Abernethy Center

We recently held a memorial service in the ballroom at the Abernethy Center. I can’t even begin to adequately express my gratitude at how well everything went. At such a sad and stressful time, the staff were just incredible to work with. They were extremely sensitive to our needs and met our every request. The rates were very reasonable and the food we ordered absolutely blew us away. We ordered a package that included two salads and an assortment of finger sandwiches. Well, we assumed it would be little turkey sandwiches on white bread or something. But instead there was a hot ham and cheese sandwich, an amazing roast beef and blue cheese on a nice roll, and a turkey and aioli sandwich that I heard was amazing but was unable to try, unfortunately. The chef was proud to announce that the salad he had made was a family recipe. The set up of the room was simple but elegant. They provided some nice background music for us and facilitated a slide show of photos. I just can’t say enough about the Abernethy Center. Although it was a very sad occasion for us, it went as well as it possibly could have. All of our guests were impressed and commented on how good the food was and how nice the staff was. The staff walked the fine line well of being available to us but not overly intrusive, especially given our reason for being there. I would give it 6 stars if I could! Thank you, Abernethy Center!

I called a few weeks ago and spoke with Theresa I believe, can’t remember exactly. I explained we recently moved to Seattle from Portland so we will have our wedding in Portland because all of our friends and family live there. With new jobs we are only able to come down on weekends to look at venues. She stated they don’t do showings on weekends because of events (completely understandable) and that we could come on a Sunday before 10am to take a look for ourselves but she would try to see if anyone is available to show on a weekend. Towards the end of the phone call she asked for my name, when I gave it to her she asked if I was Russian, I said no I’m from Croatia and right after that she said she would forward my information to a sales person and they would call me and let me know if anyone could show me the venue on a weekend that we planned to be there. Not sure why where I’m from has anything to do with this but it’s been about three weeks and I haven’t received a call. I have fortunately found another place to have our wedding. I’ll give it 2 starts because this venue does look beautiful in pictures.

I was a guest of a wedding here recently and it was absolutely beautiful. Nice easy location with plenty of parking. Nice paved walking path to the garden. Stunning lush landscaping and a quaint little gazebo and a lawn and a big area with a tent right there for the reception. I would have had my wedding there (that being said I have no idea what it cost or what went on behind the scenes).

We just had our wedding at Abernethy Center, and I could not be more pleased. The site is gorgeous and they have everything you could want for a spectacular day. Want a gorgeous garden? They’ve got two. A quaint Chapel? Check. An elegant ballroom? Got it. An amazing venue that people are still talking about? Abernethy Center is the place!
We wanted an elegant and sophisticated wedding, and the various settings with the ceremony in the Chapel, cocktail hour in the Veiled Garden, and dinner and dancing in the Ballroom gave us exactly what we wanted. However, they have several options so that you can design your own ideal setting.
Here were our top 10 favorite things:
10. The Chapel — from the front with the picture-​perfect steps and steeple to the backdrop of the gorgeous trees behind the windows of the Chapel — it is all perfect.
9. The Chapel bell ringing at the end of the ceremony.
8. The lush garden setting which gave a gorgeous variety of settings for our photographs and then a perfect setting for our cocktail party.
7. The elegant ballroom with marble entry, expandability, and great dance floor.
6. The food.
5. The food.
4. The food. I’m not just using up numbers here; it’s really that good. Our guests were raving about it. It was «the quality you’d expect at a top-​notch restaurant, not a wedding venue» was what we’ve heard said many times.
3. The extraordinary level of service. We could not be more impressed with the level of service that we received. It was above and beyond at every step along the way.
2. The staff. From the planning to the rehearsal to the ceremony to the party to the cleanup, every member of the staff that we interacted with was extraordinarily professional and helpful. They made us feel like they were partners in the planning and delivery of our perfect day.
And #1:
Our wedding! Although everyone keeps talking about what a great event it was, no one had a better time that day than me, the bride. I don’t know how many people can say that, or that they truly enjoyed every aspect of planning and working with their vendors, or that they can’t find anything that they would want to change on the wedding day. I count myself very lucky to be able to say all those things, and it’s because of Abernethy Center.

Wow! I came from Washington for my cousin’s wedding and… whoa! This venue is just beautiful! This wedding had hundreds of candles and the night was just perfect! I definitely just suggest booking a reception here!

I can not put into words how amazing this place is! I have been working with Elizabeth for 18 months and she is an amazing person. She made everyone of my dreams come true. The whole wedding had not one flaw! The servers during the day were amazing. The food was wonderful. The decorations and cleanness of the place was great. Everyone is so nice! I couldn’t have imagined my wedding any other place. They gave us all our dreams!

Having photographed at least 10 weddings at abernethy, I am genuinely impressed by the service and efficiency of the staff. Specifically Heidi and Amy — every time they have been exhibited excellent service and I love working alongside them!

I was a bridesmaid earlier this summer for my dear friends’ wedding. And the hospitality was, well, non-​existent. The staff was absent. The head bartender was rude. And the food servers were hasty.
Being very good friends with both the bride and the groom, I knew that having an open bar for the wedding was a critical detail. And being present for many of the conversations between the groom and the venue personnel, the groom expressed how he and his cousins made a family pact years ago about having an open bar at their weddings. And how they plan to take shots. This was not a hidden fact. At NO time did anyone from the venue explain the extremely over the top conservative venue policies. So at the wedding the head bar tender went on a power trip and cut everyone off from drinking after a formal shot was announced by the dj for everyone to take. But the bartender neglected to explain the policy to anyone. Failed to actually reference the policy in any literature. And attempted to fabricate Oregon statutes. Little did he know that both the bride and groom and majority of the wedding party and guests are attorneys. Also, the bartender cut people off from the bar who were not only absolutely sober, but didn’t even have a drink the whole night.
Another thing, the staff removed the food from the buffet line before everyone had a chance to get food. The food was out for fewer than 20 minutes. And again this was another thing that the groom discussed with the venue months in advance. Explaining that in certain cultures, people wait to get food last making sure that others got their food and whatnot. And when the groom brought this to the attention of the staff he was dismissed.
The whole thing made the bride and the groom shut down their own wedding over an hour early and relocate it to the bar across the street.
With all this said, the wedding and ceremony was great. And we all had a blast but nothing can be attributed to this venue. Just the bride and groom themselves.
Well, I guess the golf cart escorting was cool, but that’s it.
Get it together, Abernathy.

My husband and I got married here on 5−24−14. At first, we were excited at what seemed like an all-​inclusive wedding venue. After we signed the contract and paid the deposit, we began to experience MANY finance-​related surprises. If you want a slightly larger variety of table linens, pay extra. If you want your plates placed on the tables instead of by the buffet, pay extra. If you want an hour of extra time for your vendors to set up, pay hundreds of dollars worth of extra. We dealt with these with our chin up, still hoping for the wedding of our dreams. I personally kept in contact with our event planner through emails, and answered each question she had about our day in great detail. The entire event was pre-​planned and there should have been no surprises. On the day of the wedding, while I was getting ready in the Bridal suite, the very first surprise was our event specialist coming in and telling me that ALL the candles in the reception would not be lit, because it was a fire hazard. We had candles on every table and had never been warned of this. Trying not to let it ruin my wedding day, I said ok. Next, as my photographer was taking pictures of me in the reception hall, I noticed that the linens that I had paid to be upgraded had NOT BEEN IRONED. I uploaded a photo, take a look. The event specialist was adamant that they had been… However they looked like they had been taken out of a box and placed straight onto the tables. Can you imagine? The table linens that you upgraded to be silky satin, in a romantic candle-​lit atmosphere were now crumply and would be seen in bright, undimmmed light with unlit candles everywhere. Next, right before i was about to walk down the aisle, i saw the event specialist scrambling to set up a small table to the side of the ceremony. I asked her what she was doing. She told me she was setting up for our wedding certificate signing. Not in a single email did I ever mention that We needed that table. We were not planning on doing the signing during the ceremony. At this point I realized there must have been ZERO coordination between our event specialist and our event planner. She knew NOTHING! During the ceremony, the worst thing of all happened. In my culture, we pray at weddings. Parents pray, the bride and groom pray. When it came time for my mom to pray, her handheld microphone began screeching out of control, and would not amplify. The best man ran over to the abernethy sound person and tried to switch mics, fix the screeching, do SOMETHING. the sound person just sat there and said he «wasnt set up for it» as our entire bridal party, guests, and officiant stood waiting to pray… It was the worst feeling in the world. My parents prayed without amplification because the screeching was unbearable, and so did i. Our prayers were not recorded in our video or heard by our guests. I have paperwork from Abernethy that CLEARLY STATES that two handheld microphones WILL BE AVAILABLE during the ceremony. The unpreparedness of the staff was unbearable! What did they meam they weren’t «set up» for it?! After the ceremony, our event specialist was rushing us to begin our reception, even though I had clearly wrote in emails that we would have 45 minutes between the ceremony and reception for pictures. NOTHING has been communicated to the ceremony specialist it seemed like! The best part of the whole wedding was the following: before entering the reception hall, our event specialist said to us «because we were so terrible with the microphones during the ceremony, we are giving you a gift-​we lit your candles». What happened to the fire hazard? What about all the talk in the bridal suite about them NEVER EVER being able to light those candles, no matter what, because it was against their «policy»? During the wedding we were estatic, we thought it was sweet of Abernethy to do so. However, I found out later (from my mom and several others who were in the reception hall when it happened) that after my personal vendor had set up our head table and centerpieces had left, a staff member of abernethy came up and lit ALL THE CANDLES. The even specialist then approached her and asked her what she was doing, and scolded her for doing so. The staff member, of course was uninformed and didnt know what she was doing. That is how the candles ACTUALLY got lit. I think it was very low of our event specialist to lie to us like that. Next, when my husband and i sat down at the head table, another staff member approached me and said «after a few tables go and get their food (buffet style) we will dismiss your bridal party to go get theirs». At this point, i had to lower my face and take deep breaths. I had CLEARLY STATED IN EMAILS PRIOR TO THE WEDDING that our head table MUST BE SERVED FAMILY-​STYLE, which means all the food would be brought TO US. I also had confirmation that this would be arranged in the emails. I asked the staff member who told her that our head table would not be served family-​styl

Let me just start by saying WOW! My husband & I just got married here on 3÷29÷14 and it was all around an incredible experience! Elizabeth, did a great job on gathering the details that we wanted. She even thought of things that never even crossed my mind! Planning a wedding is tricky and can be overwhelming and we did it in three months! Abernethy was very thoughtful and flexible with our schedule.
They offer you a complete list of vendors and I would highly suggest using them. Everyone was very familiar with the space and knew how to work together. This made our entire day flow so smooth. We had a morning ceremony and I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful wedding experience!
Everyone at Abernethy serves a purpose. Elizabeth hammers out all of the details and is in charge of sales and does a great job. Then, the day of you have a separate wedding coordinator who is making things flow and directing guests. So important on the big day.
We had a brunch wedding with eggs Benedict with potatoes and bacon and fresh fruit! The food was so tasty! The guys in the kitchen did such a great job! I’m still getting compliments from our guest regarding the food and drinks! Way to go Abernethy! And who doesn’t love a good bellini or mimosa on a Saturday morning?!
It seems like everyone wants to get married in the summer time when it is warm and sunny. I was one of those brides too. Getting married in the off season made things so much more enjoyable though! Vendors and Abernethy can be really accommodating! Planning is stressful enough, it was nice not feeling rushed by our vendors.
Choosing a photographer that was familiar with the grounds really made for exceptional photo opportunities. We had sun in the morning with beautiful spring foliage that turned out great for pictures, but then we had some stormy rain, and that made for some of the best photo opportunities ever!
It is really awesome too seeing downtown Oregon City really make a positive turn around. So many cute little bars and restaurants popping up! Definitely check this place out! Happy planning to all!

I was married about 1 year ago and we looked at Abernethy as a possible venue. My wife and I decided we both thought it was a wedding «factory», when presented with plate charger upgrades, napkin choices, ect… for extra $$$ I know this is a business and this is how they make money, but it does not feel very romantic and makes you feel like you are purchasing a used car
The confirmation of this came when I attended a friends wedding here. Where we had a very bad experience with some of the staff. I wont get into specifics as I have voiced my concerns with the management directly, but I will say that a guest was found with 3 airplane bottles of outside alcohol in a private area (the bridal suite) This resulted in the server pulling the best man and the maid of honor out of the reception for a tongue lashing and threats of fines to the bride and groom. The server then, without permission or notifying anyone searched all the bridal parties purses in the bridal suite without most of them being present, I was witness to this. I know they have a no outside alchol policy, but it was handled horribly and disrupted someones special night unnecessarily
To sum it up, this location does everything in their power to get the most $ out of the venue as they can buy using of upcharges, over charging for alcohol and running multiple weddings thru each venue a day leaving a very limited setup time and take down time.

Okay, so I want to start by saying I am getting married at the Abernethy center this summer and I couldn’t be happier with that choice overall. I just wanted to tell you all about a few «surprises» that have come up in the planning process that I didn’t expect.

First, they have a very tight time table that they allow you. They are very up front about this. I was just dissapointed that it was under no circumstances flexible.
Secondly, they are some «hidden fees» I hadn’t expected when I went in for my initial meeting. As as example, there is a $ 500– refundable security deposit required, as well as mandatory liability insurance coverage (approx. $ 200). Also, your bar costs do not go towards your catering minimum at all which I would have never guessed.
Third, they talk to you about offering tastings throughout the year to sample the menu (which is great!) But I was dissapointed to see only about ¹⁄₃ of the menu previewed. We can opt for an additional tasting at $ 100 each. Ugh!
I have been very pleased by the professionalism of the staff at the Abernethy Center, I hope the above serves as tips to help you make an informed decision.

Beautiful beautiful place! My dad and stepmom were married here and gosh it was so beautiful! Summertime have it the perfect weather, the greenery, the simple set up (chairs, bridge, etc) made it all the better.
They provided a wonderful reception as well: well organized and great location. Just walk across the street from the actual marriage area to the reception area. They provided a wonderful memory. (:

We were just married at the Abernethy Center a couple of weeks ago — they are great! All staff was very helpful, including and especially our event representative, Laura. She was always very responsive to questions and e-​mails, met with us in person when needed, and worked with us closely on our details, budget and any other issues/​priorities!
As an added plus, Abernethy really came through for us when it looked like the weather was not going to cooperate for an outdoor ceremony. It was such a relief to not only have a «plan b» but for that option to be another beautiful setting! We ended up taking pictures outside, but having the lovely chapel for our ceremony — it was beautiful! I would definitely recommend Abernethy to anyone looking for a wedding venue!

Definitely a lovely venue for weddings. I just helped a friend with her wedding which was held here in the veiled garden with the reception in the ballroom. They were very accommodating and were willing to wait until 1.5 hours before the ceremony for the bride to decide whether or not to have the wedding outdoors (it was raining off and on). They were ready and waiting to set up the ballroom if needed for the ceremony, but since we chose the garden, they made sure the seats stayed dry and that there were a number of umbrellas to go around (could have used a few more, but still a big help).
The staff were very professional and wonderful to work with. The food was fabulous and they did an awesome job.
The only thing that bummed me a little was that there was no one there to help with set up of the reception and ceremony site. I had things for the reception (like favors, toasting flutes, cake topper), and no one seemed to know what to do with them, nor did any of the staff help us out with them. We wound up having to put out all the favors, decorate the ceremony site and get all of that stuff set up ourselves, which was doable… but would have been nice if they’d had the staff who were standing around in the ballroom help out.
They also could really benefit from better signage as we had several folks try to crash the wedding cause they didn’t realize they had the wrong garden. Even had folks crashing the reception site to use the restroom cause they didn’t know where their event site was.
Other than that, it was really well done and they do a lovely job.

We feel very fortunate to have such a great wedding venue locally here in the Portland area. The staff are great, the grounds are immaculate, and their new little white church is right out of a movie. They’re located right in the heart of Oregon City, just seconds off the 205, but the setting is quiet and serene. Our bride and groom had a fantastic time, and so did we!

For all your business convention, work seminar, wedding, bar mitzvah &c. &c. &c. needs.
Unless you happen to live in/​near the O.C. (Oregon City), this is not a particularly close/​convenient locale for most of the rest of the folks in the greater metro area. Unless your idea of commuter heaven is a heavy dose of stop lights and traffic on McGloughlin for miles on end, or the potential parking lot hell of 205 in either direction, this will never be ideally located «for the other 98% of us».
The staff @ Abernethy I found to be highly pleasant and accommodating. They made the unpleasant business of just gettin’ there a bit more bearable. For this, an extra ‘*’ and a sincere thank you, ladies.
The building itself is late model, the pa and video systems seemed reasonably up to date and did not continuously malfunction or otherwise misbehave, although the PA did provide a few unintentional moments of amusement.
In sum: the building: serviceable. The staff: friendly, attentive. The zip code: way user unfriendly, for most in attendance. Fortunately I’m engrossed in a particularly good book on CD right now, and didn’t mind the commute nearly as much as I would have, otherwise…

We are officiating at a wedding at Abernethy Center this weekend for a couple who were originally supposed to be married at Viewpoint Inn, which recently had a damaging fire. Abernethy waived the wedding site fee and really helped this couple feel confidant in having to shift their wedding plans. We usually officiate at a wedding each year at Abernethy.
Everyone is helpful, courteous and plans go smoothly. Our business is:
Joanie Levine and Yehudah Alan Winter

My wife and I were on a photo shoot here last night, and blown away by the notable service. I’ve shot here several times with great experiences.
As a vendor, it is not uncommon to be treated differently than the client that retained their services. I felt as though it was ME that wrote the check… Both my wife and I had the same experience from multiple, accommodating members of the staff.
The food was incredible too! The vegetarian meal was amazing, and it’s the first time I’ve heard my Kiwi (New Zealand) wife say that she enjoyed the fruit salad. Twas and incredible experience, even for us worker-​bees.

My husband and I chose the Abernethy Center for our wedding on September 19, 2009. We couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. We thoroughly enjoyed the staff, they were very helpful and friendly. They assisted us with planning the «in’s and out’s» of our day. One reason (and of the main reasons) for choosing this location: BEAUTIFUL grounds! Our pictures turned out beautifully. And, we had a contingency plan for rain, which we ended up not needing (PHEW!)
We chose the indoor/​outdoor package, which included the Veiled Garden ceremony and Abernethy Ballroom reception. The catering was outstanding, we heard many good things from our guests about the food. We also included an open bar in our package and guests were obviously happy about that ;-)
One thing I recommend when setting up your event at the AC is to be clear on «day of» event staff, who will be there as your point person/​coordinator.
Overall a beautiful event, great staff, and I defintiely recommend this location, I have no regrets! And, I’ve heard nothing but great things from all my guest too.