Powers Auditorium

If I could give negative stars, I actually would. I was recently married there this past July, and it was the most embarrassing experience if my life. Not exactly wedding dreams of a bride! To start from the beginning, we tried multiple times to reach out to the caterer, (Chrystal’s) to schedule discussions of tasting and money, it was somehow impossible to get a response or a call back. It literally got to a point of threatening Nora, the most non responsive person I have ever dealt with in my entire life, to take our deposit back before we got a response from them.
Finally, once we sat down, the money we were told or would cost and the actual numbers were completely different!!! They add a 20% charge to the bill, in addition to the venue, the separate are insurance you are responsible for, the parking lot in the back you need to pay separately for your guests, and the bar which is separate because it’s the symphony who runs it. Everything is separate, there’s absolutely no coordination or communication between the two, yet you are expected to pay two of everything. Yet, when everything goes wrong, they then collaborate to strategically point a finger in the others direction.
Then, you get the pleasure of dealing with Leslie Burgoyne. Hands down, the most unprofessional child I have ever dealt with. After a humiliating experience of watching my guests literally line up like live cattle for a drink during my cocktail hour, I was told (after she screamed on my face, mind you, I’m the bride) that «no other bride and groom have had a problem with it!» I literally looked at her in that moment and said, I need you to fix this right now, and this will be discussed in a meeting later. Mind you, we had to pay cash up front, and pay for every single person 21+ whether they drank or not. It was incredibly expensive, for exactly 2 bar tenders, when I had over 200 + guests. And to scream on my face as I questioned what the heck was happening with the massive guest lines?! Oh. My.
And onto the next, not a single thing that Nora and I discussed on the timeline happened, I spend a LOT of money, and was nothing but disappointed. We did food stations for my wedding, and I had 3 guests who had to leave because of food allergies and the food not being marked. So, in addition to large guests lines, guests being sent to the ER due to food allergies, Nora nowhere to be found, Leslie screaming in my face, as my father watched his «daughter of the bride» slowly losing her mind… If nothing else, please, take your thousands elsewhere.
I am absolutely mortified to say what we spent, let alone everything up front and cash per their request. The complete lack of professionalism, service, and money poorly spent that we received was nothing short of embarrassing, disappointing, and more importantly, on the biggest day of my life.
Please, please, please, don’t ever do this brides!

Be forewarned about this venue! It is a beautiful place with historical significance so a good place for photos. BUT… if anything goes wrong you will be on your own. The management of Powers will view you as an adversary if you have a complaint.
My sister was married there on a day of 90+ degree heat. During the rehearsal there was no A/​C but they promised it would be comfortable for the ceremony the next day. At 9 am on the day of a 6:30 pm wedding the management was aware that there was NO AIR CONDITIONING. The entire place felt like an oven when we arrived at 5 pm. Indoor temps in the low to mid 80’s. 90 in the room given to the groom and groomsmen to change! We called it the greenhouse room. There was NO attempt or concern shown by management to remedy this situation until shortly before the ceremony. Their solution was to purchase two, yep, TWO fans in addition to the two others already there. No, they were not industrial fans — just regular fans from Wal-​Mart. For 14 tables of guests! That’s it! NOTHING else.
Miss-​Management, a woman of clearly limited talent was resentful that she was shamed into putting that wholly inadequate solution into place. The ceremony had to be shortened, the cake was melting, and guests had to leave early. The auditorium is gorgeous but you can imagine what a difference it makes in the experience of the patrons when the management not only takes no responsibility for the basic comfort of their guests, but demonstrates outright resentment and hostility toward the couple who are paying them thousands of dollars. Would YOU ever take a chance like that? Stay away from Powers unless you are going to a performance. There are many other local venues where the management will actually appreciate your business and treat you like an honored guest.