Rochester Art Center Reviews

We had our wedding reception here, and although there is some construction around the building, none of the beautiful views were obstructed. The staff at the Art Center made our wedding reception run so smoothly; they were wonderful to work with. The venue itself is gorgeous, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the river and a beautiful park. Our guests loved it!

Absolutely awesome venue! I loved it and everyone we worked with was so helpful. Highly recommended!

Beautiful location, beautiful setting, and I know my guests loved it. There were lots of choices for catering, though be aware of the catering and alcohol fees. Also, be aware that the Art Center is strict about when they allow people to come set up, when they say 1pm they mean 1pm. If you are aware of the fees and the time limitations, then this is a really unique, beautiful setting for a wedding.

The Rochester Art Center is a beautiful place to have a wedding reception. They offer a variety of catering companies to chose from.

The space is beautiful and we received many positive comments from the guests. This was my first choice and the first thing I booked when I began planning.

The Art Center has gone through multiple changes in staff recently. This was overwhelming to me, and makes it difficult for reviews to be helpful, but overall this is a beautiful place for a reception. Make sure to ALSO rent Mayo park on the day of your event to ensure no other events can be held that day. The Art Center has contracts with 3 local caterers - this is who does the majority of the work. I would recommend the Art Center as a beautiful venue.

Not the best management to work with. Expensive place to rent and alcohol and food taxes make everything even more expensive. It is hard to do anything outside of the box with your event here. Everything must be done very traditionally and according to their rules. I would go elsewhere with your business if you are looking for a wedding venue.

Not flexible at all in regards to who can cater, do cake, when decorations can be put up, who can put decorations up, etc.

They are way overpriced. Excessive charges above and beyond any caterer's already marked up prices - additional 35% on alcohol and 15% on food. Don't forget the 8% sales tax on food, the 10% sales tax on alcohol, and 20% service charge (for waitstaff) that most caterers charge on the entire bill.

If you are made of money then go here. But don't make the mistake I did and think that you can just pay the $1500 rental fee and then try to make everything else cheaper at this reception venue. You definitely can not with all their strict rules and policies.

Beautiful place. I know they try hard. But jeez, you would think with all the money that you are giving them that they would be a little nicer to you and help take some of the stress off your shoulders. They definitely only add stress to your wedding planning in my opinion.

Do NOT host your event at the Art Center. Our experience was horrid. Getting a hold of the event coordinator was impossible and it wasn't uncommon to not have phone calls returned. Whenever we told a caterer or wedding planner we were hosting our wedding there they groaned. And, the fees are ridiculous. They charge 35% on ALL booze served (which must be served by a select list of caterers they give to you...i.e. we paid $350 per keg when it was all said and done) and 15% on all food served (again must choose caterer from their list of approved vendors). We are very laid back people, but dealing with the Art Center was an awful experience and it made our wedding way more stressful than it needed to be.