Commodore Perry Estate

My wife and I got married at Commodore Perry Estate in July 2012. I’d have to concur with everything Jamie said. The estate is beautiful, but the process to get under contract and work with them was more than a nightmare. They were extremely unresponsive and behaved as if they were doing us a favor to have our wedding there (and pay them significant money to do so). After much badgering, they gave us a contract, then sent another one after several weeks saying «the owner revised it.» Many of the commercial terms were actually silly (like that they would own the rights to the photographs for any and all of their uses — not the photographer or us owning the rights). I’m not sure whether the attorney who drafted their contract was directed to be unreasonable by the owners or just not very business savvy. And, each requested modification or clarification was met with «I’ll have to check with the owner who is out of the country» or something like that followed by multiple follow-​ups and long delays in responses. I was never allowed to interact with their attorney and spend dozens of hour on what seemed to me to be very basic contract matters. We were seconds from pulling the plug at multiple points, and would have done so but my fiancée had fallen on love with the venue. After all of the pain, they kept almost $ 2,000 of our security deposit because a 12×15 glass pane in a door was broken by a chair leg — we were told it was «original glass.» Then, I requested several times to get a copy of the repair bill so that I could submit it to my insurance company, but never got one. Beware… I recommend to choose another venue unless you have a legal background and a very high pain threshold.

If there’s one thing that’s true about Austin (and I’m sure there are several) that is that it’s hard to find large, gorgeous spaces. Everyone kind of defaults to the same old places time and time again and it’s okay… but I can only go to so many weddings at (insert place here.)
Though I haven’t booked it for anything (yet) the Commodore Perry estate is gawwwwgeous dahling. They’ve done an incredible job with the space — it’s elegant but not intimidating, it’s huge but not overwhelming, it’s a beautiful piece of land with traditional architecture in the heart of Austin. If you’re considering hosting a large event, the CPE is an excellent new choice.

The Estate is absolutely breathtaking. It *would* be a beautiful venue for any charity function or medium to large wedding.
However, I say *would* because the owners/​staff do not have their act together. After weeks of being told by the Estate’s coordinator that my wedding was on the books, and then being put off when I asked multiple times to get the contract so I could sign it, she told me that because of «zoning issues» I wouldn’t be allowed to get married there after all. This was especially frustrating since my fiancé spent money and his valuable leave days to make a special trip from the west coast to see the place only a few days before Paula told me we couldn’t do it there after all. If she’d bothered to warn us that it might not work out, rather than her telling everyone «This couple is getting married here in September!», we would have made sure to tour some other venues together that weekend. Instead I had to tour other venues and make a decision without my fiancé, less than three months before the wedding.
After this all happened, I was told by another local event coordinator that I should «run, not walk» from this place. I can certainly understand why. Brides – you should get EVERYTHING in writing ASAP (which we tried to do, of course), and assume nothing until you’ve done so. While I was immensely disappointed initially, now I truly believe this was a blessing in disguise.

Last Thursday, a client of mine hosted a party at the Commodore Perry Estate. The estate is absolutely gorgeous. The backyard is beautiful and the interior has been meticulously renovated. We didn’t get to see the upstairs because it was blocked off. Definitely a great place to check out if you are planning a wedding or a big party.