Elysian Ballroom

Went here for The White Dress One Year Anniversary Bridal Event and it was lovely!
The event took us to the 5^th floor at the Elysian Ballroom for the fashion runway show and to enjoy the cocktail room with food and drinks. Love the décor and set up everywhere. This would be an awesome and fun place to have a wedding, because I really love the cocktail room… Very spacious and everyone can hang out and enjoy drinks, desserts, and hors d’oeuvres. Venue has a mix of contemporary and old. Please refer to other reviews who’s already had a wedding here.

I could not be happier with our choice to have our wedding and reception at the Elysian Ballroom. This is the most beautiful venue in Portland. We initially thought it was a little out of our price range, but after further review of all of the things that come with the booking we realized that we were actually able to have our dream wedding at a fraction of what it would cost if we rented everything. For example, the venue has chivari chairs, beautiful lighting and draping with chandeliers, gorgeous linens, bistro tables, lounge furniture, candles, almost any piece of décor you would need for your tables. We also used Mike (the owner) for our flowers and he was actually less expensive than other places in Portland and also included any rentals from his warehouse for free!
During the wedding, Mike was so helpful and was doing everything in his power to make sure we (and our guests) were having a great time. For example, he made sure that my husband and I had full plates of food at our seats as soon as dinner was served so we would be sure to be able to eat at the wedding. He also noticed any time we needed a refill of our drinks and would come swooping in with a new one!
Mike has been in this business for a long time, and he knows all of the little ways to make a big impact in the wedding. Having him as part of the wedding is priceless, and his venue is absolutely incredible.

My husband and I were married at the Elysian in June 2015. We had a wonderful experience. I will get the one downside of choosing this venue out of the way quickly, so I can focus on how much we loved the venue. It happened to be an remarkably hot summer, so the lack of air conditioning was unfortunate on our 100 degree day. Nonetheless, we (and our guests) had a wonderful time.
The venue is beautiful and elegant, and we fell in love the first time we visited. The style of both the cocktail lounge and the ballroom create an elegant backdrop. We did not feel the need to do any decorating beyond centerpieces for our tables.
Also, our guests raved about the food. The food was delicious, and they even sent home some leftovers with the bride and groom. That was particularly nice because after the reception we realized we were REALLY hungry!
Most importantly, the coordinator, Mike, made everything so simple and straight forward. I can be a bit obsessive and anxiety-​prone, but Mike made planning the ceremony and reception easy. I cannot praise him enough. In addition to all of his pre-​wedding support, he was also wonderful the day of the wedding. He was constantly helping with little details: refilling champagne for the bridesmaids, helping the groomsmen with their pocket squares, etc. He was so friendly and professional, and I would recommend him to anyone!

We had our wedding there in June of 2015. Excellent space and Mike is the absolute best!

I would give Elysian and Mike a hundred stars if I could. The space and Mike the owner/​wedding coordinator/​florist/​caterer are both beyond amazing. Mike is SO organized and on top of everything it makes getting married a breeze.
Mike has amazing resources and was able to perfectly match our aesthetic. I literally cannot say enough good things about him and Elysian.

Got married here in July 2015. You get two things with the Elysian — a great space, and an AMAZING coordinator. Mike runs the space, and is also a caterer and florist. Incredibly, this doesn’t seem to stretch him too thin; in fact everything seems more cohesive because of it.
Some specifics:
The space is near the top of an old industrial building, where many of the floors have been turned into event spaces and bridal boutiques. The Elysian is divided into two spaces — a fabulous cocktail/​bar area, complete with two spacious well-​decorated rooms for bridesmaids and groomsmen, and a big ballroom. The ballroom apparently used to be a theater, and it still has a small stage.
Our ceremony took place on the stage in the ballroom. The party then moved out to the cocktail area while the staff flipped the ballroom into a reception hall. (Staff is all super competent.) When we came back for dinner, we were absolutely blown away. Fabulous floral arrangements, elegant candlelight, comfortable dining space.
The whole time, Mike was a master conductor: directing guests, staff, and the wedding party with a friendly and professional demeanor. At one point he and I went over the exact song titles the band would be playing at different parts of the ceremony, in case someone needed a cue. «I probably don’t NEED to know this stuff,» he told me. «I just hate NOT knowing for the one time somebody asks me.»
Things to keep in mind:
There is a well-​sized elevator, which is important since the high ceilings make each flight of stairs quite a hike.
The stage in the ballroom makes for a unique reception layout. Instead of having a central dance space, the majority of the dancing took place on that stage — which sort of removes dancers from the diners.
The ballroom does not have great ventilation. To increase the airflow, there are some hidden air conditioning units around the stage, and also some industrial-​sized fans. (The air conditioners you barely notice, the fans you most certainly do.) At one point we drew back some curtains and opened a window at the back of the stage, which also gave us some nice natural light.
Dinner was decent, but less of a highlight than the décor or overall organization. Because of how well everything was run, though, and how elegant the space is, I can’t give this place anything less than 5 stars. Incredible atmosphere, incredible night.

I have emailed them twice and called twice. No reply from them at all. And it’s been weeks now. If they cant manage to call or email back, how can they manage anything else?

My review is 4 and a half so i did five to round it out. The place is very small but perfect in every way. The reception was VERY friendly. When you first go in you see two big jugs of drinks, lemonade and ice tea. Then you see the bar. Farther you see the reception area where there are chairs a tables for the guest to talk around. The wedding ceremony is in the same room as the dinner service. After the ceremony was done guest went into the reception area to talk and that is when the staff was quick to set up the tables. The decorations were pretty. The food though. gosh. buffet style. 2 salads, rolls w/​butter (garlic roll, YUM!!!), sauteed veggies, scalloped potatoes, salmon and sirloin steak. The scallop potatoes were kinda salty but when you eat with the salmon or steak is perfect. Sooo good… The night was perfect, bride pretty and cute and groom handsome. Good Job!!! i danced so hard and it was really fun :)

Everyone loved our venue, it has a romantic, elegant with just enough extravagance without going over the top. Mike definitely knows weddings & it shows in his venue. One thing that I wish they had was a room to get ready in: there is a room where you can get dressed but not for hair & makeup BUT that’s a minor thing. The venue is so gorgeous that you don’t need much decoration, which saves a lot of money. Everything comes with it so that helped us a lot since we were planning our wedding from the East Coast. The food was amazing, we had one bite of everything before we were whisked away but all the guests loved it. The steak was not overcooked or undercooked, perfectly done. He also helped us along through the process as well which we really appreciated. Mike is a wedding planner himself (if we would have known this ahead of time, we would have definitely hired him as a wedding planner) and knows what looks best in his venue. If the photographer knows how to work with the lighting the pictures will turn out beautifully. I just loved that everything was already set up so you didn’t have to stress about the little details, he definitely made it easy for the bride & groom to work with.

My one and only Child, Daughter, Best Friend, just had her wedding here last weekend… Whatta GAS!!! Fortunately, I trust my kid and follow her lead no matter WHAT! She scored a total WIN with this place!
I was my «Old Ass» skeptical self during the rehearsal, but when the event took wing, I was sold! I mean you get to do everything in the same venue! The grand ballroom is set up as «Pews» for the Ceremony itself, THEN, after walking my GORGEOUS Daughter down the aisle, and handing her over to her Handsome betrothed «I» watched as he and she read their handwritten vows to perfection. MY family felt so wonderful at HIS words, HIS Family felt the same for my Daughters.
BINGO!!! We ALL moved next door to socialize and begin DRINKING!!! For let’s face it Folks, that’s PART of a wedding… I mean, You QUIT drinking so you can enjoy an event like THIS!!! IF, you cannot drink on an evening like this, God Bless Ya… The REST of you, swear off TOMORROW!!! For tonight??? HAVE A BALL!
So they call you back in to the Ballroom. The room is NOW now magically set up in a beautiful Banquet style.
So ya wanna have «FUN»??? Go off everywhere you feel you need… Bali, Puerto Vallarta, Bimini, Kauai, Thailand, Paris??? You can run away if you want Pilgrim, but you will never find a better time than old PDX.
There may not be Palm Trees, and your body parts may not flow to and fro with warm tides, but you CAN find FUN unlike anything you could hope for! Serious Commitment and Joyous Family, right here in Rip City. Give it a try. «WE» had a BALL, and the Kids went on to Costa Rica for Honeymoon to float in the warm tide…
So be it!!! Ain’t that the way it SHOULD be???
Call up Elysian! Ask for «Mike»… Finestkind!!!

We had our wedding here and it was BEAUTIFUL. Mike was excellent to work with and very helpful. I am very very happy that we chose to have our wedding at the Elysian Ballroom– it was fabulous.
I would, However, give the In house Dj (Jerry) 1 STAR. He seemed very unorganized like he didn’t really even spend time picking out the music selections beforehand. We gave him a list of musicians we loved and heard a small handful of songs from them. The other songs played weren’t anything near our musical taste. The songs he chose were less than thrilling and not really what we wanted playing. He just wasn’t very engaging to the crowd at all and I was very underwhelmed. I had many of our wedding guests approach us throughout the evening saying how nice the wedding was but how awful the DJ was. You would be better off hiring an outside DJ to play at the Elysian or paying a friend to control the iPod for the evening.

The Elysian Ballroom was a wonderful place to have a wedding and Mike is a perfect wedding coordinator! With Mike we really didn’t have to think because he took care of everything! Everything turned out beautiful!
The Elysian Ballroom
918 Southwest Yamhill, 5^th Floor,
Portland, Oregon 97 205
(503) 223‑9267

We had our wedding in March 2013 at the Elysian Ballroom and it was magical. The wedding went perfectly, partially because this venue is beautiful but also because Mike and his staff are so competent at ensuring all the requested details are perfect. I know planning a wedding is a daunting task, but choosing the Elysian Ballroom is a great decision and gives you one less thing to stress about!