Mills College is a small college in Oakland, California. I attended my cousin's wedding reception at the Student Union here. The campus - at least the parts I saw - was beautiful. I'd never heard of Mills College before this wedding, but one of my other cousins (also from California), who accompanied us to this wedding, had.
The college was founded in 1852 and the student body is only about 1,300 students. The undergraduate program is women-only and the graduate program is all-gender. This is a progressive college. They explicitly welcome transgender students.
As someone who comes from the South, I have to admit I was a bit taken aback by the "All Gender" restroom at the Student Union. When I opened the door, I hesitated a little because only women just happened to be at the sinks at that moment. I'm not used to that and I almost felt like I walked into the wrong restroom. The stall doors were nice and tall (down to the floor and almost as high as the ceiling) for added privacy. There was a bucket next to the sinks with feminine products, baby wipes, Neosporin, Tums, and more.
This was a Saturday evening reception. We arrived on campus between 5:00 and 5:30pm and street-parked along the large circle in between Mills Hall (a large, gorgeous, European-style building) and a stately-looking clock tower. The circle was big and filled with lush, green grass. It was a short walk from the circle to the Student Union which is located on the backside of Mills Hall. In between the two buildings is more well-maintained greenspace.
Cocktail hour took place on the Student Union's covered patio and the paved area in front. I guesstimate there were about 120 to 130 guests at the reception. According to Mills' website (https://inside.mills.edu/administration/administrative_offices/college_events/meeting_rooms.php), the Student Union can accommodate up to 150 people at $1,750 per day. Space on the patio, where both the beer-and-wine (and sweet tea and lemonade) bar and cotton candy machine were located, did get a bit cramped and it was difficult for people, including the hors d'oeuvres servers, to get around at times. However, the actual dinner and dancing reception space was fine. Some of the finger foods included croquettes and skewered shrimp. At $1,750 per day, the Student Union is an absolute steal. What an amazing rental fee.
The event space inside had a very simple, elegant setup. The building itself has a somewhat old and historic feel to it. There were about a dozen 10-person circular tables, a dance floor, guestbook and card station, DJ, and photo booth (and fireplace; unused). The sound system worked well -- La La Land and Thai pop played loud and clear over the speakers. Ambient/mood and dance lighting worked to good effect.
Catering was provided by Nora Spanish Catering (you can read my review of Nora here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nora-spanish-catering-berkeley). Nora had a dinner station set up on the side of the building, in a little courtyard area, with three pans of paella, two of which were humongous, and salads and sides. This station was staffed. The outdoor space was also used for the cake station. My cousin provided trendy Hamilton-themed cupcakes in lieu of traditional wedding cake. The outdoor space had some manicured landscaping (plants, bushes, trees) which made for a nice "natural" backdrop for photos.
All in all, I enjoyed my time at Mills College. It was a fun and pleasant evening and I do recommend this place if you're looking for an affordable and effective venue for an event. read more