The Gillespie Reviews

This place was not only stunning but so easy. We truly had the best wedding ever.

The Gillespie is an absolutely gorgeous venue! We held our ceremony and reception in The Loft, which is a beautiful space. The main ballroom is incredible. It used to be a bank, so the ballroom looks like Gringotts or the bank from Mary Poppins! Jennifer was great to work with and was really quick to answer any and all of our questions.

We loved having our wedding at the Gillespie and the service we received helped everything to run smoothly. Jen and her staff were organized and helpful in ensuring that all the vendors had what they needed and were set up on time. Our wedding at the Gillespie was exactly what we wanted in large part because of Jen and her staff. We’d definitely recommend the Gillespie for an elegant and beautiful venue and an organized staff who will help make your event go off without a hitch!

Our wedding coordinator at the Gillespie, Tijen, was amazing! She kept our ceremony running smoothly and she was very detail oriented and attentive to our needs. Our wedding turned out more beautiful than we could have ever imagined and she played a large role in making sure everything was perfect! The Gillespie staff are very responsive to emails, phone calls, and text messages. Tijen made sure that if we needed anything at all before, during, or after the wedding she was available to help out. Thank you SO much for making our wedding day everything we dreamed of and more!

passalino’s was absolutely perfect!! we couldn’t have asked for a better experience on our wedding day

I am so incredibly thankful that we decided to have our wedding reception at the Gillespie! Jenn and Erin made everything so easy for us. I loved that they provided tables, chairs, table cloths, center pieces, up lighting, etc. Those were items that I was not looking forward to renting, so I was happy they were included. I worked a lot with Jenn and she was fantastic. She responded quickly and was super flexible. She even squeezed us in between her appointments so my MIL could see the venue on short notice. The Loft if BEAUTIFUL! It gave us the rustic feel that we wanted for our wedding. The brick wall is one of my favorite parts!! OH, and the old bank vault was SUPER neat!

The Gillespie was the perfect location for our wedding reception. They have two spaces, an older, more ornate first floor and a newer, loft area on the top floor, each has a very different feel. For our wedding, we were looking for a more contemporary space and the paper lanterns and exposed brick in the loft suited us perfectly. The space fit our 215+ guests comfortably and the dance floor was just the right size.

Concetta & Michelle are absolutely amazing and made my wedding magical. Concetta was there on my wedding day and she made me feel so special. The venue looked gorgeous and people were talking about it all night!

Concetta and Michelle were a pleasure to work with. They took the time to really understand what we wanted in our reception and then went the extra mile to deliver on every point. They were professional and always available to work with us to ensure that our day was perfect. Perhaps most importantly they were flexible and always found a way to meet our needs. Concetta an Michelle will ensure that your event is exactly what you want!!

Amy Otte Stokes made my experience at the Gillespie incredibly memorable. She made every moment so much fun and we still keep in touch today. Aesthetically the Gillespie is gorgeous, but when I reflect upon that day I always remember how good Amy was to us, and that made it that much more special.

The Gillespie is an AMAZINGLY beautiful place!! Emily and Liz were AMAZING with all of the details and made sure my day was everything I expected it to be!!.. Planning a wedding is stressful but these girls know how to take the stress out of it!.. Very professional and they had it all under control!!.. Thank you for such a wonderful experience!!

The Gillespie was the perfect place for our wedding and reception. It is a beautiful venue and provided plenty of space for our guests. Emily, the facility director was amazing to work with and made sure we had everything we needed for our special day. I highly recommend this venue!

We absolutely loved having our wedding at The Gillespie. It is a beautiful historical building with a wonderful staff! Couldn't have been more pleased!

We had our cocktail hour on the mezzanine and reception in the grand ballroom. We were the only event at the Gillespie that night.

In summary, The Gillespie is a beautiful, unique venue, and he staff is very helpful. Details below.

Venue: Since we first saw the Gillespie we thought it was a elegant, one-of-a-kind venue. Really liked how the cocktail hour on the mezzanine allowed guests to see the venue and decor before the reception started. Chandeliers are beautiful, up lighting is great, vault was cool photo op. The only minor complaint is that the ballroom floors are a bit stained (its a 85 year old venue), but with the up lighting you don't even notice.

Services: We worked with Amy, and she was always helpful and responsive. As the venue coordinator, she is responsible for everything that goes on at the Gillespie (set up, coordinating vendors, directing guests, etc). With Amy's and our other professional vendors, we felt that we did not need a wedding planner (so that is an opportunity to save some money), but that's really a decision that is probably dependent on each individual, as some brides may still want a planner to be in charge of the decisions and manage any issues outside of the reception.

Price: When all was said and done, I thought the price was reasonable compared to other downtown Louisville venues. The Gillespie does have additional fees (which they are upfront about). I would recommend when making your decision to understand all the fees of the venues you are considering since they are all priced differently.

We got married at the Gillespie June 16th so I am late in writing this but we just returned from our Honeymoon and finally are out of the post-wedding haze and have time to catch up on things. For anyone looking into the Gillespie, we had an AMAZING experience and I would strongly recommend it. I last minute scheduled a tour with them and when we were picking a venue and it was the best decision I made.

What a fabulous experience everyone had at the Gillespie! It was so perfect and beautiful. All of our guests raved about every aspect of your venue. And everyone at the Gillespie was so professional and helpful and organized. We greatly appreciate everything!

We looked at many venues and the Gillespie was by far the very best in Louisville in many ways (see below) in our opinion! We looked at most ALL of the venues in the Louisville area since we did not have a strong direction when we started the search. I truly think we may have toured over 25 venues trying to find one that felt right.

The beauty of the venue is so impressive and makes such a statement. I love the detailed ceilings on the second floor, ALL chandeliers everywhere, the gorgeous entry foyer, the furniture and wood walls and doors in the bride's dressing area, the beautiful flooring on the main floor, the lighted draping above the main floor, the branches with up-lighting - exquisite!!!!, the fact that guests could look down on the main floor while upstairs, the vault in the basement, and the iron gate doors leading in to the main floor, and the gold chairs that accent all of the gold on the main floor. Just the GRAND nature of all of that was spectacular!

Also, you offered many things that NO other venue offered, which helped tremendously with our budget: the discount on the liquor, the centerpieces, the tablecloths, the discounted bar package, and the up-lighting.

I have NO suggestions for change. LOVED EVERYTHIN

Our wedding reception at the Gillespie was absolutely beautiful! We used the Mezzanine upstairs for our cocktail hour and the main ballroom for the reception. This venue has a very historic feel and we absolutely loved it. Many of our guests commented on how unique it was, and they all loved the bank vault that was available for our guests to see! Very beautiful venue with wonderful staff that were always willing to help and do what they could to make our day perfect. The bartenders were also very accommodating and friendly and did a fantastic job. Overall wonderful venue!

A unique space. Erika is wonderful and they are very easy to work with.

Beautiful venue, but very expensive, multiple service fees. Excellent customer service.

We used the Loft Space in the Gillespie. Amy was very helpful and accommodating to ensure our day was a success! The loft is a great modern space, I absolutely loved having our reception there!

Jen really worked hard to make our day special. Everything about the venue was beautiful and the whole day was incredibly smooth.
Be aware that you must have a "bar" through them, which adds up quick. But they are easy to work with and helped make sure we had everything ready for the big day.

The loft is a beautiful space that fit my needs exactly. The staff is great and helpful.

This venue is absolutely beautiful, and our day was absolutely perfect. You want to think that when you get "so much" with your venue rental such as tables, chairs, basic linens, basic centerpieces, and basic lighting that planning would be so much less stressful because it is all in one place. However it is a huge headache if you want to take the basics provided and give them your own personal touch/ take it to the next level.

Anytime we tried contacting the vendor about trying to do something for the day we were met with "for liability reasons...[No]" which is understandable considering it is a business and they need to protect themselves. That being said some things were not unreasonable requests.

For context we were not allowed to take the basic centerpieces home the night before to add our florals "for liability reasons" so the day of we had to bring in all of the extras, at first we were not going to be able to get in until noon and thankfully they granted us two extra hours as we had the whole building, but even still the day of had me quite frazzled and I am NOT a bridezilla.

All in all even though I loved our day, and I am happy we got to enjoy the beauty of this venue, I recommend to those thinking about this place, if you are going to jump in, prepared to empty your wallet for every little thing, whether it be to the venue for things "extra" or to someone else who will do the "extra" things for you. Or do it yourself and add to an already stressful time.

This is a great space to hold a wedding reception. It is in the heart of downtown Louisville and is absolutely beautiful inside. What I didn't like about this venue was that the dance floor in the loft is separated from everyone. Ideally, it'd be great to have the wedding party at the far side of the room, then the dance floor which is surrounded by the tables. You can re-arrange however you'd like, but the pillars make it awkward for you to see your guest and vice versa. Also, I didn't appreciate the rather long response time that the management/event planner took to get back with me. Small things, such as knowing the square footage of the loft space for draping, should be known by the event manager. My then fiancé and I waited on average of 3-5 days for a response back to emails when we had a question. Forget about getting her with a phone call. Even the caterer couldn't reach her. I also felt as though she was professional for the most part, but didn't come off as "friendly". It was strictly business and I felt like yet another bride that she had to deal with. That's the worst feeling in the world when you have more than enough on your plate to tackle as a soon-to-be bride. Lastly, I wouldn't recommend getting linens. They no longer send their linens out to be cleaned and pressed so it's all in house. Not a good decision at all. Go with your caterer if you like pressed and clean linens.

The Gillespie’s historic environment and overall beauty drew us in. I knew this was were I wanted to get married and celebrate with our friends and family. Communication from the Gillespie to us had always been fast and efficient. Originally, we felt good about the price but as time went on it increased. In my experience, the Gillespie functions as a wedding economy that seems to put money first and clients second. Everything was a fee. Working in the wedding industry I understand that most venues function like this. But the Gillespie felt like a wedding system rather than an intentional experience. The prices from everything to flipping a room, using the bar, etc was hefty.


Additionally, those I worked with from the Gillespie were unlike other wedding vendors I have worked with. When you work with brides and their families, one must be relational, people oriented and focused on a positive memorial experience. Unfortunately, the coordinator I hired through the Gillespie was unkind to me and my vendors. Instead of being met with kindest and understanding, myself my family and my vendors were met with rudeness and hostility. This coordinator continued to remind me throughout the day that I hadn’t done things the way she recommended, even though it seemed to go just fine. (Ex: cake before first dance) In another insistence the coordinator interrupted my videographer collecting audio after being asked to wait a moment. (We had to redo this segment). At the ceremony rehearsal, the coordinator made sure to vocally highlight things I had mistakenly left out of the details. When reflecting on your wedding day, you only focus on the beauty, fun and life changing experiences. But in writing reviews I wanted to be fair and honest about the experience we had. Our day was amazing and the Gillespie was beautiful. But to continue to thrive as a beloved wedding venue, the Gillespie must grow in what it means to be relational, understanding and empathic toward their clients and future clients. Until this happens, I would not recommend using their services.

Had my wedding here on October 27, 2018 and I regret giving these people my money and trusting them with my event. Rehearsal was freezing we asked the wedding coordinator stated that it will be warmer for my wedding. As I’m getting prepared for the wedding I’m getting phone calls saying this place is freezing they won’t do anything about it, they are being nasty about the situation.
Upon my arrival I am meet by my caterer saying this place has no hot water! He says I have to run across the street to ask can I buy some hot water. If there is no hot water no food. So he end of paying a restaurant for hot water and had to warm up his own water for hot water.( there is a video) As I get upstairs I instantly notice how cold it was, I mean it was colder than outside.( I have pictures of the thermostat) coordinator repeated it will warm up when your guest arrive. Long story short, it never did my guest left my wedding during pictures and during reception because it was so uncomfortable. The Gillespie tried to offer us bottles of alcohol stating “we want to try to warm you up from the inside out” but me and my husband don’t drink, which was stated several times so we gave it to our guest. Cutting my cake everyone that was there had to turn they cell phone light on to get a good picture. After cutting the cake, we just decided to clean up and leothe venue even with time available.
When I see my guest I hear how well my food was how beautiful the wedding was but the first thing everyone always say is WHY WAS IT SO COLD, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL BUT FREEZING.
This is ridiculous! We have so many pictures of all the obstacles that we where faced with. Will be posted soon!
It was the 4th! Pictures coming soon. If there was an event after mines if it was perfect it’s because of my team! Will be taking further action!!!!!

We were very disappointed with The Gillespie. We had the ceremony and reception in The Loft and it was absolutley not ready to have an event in. There were many problems with the room that were fixed the day before the event (after us being told they would be fixed weeks earlier). Some problems were never fixed such as no where to hang our dresses in "the Bridal Suite", no mirrors in "the Bridal Suite", or ladies bathroom, the kitchen was a mess and not usable, and one air conditioner was turned off during the event. The actual wedding was so hot and we asked repeatedly about the air to no avail. We were told that we would have an awesome place to get ready and that was not the case. The room they gave us for the bridal suite was laughable. We paid someone to put table runners on the tables and tie chair sashes on the chairs and set up a time to do this and then the tables and chairs were not there. The original coordinator we were working with left and took another job. The only way we found out was after emails not being returned and finally calling 2 weeks before the wedding. On top of all of this the owner avoided us all week and when he was there he didnt introduce himself or act professional at all. The night of the wedding my dad tried to talk to him about turning the other air conditioner on and he would avoid him by walking the other way. We called and left messages after the wedding trying to talk to the owner but he never returned our calls. It was very frustrating and required a lot of work to make this situation doable.

I used the Gillespie for my wedding reception only. We picked it because it was available the same date as our church, the prices seemed reasonable, and it seemed like a unique place. The event went well and we got a lot of compliments from our guests, but I would not pick it again and I would not recommend it thanks to a lot of little things by the coordinator.

You have to give them the hours you want to use the venue in order to actual get a contract signed. I had to do this 9 months out to make sure we got the venue, so I had to estimate the hours. A few months out from the wedding I asked to move the hours we put down an hour later. I could not do this without paying extra. However, they decided on their own to end my event an hour early to coordinate better with the bar hours. They told me they just thought they would want the event to end when the bar closed. Of course I didn't considering I already wanted the event to go later. They didn't offer me any other options to coordinate the ending time with the bar hours, until I asked if I could close the bar for an hour during dinner.

They also promote the great vault they have to take pictures. However, they store the ficus trees in the stairwell, which I didn't want to pay 300 dollars for to decorate the venue. Since I didn't want the trees I couldn't get the vault, so really the vault costs 300 dollars.

I just got the overall impression from the coordinator that she disliked her job. She was not helpful. Perhaps she is used to dealing with wedding coordinators who are more familiar with planning weddings, I don't know, but I felt like I was really on my own (which is frustrating as a bride).

She would not help with our set up at all. My mother and mother-in-law had to do everything. When mentioning my displeasure with the venue after our event, my mother-in-law told me that when she and my mom would ask for something, the venue coordinator would tell them that wasn't her job. Luckily, the head of catering was willing to assist with items.

She also failed to inform me that I overpaid by several thousand dollars until weeks after the wedding when I emailed her to ask when I would get my security deposit back.

Also, be aware they do not allow storage overnight. You or your vendors are responsible for removing everything after the wedding. I learned of this just a few weeks out when my florist told me The Gillespie is the only venue that requires this. The florist does not pick up their vases after events so I would have to pay extra, have my out of town family take them to their hotel rooms or ask the caterer if they could hold them. Luckily the caterer did it for me.

Another example of their inability to work with you, when I arrived at my cocktail hour about 15 minutes early, since I am the bride, I walked up to the bar to get a drink. I did after all pay them thousands of dollars to be there. That's when the bartender proceeded to tell me that they weren't officially open yet. I had to look at them and tell them I am the bride and I would like a drink. It may have been my only bridezilla moment of the entire event. They had all the alcohol that I paid for sitting there but couldn't give me a drink 15 minutes before the event?

Again, the event went well, but it was no thanks to the venue coordinator and perhaps if I paid for a wedding coordinator they could have taken care of a lot of the issues, but as a bride dealing directly with the venue I felt like they did the bare minimum.