I had just under 50 days to plan my wedding, and it had to be in Boston. I am a graduate student at MIT, and so was aware about the Faculty Club (department used it previously for some events). So after looking at several other options in Boston I went with the Faculty Club, and was very happy with how it turned out.
I consider the following definite bonuses and reasons to use the Faculty Club for a wedding, or other significant event:
- All-inclusiveness:
-- They provide an excellent menu (multiple courses, many different wines to choose from, hors d'oeuvre, etc.)
-- Rooms for different types of events (we held our ceremony in one of the rooms, set up with a theater-style aisle, then guests transitioned to another room for a cocktail hour, and a third room for dinner - all set up specifically for these events)
-- Dance floor (we didn't use this, but they do provide it)
-- Beautiful view of course
-- They made an excellent wedding cake that we, essentially, designed
- They were able to respond to some modifications to our instructions up until like 3 days before the event - this made a difference since we were changing things until the last minute, pretty much
- Despite being an MIT-affiliated facility, they did NOT require us to use MIT-exclusive vendors for other things (such as AV). This saved us thousands of dollars (no exaggeration), more on this below.
- Very prompt and accurate communication. Some of our requirements were very specific (i.e. two separate toasts, one of which with vodka), and the staff accommodated them to the letter.
Probably the biggest issue with the Club is that it's fairly expensive. It is, in my opinion, very high quality, but you do pay for it. This is not a critique, and it is only fair, but one should keep in mind that for a, for instance, wedding, one is looking at $150-$200 per guest (this includes everything though), which could be considered expensive.
One last note: MIT AV, whose use is not enforced by the club, is atrociously expensive. Seeing how helpful the club was to my friend (best man) to set up and test the AV equipment prior to the event (they also provided furniture for this), I can't help but recommend to use another AV rental business from the area, and NOT MIT AV. This easily saves a thousand dollars, or more. read more