The staff is incredible The venue is beautiful They are so accommodating and they help you with everything I can't say enough good things about this place and the people that run it read more

Thunderbird Chapel - Megan's Photo Booth - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Norman, Oklahoma

My daughter's wedding was held over Thanksgiving weekend which Mya knew the moment my daughter signed with her in January. And, that's when things started downhill. Mya never wanted to sign a contract, told my daughter that she didn't discuss the plans until 4 months before the date, and barely showed up for their one and only meeting a few weeks before the date. Mya was very accommodating when she offered for us to drop off the items we were going to us, but when we showed up the leftover dirt, drinks, and rubbish from the previous wedding was still hanging out. The reception area was filthy. We had to clean and put away items, even the ice tea container. Mya did not show up to decorate at all after the tables were set up. She showed up at the rehearsal but did not follow the notes she and my daughter agreed upon. The day of the wedding she barely got the flowers my daughter had into the vases on the tables, didn't have paper towels in the bathrooms, didn't have the sweetheart table set up so we had to do that the morning of, hid the bubbles, I had to go ask for the tables to be bussed, the cake to be cut (which she mutilated the bottom layer), and then did not help put things away that was stated in the non signed contract. If you've read this far the positives were: the venue is beautiful, the venue has decorations (although they are dirty and unkept), the courtyard is spectacular, and the cost is hard to beat. If you want Mya to give a cookie cutter wedding I am sure your day will be wonderful, but if you want your day to be yours, be prepared for the bare minimum from Mya. read more

I had the pleasure of helping a friend with her wedding at Thunderbird this weekend. I had never been to an event here and I was so impressed. The chapel itself is a beautiful way to bring the outdoors in with huge windows alongside the chapel, which was built to accomodate the old-growth trees that surround it. Across a beautiful courtyard is a large reception hall, bride and groom dressing rooms large enough to accomodate a group, guest restrooms, and a large catering kitchen. Add a fair amount of close parking and plenty of parking on the grounds, and you really have a wonderful place for a wedding or other important ceremony. I also love that this little place is far enough out of the city to make it feel like a destination, but close enough that you can easily have guests stay in Oklahoma City or Norman and enjoy all the amenities of a nice hotel, good restaurants, etc. I feel like I can review this part fairly as well, since I was helping all morning leading up to the wedding, but the event staff was helpful, polite, and efficient. They were well-staffed to handle a group of our size, and had thought of everything. When I help with special events, I roll with a kit with everything from zip ties and flash drives to power strips, duct tape, and all manner of other things, but I didn't need it at all. They had it all figured out and I just got to enjoy myself. If you're planning a wedding or other large-scale event, I think you should check it out. read more

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The chapel is beautiful the staff and reception hall leave a great deal to desire. If you choose this venue for your wedding have an advocate to hold the staff accountable for bringing your vision to life. If you do not you will spend your special day working or afterwards a bit let down. The reception hall is suppose to seat 130, you can get that many in but it is tight. Guest can barely move to get more food if you do a buffet. Speaking of food have someone watch your meal while you are greeting your guest. The staff removed our food and when we asked about it prior to our time out for the space no one could locate a morsel. It was probably in the bellies of the staff. Not to mention 3 more people showed up and we were charged a fee for them even though we didn't eat. They took it out of the deposit. Eek tacky! There is no food tasting so what the food taste like is beyond me. The pictures taken at the venue are gorgeous. The natural light allows for sweet pics of you and your guest. They have an eagles nest which allows for magnificent overhead pics. The "wedding planner" was useless she was not available for the bridal party, simply to move guest out so you feel a bit rushed. There is a difference from tastefully moving the event along and pushing you out the door as quick as possible. They missed a few things we discussed so I had to step in even though I provided a detailed agenda. Ultimately, I had a nice wedding in spite not because of the staff. The chapel space is gorgeous. read more

There is no place that compares to this beautiful chapel. It is nestled away in the forest. Full glass & wood inside so it feels like you're outdoors. Just gorgeous! And the owner as well as the manger were more than helpful & accommodating! They have all you need for your ceremony & reception including decor to choose from. Love this place. read more

I can't even say enough great things about this chapel(: to start off with, it's in a secluded location. With it's own parking. The property has lots of BEAUTIFUL oak trees All over the property. I first came here for my friends wedding. When I walked into the chapel, I knew that's where I would get married. Beautiful wood floors, a BEAUTIFUL large window, and lots of windows and natural light. I am getting married here in august. Sharla is awesome, and has been great about emailing me and calling me back, and answering all my questions. I love how this venue has a beautiful reception area too, also with lots of window and beautiful wood floors. They also have a very nice courtyard. They offer catering, and allow you to serve alcohol for a small fee. They also supply plates, glasses, silverware, and the table decor (like cloths). I looked all over and I didn't find anywhere I loved nearly as much as this. It's perfect! read more

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I can't say enough good about Thunderbird Chapel and the staff that runs it. My wife and I had our wedding there on Oct. 26 and it went off without a hitch. The location is great, being tucked away in the trees just off of highway 9. We personally loved the large open windows that allowed you and your guests to view the natural look of the outdoors while remaining comfortably inside w/ elegant decor. Since we chose to be married in the fall with the leaves changing color and it cooling off, this was important to us. Though we chose not to go all out and decorate the chapel with our own colors, flowers, etc. I'm certain that any customization request we had would not have been a problem. Which brings me to the big reason we loved this venue. The staff at the chapel decorates for you in the chapel and reception hall, cleans up both very efficiently and quickly, and handles all the wedding and reception coordination. They work with your photographer and whomever you've chosen to decorate a cake for you as well as your florist and DJ if you have one (we didn't). The staff themselves are very kind, helpful, and informative. You are reminded many times of your arrival and departure times. This is especially helpful if you are married in the afternoon time slot....which we were. It's worth noting that they do offer their own catering, which we used and were quite pleased with, and offer to work with an outside certified caterer too...though for a per person fee added on. It wasn't unreasonable at all though. Everything went so well during our wedding that we ended up being an hour ahead of schedule. Since we were driving 7 hours to Galveston for a cruise honeymoon, this was good news to me. TL;DR: It's a fantastic, elegant venue for an unrivaled price for all the service, atmosphere, and help you receive. There's more I could say, but at some point it becomes less of a review and more of a misplaced blog post. read more

Had our wedding at thunderbird chapel during Covid! But they were the best and handle everything to where me and my husband didn't have to worry during our big day!! The food was delicious and everyone loved it! The staff was amazing and so helpful! Definitely recommend!! read more

The only beautiful indoor wedding venue in OK that gives you the perks of an outside wedding!! Those windows! We had our wedding here in August last year! What a truly beautiful place. The staff did absolutely everything. They made my wedding day a breeze, so I could truly relish its magic! Such an amazing place I almost want to keep it all to myself! I find myself wanting to return, just to feel the magic of that day again. read more

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Perfect! Absolutely perfect!! My daughter's wedding was so beautiful and the staff kept everything running smoothly, even with our rowdy bunch. Cannot say enough good things about Thunderbird Chapel!! read more

After what felt like an exhaustive internet search to check out all possible ceremony and reception venues, I seemed to keep coming back to Thunderbird Chapel. I didn't have a home church with a building suitable for a wedding and the idea of holding the ceremony and reception at two different locations didn't appeal to me as most of my family and other guests would be coming from out of state for the wedding. Once we finally narrowed it down to a place that could host both ceremony and reception, Thunderbird rose to the top. We visited and fell in love. The chapel's soaring ceilings, wood interior, and windows looking out onto Oklahoma greenery were simple and natural but very elegant. The attached reception area had room for everything necessary...tables, chairs, buffet line, and a dance floor! The package included a day of the wedding coordinator, décor & clean up in the reception area, and a $300 cake voucher at one of three vendors. There were no strange and unnecessary things in the package to up the cost (things we saw at similar places were ice sculptures, limos, chocolate covered strawberries...nice but not necessary).We booked immediately without visiting any other venues and began the 11 month countdown to our wedding. The staff were very responsive to phone calls and e-mails and had great insight for all of my questions. Leslie was especially helpful and fielded my stressed out calls the week of the wedding about random things like whether she thought there would be a tornado on my wedding day. The rehearsal the day before the wedding was run very efficiently and yet was still fun. On the day of the wedding, I felt a great sense of peace and excitement as soon as I got to the chapel because I knew everything would be ok from there on out. Our coordinator was careful to check in with us about all the details and helped everyone know where to be when. The décor in the reception area was just as we had asked it to be and looked lovely. I was so glad that my female relatives didn't get stuck staying up till midnight working on table decor! The only hitch in an otherwise perfect wedding was that our recessional song was begun too early and drowned out a special benediction written for us that was being read by our pastor. It was likely due to lack of very specific communication with the sound tech about the exact moment it needed to start, but he played it again at the right time and we skipped down the aisle in glee. We did not use Thunderbird's catering service because my husband and I are both foodies. I was not impressed with the menu choices, so we used an outside caterer. However, a friend who was married here used their service and said the food tasted good. It would probably be a good choice for budget conscious brides who aren't as interested in a super cool menu. Because we used an outside caterer, we had to pay $2 per person. However, this covered the use of the dishes, silverware, and glasses from the chapel so it wasn't a big deal to us. The Thunderbird Chapel wait staff seemed to be interacting well with our caterer's staff, and there were plenty of people to refill drinks or clear plates. Two things that I was a bit worried about were the strict space restrictions on guests and the time limit of five hours. However, each of these turned out fine for us. Thunderbird Chapel can only seat 130 people and charge a fee per person above that. I was so worried that we would be close to or above our limit. But as all the wedding experts tell you, there were people who canceled on us in the last week or two and then quite a few no shows the day of the wedding. So we were well under our RSVP list of 120 guests. Also, we had the chapel from 5-10 on a Saturday night with the wedding starting at 7:00. Although we had the option to purchase another hour, we hoped we would be able to squeeze everything into our allotted time. By choosing to see my groom before the wedding, we breezed through our post-ceremony pictures in 20 minutes and had plenty of time to eat, greet, and dance before leaving about 9:40pm. The staff were wonderful and helpful with anything we needed, including bustling my dress. Our deposit was waiting for us when we got home from the honeymoon, which was a pleasant surprise. Overall, I would recommend this venue for anyone who is confident that 130 spots would hold their nearest and dearest family and friends. read more

FANTASTICALLY PERFECT! They have everything. The chapel is so pretty. It allows the outside, inside without the allergies, heat and wind. :) The staff was so kind. They helped with clean-up and were not pushy. I recommend them to anyone getting married. read more

We recently were married here. They were so helpful and kind. I loved that we could get the outdoor wedding feel without the cold temps. This is the place to get married in Oklahoma! read more

Where to begin... We were assured at our rehearsal, 4 days before the wedding, by the sound guy that all of our music for the ceremony and reception would play just fine. Our ceremony was at 6 pm and we arrived at 4 pm to prepare and take pictures. At around 5 they informed us that they could not get the sound to work properly and that they would be playing it from a tiny stereo that looked like it came straight from the bargin section at Walmart! The "sound guy" never showed up (he is the son of one of the coordinators and was at home studying for a final he was worried about, very professional!) and none of the staff knew how to operate the equipment and basically left it up to us to figure it out. They had scratched the cds that the music was on and right in the middle of the ceremony played a scratched version of a song that sounded horrible! The staff (except for the preacher) was rude and ill-prepared, I doubt they could even put together a high school dance, much less a wedding! They constantly acted as if they were being put out by the problems that were their responsibility to solve. The mother of the bride and matron of honor basically had to be responsible for running the entire reception at the last minute, even though they had assured us that they would take care of everything. Once these people have your money, they don't care how the wedding goes. Not ONCE did they make any kind of sincere apology or offer any kind of compensation for us having to do their job for them! The chapel is beautiful, but that is the only thing this place has going for it and honestly is not worth the headache and risk of ruining the plans you had for your wedding day. read more