The Blackwell Reviews

To say our wedding day was perfect is a huge understatement. The venue has been courteous, helpful, informative, and above all with the pandemic they were upfront and always eager to problem solve in a way that worked with CDC guidelines and our wishes.
The venue was not only pristine but also updated and beautiful. We were able to have options on where we wanted our ceremony to take place and have a backup plan for rain.
We worked with Michaela throughout the majority of our planning and as our date became closer we also worked with Melodie. Michaela has obviously been through this process many times before as she is organized, professional, supportive, and especially kind. Both women treated us like their top priority in every conversation, email, meeting, and even video chat when the physical meeting wasn’t timely.
When we arrived at the hotel to the minute we left, the amenities and care every single staff member took with our family was beyond what we expected. Not one individual had any issues and every aspect of the day was carefully thought out and planned. We were offered every accommodation we could have dreamed of and more.
We have run into complications with the university and our postponed reception date however with the help of the Michaela and Melodie even this situation has been stress free so far.

Photos: City and Country Photography

The Blackwell was amazing! The coordinator, Madison, who comes with signing into the venue was amazing and very helpful. The chef was very professional and did an excellent job. He gave us a quiz before creating the tasting menu to get to know the groom and I and then created a personalized menu. He did an absolutely wonderful job. The wedding was absolutely seamless! We did the ceremony at a church and probably wouldn't have chosen the Blackwell if we planned on doing the ceremony there because the outdoor area most people do the ceremony in is in the middle of the OSU business school and just not our style. Also, parking is not free in the area but there is reasonable valet parking.

My husband and I were married last month and couldn’t rave more about our experience with The Blackwell in Columbus, Ohio. We looked at two locations for our wedding reception, The Blackwell was our second appointment one day, to be followed by two more. Once we met with Blaire at The Blackwell, we canceled our other appointments! She was amazing, couldn’t have been better. She was so comforting and welcoming to us and our families. She had the most amazing ideas, was accommodating, easy to get a hold of, had an amazing attitude and so so professional! Blaire even worked with my Maid of Honor in planning our stay for my bachelorette party. In addition to our service, The Blackwell itself was beautiful. There is so much room and the area is perfect for accommodating hors d'oeuvres/cocktail hour, outdoor area for guests to mingle and the ballroom was spacious and accommodating to our 250ish guests. The food was unbelievable. We had so many compliments on our dinner, they managed to cook about 100 steaks perfectly! We had many compliments on the rooms too, our guests couldn’t have been happier. We’ve not heard ONE negative thing about The Blackwell, they did an amazing job. Blaire Blechinger is WONDERFUL.

The venue was absolutely beautiful and the people there are so helpful. The events coordinator was a God send for me. She was with me every step of the way.

When my now husband proposed in December 2016, we had absolutely no idea what we were looking for in a venue. We knew we wanted a summer 2017 wedding, if possible, and went to at least 10 different venues. Big, small, indoor, outdoor... you name it. When we found The Blackwell, it just felt like everything clicked for us. For starters, Madison Martin is worth her weight in GOLD. She is hands down the best asset and perk to hosting your wedding at The Blackwell! She held my hand every step of the way, and helped me with every decision. She connected me to the majority of my vendors as well, all of whom I loved. We also absolutely loved having our ceremony, reception, and hotel block all in the same place. This was a HUGE perk for us! The Blackwell made everything effortless. They listened to every detail, and gave us the wedding of our dreams. From decor to the amazing food, you absolutely cannot go wrong at the Blackwell!

Madison and The Blackwell were absolutely amazing to work with! She worked with all of our vendors so that I didn't have to worry about a thing on the day of the wedding. She was quick to respond and the venue was absolutely wonderful. From basically moving in the day before the wedding, to the rehearsal, to the reception, it was truly amazing. I would recommend The Blackwell and Madison to anyone who was looking for a indoor and/or outdoor venue.

Do it! Madison Martin is the best!

size of your group as it is not a large space but a very nice space. Nice area for drinks and hor' deurves outside ball room
fantastic staff and service

They are great our wedding coordinator make sure everything was customized perfectly to the way that we wanted our wedding because as she said each wedding is unique to the person they did an outstanding job with making sure all of our needs were met and sticking to the budget that we had given them I would recommend the Blackwell to all of my friends and family not just for a wedding but for any event.

My friends and family are STILL talking about their incredible experience at The Blackwell! From the amenities, to the food and service... Madison and her team paid attention to every detail on my wedding day so all I had to do was show up and enjoy every moment! My husband and I hope The Blackwell becomes an annual tradition for our anniversary, it really is a special place to us.

I would recommend the Blackwell Inn to anyone! Rita Bassiet and Madison McAllister supported our event in wonderful ways. They are the best!

The Blackwell Hotel is a top notch place to host any event. It is the perfect place to have a wedding. It is a no brainer ! We had our son's rehearsal dinner there for approximately 70. We also used the Blackwell hotel for the wedding guests . The rehearsal dinner ballroom was beautiful, The area for the cocktail hour was also amazing with views of the University. The hotel staff was extremely professional, helpful, nice, from the reception people, housekeeping, audio visual people, meal servers. The best thing about hosting these 2 events at the Blackwell was the Event Planner- Madison and the incredible CHEF David !! He prepared the most delicious and beautiful food. We had Chilean Sea bass, A chicken selection and also a vegetarian. If you want an amazing menu for your event at the Blackwell ask for the menu that he prepared on May 13, 2016!! Beautiful salad, a delicious dessert and the Bride and Groom Chocolate covered strawberries. The presentation was beautiful. Everyone raved about the food and are still raving. Also we had the Farewell Breakfast the day after the wedding for around 45. The Wedding Coordinator - Madison was also incredible. She responded very quickly and took care of everything for us. She made it so easy for us and she thought of everything and made sure our 2 events went smoothly. I had been working with her for over 9 months and it was such a pleasure to work with her! Madison also made all the shuttle arrangements for the wedding because we had to transport the hotel guests 20 miles to the wedding site and for the wedding pictures on Campus. Thank you Madison and Chef David! I would host an event there again in a heartbeat! It is the perfect place for any wedding or rehearsal dinner.

The Blackwell is an absolute dream to work with. The hotel accommodations are flawless, the food is excellent, and the staff is wonderful!! Our Buckeye Wedding went off without a hitch! Many thanks to Madison and her staff for all their hard work. Everything was incredible. We couldn't be happier. My advice is this - book your wedding here!

The Blackwell was an amazing place to have our dream wedding! We knew we wanted to do a hotel wedding for the convenience of having everything in one place. We were worried about the cost, but the Blackwell was very reasonable and we got everything we wanted and more. The Blackwell is a beautiful venue with classic and modern touches. It was also important to us to have a fun area around our venue because we scheduled a break for pictures and guests had the opportunity to explore the campus area around the hotel. Another wonderful experience was providing the hotel with all decorations, demonstrating how we wanted it to look and they set up everything perfectly. Our wedding coordinator really listened to everything that was important to us and made sure everything ran smoothly. The entire staff was nothing but helpful and accommodating the day of the event. For example, we needed a bar stool high chair for my make up artist to work and they sent one up to the suite. This is just one of hundreds of stories of how helpful everyone the day of the wedding! You will not regret booking this venue for your wedding!

We cannot thank the Blackwell staff enough for the amazing outcome of our New Year's Eve wedding. Along with our two-day stay at the hotel, our entire wedding was virtually flawless. Everything went according to plan. From the decor, to the setup, food, staff, accommodations, and overall experience, we were more than pleased. A special thank you to the Blackwell's wedding coordinator, Madison McAllister, for overseeing our event and making it a dream come true!

If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't change a thing. The Blackwell did an excellent job with the ceremony. They have event coordinators who helped me every step of the way! I couldn't have asked for a better, more responsive, or more knowledgable team. They were all fantastic!!

Efficient staff, great event planner, lovely location, made having a wedding appear easy to the guests

The Blackwell was perfect for our wedding! We decided on the Blackwell because it really is an all-in-one place where you can literally check off half your wedding list just by booking at the Blackwell. Not only was it just a venue, the catering and restaurant serves great food; it comes with a hotel room block for your guests; their pastry chef makes amazing cakes; they have great decor items that you can pick from; and on top of that Rachel, the wedding coordinator and the rest of the Blackwell staff are so helpful and awesome at their jobs. It really made planning a wedding so easy and I planned my wedding from a different state. My wedding planner ended up not being able to come, but Rachel made sure our wedding ran smoothly. The decor set up was exactly as I had imagined it and everything was just perfect. The food was great- my guests couldn't stop raving about the food. I was even able to book the town car to help move the wedding party to campus for photos. For all of these wonderful aspects, the price was also reasonable and not too pricey. Definitely would recommend this venue to my friends!

Excellent place to hold an event with exceptional staff! They are all willing to help and accommodate all your needs.

Rachel Remy, with The Blackwell, far exceeded our expectations. Everything was beyond what we had hoped for and I will highly recommend this venue for a wedding.

The Blackwell could not have been a more perfect venue for our September wedding. First of all, working with the coordinator Rachel was fantastic. She really took the worry out of everything and pulled all the details together. I was in constant communication with Rachel from the time i booked the venue until our wedding. She had great ideas and was always timely in her responses. I didn't have to lift a finger for set up or tear down, The Blackwell staff did it all for me. We had our ceremony and reception at The Blackwell since most of our guests were from out of town, and it was so nice that no one had to travel anywhere. We even hosted a morning brunch to say farewell to our guests. The food was phenomenal, not to mention the sliders and fries we had delivered to our honeymoon suite for the wedding party after the gig was over. Umm, yum!

The wedding coordinator, Rachel, was extremely responsive to all my and my families emails and questions throughout the entire process. We had never ending questions and she responded to all of them in a timely manner.
There were a lot of small, personal touches that were very helpful and nice. For example, the Presidential Suite is complimentary the night of the wedding, as long as it is available. This was such a wonderful room! We also reserved it for Friday night so it allowed me a place to stay the night before but then also gave the ladies a place to get ready the day of the wedding. That worked really well.
Also, as the ceremony was about to begin, Blackwell staff took the box of envelopes and gifts up to the suite for us so that they weren't sitting out unwatched and then it was also waiting in our room for us. It's nice that none of my family had to worry about doing that.
The staff also left my new hubby and I a small plate of cheese, chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of Champagne, and a note of congratulations in our suite the night of our wedding. What a nice touch to end the evening!
We also loved that we were able to change the location of our ceremony from inside the ballroom to outside underneath their tailgating tent less than 48 hours before our wedding. We saw that the weather was going to be gorgeous and asked the coordinator if we could move the ceremony outside and it was no problem! She said they just need at least 24 hours notice. Some other venues we had interviewed needed a one week notice to change from outside to inside, so our last minute change being accommodated was great!
The service at the wedding was fantastic and the food was great! We had no complaints on any part of the planning process or the execution of our wedding day. The only thing that wasn't quite as planned was that we wanted the sides of the tent to be completely rolled up and they weren't. They were just tied open, but it wasn't a big a deal.

We visited 7 venue sites. The Blackwell offered the most customized service to meet our needs. We had guests arriving from around the world and logistics were tricky but the Blackwell provided us with several options. We had our rehearsal dinner here as well as our large reception. The customer service is second to none. The food was amazing and our guests were impressed. They are so flexible with ideas, space and preentation. Our wedding cake was gorgeous and you meet with the baker to finalize your choices. We worked with Rachel Remy, the Blackwell's wedding coordination and she was awesome. She was actually at our events making sure they ran well and that everything was in the proper place. The staff from the wait staff to the front desk to the bar folks and on and on were professional, courteous and accomodating. We highly recommend them. Also, many photo opportunities that are unique. Across from the OSU stadium/horseshow and they have both indoor and outdoor spaces. Very very pleased with our weekend.

I cannot say enough about The Blackwell. From the very beginning, contact with The Blackwell was very prompt and professional. It was always very effortless to have all my questions or concerns addressed. When we first signed the contract with The Blackwell, Blair was the coordinator. A few months before the wedding, Rachel, Blair’s previous assistant, took over as the main coordinator as Blair moved on to a different venue. The transition was seamless. We had a very nice and delicious tasting with the chef there to explain the food and answer any questions while Rachel went through a rundown of our day. Before meeting with Rachel, my ideas were very scattered in my head but as she asked questions, she helped me organize and develop what I truly wanted relieving a lot of stress. The day of, everything was perfect! I had no worries as The Blackwell handles all deliveries, set up, and timing issues. Everything was perfect! The food was amazing, all my décor was exactly where I imagined it, and we had a nacho cheese fountain for a late night snack. We received so many compliments! Everything was perfect!