue. It is beautiful, unique, and the staff was truly amazing. We had to reschedule multiple times due to the pandemic, but Kate, Adrienne, Rose, and everyone else was incredibly accommodating. Our guests loved looking at the art and couldn't stop commenting on the beautiful venue. Our wedding went off without a hitch and it was in part thanks to the hard working and organized team at PAFA! -
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Stephanie Sent on 08/26/2021
Micro wedding at PAFA
WOW!!! Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a hidden gem in Philly; full of character, romance, and history. The perfect wedding venue for a wedding. Kate, Director of Events, was so insightful, friendly, and responsive. She connected us to amazing team of vendors, from photographer, florists, and caterer. They all kept us informed, and on track to our big day. PAFA is a magical place to have a wedding; our guests loved that we had the museum to ourselves, and the opportunity for photos are endless. From our first looks on the roof top, to the beautiful pictures in the galleries; everything was a dream. So glad we chose PAFA. It was everything we ever dreamed of plus some. (Photograph credit: Iris and Echo-Maria) -
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Nicolette Sent on 08/16/2021
the most beautiful venue, with the best support!
Kate at PAFA has been amazing from the beginning. She was able to schedule a phone call with me right away to talk about the venue, which florists to reach out to, and great help with catering food. The venue is amazing, and guests were really taken aback by the history of the museum being the first art museum in America and the ceremony was beautiful. I had such a great time planning the wedding with them, and it went seamlessly. Cannot say enough great things about PAFA! -
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![Olivia]()
Olivia Sent on 08/16/2021perfect and accommodating
Kate & Harry were awesome! They were organized and took time to go over all the details. Very accommodating and helpful especially in covid times. Stunning venue! -
![Megan]()
Megan Sent on 11/22/2020Wonderful Experience at a Beautiful Venue!
PAFA is a breathtakingly beautiful, elegant building! My husband and I celebrated our wedding at PAFA's historical building in August 2020. When we first looked into PAFA, we knew we wanted a smaller wedding and to us, one of the benefits of PAFA (besides its absolutely gorgeous architecture and art) was the variety of spaces that could be used depending on guest count. Kate Young walked us through various options and offered helpful recommendations regarding vendors and just general wedding-planning resources and advice. We ended up having a super small wedding (10 guests) and had a perfect ceremony spot that felt just right for our small group. Plus, we had the museum to ourselves, letting our guests be able to wander the museum and soak in the beauty, which was a truly unique experience.
Obviously, PAFA is beautiful–with stunning design, art, and colors that will add to your day and photos–but the PAFA team is really what made PAFA such a perfect venue choice. We worked primarily with Kate Young, from the beginning of the process to the end. Through all of the stress and last-minute decisions and changes required when planning a wedding during Covid, Kate was professional, caring, organized, and quick to respond. She made an effort to understand our vision and provided helpful insight from her experience. Every email, call, or zoom with her made us feel calmer, knowing she had things handled. On the wedding day, she continued to exude calmness and positivity, helping out wherever she was needed to keep things running smoothly, from coordinating with the other vendors to setting up our guests' favors to playing DJ. We highly recommend this venue! -
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![Leah]()
Leah Sent on 11/10/2020PAFA family
My husband and I wanted a small wedding from the start, and despite Covid-19 we did not want to wait any longer. We were told that PAFA was providing "mini/micro wedding" and we knew it was perfect for us. We cannot say enough good things about PAFA! Kate worked with us from the very beginning to the very end ensuring every detail was perfect. She was absolutely wonderful! It was a very stress free experience, even during covid because of her. Thank you Kate :) Safety was a top priority, but so was making sure our special day was everything we wanted it to be! We are so grateful to PAFA and all of our amazing vendors who helped make this "mini wedding" possible. It was clear from the beginning they truly care about the couples and that meant a lot to us. I highly recommend this beautiful venue for your wedding! Thank you team PAFA! -
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![Katie]()
Katie Sent on 04/15/2020Beautiful venue, made us feel at home.
We loved many things about PAFA, but most especially how welcoming and accomodating their staff is. When I first met with Kate Young, when we were first looking at venues, she made me feel immediately at ease, and very quickly suggested ways to make our wedding at PAFA special for us. Not only is it a beautiful museum, but there are two of them! Since our wedding was the only event that evening, we were able to take photographs in the historic landmark building, while our reception occured in the Hamilton building. Kate and Marissa worked tirelessly with use to coordinate with our vendors and make sure everything went off without a hitch- which it did! And you cannot beat the location on Broad Street- we were even able to sneak out to catch a photograph in the snow during the reception! -
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![Janet]()
Janet Sent on 12/15/2019Perfect wedding venue
PAFA is exquisite. The level of class and elegance provided the perfect ambiance for our wedding. PAFA at night, is a romantic and magical place. Kate and Lauren (from Constellation Catering) are excellent. They went above and beyond. They were so kind and attentive in every way to insure we had the perfect wedding. The preplanning was meticulous and everything was executed smoothly throughout the wedding. Absolutely amazing venue and stellar people to work with for our most memorable night! -
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![Jane]()
Jane Sent on 10/02/2019Unique venue! Amazing staff! Best wedding ever!
We had been to PAFA’s historic building for a party about two years before we got engaged and had an absolute blast, so when we got engaged it was one of the first places we wanted to look into for our wedding. It’s such an incredibly unique space that is both very fancy but also doesn’t have a stuffy vibe. Kate Young gave us a tour and talked us through all of the options that they offered, and it was clear that the staff there would work with us to help pull off our big day. Kate McCammon took over once we were officially booked and was helpful throughout the entire process. She made us feel confident that all of the details would be handled on our big day, and I was just always really surprised by how helpful everyone was, giving recommendations about vendors and overall advice on the run of show and how to make our day perfect. For our big day, Kate M worked with us so we could get in early to take photos before our ceremony. The backdrop was just so stunning, and we even got to take some photos in front of our favorite paintings in the collection. During the entire reception, everything ran perfectly, and our friends and family were just so blown away by the space. It was such an amazing place to celebrate and have our big day, and so memorable! -
![Charlie]()
Charlie Sent on 05/22/2019PAFA: a great venue
Beautiful venue with great works of art! Staff very friendly, flexible, and professional; for our wedding they helped a lot in planning the ceremony and reception. -
![Erica]()
Erica Sent on 11/19/2018Gorgeous venue & professional service
We are so glad we chose to have our wedding reception at PAFA's Historic Landmark Building. We worked closely with Kate McCammon and Duffy's Catering (one of their two caterer options), and we also worked occasionally with Kate Young. Everyone was extremely kind, organized, quick to respond, and knowledgable. Kate McCammon shined as one of the best vendors we worked with; when it came time to organize day-of timeline details with our other vendors, I learned that Kate was already in contact with all of them and that she accomplished this huge organizational task for me. Talk about a bride's dream! Our wedding day went off without a problem, and our guests LOVED the venue (obviously, we did too). We had around 150 guests, which was the perfect number for the rotunda. The art along the walls made for beautiful decor, and an unforeseen pro of our venue choice was that we could keep our florals and other decorations simple (and more affordable) so that PAFA's art could shine. Our guests also enjoyed having two galleries opened during the dancing portion, so that any one who needed a break from dancing could mingle and enjoy the art. We had our Photobooth in one of the side galleries, which encouraged people to continue enjoying the art. Our first look was in the cast room and our family photos were in a portrait room, and you can see from the pictures that ALL the areas PAFA has to offer will be gorgeous during the wedding day and in the photos afterward. If you want classy, glamorous, and professional at an affordable and competitive venue price, then I highly recommend PAFA. We would choose PAFA over and over again if we could. -
Colleen Sent on 02/07/2018PAFA was an incredible choice for our wedding reception. We needed a larger venue than our ceremony venue could hold (Masonic Temple, which is right across the street). The Hamilton Building at PAFA gave a beautiful juxtaposition of our very ornate venue for the ceremony. Going from a very historic museum such as the Masonic temple, across the street to the bright and modern Hamilton Building at PAFA, was really the perfect combination. You could get this same dichotomy by having your ceremony at PAFA's other building, and hold the reception in the Hamilton Building. My husband is a Free Mason, so we chose to get married in his lodge for financial reasons. Annah and Kate were INCREDIBLE and made everything we wanted to happen, happen. From planning, through to picking up our vases/flowers etc the following Monday, we couldn't have asked for better people to work with. Annah even helped me find and connect me with a baker for my gluten free wedding cake, when many bakeries were not responding to me. They were pleasant, always having a great attitude, and willing to help with anything we needed.
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