Meghan P.
Yelp
My husband and I got married in August 2018 at Coopers Hall, and highly recommend that anyone looking to host an event strongly consider Coopers Hall for all of your needs! We will break this review down into three categories: the venue, the food/wine, and the staff. (Apologies for the length of this review!)
VENUE
Planning a 125-person wedding from another state can be very stressful! We wanted a space that would not require too many additional decorations and that was expansive enough to host both the ceremony and reception without feeling overwhelmed with additional space. After what felt like weeks of searching, we happened to come across Coopers Hall from a family member's referral. We were immediately obsessed with the hanging plants, floor-to-ceiling walls, walls of rustic wood barrels, and the strung bistro lights. We booked the space without ever even walking in because we were confident we would love it. And we couldn't be happier with our choice! When we were finally able to see the venue in person, we were thrilled that the pictures really did showcase the beauty of the venue. The venue is in an industrial building that used to be an auto-body repair shop. From the mezzanine level, you can really appreciate the unique features: the vats of wine (we learned these are called Coopers, hence the name!), the twinkly lights sprawled across the dining space, and the beautiful light that seeps in through the large windows on the garage-style doors. When it came time to decide the floor plan for our wedding, we had a tough time choosing which corner of the venue to highlight because we loved so many angles!
FOOD/WINE
Portland locals visit Coopers Hall on rare nights when the venue is not booked for an event to enjoy the delicious food and wine. That is how you know that Coopers Hall is doing food and beverage right! To pick our wedding food and wine, the venue hosted a special dinner at which we were able to try all of the wines and sample the seasonal menu. It was incredible- we tried 7 different wines and sampled several appetizers, salads, main courses and desserts. We left very full and excited for our guests to get to eat our menu. Insider scoop: get the mac and cheese. Just do it. We still have guests raving about it! Drool. And the wine! We had many wine lovers agree that the wine poured was of high quality and easy to drink throughout the night. Joel, the wine director, learned that we wanted some sparkling wine to serve at the wedding and special ordered us two cases of the most delicious rose sparking wine from France- it was gone before dinner was served!
STAFF
If you are perusing other venues in Portland, you may come across other spaces that compete with the venue, food and wine aspects of Coopers Hall. But what cannot possibly be paralleled is the staff. When you book an event at Coopers Hall, Shannan, the Events Director, whisks you away into her magical world of events-planning expertise. From the minute you book a contract, you can hand over all the reigns and just coast through planning. She handles every single detail with such ease and talent. She is a guru and will make you actually enjoy wedding planning! And this is saying a lot, considering my husband works in events at a major hotel company. We were extremely impressed with how knowledgeable Shannan is about planning and executing events, her efficiency to get tasks done, her incredible responsiveness (an absolute must for planning any event, especially one from out-of-state), and her devotion to her job. She also ensured we stayed on budget! The day of the wedding, she put out fires that I didn't even know existed, she made sure that my husband and I got our own special bottle of the coveted sparkling wine, and she even rescued me from a red-wine spill on my wedding dress by personally dabbing with water and her own Tide pen! She is absolutely the best. In addition to Shannan, we were floored by the sweetness of Mae, our Day-of-Coordinator, who helped make sure that everything ran smoothly on the day of the wedding and kept us informed of the timeline as events occurred so that we didn't get behind schedule. Lastly, we want to thank and highlight the incredible wait staff at Coopers Hall! During the dinner service, our wine glasses were filled and guests' needs managed expertly by the servers. But perhaps the staff member who stood out the most to my husband and me was Blake, the exceptionally friendly bartender who would spot us from a mile away, always ready to make sure our glasses were full. He even kept my drink safe (have I mentioned how much I loved my sparkling wine!) while we went to cut the cake. Top-notch service!
Perhaps this review was way too long for you to handle (sorry!), but we just needed to get across how highly we recommend you consider Coopers Hall for any event needs. The venue, food, wine and people will make your evening unforgettable, just as ours was!