The Ford Alumni Center has been such a fantastic venue for the Ronald McDonald House Charities annual gala the last couple of years. What I love most: 1) Multiple spaces that can be used within and outside in the courtyard, spreading the activations. We use it in September, and fingers crossed for this year, the weather has been perfect and we've had a live band outside. 2) Isaiah Truong is fantastic to work with. He is very responsive and will dig for answers if there are other university cross-overs. 3) Location is in town, parking in garage is convenient. 4) Ability to work with outside catering. What I don't love: Because it is a working building on-campus, other events sometimes complicate convenience factors, ie, concert at Matt Knight, sports schedule or student events can affect parking or spaces within the Alumni Center. It is important to realize this and walk in with eyes wide open and keep the communication lines open. On the bright side, Isaiah is very helpful walking through some of these hiccups. Overall, I will keep coming back because it is one of the best (the best??) event spaces in town for 200 or less people. Here's the sizzle reel: https://youtu.be/kwLZ8G3a_Ng?si=jxaH_1OdDrtkPMcn read more

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We held a fundraising event at the FAC and it was amazing. Isaiah and the staff were on top of everything and the food was perfect. Great setting and the room felt open and user friendly. We are going back next year. read more

Our real estate company hosts our annual Christmas party at the Ford Alumni Center in Eugene, and we can't imagine holding it anywhere else. The building is a gorgeous, modern, spacious, and polished without feeling cold. There's plenty of room to host a full dinner, a bar, and still have space left over for mingling or dancing. It gives off a professional yet celebratory vibe that works beautifully for company events. The University of Oregon's catering service never disappoints; they have great food, smooth setup, and top-notch service. There's abundant parking, which makes it very convenient. A big shoutout to *Isaiah Truong*, the Assistant Director of the Ford Alumni Center. He's an absolute pro, friendly, organized, and makes the entire planning process feel effortless. If you're planning an event in Eugene, I highly recommend this venue. It checks all the boxes: beautiful, functional, affordable, and incredibly well-managed. Tiffany, Managing Principal Broker, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Real Estate Professionals read more

The Ford Alumni Center is a fantastic option for a large or small wedding/event. We hosted our 160 guest ceremony in July and everyone fit very comfortably. The building is also very naturally beautiful. We held our ceremony on the back lawn which had plenty of space for at least 250 chairs. There is a little bit of shade in the court yard for guests to tuck under when it is hot. But, be sure to provide water and fans or parasols if it is a sunny day. We worked with Isaiah to manage everything in the space and he was very easy to work with. We could reach out with various asks and he always went above and beyond to see our needs were met. I also worked with Sam and McKenna when prepping the space a few days before the wedding and they were putting in serious work to make set up smooth. McKenna was power washing the whole patio to make sure my dress didn't get dirty during the ceremony and Sam was moving the foyer furniture around to make sure we had the cocktail hour space designed in the best manner. The venue also made sure the back lawn was mowed a few days before the ceremony to have everything look nice. It was a very reasonably priced for the space ($2,500 when booked in late 2023) and we could come multiple days early to begin set up and could keep items on site after the event for pick up at a later date. All tables and stages came included whether through Ford Alumni or UO Catering (another vendor you should consider). I've heard the stories about venues that churn events in and out very quickly and this was not one of those venues! Ford Alumni Center is a great option especially if you want a wedding on campus that is mostly indoors, pretty, flexible and spacious. I'm so glad we went with them. read more

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I planned a large event at the For Alumni Center (for over 300 people) and it was great! The staff are extremely accommodating and very helpful. Huge shoutout to their event coordinator! I can't remember his name but he was fantastic and I would definitely recommend having your next event there. The architecture is very modern but they also manage to make the building very cozy and inviting. read more

The new missus and I just got married and had our reception at the Ford Alumni Center (the first to get married there!) The experience was excellent and there are some very distinct reasons for that: 1. Our wedding coordinator was meticulous, to say the least, and Sean and his team handled every one of our requests with class and professionalism. 2. The needs of a wedding were a bit different from the nome and Sean not only found fixes for us but made great suggestions on how we could improve things. 3. The staff that worked the wedding and reception were about as friendly and helpful as you could ask for. They were conscientious, friendly, and basically made you feel as if they were happy to be there, which says a lot about their character. 4. U of O catering hooked us up and took care of the food and tables/decorations. Food was good and service was as good as the rest. Notes to future husbands and wives: make sure to take advantage of the multiple projectors and screens. If you build a good slide show it looks GREAT to show it on all three screens along the far wall at the same time. It's sharp. Thanks to the staff of the Alumni Center and the Catering Department for making this a wonderful experience for us! read more

Ford Alumni Center - First wedding at the Alumni Center - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Eugene, Oregon

Go Ducks! As a member of the class of 2011 I am proud to have such a swanky new building to return to as an alum. It has been a long time coming for a facility like this on campus but it was worth the wait. As a graduate of the architecture program I of course did my homework on this Opsis architecture designed building. With my hard earned education I can now throw around fancy words like the light filled atrium providing a strong linear axis without being facetious. Actually this is the primary design concept and is well executed with public and private spaces flanking the central core vertically. Overall it is a very modern design with lots of concrete, glass and metal accented with nice wood details. read more

From the moment I stepped into this building I was impressed. The staff was great, the amenities are excellent, the design, architecture, and overall fit and finish of the facility is superb, the location is good, and the overall environment being on campus and adjacent to Matt Knight Arena is great. I'm ranking 4 stars instead of 5 because... the parking attendant wasn't friendly and, apart from this, the load-in access and support systems for bringing equipment in is lacking. read more

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at the Ford Alumni Center last August. The building is breath-taking and, both being UO alums, it fit us perfectly. We primarily worked with Shawn when coordinating all the details for the wedding. He was extremely responsive via email and always available for phone calls and meetings as needed. This was key for me because I planned much of the wedding from Chicago with the help of my mother-in-law who lives in Eugene. Shawn had tons of great ideas and was extremely helpful about getting all the sound and lighting equipment needed for the wedding. He was patient and really engaged with the vision we had for the wedding. He was also honest and upfront about any limitations (there were very few) that the venue or his staff had in regards to what we envisioned. As the week of the wedding approached, Shawn kicked into high gear with us, agreeing to meet with us last minute to discuss a back-up "in case of rain" plan 5 days before the wedding. At the meeting, Shawn was attentive and more than willing to put our plan into action at the last minute, agreeing to let us hold off on making a firm decision until the morning of the wedding. Shawn and his staff seamlessly helped us work out all the kinks for the new indoor plan and were on hand to help us hang decorations and set up. On the day of the wedding, Shawn and his staff had a brilliant idea to keep the curtains in the ballroom lowered so that guests wouldn't be able to see what awaited them while enjoying the ceremony in the atrium. As the ceremony ended and guests started to look around wondering what was next, the staff slowly raised the curtains and opened the ballroom doors, revealing the room for the guests. It was very dramatic and beautiful and such a great way to transition from ceremony to cocktail hour/reception. I couldn't have asked for a better team to work with or a better venue for our wedding. I would highly recommend Shawn and his crew. read more

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