Alden Castle

Finding a venue to support a guest list of up to 200 people without going broke and staying in Boston is no small feat. Many of the venues my fiancé and i look at were either too small or far too expensive or too far out of the city (85% of our guests were from outside of Boston and it didn’t seem fair to us to make them fly to Boston and then drive to some of the beautiful estates on the cape or in western Mass). When we found Alden Castle it felt too good to be true. The vintage feel with beautiful wood was both dramatic and in some ways a blank slate for any color palette. There was space to do both the ceremony and reception, and we could additionally add a second room (the club house) to do our cocktail hour. And, best of all — it was in our budget. My only hesitation was that in looking online there weren’t many weddings I could find that had the same elegant but also light and whimsical with soft neutrals feel, which I envisioned. It seemed that most brides that had booked there had used brighter colors and there were pictures of the very sculptured bouquets (some even with crystals) which was the antithesis of the look I was going for. Still, I decided that the venue wasn’t the on shaping their brides’ taste, so we went for it! Great choice. The staff was supportive, friendly and it was easy to work with them. The online payments are a breeze. Michelle helped us with everything booking related and was prompt and thorough in her emails. Amanda, who was our day of coordinator was flexible with me when we wanted to have a mac and cheese bar upstairs (never been done before), when we wanted the band at the back of the room by the mirrors (also rarely if ever done before), when I changed the large table and high-​low ratio a thousand times, when I panicked that our guest list was too long, when I wanted the tables moved back from the dance floor a little more… Everyone there was supportive and easy to work with!
for the day of they kept things moving seamlessly. We always had food and drink and the attendant was so accommodating of our wishes! Everyone RAVED about the food. And the mac and cheese bar was a total success. They coordinated everything with the vendors and on the day of the wedding I felt totally relaxed. The whole space glowed with our specialty ordered linens (arranged by Alden) and the candle lit atmosphere (you can use real candles!) was just gorgeous!
Would totally get married here again (not that I ever plan to get married again!:))

There is no need to look for any other venue in the Boston/​Brookline area. This venue is truly immaculate. The level of service is impeccable. The food is fantastic. If you have any sense of event planning, this group tops it off. Our wedding was magical. Amanda took care of the day of planning like a seasoned professional. It was impressive. The day of staff raised the bar beyond our wildest expectations. We felt so catered to on so many levels. The entire staff at Alden Castle and Longwood Events are top notch professionals. You will not be sorry! Alden Castle offers your guests convenience but brings an elegance and style that will make an impressionable mark. We loved our wedding on 4÷23÷16. We’d be happy to speak further.

My stepdaughter married here recently. I was surprised to see two large apartment-​like buildings towering above the roof. My husband did not recognize that it was a castle (from the outside) until I told him to stop looking at them.
The ceremony was elegant and beautiful, and went flawlessly. Reception was upstairs and hors-d’oeuvres were just amazing. I think it is brilliant that the area used for the wedding becomes a portion of the reception room. There was a dance floor, tables galore and a full bar, under many beautiful chandeliers.
Our daughter looked like a wisp of white gold, taken from the heavens, and her husband looked as handsome as any Ralph Lauren model. I’m glad they chose this venue for the wedding, it was almost as beautiful as they are.

Attending a wedding at Alden Castle was wonderful. Although it seems normal on the outside, it looks really nice inside. A very nice wedding venue. A few improvements could make this place the perfect place.
Toilets were very difficult to find without signage and staff to help you find them. Furthermore, some were out of order.
I am not sure who catered the event, but the food was of good cafeteria grade. I am sure the hosts weren’t skimping — I do know them well enough to know that they were not skimping.
An open bar is great, but cramped access and medium skilled drink dispenser (cannot call them bartender) made lines unreasonably long.
Oh well — I am sure the newly married couple will have a bright future. If the rating was based on them, Alden Castle would have gotten five stars for sure.

Alden Castle gave me the wedding of my dreams and that is SO MUCH thanks to Cindy. She is not only incredibly organized, remembering details I mentioned months before and reminding me of them as we got closer, but she is also a fantastic confidante and never ceased to ease my anxious mind. SO many things would have fallen through the cracks if it weren’t for Cindy. This, combined with the fact that the venue itself is breathtaking and the food is top notch (the one complaint I got was that the apps were so good, one guest was too full for dinner!) makes it second to none. Seriously, people could not get over the food and ambiance, not to mention the amazing details like coordinated service and coat check that is taken to the area that is most convenient for guests. Michelle is also fantastic!

We chose Alden Castle for our August 2014 wedding and we couldn’t have chosen a better place to get married. My fiancé and I looked at a bunch of venues both in and out of the city and we knew Alden Castle was the right place for us as soon as we saw it. We loved that the space is different than a typical hotel ballroom and has its own unique feel. Once we started working with Cindy Goodman, though, we knew we had struck gold. Cindy is incredible — super organized, responsive and knowledgable. We could not have managed without her! Our wedding went off without a hitch and we got tons of complements on the food and venue. Thank you, Cindy and the folks at Alden Castle, for helping to make our wedding the perfect day.

I love Alden Castle.
My husband and I were married here in September. We had 120 people and our wedding, cocktail hour and dinner were all held in the ballroom. From our first visit to our wedding day, we were treated well and both Michelle and Cindy were fantastic. The ballroom is 1920’s glam, with beautiful chandeliers and dark wood details. Very little decoration was needed, this space speaks for itself. The food is also outstanding, and as no one wants to eat rubber chicken, we chose this venue primarily because of the food. We had a wonderful time and I recommend this venue for weddings. There is also a smaller club room that would be fantastic for a smaller fête.

I recently attended a work luncheon here. The room itself is beautiful and the tables were set up nicely. The salad, rolls and dessert were all excellent. Here’s the weird part that caused me to take 2 stars off. We had to select an entrée in advance — fish, chicken or eggplant rollatini– I chose the eggplant and when I arrived was given a little colored card to indicate that. The entrees were served and a large plate of cooked carrots with a few snap peas and some rice was set down in front of me. The carrots appeared to be artfully arranged, so I assumed the eggplant was underneath, but no — it was all carrots. Now, the carrots were tasty but that’s not what I was expecting. We flagged down our server and he said he would look into it. He came back several minutes later and told me they were out of eggplant and then left rapidly. No apology, no offer to bring me a different choice — just a big plate of carrots with a few snap peas and some rice. I didn’t see anyone who looked like they might be in charge and I didn’t want to cause a scene in any way, so I ate a whole bunch of carrots. The servers came nowhere near our table until everyone was done. I thought it was handled very oddly; I thought that the correct way to handle this was when they were serving they should have told me they were out of eggplant and given me options, rather than just hoping I wouldn’t notice or say anything. On the plus side, I guess I got plenty of beta carotene.. ..

Our wedding of about 75 people was held in the Modern Club at Alden Castle. The space itself is heaven. The hardwood floors, the gold leafed ceiling, and the glass chandeliers were just some of the space highlights. I didn’t want the same old hotel ballroom and this fit our vision perfectly. It was just the right mix of vintage chic and elegance.
My experience with the staff was excellent. From the moment I met Michelle (the Dir. who showed me the space), to Cindy, our fabulous and super organized wedding coordinator, right down to the entire staff during the wedding and the following day at our farewell brunch. My bridal attendant was an angel in disguise and was by my side whenever I needed anything — even ensuring I took a minute to eat something (b/​c let’s face it, eating is the last thing on a bride’s mind when she wants to connect with everyone) My husband and I both felt that the staff went above and beyond to make our wedding perfect.
The food was superb, every dish was cooked to perfection. I don’t think there was one guest who didn’t praise the excellence.
We truly could not have asked for anything better. I wouldn’t hesitate whatsoever to recommend this venue to anyone getting married or having any sort of event. They excel at customer service!

Thank you, Alex C. for a wonderful review.
I wanted to clarify, after receiving mixed feedback regarding the Vendor Policy and Fee, we have changed this policy that was in place in late 2008 through mid 2009.
We no longer have a «Vendor List» and no longer charge a Vendor Fee!
Again, Alex, thank you, for your wonderful compliments and your feedback regarding the Vendor Fee, we did listen!
–Alden Castle (formerly Veronique)

My review is 3.5. Came to a really beautiful wedding here the other night and the atmosphere couldn’t have been better. The lighting was perfect, the sound was perfect and the set up was perfect!
Most of the staff were great, very on top of things and synchronized serving was pretty interesting, never have I seen that before!
There were some other staff members that were next to useless. We got to the venue early because there was a gap between ceremony and reception. When we got there, we parked and went to the door. Its raining and we were greeted by some guy that was friendly, but kinda became douchey. He told us we weren’t allowed to go in, although we were directed to go right away. He didn’t make any sense and started telling us stories that had nothing to do with anything… while standing in the rain. I asked if there was a common area we could wait in and he said «yeah, see these towers over here, they are condos and have a beautiful common space for all. Its really very nice, but you’re not allowed in there.» Um ok. He was turning to be pretty arrogant very quickly. What if we were one of the guests from thousands of miles away, being dropped off by a taxi? Luckily we weren’t, but he told us to leave and come back later. Wow.
Then upon leaving, I was told to get a sticker for parking. When I came back the venue entrance a woman who looked like a guest stopped me from going back inside, as if I were committing a crime. I told her the situation, but she ended up taking care of it right away, so I was grateful for that, just not grateful for this lack of organization, which I blame the venue completely.
If these two mishaps didn’t happen then I’d easily give this place 5 stars. Food was excellent and the reception service was excellent!

Wedding Reception Review: I’m not quite sure where to begin because I have so much praise for Alden Castle. In sequential order of events, Michelle Sagi our sales rep was extremely professional and responsive as we toured the venue. What impressed me the most was her patience when it came to showing the venue to my parents after we (my husband and I) had decided «this was it.» When you speak with her, you can tell she has a tremendous amount of pride for the place and that she generally loves where she works and what it can offer to a bride and groom as a wedding location. I remember Alden Castle was the first venue we toured and she actually encouraged us to visit other venues (which we eventually did) just to compare. She’s honest and trustworthy and was a great person to introduce me to the venue. I have nothing but praise for her. And then there is Cindy my wedding coordinator. When it comes to wedding coordinators, Cindy is it. These are the words that come to the top of my head when I think of how exceptionally good she is at her job: responsive, understanding, flexible, «on top of it,» professional, attentive to detail. She won not only me over, but also my mother who sometimes had very different opinions about how the wedding should go, be decorated, timed, etc. In planning my wedding, I was sometimes surprised at how long it would take vendors to get back to me. However, with Cindy, she was always responding to me within a few hours. If there’s one thing that stands out the most to me about her, it’s how she was always one step ahead. It was one of those things where she would answer my question before I was able to even articulate it. It’s like she would see me look at something in the distance when I was revisiting the room, and she’d say, «yes, that chair doesn’t need to stay.» While the execution of the wedding happened with the help of the florist, DJ, wait staff, etc., I really credit Cindy for making it literally perfect. I would not have changed ONE thing. Not one.
As for the reception: it was one of the most beautiful receptions I have ever been to. Truly and not just because it was mine. The wait staff was SO PROFESSIONAL. So many of my guests commented how fancy and upscale they felt because of how attentive (not just courteous) each server was to them individually. From the bartenders to the servers to the assistant who was specifically assigned to my husband and me — it made me feel like I was at the Four Seasons or the Ritz. It was topnotch. I really can’t complain about anything when it comes Cindy or Michelle. A few drawbacks that may bother some people about the venue is that you have to pay for your guests’ parking if they want to park in the garage, the bathrooms only have 1 stall (but have a large separate vanity room w/​mirror for people to wait and touch up in) and that there isn’t a bridal suite for brides to touch up in yet (I think it’s in the process of being built). None of those things bothered me that much, but just wanted to share as an FYI. Other than that, I love this place and would recommend it as a wedding reception venue to anyone looking to get married in the Boston area but who doesn’t want to shell out at one of the major hotels. It surpassed my expectations and I am so, so happy how it turned out. Exactly perfect!

We held our wedding reception at the Veronique ballroom and it was just perfect. Flawless in fact.
The staff, the professionalism, the amazing food… we could not have been more pleased and received only rave reviews from our guests.
Cindy, our contact, was in communication with us every step of the way. She was extremely personable and organized and noted every detail before the event — double checking whenever there was a question (which I loved because it confirmed we were on the same page and I felt I didn’t have to worry about a thing). The venue made sure they noted every allergy or personal preference possible. They contacted all of our vendors for us and coordinated the scheduling. We dropped off our decorations, which they itemized on paper and then they put everything together for us. A day of coordinator kept her eye on the scene during the event and the timing, the details, serving of the meals… everything was perfect. And I can be hard to please. :)
We held the cocktail hour upstairs and Cindy met us outside, took my bag to the dinner table, and snuck us in downstairs to have a drink and some appetizers privately before we got bombarded buy our guests. It was lovely to see the ballroom all decorated and set up before the guests entered.
Did I mention the food? One of the reasons we chose Veronique was the menu. The steak melted in my mouth, and their dessert options were so good, we decided not to serve wedding cake but their tasty option instead. We had about 11 people with different food sensitivities and Veronique barely batted an eye and accommodated each one. We received countless compliments from our guests regarding the exceptional food — better than your average wedding meal for sure.
When the event was done, the staff packed everything up for us (extremely quickly), checked the list to make sure they had everything, and sent us off with smiles.
I honestly could not have been more impressed with the execution of the event, from beginning to end. Solid five stars.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

This review is long overdue, as it is for my wedding reception from August 2009. We were in the «clubhouse», which is next to the ballroom, and similar in appearance, but smaller.
We chose Veronique for the combination of décor and price. We had a personal contact, Meghan, who handled all our questions and organizing their end of the event. When we were 6 – 8 months away, it would often take several days to get questions answered, to schedule our tasting, etc. I was afraid we had chosen poorly, but I came to understand the delays when we approached our reception date. Meghan started to focus on our stuff, answering numerous e-​mails a day, even late in the evening. It was a lot of attention when we really needed the help, so I understand she must have been busy when we were still half a year away.
The food: we were happy that the food we sampled at our tasting was the same as what our guests received at the reception. That is, the tasting wasn’t «better» or tweaked to affect our menu choices. They were very tasty, but the reception meals were just as delicious and well presented. I feel justified saying that as well – we received numerous compliments from guests that it was the best wedding food they had had. As a foodie, I was happy myself. The chef we met listened to our requested changes to dishes (spicier remoulade for the crab cakes, for example) and made them happen. And they made sure we had some of everything at our table, knowing that my wife and I would constantly be moving around the room. I recommend the mushroom ravioli, and the chorizo sliders for a late evening snack.
The reception itself was impressively handled. To start, it was a brutally hot day to be wearing wedding attire (in the 90’s), and when our guests arrived 15 – 30 minutes early, they were let in and served anyway. We also hadn’t delivered the seating assignment cards; instead of us fretting, Meghan used the spreadsheet we had worked out with her and had things printed up in ten minutes while we mingled with guests (not as pretty, but functional). Besides Meghan, a number of unexpected (non-​waiter/​bartender) staff were present to keep our reception running smoothly, to help us work with our photographer, etc. The whole evening went far smoother than I expected, for which we were grateful.
I know that the pricing for events has changed since we signed our contract, so we weren’t impacted, but the cost is probably notably higher. There’s a charge if you use a photographer not on their list, for example. I don’t know what the pricing/​experience is like for a non-​wedding event either. Overall, Veronique is certainly worth your consideration for a wedding reception, especially if the food is an important factor in your planning.

Beautiful old interior architecture. Mirrors are awesome. Food was really good for Alumni brunch (homemade donuts with caramel or chocolate were as good as they looked. omelets were nice too)

I recently evaluated this venue for a wedding blog.
All scores are based on a scale from 1 – 5
* Appearance — 3.5
* Catering options — 2.5
* Space Allocation and Flow of Floor Plan — 3
* Sales Management — 5
* Parking — 3
* Wow Factor — 3
* Overall — 3.3
The full evaluation can be found here:

Incredibly romantic wedding venue.
Beautiful old-​world feel.
Good sized space. Interesting architecture.
Loads of space for a good sized band.
Run by a very experienced group of foodies.

I came here for my school’s annual scholarship brunch. The staff were friendly, the space was inviting, and the food was pretty good.
Don’t forget to bring cash for paying for parking in their garage — it’s valet parking so don’t forget to tip, either.
Not too bad for holding a gathering of over 400 alumna, faculty emeriti, trustees, and current scholarship recipients.

My company just had our (rescheduled) holiday party at the Ballroom Veronique.
Though the spirit of the occasion was somewhat dashed by having the party in January, the atmosphere was really quite nice and open.
My only compliant is that the servers were somewhat subdued and sullen, but otherwise they did a fine job,