If you visit, it's important to know that the mansion on the 40 acres had an owner that enslaved…read morepeople on his plantation. Now a nature sanctuary with trails, a play area, and lots of bird watching, Woodend Sanctuary acknowledges this so we all can grieve and vow to fight for equity for all today. If you go, there are two small free parking lots- one by the kids area and one by the mansion. It's open to the public for free. There's a nature-themed playground with two restrooms, trails, and areas to learn about nature.

Woodend was the perfect venue for our daughter's wedding reception. The combination of elegance and…read morenatural beauty created exactly the atmosphere the bride and groom envisioned. It's remarkable that such a peaceful, secluded setting exists inside the Beltway -- with no traffic noise and stunning scenery everywhere you look. The grounds photographed beautifully, and guests continually commented on how unique and special the venue felt. We especially appreciated how the layout allowed guests to enjoy both the lively celebration and quieter moments throughout the evening. The planning process was smooth and well organized. Beatriz, the rental manager, was responsive, professional, and wonderful to work with, and the venue's excellent online resources made planning especially easy. Everything about Woodend reflects thoughtful care and professionalism. While Woodend is certainly a premium venue, the experience absolutely justified it. We would recommend it without hesitation to any couple looking for an elegant wedding in a truly beautiful natural setting.

Lovely space! I had my graduation here for my CNA very clean and spacious. The greenery on the…read morewall/door and lights are very elegant great for photos.

These people are scammers they double booked 2 parties for the the same day what a bunch of lamesread more

Great place to hosts events. There's also a Farmers Style Market during Spring/Summer!read more

I've seen the Silver Spring Civic Building during my visits to the area, yet being inside was a…read morefirst. The great hall & ballroom hosted the 16th Annual Gap Buster's Inc. Gala presenting a fanfare to the African culture with the backdrop of the building's ecofriendly & urban architectural design. In both areas I crossed paths with some of the Hospitality, A/V & Catering teams who were interactively busy & pleasant. GapBuster is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit & minority-founded educational organization dedicated to empowering the community through education benefiting their students/mentees in aiming to close the educational performance gap. The gala featured Keynote Speaker Kojo Yankah, former Member of the Ghana Parliament & founder of the African University College of Communications. Other special guets included Pat Lawson-Muse of NBC News 4, Congressman Jamie Raskin & Montgomery County Council At-Large Candidate Hoan Dang. The notable guest of the evening in which I had the esteemed honor in meeting, was King Peggy (Nana Amuah-Afenyi VI - born Peggielene Bartels), the first woman King & Reigning Chief of Tantum in Ghana. I didn't venture around the entire space, however on my way out I quickly spanned the Betty Mae Kramer Gallery (former First Lady of MoCo) that supports the arts & humanities. The portico to the plaza is a popular space for concerts, famer's market, festivals, live entertainment...I saw light advertisement for the upcoming seasonal ice skating rink & annual Silver Spring Jazz Festival which is held in front of the building. There's a parking garage across the street on Ellsworth Drive if you can't find street parking. I saw many people parking in the Whole Foods parking lot...not suggesting, just to note. From the Silver Spring Metro Rail Station - Red Line, it's a very casual 15 minute walk.

Where do I start? The venue itself was beautiful and clean, but the customer service was probably…read morethe worst I have ever experienced. I've coordinated close to 100 events, and this one was especially important because it was for a family member. From the moment I arrived, there was a clear lack of communication between the venue owners. The woman in charge was rude and unhelpful from the start. Not only was she unpleasant, but she also badmouthed the bride and groom, which was completely unprofessional. We had paid an extra $700 for an additional table, and when I asked about it, she threw a fit and accused us of trying to get things for free--despite it already being paid for. Throughout the night, she continued to be rude and uncooperative, so I chose to work directly with the wait staff, who were much more helpful. To make matters worse, the staff packed up all the leftover food and kept it for themselves without even offering it to us. Although we had the venue booked until 1:30 AM, she started trying to shut the event down by midnight. Our event was elegant, and the guests were respectful. The only issue was an angry venue manager who clearly didn't want to do her j

Beautiful place. Incredibly professional and accomodating staff. I will definitely be renting for…read morefuture events!

Nice woods, nice cabins. We were here for a wedding…read more It's a pretty place.

We absolutely fell in love with this quaint brick manor nestled in the woods, only 20 minutes…read moreoutside of downtown DC, for our weekend getaway wedding. Owned by the Montgomery County Parks, the manor house is separated into various rooms, which we loved, but can prove to be a bit complicated when having to move people around in the house. This is a "do it yourself" type of venue, which can save you a ton of money because you can bring in whatever you want, but means that either you or a wedding coordinator need to organize outside vendors with the staff at Rockwood. There is no onsite wedding catering available, but several caterers available in the area. We recommend Stone Soup catering! Their food is delicious and they know the venue well! One huge bonus to Rockwood is that all of the tables, chairs, ceremony chairs, etc. are included in the price! That will save you a bunch because all you will need is linens. For a bit of a description, there are three rooms on the top level (we had a bar, appetizers, Photo Booth), a side brick floor veranda (where we had dancing), and a large banquet hall with a catering kitchen and large refrigerators for storage. We brought our own nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages, which saved us thousands of dollars. There are several gorgeous outdoor areas where you can hold a ceremony, including a stone patio in the back or a gazebo on the side of the manor. Above all, it is EXTREMELY affordable for the region. We paid less than $7000 in total for Thursday-Sunday with accommodations for up to 37 people in B&B style rooms, and 85 people in bunk bed cabins. If you wanted to charge a small fee for the accommodations, you would make back some money and save your guests money! The 13 B&B style rooms each have their own bathroom/shower. The three cabins are actually pretty nice if you can get over sleeping in a bunk. They are air-conditioned or heated depending on the season, and the bathroom facilities are clean and relatively modern. The whole package is an exceptional deal in this region. The only thing that can be a bit frustrating is that the staff at Rockwood are not always reachable by phone and do not communicate information among themselves very well. The staff is extremely friendly, but there were several occasions where I would email or call someone to confirm something and the next time I called or emailed, another colleague would have no record of what I had confirmed and I'd have to start over. On a few occasions, I would have to do this 3 or 4 times. If Rockwood had a dedicated wedding coordinator it would be so much more efficient. That said, we wouldn't have changed the venue for anything. We really loved the charming rustic, vintage feel of the manor.

Beautiful grounds. Extremely clean. Punctual opening. Helpful friendly staff. Came for a class and…read moreloved the place.

McLean Gardens Ballroom is one of my favorite venues to work as a vendor. As a music supplier, I've…read morebeen helping to put on social and corporate events there since 1999. It's a beautiful and classy room perfect for a DJ, string trio or quartet, soloist and small jazz combo. I've helped countless numbers of brides and grooms with their music needs as well as corporate clients (annual parties and meetings) supplying not only music but also, A/V, projection, lighting, lecterns and technical needs for their meetings. (In short, I know this room, its acoustics, what works, what's possible and what simply won't work). When Philippe and Stuart (who I've had the good fortune to work with for the past 14++ years) took over managing this room a few years ago, operations became a lot smoother. Having an 'in house' caterer makes so much sense and reduces wear and tear on the room from outside caterers who need to bring everything in and everything out. So, I really do have a unique history with this Ballroom and highly recommend it for anyone who wants a beautiful room for their event and a top notch catering (and fun) pros who will provide a fun, unique and memorable experience.

So I've thought a long time about how I want to do this review (what with all these businesses…read moresuing for bad review lately) but I just have to do it. We had our wedding reception here in October. I'll start with the positives: + The food is fantastic + The venue is gorgeous + The prices are reasonable This would seriously be a five star review if I could overlook the service issues. I was so excited about our wedding and I seriously thought McLean Gardens Ballroom was going to throw the best event ever until about a month before the wedding. Washington Parties, the exclusive caterers at this venue, and specifically the owner, Philippe, put a pretty big damper on our big day. And not in some sort of Bridezilla "omg why aren't there sugar cubes with the coffee instead of regular sugar" kind of way. More of a "this organization didn't keep their size of the contract" kind of way. About a month before the wedding, Philippe began to be difficult to get a hold of. And when we did talk, it was like we had the same conversation over and over again (it didn't seem like he remembered anything we had talked about in previous conversations or emailed about). And when I would get him on the phone, he would just tell me what I wanted to hear to get me off the phone. He promised me just about anything I asked for. I should have realized it was a sign. So here's everything that specifically went down: - To start off with, they had another event there the day of our wedding. This, in itself, is not unusual or bad. What was bad was the timing. According to our contract, we were supposed to have the room two hours before the event to get set up. Our reception started at 6:00. Their party ended at 5:00. In the end, they worked it out but I found out about this conflict the day before my wedding. I feel like I should also note that we booked the room in April of 2010. When it came time to send out the invitations, I confirmed with Philippe that the time would be ok. He mentioned nothing of the conflict at that time. Stress? Yes. Stress. - We selected three types of DC Brau to be served at our reception, Heiniken, and left it up to the venue to select a couple of domestic beers to serve. They chose Milwaukee's Best and Steel Reserve. Malt. Frikkin. Liquor. At the time, I thought it was funny but after everything that transpired later in the night, it's just one more thing that was screwed up. - According to our contract, they were supposed to serve "mini desserts" with the cake. They were never served. Ok, so any of the above I could have just laughed off. But what happened at the end of the night really soured me on the service for this place: - So Philippe let the Bridesmaids and I keep our stuff in his office (when we actually booked the venue, there was an unused room that we were told we could use while we were there but by the time we had our event it had been rented so Philippe let us use his office). Unfortunately, the door would lock if you pulled it shut behind you so we had to keep it propped open. One of my 'maids accidentally pulled it shut behind her at the end of the evening. Oh crap, well Philippe has the key, right? OH, Philippe left 20 minutes ago. Well crap. Let's ask the assistant he left in charge to call him. Wait, why is the assistant trying to jimmy the door open with a butter knife? Oh, Philippe isn't coming back? But my ID and telephone are inside and I'm flying out for my honeymoon tomorrow morning and I need the ID to get on the plane... So a couple of my drunk guests are starting to talk about breaking down the door (we were obviously not letting them). The assistant turned around and yelled at everyone to just get away from the door and disappears. Did not ask politely, yelled. Doesn't tell us what he's going to do. Doesn't say he's going to try to keep fixing it. From what I understand, he just left and kept going about the business of cleaning up (I didn't see myself so I have no idea). It basically took me calling Philippe up myself on one of my guests phones and begging him to come back. He showed up almost an hour later, unlocked the door (without saying a word to me sitting right there in my wedding dress or even looking at me), and just walked away. From what I understand, he actually yelled at my mother in law and my florist because they were having a glass of wine while they were cleaning up (his exact words were "PARTY'S OVER" as he snatched their glasses away). If that wasn't allowed, fine but he yelled at them. The caterers had shooed everyone out the door by 10:30 (we, contractually, had until 11:00 to clean up). In conclusion, I would not recommend this venue unless Philippe hires someone to manage the events or to assist him. He is a fantastic cook but disorganized and his people skills suck when he's stressed out.

I am in awe of this place! It is so grand and beautiful. It makes me want to get married just to…read morehave my reception here. (A gal can dream, can't she?) If I won the Mega Millions (I did not - don't stalk me) I would throw a fabulous party here! I was here last night (Thanks be to Yelp) to attend the Pearls of Purpose signature gala event to celebrate the free, aware, inspired, and restored girl www.FAIRGirls.org which was held on the upper level. The guest speakers gave their speeches in the upstairs main area, not in the rotunda area, so acoustics were okay, but it was hard to see the speakers with everyone standing around. The room is spacious, so even with food tables and two bars, there was plenty of room to mingle for the 200+ guests. This is a great location tucked away on P street near 16th. Street parking nearby wasn't too bad either.

I had the pleasure of attending Kimberly S (formally V) & Robert S's wedding this past weekend and…read moretheir wonderful reception was held here. This venue is absolutely stunning! The architecture and the decor both outside and inside is classic and elegant. Cocktail hour was held in the boardrooms, as well as open bar. (Another open bar was held across the way) The rotunda had beautiful ceilings and was the perfect setting for the dancefloor. We were served dinner in the ballroom, which is located through sliding walls from the rotunda. There were a lot of photo-ops around the whole venue, such as: the library upstairs, the winding staircase leading to the rotunda, the steps leading into the huge wooden double doors of the Institute, and so much more! DC brides should definitely consider the Carnegie Institute as one of their wedding venues!