interesting building for personal, public, private meetings, events, parties, occasions, celebrations...lucky to find a college alumni event and showed up and enjoyed a nice meal and gift bags...there was a presentation for some fields I dont know...I am happy I could visit this SF building..first time..very interesting place...New York DC Boston SF...California is an amazing place...nice to visit a different building...I could have invited a few plus ones...next time Review #3110 read more

Had the privilege to attend an awards luncheon here. What a beautiful room! The service was stellar - very attentive staff providing drinks and light bites at the ready before lunch. Not only was the room amazing - the tables, decorations and food were also great. There are a few parking garages nearby within convenient walking distance. read more

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The Julia Morgan Ballroom with architectural masterpiece, located at 15th floor of the Merchants Exchange building, is one of the most coveted special SF event venues. The ballroom combines a timeless fine arts interior with superior modern amenities, and spectacular night view of downtown. I really liked the interior design in the ballroom and enjoyed the night view there. read more

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I DJ'ed a wedding here on 6/15/24. From the moment I arrived the experience was exceptional! From a vendor perspective they have a service elevator on the street. The staff here is amazing... everything was on point. The in house AV team knows their stuff and very helpful. The catering staff didn't miss a beat! Food was on time and delicious. I loved working here and hope to be back! Thank you all involved for doing an amazing job! read more

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We had our wedding ceremony and reception here on 4/20/2024. We are beyond thrilled with how everything went. First, the building - Architecturally one of the most beautiful venues I have ever seen, it is conveniently located in the city, with plenty of parking garages and hotels surrounding it. It was very easy for our out-of-town guests to attend, even though some are chronically nervous about driving in the city. We didn't need to opt in to many decorations, as the building itself is already gorgeous. Next, the food - We haven't stopped receiving compliments about the appetizers and plated dinners. Our appetizers and late-night snacks were so well-received, and went quickly. Many of our guests praised the food as not only the best wedding food they've had, some also compared it to fine dining restaurants. They were impressed with the dinner service as well, calling the staff attentive and professional. They were particularly impressed with how everyone at the table would be served at the same time. We also chose to serve a specialty cocktail, which the bartenders did a great job on. I heard that we were sold out by the end of the night, which makes me really happy. We opted to rent audio equipment from the venue as well, as our DJ was new and didn't have his own equipment yet. They were great in setting up and supporting our DJ Everything was picture perfect, and I even had some family hint at wanting to do their own weddings here. Brea and Miranda were amazing and supportive, and I couldn't be happier with how our day went! read more

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I came here for a work event and the venue is pretty classy and nice.The building itself was easily found, with large address numbers at the front. The ballroom itself was extremely large and perfect for a big size event. Staff were super accommodating in our setup and helped us with the power needed to setup our photobooth. The bar was massive and housed numerous options to whet your fancy. The view outside was great on a winter SF night. Overall, the venue was terrific, and I'm definitely a fan. BATHROOM REVIEW: Somewhat hidden, the bathroom was somewhat small, considering that the venue can host over hundreds of people. Thankfully, no one was in the bathroom at the times I went. There were a few stalls and several urinals. The bathroom had the same wood grain accents and walls that the rest of the venue had. Sit or squat? Squat. read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Bar - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

I had my wedding at the Julia Morgan Ballroom on April 29, 2017 with a guest count of 225. I have to say that the wedding had exceeded my expectations! I had spent over a year planning, it was more like a year and a half. Lillian and Elexis have always been so sweet and communicated excellently. There were a few things I wish I had known prior to using this venue however I fell in love with the space as soon as I had taken the tour. 1. With this venue there were specific vendors that they allowed you to use and if you didn't use their vendors there would be additional fees added to your bill. If we didn't use their baker for our cake there would be an additional $6 per person fee. -I was very annoyed by this until I met with the baker and she had amazing cakes! The florist was truly an artist that blew my mind with the designs he created. 2. The food from the catering service was very bland. The venue allows you to get one free food tasting along with wine pairings but they do not allow you to taste the hard alcohol drinks (we wanted to sample our signature drinks). In order to have a second food tasting we had to pay an additional per person fee. 3. Although Lillian and Elexis had been great at keeping in contact it had been extremely difficult to get them to do things customized. This may be because they prefer an easier set up or something more cookie cutter. -For my wedding I had various table sizes and all arrange uniquely. I also had to work extensively to get the food options just right but I had paid nearly double their quoted prices just to accommodate that. 4. I hated our signature drinks and the bartenders were rude to so many of my guests and had stopped serving my guest around 20 mins early. 5. The JMB staff would offer to accommodate ANYTHING but that meant everything I wanted to add would have an upgrade price tag and the additional service fee on top. I wanted to have simple syrup for a signature drink but it would be an additional $100+ the 21% service charge. I ended up paying triple digits for the whole wedding when it should have been close to $80,000. We had a 90 min room flip from ceremony to reception but took longer since the venue had not provided enough staff to turn the room in time. This lead to my wedding planners staff filling in for the JMB staff and couldn't attend to the other services they had been assigned to. read more

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My daughter Lisa Marie was married on 9/9/2023 the ceremony and reception were both held at JMB it was enchanting I can't express how beautiful and perfect everything was Thank you again read more

We just had our 2022 wedding at JMB and could not have been more thrilled with the outcome. It is truly a beautiful, classic San Francisco spot, and we were in awe of how their staff decorated the ballroom for our reception. The food was amazing, the bar is iconic, and we are so grateful to have spent our day at JMB. read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

Luxuriously opulent venue. Great staff. How the other half lived and survived 1906 and 1989. quakes. Victoriana is amazing!

The Julia Morgan Ballroom is one of the most elegant venues inside and out and is centrally located to public transit, parking at 555 California which has a flat rate on the weekends, less than a block from the Omni Hotel and a few blocks one way to Chinatown and the other way to the Embarcadero Center. Was here for a wedding this past weekend and the ballroom is used for an elegant ceremony and within an hour and a half while you are enjoying your passed h'or douevres reception and bar, it is quickly transformed into a beautiful dining room. The arugula and pork belly salad was light and flavorful while the roasted sea bass was moist and perfectly cooked. The passed h'or douevres was also tasty with the only hiccup being that it rarely made it pass the first few feet out of the kitchen. So if they can have 2 or 3 people coming out with the same items, it would give at least 1 plate a chance to make it out to the rest of the group. Overall, a beautiful ceremony, reception, and dinner for up to 300 guests and elegance personified! read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

My husband and I were just married on 12/31/17. We had our reception here. I can honestly say you will not find a more beautiful ballroom with the perfect staffing and hospitality that they have shown us here. As a wedding planner for my sisters and friends, I've worked with many venues in Los Angeles and Orange County. I looked at other venues in the city and I have to say.... the JMB was just perfect! Not only is the JMB is a much better value venue than other iconic venues, the venue is beyond gorgeous and so easy to work with. But what I love most about the venue is truly the staff, Lillian is so helpful, kind and goes above and beyond to make the experience so pleasant. I highly recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a great venue! Lillian and his staff are the most professional and caring that any of us have ever experienced. Everything from the wedding decor details to the food was by far the most amazing service we could have ever expected. The love and pride in their service were truly felt. They are more than flexible to help you get exactly what you want. When you look at most of the pictures for JMB it does not show enough pictures of the food. The food here is amazing!!! They truly pride themselves on making the best meals you and your guests will ever have. Your guest will truly be amazed and have a once-in-a-lifetime memorable experience that will be talked about for years to come. The atmosphere is nothing short of divine. Gorgeous high ceilings, romantic and classic ambiance, and tasteful decor. You will feel like a princess. Or a prince. Royalty of some sort, for sure. read more

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Quite pretty event space on the 15th floor of the historic Merchants Exchange Building in downtown San Francisco. This is the building where Julia Morgan made her offices for a large period of her career. The ceilings are high and the curtains are dark. When you step inside with the curtains drawn, it's quite dim and intimate feeling. I came here for a reception put on by my undergraduate university as they were kicking off a Centennial fundraising celebration in Northern California. The venue did it justice, as did the food and wine selection. I'd definitely recommend this space for special events. Parking downtown on a Sunday wasn't too difficult, and they do have space for valet out front. read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Ceiling. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

We hosted our wedding at JMB a couple weeks ago. We did our ceremony in the lobby of the building and then our reception in the ballroom. The space was incredibly beautiful and we received a lot of compliments from our guests. The staff and servers were incredibly professional and friendly. The food and drinks were excellent. We did a cocktail hour with passed apps and then had plated dinner. In particular, the Lamb Lollipops appetizers and Mac N Cheese entree were especially tasty. To keep (or attempt to keep) our friends from getting too drunk from the open bar, we did late night snacks with sliders, fries and mini milkshakes. Our family and friends loved those as well. Definitely recommend going with their recommended baker as she created a beautiful cake that was also really delicious. Finally, Lillian, the manager of the JMB, was awesome! She handled last minute changes with grace and kept everything running on schedule. She was also incredibly responsive and very helpful with planning the wedding. We were so happy with her - we also hired her as our day of coordinator. read more

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NOT EVEN A STAR. It took about 2 months to get rid of wedding planning stress since our wedding day. FIRST, Let me start with two sentences for you - 1) If you want to choose this place for your big day, get ready to work with Lillian, who is unresponsive to emails and left us with no choice but reach out to a JMB VP named Phil. Phil was shocked by her behavior and level of unprofessionalism. 2) Lillian, who is the director of the wedding at JMB and has an assistant named AMY WALKER. Basically, AMY misunderstood everything and messed up our decorating plan, causing me to get sick right before my wedding day. 3) Additionally, I found a review on Yelp that said JMB deletes bad reviews, so be careful. My story of 1) is, as LILLIAN had said she could plan the colors and flower design for our wedding, we were waiting for her email and details to discuss further. However, she ignored our emails for a month, which was very frustrating. We decided to contact her boss named PHIL; he was very personable and agreed with us that her conduct was UNPROFESSIONAL. After he followed up with her, we were finally able to hear back from Lillian. As I was following her Instagram, we saw she had been skiing in Lake Tahoe the entire time. This situation made us think LILLIAN WAS NOT BEING HONEST WITH US. After the drama, she introduced us to AMY WALKER, who is her assistant. I guess LILLIAN thought we needed more attention. Story 2): We visited Julia Morgan Ballroom with our two coordinators to finalize everything. It was 4 days before the wedding day. We wanted to clarify that we could come in a day before the wedding day for decorating. We already communicated about this plan with Lillian via emails. And AMY said the long rectangle tables for the wedding party will be set the day before the wedding. On the Day before our wedding, at 4 pm my coordinators, bridesmaids, groom's parents, groom and I showed up to decorate as we had discussed. The tables weren't set up and the rooms were not ready for us to decorate. I was shocked. AMY came down and DID NOT APOLOGIZE to us. She kept saying "I THINK YOU MISUNDERSTOOD" and did not say SORRY. She even brought someone named LEAH(?) who didn't even know about our agreements and situation. She was there to defend AMY. To me, it sounded like "JUST CHILL, EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE." It was A NIGHTMARE that we had to meet these 2 women. In fact, AMY STILL DID NOT REACH OUT TO ME THAT SHE WAS SORRY. I'm pretty sure she still thinks she's right. So I am attaching a photo of a conversation with our 2 wedding coordinators as witnesses. They still do remember AMY agreed about the setup plan. After this drama, I started feeling really sick and thought WE AREN'T GETTING WHAT WE PAID FOR. So I decided to report to the VP about the situation again. Weirdly, he responded "I wasn't there so I don't know who is telling me what's right, but sorry this happened to you. We usually provide good service, but a few couples a year have issues." DOES THAT MEAN IT'S OKAY BECAUSE OUR SITUATION IS UNCOMMON?! What kind of answer is that to a client? I told him we are not receiving what we paid for, to include horrible customer service from the assistant and the wedding director. PHIL said he will think about what he could offer as we weren't and still aren't satisfied with everything from JMB. However, he STILL hasn't contacted us and it has been several months. If you don't want to be in a trouble on your big day, and if you don't want to get extra stress, PLEASE don't go to JMB. This entire experience was filled with unprofessional service. I really hope my review is helpful for you... read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

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My husband and I just got married here on May 9. When we first saw photos of the place, we just knew we had to go in for a visit. It was love at first sight. Since we both have an engineering/architectural backgrounds, it was the perfect place for us. Linda & Sue were the best!! They were helpful from day one and answered every question imaginable. We did a flip of the main ballroom from ceremony to reception in and hour and everything went off without a hitch. You won't be disappointed. Definitely get a head start if you're looking into venues because the Julia Morgan fills up fast. We pushed our original date back about three months. read more

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********************* 1253 ********************** The Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange is San Francisco is one of the more beautiful, historical and elegant event venues. It is centrally located to public transit, parking at 555 California, or valet your car at Michael Mina or Perbacco for about $15 till 11 PM. Conveniently walking distance to China Town, Omni Hotel, a few blocks to The Embarcadero or Union Square. I came here for an event, passed h'or douevre, fashion show, and open bars. The sparkling wine was $14, and a cocktail was $13, about average for San Francisco. Nothing special about the drinks, except nice bartenders with good attitude. The food was good. The Julia Morgan Ballroom offers true turnkey event packages including gourmet catering, bar service, state-of-the-art A/V, photography, floral, lighting, equipment rental, high-speed WiFi and many other amenities. Flexible room set-ups accommodate events and audiences of all types. The venue is gorgeous, love the decor on the ceiling, marbled floor, dark furnishing, velvet burgundy curtains, gold trim chairs, elegant and not overdone, luxurious and charming. Service was good and the event was a success with Chic Metropolitan Magazine. I'll definitely recommend to others. The Julia Morgan Ballroom is also a popular destination for weddings and politic events. read more

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This place is GOR-geous. The lobby area, the elevators, the ballroom - everything is freakin' gorgeous. My high school prom was here in 2004, and the venue couldn't have been more perfect. The planning committee was able to set up an elaborate walkway to the dance floor and the elegant decor made the night feel just that much more special. The lobby area was spacious and hosted the professional photographers. There were also enough elevators running so that there wasn't much of a wait. I came here again recently for the first annual San Francisco Prom 2010 (Donovon) 21+ fundraiser event and was wowed all over again by the enormous and intricately decorated space that really does make you feel like a million bucks. I was amazed by how plentiful street parking was, considering that the venue was packed! For a club event, there simply weren't enough stalls in the ladies restroom. Then again, I won't hold it against them because this place seems like it was meant for formal functions (which are presumably less crowded). Also - word to the wise, if you get motion sickness and have been drinking, DO NOT (and I repeat DO NOT) try to leave before you sober up. That elevator ride will certainly do you in. read more

The Julia Morgan Ballroom - the Cadillac of all venues! With an ample financial war chest, I planned a work cocktail reception at JMB. If you read my previous venue posts, I love old buildings! Especially old buildings from early 20th Century San Francisco. This place has class in spades. When you enter the building the foyer is just marvelous - bright and airy. The ballroom itself is nice too. Spacious, high ceilings and views of downtown FiDi. Food is excellent! Their staff really went all out and we didn't have one bad reception food (giant panko battered shrimp, fresh sushi, salmon roulade, desserts to die for, etc.). Service was quick and Mike & Anna made the planning so much easier. If only we had that financial war chest all the time! This is one great place to plan a party! read more

Came here for an event tonight, and the interior decor was terrific. Really was like a time machine back to the turn of the century, and it certainly has that elegant, old school feel to it. After reading some of the comments, I'll have to check out some of the other events that they seem to put on. Fantastic! read more

We had our work holiday party here since our headquarter is in SF.. this place is amazing!!! We had the best time and this place is classy and elegant... the best venue for events!!! :) check out the photos that I uploaded! read more

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The Julian Morgan Ballroom is located inside the Merchant Exchange building. The building itself was build in 1905 and is one of the few buildings that survived the big fires in San Francisco - therefore, a really historic building. The lobby itself is already worth a visit. You can just walk in and appreciate the very high ceilings, the uniquely designed elevators and the sculptures on the walls of important people of San Francisco. Once you go up to the 15th floor to the Julian Morgan Ballroom, you find one of the most beautiful event locations in the city. There are big windows, a lot of dark wood, fire places, a massive wooden ceiling and a lot of opportunity to decorate it and turn it into an amazing event venue. Especially if you try to go with a classic, 1920s vibe, this place is amazing. People working here on the events are amazing and very dedicated. Unlike other venues, you get a lot of quality for your money here. read more

This is my second year hosting our company event at the Julia Morgan Ballroom and it's been nothing short of wonderful! Not only is the venue just beautiful, but the service, and the quality in food/beverages are top notch! Jennifer and Mike were such a pleasure to work with and made my job, as the event coordinator, so easy! I will definitely miss having our party here and working with such a great team! read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

***5 stars for the venue ONLY*** I was here for the A Midnight in Paris NYE 2011 event and the place is pretty fantastic! Spacious, classy interior with a really lovely view of the city. The event itself, however, had some major kinks. My date and I got there on time around 9 pm so the line wasn't an issue as others have noted, but the coat check afterward was worthy of several face palms. It literally took the lady 7-8 minutes to find EACH COAT and after waiting for half an hour, my date found ours in 2... I liked the DJ and his mix of House, Hip Hop, and Top 40. Can't speak for the music later in the night though since we left a little past midnight. I had a lot of fun overall, but I have no idea what happened to the champagne toast and having two drinks spilled on me on the crowded dance floor es no bueno. read more

Stunning Ballroom! JMB is a one of a kind venue. I had the opportunity to work here for a bride of ours who booked our company (Shakor Decor) for event design and floral/decor for her wedding reception. It was a joy getting a chance to work at this magnificently created space! The staff was very accommodating and explained everything regarding logistics and loading procedures to our team thoroughly during the final walk-through. I can't wait to work at this space again! read more

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My husband and I got married in Feb. of 2017. We looked at almost a dozen different wedding venues until we toured the Julia Morgan Ballroom. Once we walked in we knew it was where we wanted to get married. The ballroom is stunning and everyone is immediately impressed when they walk in. The floor to ceiling windows creates a romantic space along with the wood details everywhere you look. The history of the ballroom and building was also a fun story for our guests. The layout of the ballroom and cocktail bar area was perfect for what we wanted. We had our ceremony in the ballroom and then flipped the space for the receptions while our guests were in the bar area. Since the majority of our guests were from out of town, we wanted them to enjoy every minute and having everything in one space allows that. The ballroom consists of the whole floor, so everything is nicely spread out and not cramped. Lillian and Elexis were amazing throughout the entire process and helped us plan out every little detail. From the moment we met with them, they made us feel so comfortable and their warm presence really contributed to our decision to work with them. Everything we needed or wanted was easily accommodated and they, along with our wedding planner, made sure that everything went flawlessly the day of our wedding. The food was easily the best food we've ever had at a wedding and the wait staff was excellent. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful venue or perfect staff to have our wedding. All of our guests loved it and it really was the best day ever!! Thanks, ladies!! read more

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My husband and I got married here July 2016. We had our ceremony in the lobby, cocktail hour on the 15th floor, and reception in the ballroom. Having a wedding at JMB is NOT cheap, but it was completely worth it for us. We absolutely adore the venue--the architecture is incredible with a different floor and ceiling in every room. The food was delicious! Everyone kept raving to us about it, and we especially enjoyed the salmon entrée. Soup was poured, which added that extra touch of elegance. The mini milkshakes that we selected as one of our late night items were SO good. Our guests kept noting how awesome and attentive all the staff/servers were. We got our custom cake from Jasmine Rae Bakery. We told her we wanted something inspired by Ladurée's Marie Antoinette flavor, and it turned out so unique and DELICIOUS. Their nonprofit florist, Wish Social, took care of our flowers, and even now our friends tell us how perfect the flowers looked! Most importantly, Lillian and Elexis made sure everything ran completely smoothly. The week leading up to our wedding was crazy due to various unexpected events (needed a new officiant due to a family emergency and matron of honor went into early labor), and many details were not set in place even on the day of our wedding. But Lillian and Elexis went above and beyond to make our day perfect, and we were able to enjoy our day without having to worry or stress about anything. We loved having our wedding here! read more

This venue is absolutely stunning!! I am a professional wedding photographer and these are some of the pictures I took there. It was an amazing wedding!! read more

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Venue: The JMB is an AMAZING venue. It's beautiful, timeless, and quintessentially SF. When my husband and I began the wedding venue search process, the Julia Morgan Ballroom was at the top of our list from the get go. It was the first venue we visited and from the moment we were greeted by Lillian and walked through the space, we knew it would be the one to beat - and no venue ever did. The venue itself has so much history and is incredibly stunning. All of our guests were in awe of the space! Lillian and Elexis: Were awesome! They were professional, incredibly responsive, always followed through in a timely fashion, were incredibly detailed, flexible, and all around just great to work with and made the process even better. We felt at ease with them and we knew all the details would be taken care of. They were always willing to answer any and all questions I had (and I had alot of them!) and always kept me informed of big deadlines coming up. We also hired a partial wedding planner which was amazing and she and Lillian and Elexis worked very well together too! Food: We chose 4-6 passed Hors D'oeuvres during cocktail hour and had a buffet style dinner. ALL of our guests couldn't stop raving about the food. People typically are iffy about wedding food but we along with our guests absolutely loved it. We wish they had a regular restaurant we could frequent in order to have the same food we picked out for our big day! Cake: we ordered our cake through JasmineRae - and it was seriously one of the best cakes we have ever had. All the cake details were coordinated through the JMB which made it even better during the planning process. All in all, I would greatly recommend the JMB - you won't regret it! read more

I got married at JMB on 5/29/10. The beauty of the interior of the JMB and coordinator Linda Hylen were the 2 reasons I chose JMB for my wedding last May. I'm usually a good judge of character but I fell for Linda's fake and charming saleswoman shtick - which I highly regret. She is a fantastic saleswoman but a terrible and unprofessional coordinator. She is an older woman who uses saccharine words like "fabulous" and "lovely" constantly . I didn't think I would write this review but I decided to recently as Linda Hylen continues to be a source of embarassment for me. To this day, I've had people say "Hey amazing wedding...but rough start ....what was up with your nitwit coordinator?" and things like this. So here's the story - In order to afford the venue (expensive and it doesn't include anything - you have to rent out for EVERYTHING! - do not believe if they tell you otherwise) I couldn't afford a coordinator. Linda said it would be no problem because the package included her being my "day of" coordinator and that would be plenty. When I signed my contract with her, I asked her to guarantee she would be available for my wedding and rehearsal for wedding and she promised she would. Well, she didn't keep her word, went to Italy, returned at midnight the night before my wedding and put an assistant in her place. It turned out to be a disaster: Linda was jetlagged and completely out of it at the wedding. My wedding started 45 minutes late and I was outside, cold and stressed out, wondering what was going on inside the hall. She also left hours before she was supposed to. The most disturbing part was that her assistant Hattie (who actually ended up saving the day when Linda was nowhere to be found after the reception started) called two days before the wedding to get a down-payment on the bar tab. I'd already paid up for everything except a portion of the bar payment. I asked her if we could settle after the wedding and she said, "Absolutely. Linda is in Italy, as you know, but she won't have a problem with that". (I still have this email for proof). During our cocktail hour after our ceremony, LInda hunted me down and asked me for a credit card! (YES! At my own cocktail hour!). I'll write it into a conversation so you can see just how rude and unprofessional it was! Conversation: LINDA - "Congratulations! Anyways, I need your credit card to secure the bar tab before I will allow anyone into the ballroom". ME - "What?! I just got married. I'm not carrying a credit card on me. Your assistant told me I could pay the bar tab after the wedding." LINDA - "Sorry. She was wrong. If we don't settle, I won't let the guests into the ballroom." ME -"Are you really threatening me? This cocktail hour has already gone on so long! Everybody is getting so drunk. Why is everyone sweating? Why is there no air conditioning in this place?" LINDA -"We don't have air conditioning in the cocktail room. The ballroom is not set up anyways." ME - "What?! Why?!" LINDA - "Don't worry Dear. It will be ready soon. Well can I get a credit card from your father or someone?" ME- "You already have my credit card information in your files! Just go charge it! Your error shouldn't be my problem right now. I have already paid you over $20k just in down-payments etc. I would appreciate if you would just let my dad enjoy the night. We are good for the money as you know. WOW!! It was SHOCKING and of course she won. She held me hostage practically. I had to run around for a credit card and I was so upset by the way she treated me and how late the entire event was running. I got over it but then the food was getting tough/cold because we were so behind on schedule. I could go on and on. I think that this place is probably great for big corporate parties but DEFINITELY NOT FOR WEDDINGS! Weddings take extraordinary effort and long term planning where emotions/expectations are high. If I could do it all over again, I would have gone elsewhere. It was too stressful trying to coordinate with the JMB management for a whole year. Linda was always disorganized, forgetting about items we had established in previous meetings. Even the wedding timeline file she used was just a bunch of scribble. My caterer said she'd never met anyone so unprofessional in the industry either. I guess JMB knows they will never see you again since you only have a wedding once, so they don't care about making you happy. They care about making big corporations that throw their annual parties every year happy because they have to keep up their reputation on that front. With brides, they just don't give a damn! PS - I cannot comprehend how Linda has a job there when there are so many talented people in SF. Must be related to someone.... read more

Gorgeous venue. I came here as a tag-along with a financier friend during Chinese New Year festivities and networking via a local Bay Area organization. And even though this visit here was not the first time (weddings), this ballroom never ceases to amaze me with the intricate attention to detail, style, and color schematics. The coordinator here deserves major kudos. The entire room was done up in elaborate shades of red and gold accents. The buffet table, lined with various types of dim sum, little to-go boxes brimming with mini portions of chow mein, a bowl of fortune cookies.....the list goes on. Party favors with the traditional red envelopes. The ceremonial dragon dance that took place through the room. And waiters that wasted no time in clearing our empty wine glasses and dirty plates. The waitstaff are friendly and efficient. Restrooms are just a walk down the hall. And the feeling of being whisked away somewhere for the night, even though it was business attire? Heavenly bliss. read more

I was absolutely blown away by this beautiful wedding. It's spacious, regal, and VERY classy/elegant, with a touch of old school, as seen by it's dark wooden walls and bar area. I was here for a wedding, and the reception was just a treat. The furniture is beautiful, bar is wonderful, and the whole venue was just magical. Only notes is that parking can be a major problem, though if you book a hotel nearby, you MAY be able to walk there, should you choose to risk it. Also, it took us several tries to find this place, as there isn't a big sign or anything outside, especially at night. Regardless, you can't go wrong with a venue as grand as this. read more

I decided to break my 5+ year streak of not writing Yelp reviews in order to sing praises of my wedding vendors, including Lillian at JMB. So keep reading if you want to know why you should work with Lillian here. 1) She's extremely responsive. I'm pretty sure she has a hundred weddings/events to coordinate at any given time, but still manages to respond to me within a few hours. 2) I can tell what's on my mind to her straight and she won't get offended. I didn't care much for picking out linens or flowers, and some other things, and she was never caught off guard. 3) As stated above, I didn't care for some details such as linens, flowers, or lighting, so I trusted her to make those decisions. So she did - and made everything look classy and cohesive. Without breaking my bank. 4) The food at JMB... wow. All the guests (literally, all) told me how the food surpassed all expectations, since wedding food generally sucks. The brisket was mind-blowing. My husband also had some custom choices for food, that the chef easily made and incorporated. Lillian was the one who suggested I make custom choices and make the menu a little more personalized. 5) Price was not too bad, considering the venue is in San Francisco, my food + beverage package was the bare minimum price but still had open bar, and I got Lillian to help. She helped me to drive costs down where I saw necessary. Thanks Lillian. Hope we still win for most-chill couple ever. You're as fierce as Beyonce and as awesome as Jennifer Lawrence. read more

I am SO GLAD that my husband and I chose the Julia Morgan Ballroom as the venue for our wedding ceremony and reception. I am a law student, and have little time on my hands. I was looking for a one-stop-shop type of venue; I wanted to deal with as few vendors as possible, and worry about as few details as possible. In that key regard, the Julia Morgan Ballroom was exactly what I was hoping for. I literally only had to write one check for the linens, clean-up, set-up, booze, wedding cake, dinner, appetizers, furniture, service fees (tip), set-up, and the venue fee - I LOVED it. This really helped us in terms of planning because the only other vendors we needed to find were: 1) the florist; 2) the DJ; 3) the wedding coordinator. It was absolutely wonderful. Lillian Phan and Elexis Feldbrill, the Event Coordinators, were absolute pleasures to work with. They were responsive to our communication, and always gave me the feeling that they would do what it took to make sure our event ran smoothly. Working with them to organize such a large-scale event was ridiculously easy. They asked all of the right questions to guide us through the planning process, and were patient with us throughout the entire time. On the day of the wedding, they were wonderful. They constantly checked-in with my husband and myself to make sure we had everything that we needed. At the end of the ceremony, Lillian was waiting in the bar area with champagne for my husband and me! The venue itself is so beautiful. We took pretty much all of our pictures there and in the surrounding area. The architecture, the feeling of community that accompanies a ballroom, the fact that we had access to the entire floor and were able to get ready there AND have a chinese tea ceremony there, all made for an excellent place to get married. The food is delicious. The booze was delicious. The venue is beautiful, with its modern-classic architecture. Planning is easy. It accommodates a ton of people very comfortably. You can literally do everything here. I would not hesitate to book the JMB for a wedding :) read more

A long ovedue review for the ladies of the JMB! Lillian and Elexis are pro's. They got my vision, made sugggestions to help us cut costs, put up with my indecisiveness and pulled off a wedding of over 200 people without a hitch! The food was delicious, you can't beat the bar package and the place is stunning! Our guests still tell us how beautiful the wedding was! Lillian and Elexis responded to emails within minutes. They were super accommodating, helpful and a pleasure to work with. read more

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We held our wedding reception at the Julia Morgan Ballroom this past April 2011, and had an amazing experience working with Linda and her staff throughout the planning and through the big day. I have read a review of another poster that didn't seem to have a positive experience- I'm sorry that happened, but I'm happy to report that our experience went off without a hitch, and Linda and her staff were extremely supportive and accountable through every step of the process. The venue itself is amazing, and it sells itself. We fell in love with it when we visited, and we were thrilled that the date fell into place. The ballroom is not cheap, and one should know that you are firmly locked into their bar service. We used an outside caterer, and there were some charges related to that. We were allowed to provide our own champagne/wine for the event without a corkage fee, so this was a plus. Otherwise, all of these financial details are clearly disclosed in the contract, and unlike a previous poster, we were required to pay in advance for our bar-tab, so we had no such 'day of' issues. Similar to the other poster, Linda did travel in advance of our wedding, however she returned a week before, she was at our reception throughout, and there was no disorganization whatsoever. In her absence, we had several contacts to work with in the planning stages, and they were very communicative and organized, provided us access to the facility with vendors who needed to check things out, and so on. As a small aside, we had several guests leave things at the venue accidentally on our wedding night, and Linda was very accessible the next day and put me in touch with the right people to find the missing items. Back to the venue- it comfortably handled our group of 200+. It could have held more, but not many more, perhaps 250. 200 felt like a good number in their room- not crowded at all. The cocktail lounge/bar is great- physically very beautiful. The cocktail service which we were locked into was excellent, and honestly competitively priced from what I have seen at local hotel venues, and I think my friends may have drank them to a significant financial loss from the post-wedding stories I heard. They were very flexible with their accounting of not billing for 'non-drinkers', pregnant guests, small children etc- we felt we were fairly treated in this aspect. Additionally, the venue has many locational positives- our ceremony was a few blocks away, there are many hotels in the area (please see my review of our positive experiences with the OMNI), parking is reasonable on weekends at the BofA building (1 block walk...). There was also a great side-room on the same floor of the reception which we created a 'child care' room (please see my review of the BannanaBerry Babysitting company)- this was a huge success with all of my parent-friends (we had about 12-15 little ones in attendance...). In summary, our experience with our wedding was incredible- it went smoother than we could have imagined. We were just as stressed as anyone is before their wedding, but through the help of Linda and her team, as well as our outstanding caterers (see my review of the the Esposto's Catering company), our dream wedding exceeded all of our expectations. I hope my review is helpful, please let me know if you have any questions. read more

Julia Morgan Ballroom - A nice interior JMB shot, before the guests arrived... - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - San Francisco, California

This rating is ONLY for people who decide to attend a big function here, such as last night's New Years Eve bash which probably had about 3,000 attendees. I think this venue would be great for a wedding or other more reasonable event, the inside is really beautiful and there are some great views. The Julia Morgan Ballroom sucks for NYE because you have to use elevators to get up to the venue from the lobby. These elevators only can go so fast, and when there are that many people waiting in line (there was a LOT of people waiting in line!) then that comes down to about an hour wait. This is just a design flaw but it matters. If anyone reads this thinking of throwing another NYE party here, dont do it!! read more

The next time you need to hold a conference, have a wedding, or set up a whiskey tasting, think about doing it at this venue. It's an excellent location, right in the heart of Downtown San Francisco near public transportation. They have coat hangers right at the entrance where you can leave your coat, and a lobby where you can set up your registration tables or cocktail tables. Move into the next room with the bar, and it's the perfect place for a reception -- before or after the event -- or even demo tables for your startup event, with plenty of space for people to move around. The ballroom itself is large with room for 8-seat or 10-seat table tops. There is a stage to the right side of the room, with a large mirrored wall, where your presenters can be seen or the bride and groom can take their vows. Adjacent to the large ballroom is a small room where you can set up refreshments for your guests, or place a sign-in book to welcome them to your event. The bartenders and staff are friendly and helpful. Overall, a great choice for any of your event needs. read more

This review is long long overdue! Shame on me for taking so long to write this review for our glorious wedding venue and the amazing wedding team: Lillian Phan and Kaley Fountain. My husband and I celebrated our wedding here at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom. While we were venue shopping, we had narrowed it down to two venues, the Julia Morgan Ballroom being one of them of course. There were a few key reasons why we decided to go with the Ballroom over the other venue. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Lillian Phan, the Director of Weddings, answered every question we had, showed us the venue several times, laid out all of our options, and showed us patience and flexibility as we grappled with what a lot of couples may grapple with when planning a wedding: BUDGET. After very many phone calls and emails back-and-forth, Lillian helped us crunch the numbers and just like that our DREAM wedding came to life (and within our budget to boot)! FOOD/DRINKS & SERVICE: We had a wonderful, gourmet, family-style dinner which was whipped up by the amazing in-house kitchen. The food was delectable the wine and beer selection were top notch -- I received so many compliments from our guests! The service staff was also on point. We were told that service was attentive, timely, and most important, all the wine glasses were consistently kept full (always important in my book!). EVENT MANAGEMENT: Kaley Fountain, the Event Manager at the time, was amazing! Days up to the wedding, she made sure all the minor details were executed to the exact way I wanted, from arrangement of the photographs on the fireplace, to the exact placement of the guestbook, couple photos, and wedding favors! She even set aside time to help us conduct a rehearsal of our grand entrance at the venue with the entire wedding party! She and Lillian checked in on us throughout the event - from making sure we had appetizers and bubbly when we arrived after the ceremony, to making sure that our night was perfect to the very end - and it was. :) I can go on and on, but in as few words as possible: If you're planning a wedding in the city you MUST check out the Julia Morgan Ballroom - you won't regret it! read more

If you're looking for a wedding venue with the quintessential San Francisco feel, look no further than the Julian Morgan Ballroom. My wife and I had our dream wedding at the JMB in November of 2014 and it was the perfect complement to our St. Ignatius ceremony. The venue is steeped in tradition and has a classy vibe that was exactly what we were looking for. The fireplace off the elevator bank provides a great first impression, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. From there our wedding flowed into a welcome cocktail reception with high-top tables surrounding the beautiful dark wood bar and ultimately into the ballroom itself which was set-up with a kings table along the window line and stage for our band across the room just before the kitchen. The ornate details of the entire space, especially the wood paneling and the ceiling details, provide the perfect backdrop for an elegant celebration. The food is fantastic, the bartenders are stars and Lillian and her team are amazing. Tip: Don't skimp on the late night food! The mini hamburgers and truffle fries are just what our guests needed to celebrate late into the night. Lillian and her team were great to work with and are there to help with every last detail. Whether it was menu selections (and short listing items for the trial), wine and cocktail menus, linens, chairs or any other detail, Lillian not only had great suggestions, but also pictures of other events to help us make our decisions with confidence. She and her team are fun, professional and responsive which made all the planning and the reception itself that much better. read more