The Gillespie

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

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.

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!

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!