The Bloomington Center for Performing Arts Reviews

This venue is very roomy and can accommodate 300+ wedding guests. The ballroom is beautiful and makes for the perfect reception location! Staff was very helpful and friendly! The dressing rooms were a great place for the girls to get ready due to lots of counter space, outlets, lighting and mirrors for make up and hair! White lights wrapped around the columns transformed the space into something of a fairy tale! I couldn't imagine my reception at any other place!

The BCPA was the best choice for my wedding reception. I wanted to use outside catering and it is hard to find a location within Bloomington/Normal that will allow this. It was refreshing to not have the same hotel wedding as the others I had been attending. The place all provides for some beautiful pictures. You have to be a little flexible with your date if you are wanting to book here as they book all their regular events first and then you can choose any leftover dates. They are great with communicating and can answer any questions you may have. This will be one of the best choices you make!

The BCPA is a beautiful, large and character-filled place to have your wedding reception. It's a little pricey ($2100 if you are serving alcohol), but for my money it's completely worth it for such a unique space. They set up as many tables and chairs as you need and also rent linens (tablecloths, napkins and skirting) for low prices. David Young was very easy to work with, gave you all information upfront and responded quickly to emails. The only reason I gave this facility four stars for flexibility was because there are a few more rules for decorating than other places, simply because it is a historical relic and they must take precautions to protect it. I had no issues with this (it's gorgeous enough on its own!) but I know some people like to go all out decorating and they might be unhappy with some of the limitations.

We went with the BCPA because they allow you to use outside vendors which helps greatly on cost! Even those the reception venue is a little more pricey, you get to save with food and bar vendors! I planned my wedding from out of state, so they were very helpful via email for most of the process. They were also very accommodating for when I was home to visit to be able to get into the building and get ideas put together.
I have to say the only thing I really don't like is that they charge your PER hour for set up on the day before.

The BCPA is a beautiful and unique venue in the Bloomington/Normal area. With it being right downtown, it was convenient for guests. We were able to get some amazing photographs in the venue and the City of Bloomington workers did a great job with the set up. David Young was very quick to response to emails, even when I kept bugging him to get into the venue for various reasons ahead of time. My only complaint was David was not actually present for the rehearsal or for much of the actual wedding day activities, but since I had a wedding planner it wasn't a problem for me.