After spending seven months on the hunt for the perfect wedding venue, I was ready to give up. I'm not going to lie, I am picky; I specifically wanted a large, open, indoor space with natural light, and minimal furnishings - ultimately, a blank canvas. Just something neutral, classy, and easy to work with my vision for my wedding. Apparently I was asking too much, because every other typical wedding site was $3000+ to rent, required you to use their vendors (boooo), had hideous carpet or tapestries, or their coordinators liked to ignore me. Then, in a final search of desperation, I found a link to Great Hall at Green Lake. It was meant to be. Nelda was super prompt in responding to me (major cookies and points here), friendly, and didn't just want to throw numbers at me. My fiance and I scheduled a tour of the place and Nelda showed us every nook and cranny, and was more than happy to answer all of our questions. Very reasonable rental prices (in comparison to all the other wedding venues out there) and Nelda is very up-front about any optional/additional costs. I am not a bridezilla, but I do expect a professional attitude and level of interest from someone acting as a vendor on one of the most important days of my life, and I am happy to say that thus far, the communication process and tour of the space has been perfect; I cannot wait to have my wedding here next spring, and I will surely return with another review. read more

This is a beautiful, simple venue. My now husband and I decided to get married here because we loved the flexibility in being able to hire our own caterers and other vendors. I also really liked that it got a lot of natural lighting in the building. We initially wanted an outdoor wedding but being in Seattle, that was too much of a risk to take even in the month of August. We were initially concerned that it would be too hot and that we would need to rent air conditioners but it was pretty cool outside that day so we did not need to. They also had some large portable fans on the stage if needed but we did not need them on our wedding day. The staff was very hands-off. We scheduled a tour twice and sometimes it seemed like they were not expecting us. I think it was because someone was on their way out of the job and some things needed to be communicated. They were very flexible about letting us come in to look at the place for a second time with our wedding coordinator and set out chairs and tables to see what it would be like, they basically left us alone and said we could leave whenever we were finished. They have one larger room upstairs to be used as a bridal suite, and then one smaller room downstairs that seemed too small to be a second bridal suite. I ended up letting the groom/groomsmen get ready in the main, larger bridal suite, then us ladies got ready at my friend's house, and then we told the guys to leave when we were on our way and that worked out pretty well. I had about 120ish people at my wedding and it was pretty tight when the tables were out, like my husband and I could barely walk across to get to our table and people had to stand and scoot in. During there ceremony, it was perfectly fine. The main thing that was an issue for me is that they do not have a dumpster that we could use and expected us to haul our own trash out after the wedding reception. They charged quite a lot of money if we were to leave trash for them to dispose of. I think that was the most stressful part, and they also said that we can't dump garbage in the neighboring dumpsters. This was the only reason for me taking off one star. Otherwise, I loved this venue for my wedding! read more

The venue itself deserves 5 stars. The space has tons of light, vaulted ceilings, is spacious and private, while still being warm and intimate. The space is definitely affordable if you're okay with the two points below. *The manager Nelda has been friendly, professional, and very accommodating so I added two stars. I can't imagine working with another vendor.* plus 2 stars *No parking options* minus 1 star *Does not accept credit cards* minus 1 star read more

I would highly recommend this venue for an affordable wedding venue. My husband and I had our wedding reception here and were thrilled with how everything went. The woman who helps coordinate is very pleasant, and easy to work with. The space itself is very beautiful, so you don't need to do much at all for decorations. The venue also has strands of globe lights that they can zig zag from wall to wall, creating even more atmosphere. The kitchen is small, but we went with a food truck (Veracci pizza), so that wasn't an issue for us. You can save a ton of $$$ here because you can bring in all of your own alcohol. They also have tables and chairs that are totally adequate that you can use free of charge. You could certainly have both your ceremony and reception in this space as long as you didn't have too many people. We had 140 people seated in the main room and that felt like a good size, full but not squished. While the venue is a bit kitschy from the outside (I wish they would update the green trim), guests will forget that once they are inside. I'm sure parking can be a pain, but we got married in January, so there weren't many people utilizing Greenlake. read more

Great Hall At Green Lake - A good example of the chairs that come with the venue. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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My husband and I got married here July of 2015. I have nothing but positive things to say about this venue and its manager, Nelda. It is a beautiful venue and was the perfect space for our wedding. We had a food truck, which worked very well. We had about 80 guests, and that seemed like the perfect amount of people for the space. A jazz combo played from the stage during cocktail hour. I highly recommend this venue for weddings! read more

Great Hall at Green Lake is a wonderful wedding venue. As part of Mariah Gentry Photography, I have shot two weddings at this venue in the last year. Both turned out beautifully due to the excellent natural light, open space, and variety of layout options. Parking can be a bit tricky, especially on a hot summer day when Green Lake is crowded. I would suggest getting to the venue at least 15 minutes early to find street parking. This is a great venue for a DIY bride who loves to decorate a beautiful blank canvas. It doesn't take much to get this venue to sparkle. read more

Great Hall At Green Lake - Great Hall Wedding at Green Lake - Mariah Gentry Photography - Spring of 2014 - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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The great hall was beautiful and accommodating but there is only one exception - AC is absolutely necessary for summer weddings but cannot be plugged into just any outlet. We requested the location of the correct plug for the AC twice but were never given the proper location. We were also told that plugging an AC into the wrong plug that all power may shut off and the fire department would be called. Without AC on a relatively mild summer day (77 degrees) the hall was well into the 80s and despite fans of both electric and hand verity it was VERY hot. Make sure to get the location of the correct place to plug in an AC!! read more

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The Great Hall at Green Lake (Nelda) was such a pleasure to work with! I wanted my wedding to feel like a step back in time, romantic - not flashy. I had a vision of a ballroom with soft beautiful lighting and a stage with singing piano players. The Great Hall was perfect! Tip for brides: if you want to control your costs pick a venue that allows you to choose whatever caterer and vendors you want like the Great Hall does. The high ceilings have beautiful mouldings - I love this venue. Nelda (the venue manager) was so responsive, helpful and easy to work with. The only issue I had was that the handicap elevator is a bit tricky. While doing the walk through I was shown how to use it, but on the day of my wedding a couple of my guests could not figure out how to make it work. Other than that everything was wonderful! read more

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Wonderful venue! I recently had my wedding here and loved it. Its classy, beautiful and easy to decorate. The family that owns and manages it responded quickly to my emails and were very helpful in some of the planning. I used the ballroom only for my ceremony and reception (about 30-40 guests) and it was perfect. Sun shining through the big windows made my ceremony pictures beautiful. I would recommend this venue to anyone. read more

Not sure why my review was filtered. Hmmm... It was not solicited from the venue, and I think it's accurate. Whatevs.

During GeekGirlCon, I was fortunate to attend a concert here. There's ample space for an event or a wedding, I'm sure. The acoustics were good and nothing at the venue detracted from the performing musicians. I'd go so far to say that the space itself was like a huge blank canvas ready for your event! There's stairs to reach the larger room upstairs and a lift if you cannot manage them. I easily found parking on the street in front but I imagine on nicer days, it might be tricky with its proximity to Green Lake. read more

My husband and I got married at the Great Hall at Green Lake last summer and our experience could not have been better. Nelda was absolutely as kind, thoughtful, and attentive as she could be, and the space was ideal. We had just over 100 guests at the wedding, and in spite of a record heat wave, the space was very comfortable. We set up chairs facing the stage for the ceremony, then asked guests to drift into the smaller adjoining room while the bridesmaids and groomsmen pulled out the tables (which we had pre-set and pushed to the back of the room) and set the chairs around the tables. When it came time for dancing we broke down a couple of the tables nearest the stage to make room. We had worried initially about the flow of people and the time required for this changeover, but it worked perfectly. The space never felt crowded--we could easily have accommodated another 20 people with the same arrangement. The building itself is so elegant that very little decoration was required--but since we had the space starting at 1:00pm for our 5:00pm wedding, there was plenty of time to get everything done. A beautiful, versatile space, very reasonably priced, and close to the lake, should guests want to escape for some air! We were so so happy with our choice. Thank you, Nelda! read more

Beautiful and stunning venue. It is truly a gorgeous spot. Large, open floor plan and plenty of room for 175 people at tables. As of September 2011, dirt cheap rates. However. My partner and I visited the space on 9/7. We were supposed to meet the property manager. At that time, she was booked out until July 2012. We waited a half an hour and I called her. She was in the middle of a yoga class. She said she'd call back and I emailed her simultaneously saying Yes, we are interested in 7/21/12. Two weeks go by. I call her again. She's now booked out until 9/29/12. Unacceptable. This gets two stars instead of one because it truly is a beautiful spot. read more

Great, affordable venue! Nelda is lovely to work with and they were so accommodating, working with our caterers and timing. Everyone commented on how beautiful the hall was and how nice it was to have the fireside room for the buffet and bar. It does get hot in there though so watch the weather and bring fans. We had 135 and could have fit more if needed. I strongly recommend having a day-of coordinator so you don't have to worry about setting up and cleaning up. read more

Great Hall At Green Lake - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Gorgeous wedding venue, and enough room to fit all of your friends and family. We were able to move freely and remain comfortable throughout the entire wedding ceremony and reception. Great time at a great venue. read more

A great wedding venue for the DIY couple! My husband and I used the Great Hall as our wedding and reception venue and were very pleased. We were able to tour the space, hold an hour-long rehearsal the day before our wedding, and had plenty of time to set up on the big day both with help from our day-of coordinator (she stayed for about an hour to help us with the lights, tables, etc.) and then on our own for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone we planned/set up with was friendly and accommodating, but also not at all pushy. Our only recommendation would be to host an evening wedding if you're getting married in the summer. There is no AC in the venue and it gets quite hot in the afternoon, but cooled off nicely by 6pm when our ceremony started. Thanks, Great Hall! read more