Woodward Theater

We had a wonderful experience with the Woodward as our venue for our wedding reception. The communication was great, working with Duru was easy and smooth. A lot of things were very customizable and flexible such as the bar packages, layouts, timelines etc.

Everyone at the Woodward is wonderful, the space is lovely and very flexible with how you want to use it. We eloped, so we didn't have a ceremony and only used the venue for the reception, but we were able to project a video of our elopement during cocktail and dinner hour and then raise the screen to let the band take over. No technical hitches, very professional, great communication. We had a great time!

We had our ceremony and reception here and the building and interior themselves provide such a beautiful backdrop that decorations can be minimal and still provide an amazing look. Duru was amazing leading us through from December all the way to wedding day in August. Sarah was an excellent day of coordinator and helped pivot some miscommunication day of with ease and kept things stress free. Also, highly recommend working close with Woodward to find your other vendors because our caterer and DJ were familiar with both Duru and the space itself and it made those logistics a total breeze!

We had our wedding here and it was an absolutely perfect day. Thank you so much to Duru and Sarah for helping make everything go so smoothly. Everyone has been telling us how cool the venue was, and having Sarah as our day-of coordinator made all the logistics so easy. We are unbelievably grateful and will be recommending this location to all engaged couples!

We had our reception at the Woodward at the end of March! It was an awesome venue. Duru is super helpful and responsive when planning begins, she is also accommodating if you want to visit the venue multiple times before your big day! Additionally, she helped us think about the correct layout for tables and was able to give us suggestions for parking accommodations and vendors for some decorations. I liked how people could sit upstairs if they wanted to talk and be away from the dancing and bar activity. We also had kids at the wedding and they had so much fun dancing around or looking at the crowd from up above. The bar was also really awesome, all the bar tenders were very nice and professional and I felt like the bar package was very fair for the assortment of drinks they provide. All around a great place to have any event!

My husband and I got married at Woodward theater at the end of October. It was such an awesome night, and we absolutely loved the venue for everything. We had quite a few guests so we were able to utilize the first and second floor which worked out perfectly. The decorations and the color scheme all complimented each other beautifully. Working with Duru was incredibly easy, and she was always there to answer questions and bring us in to see everything and lay everything out. I would highly suggest this venue for weddings and other celebrations. It was perfect!!

Woodward Theater was a beautiful and very unique place to have a wedding reception at. It was the first place my husband and I toured, and we fell in love with it instantly! It has so much history, and the marquee lighting is stunning....it made the wedding pictures so beautiful. Duru is AMAZING to work with; she coordinated with all my vendors and was very responsive to emails. Any question I had, she was always able to answer. Her and her team worked with my wedding planner and florist to make the venue STUNNING-I am still getting compliments on how every detail was perfect! I would recommend this venue to anyone, not only because the staff is excellent, but because it is one of the most unique and beautiful venues you can find in Cincinnati!

We booked The Woodward back in December 2020 for our wedding in October 2022. Over the course of that time, updates and renovations were done that have enhanced the venue, but also preserved the historic beauty that made us choose it in the first place. There were a couple changes in staff during that timeframe, but Duru did an amazing job helping us transition. We’d also like to thank Chris and Sarah for being integral parts to helping us make our day the best it could be. Some of the highlights would be the overall aesthetics of the venue, being able to have custom graphics in the front window boxes on your day, and an amazing full bar. It also helps that it doubles as a concert venue some nights (which means it has a killer sound system, so definitely hire an amazing DJ like we did!) Highly recommend for anyone wanting a unique space for their wedding.

The Woodward is an excellent wedding venue and very easy to work with. The place is so beautiful that it really didn't need much decoration! Duru and the Woodward were very accommodating with set up, and we were allowed to come back the next day to clear out our items which was a huge help! The small touches at Woodward really make an event special, and we were so so glad that we booked them. Also the sound system is incredible (we had a live band)! We really felt like we were at a concert.

We absolutely loved having out wedding at the Woodward! The staff on the day of were so kind and helpful. The bar staff were so fun! Planning with the Woodward was so great. They really try to accommodate all your needs and make your day as special as possible. The place is absolutely stunning and we loved every second of it.

We had our 130 guest wedding at Woodward in August and could not have been happier! The venue was beautiful and the staff made the planning process easy. They were very responsive to questions and the day of staff were on top of every detail. They flipped the room between our ceremony and reception and tore down a few tables to expand our dance floor after dinner and we didn’t even notice them working because they were so quick! We would definitely recommend this venue!

We wanted a live band and a central location near downtown Cincinnati for our reception -- the Woodward Theater was perfect! We also liked the beautiful bar and the two-level seating so our 180+ guests all had a great view of the dance floor. We set up two buffet lines (one downstairs and one upstairs) which made dinner service go smoothly. The space also had new paint, lighting, tile on the entry, and sound upgrades in time for our event (May 2022). Duru was great to work with -- always quickly responded to any question that we had. Chris (one of the owners) and Sarah (our day-of coordinator) were also great.

We loved the Woodward and would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a cool historic venue right in the heart of downtown Cincy! From the very beginning Duru was phenomenal to work with. She answered all my questions and was very responsive. I felt like I could ask her anything and she was respectful and helpful throughout the entire process. She set aside time to show us the place multiple times. We even stopped by randomly during the week of our wedding and got another a quick tour! Duru was super helpful in designing a CAD drawing of the layout (we did all the decorations ourselves). On the day of, everyone was there at the scheduled time for set up and things ran so smoothly. We also had great bar service and the sound engineer was phenomenal at setting up lights and music. We LOVED it and would recommend to anyone!!

We loved getting married at the Woodward! We booked our wedding date pre pandemic for 03/26/2022 so we felt very lucky we booked in advance and got to benefit from the visual upgrades the venue made during the unfortunate pandemic downtime. Everyone that we dealt with throughout the planning process was beyond accommodating and worked together with all of our vendors. We have had so many people tell us it was the best wedding they've ever went to! Highly recommend for an unforgettable wedding weekend.

We couldn’t have asked for a better place to host our wedding than the Woodward. From the beginning, everyone on staff was so welcoming and helpful and made sure we had what we needed. Due to covid, we ended up having to postpone MULTIPLE times and the Woodward was so accommodating and flexible, even though it took us TWO YEARS to ultimately celebrate with them. The space is fabulous and exactly what we were looking for.

We got so many compliments from our guests just on the venue we chose- a beautiful little theater with room for 100+. Even though we had about 70, it filled the venue nicely. There were so many little perks we enjoyed such as the outdoor shadow boxes, the wedding party room upstairs, the big screen projector, the classic-looking stage we decorated, and the fancy, traditional-looking bar that served our guests TWENTY TWO BEERS ON TAP! We even got to pick any 2 beers for them to have in their line-up. The coordinators were very professional, organized, and offered decorating ideas and help with my extra request to project a video of our ceremony. The location and unique style of the Woodward will truly make any event unforgettable.

This venue was so beautiful for our wedding of 160 guests. We had our ceremony and the venue did a room swap for the reception and everything went so smooth. Due to Covid we had to postpone our wedding date and they were very understanding and flexible which was a huge relief. Duru was very helpful and answered all of our questions/pointed us in the right direction for everything we needed. Definitely recommend!

Overall very professional and responsive, incredibly accommodating, and the wedding package comes with a lot of extras. The venue itself was beautiful and needed very little decor to look classy. It was the perfect venue for us based on affordability and inclusiveness. Highly recommend!

Update: this review was edited after the Woodward reached out regarding my initial review. After a phone call with the event planner, several points have been edited below to reflect the conversation. We booked the Woodward after deciding to postpone our wedding in 2020 due to COVID. When we signed, Dan and Laura were our main points of contact and had been wonderfully communicative and addressed some concerns we had regarding our larger-bodied guests and guests with mobility concerns. At some point during the ~18 months between signing and our wedding day, there was a change within the owner partnership. We were never notified of the change or provided with new point of contact information. After reaching out several times over the summer (2021) to the email I had been directed to use by Laura and Dan (which it turns out was a personal email rather than a company email), I reached out to the general inquiries email and learned of the change. Duru (the new event planner) took up communication with us from there. The communication with Duru occurred mostly over email. In my most recent phone call, some of the behind the scenes information was shared with me, and that helped to clarify some of our email communication. For example, a few weeks before our wedding, we learned that the chairs provided by the Woodward had a weight limit of 250lbs, so we needed to rent chairs as a result. At the time, it felt like we ran into pushback from Duru (via email) when we told her that we would need to rent all new chairs in order to make sure that guests would not be embarrassed by potentially breaking a chair. After our recent phone call, it was made clear that this was the first room flip the new staff was doing with all rented chairs, and the questions and suggestions that felt like pushback were instead trying to figure out logistics. A similar situation arose regarding beer choices in our bar package. Overall, the Woodward was a beautiful venue for our wedding and completely fit the vibe we were looking for; however, the transition in ownership did lead to several unnecessary headaches and made our wedding planning experience more challenging than it needed to be. In working with the Woodward, I would recommend using more phone communication than I did. The clarification I received over the phone (post-wedding) was extremely helpful and would have shifted the way I experienced those instances of misunderstanding.

The Woodward is a fantastic place to host your wedding. The venue is gorgeous and its obvious they take a lot of pride in their space. The team we worked with was always responsive and, most importantly, they helped us create the exact day we'd hoped for. The space is great for a variety of group sizes and the balcony creates a lot of opportunity to be creative with your floorplan. You'll be happy you decided to work with them!

The Woodward was the perfect venue for our reception. Laura was absolutely amazing to work with - very responsive, professional and so nice! We got so many compliments about how unique the venue was which is what we wanted. The bar is huge and as a couple in our mid-20s we have a lot of friends who can drink! There was never a line at the bar and the dance floor had plenty of room for everyone to be busting a move to the best 90s hip hop! If you are looking for something that is not cookie cutter and that won't break the bank - Woodward it is!

Could not recommend the Woodward more! Dan and Laura were incredibly responsive and lovely to work with, and we appreciated having a balance of their insights while allowing us to make the event our own to focus on the experience of our friends and family. So many guests (still!) let us know how much they loved the space and were so impressed with all of the staff they interacted with. There's so much character while also having amenities we were looking for (full bar, full sound system, lighting, 4 bathrooms, A/C, etc..). We booked both the ceremony and reception, and we don't think we could find the value for everything available with their packages along with the wonderful experience working with everyone to execute a perfect day anywhere else. We're confident we couldn't have had a better planning process and day-of event without them!

Unique, historic venue with a lot of character. Amazing stage, so definitely consider a band! Had our reception here and got so many compliments. Staff was very helpful with set up and cleanup.

I cannot put into words how happy I am that we chose the Woodward. It has a great style and atmosphere, and Wednesday and Dan were a pleasure to work with. They always responded quickly to my excessive amount of questions. We chose to do the ceremony and reception at the Woodward, and the staff executed the room flip seamlessly. We have received nothing but compliments about this venue. Highly recommend!!!

The Woodward Theater and MOTR Pub have always been our favorite places to hang out downtown and especially our favorite venue in the city for live music. My husband and I were eloped this past October and chose the Woodward for our post elopement celebration this February. We already knew it was going to be amazing going into it but the venue exceeded all of our already high expectations!! Dan is such an easy and accommodating guy to work with and all of the planning was so easy! We went with one of the Woodward's preferred caterers, Eli's BBQ which made the catering planning even easier. Tables and chairs were already all set up and waiting for us when we arrived the morning of. We had so much fun taking over the historic poster boxes too! The venue was incredibly accommodating as well for our more "non traditional" reception ideas. We did board games instead of dancing, cookies instead of cake, had cornhole upstairs and they even set up the projector which we hooked up a Nintendo Switch to to play Super Smash Bros! We got so many comments all night and for days after about how beautiful the venue was and how lovely all the staff members and bartenders were!! All around the absolute perfect party! This is an incredibly special venue and we highly recommend it for any large event!! Can't wait to see it with the new marquee all lit up!

I haven't stopped receiving compliments on the Woodward as my reception venue! Wednesday was great, well organized, and attentive to everything we needed throughout the process! The Woodward is absolutely beautiful and was perfect for my winter wedding!

My husband and I are both theatre people, so we were looking for a venue that spoke to that, and The Woodward was PERFECT. I honestly could not be more pleased with how our wedding went. Early access to the venue was great for setup, but on top of that, Dan and the rest of the staff were SO incredibly helpful. We could not have made this day happen without their help. Wednesday was instrumental in the preparation for our big day. She was always quick to respond to our inquiries and always super friendly. The space is ideal for anyone who wants to have the ceremony and reception in the same space, with a fast turnover, and a bar in the back to keep your guests busy, especially with so many good, local beers on tap. The Woodward is a jewel in the ever-changing landscape of Over The Rhine, and I could not recommend it more.

We chose the Woodward because we wanted a venue that was uniquely Cincinnati and it truly hit the nail on the head. Wednesday was beyond helpful and responsive to my many questions about décor, set up, food, drinks, etc. We loved being able to bring in vendors we love, like Gomez Salsa and Holtman's Donuts, and that we were truly able to customize our event to reflect us as a couple. And our guests loved the space and all of the local beer on tap.

My husband and I were looking for a non-traditional venue that would easily transition from our ceremony to the reception. Woodward Theater was perfect! The stage made a great location for our ceremony and the venue allowed us to get creative with our decor. It was great having guests use the whole space, with guests having dinner on both levels along with a nacho bar and photo booth on the second level during cocktail hour. All of our guests told us how much they loved the venue and how close it was to all the other Cincinnati attractions. Dan and Wednesday met with us early on and then quickly responded whenever we emailed with questions. They were beyond helpful our wedding weekend and ensured everything went smoothly with all of our other vendors.

We knew from the start that we wanted to have our wedding reception at a unique venue that was personally significant to us and the Woodward was just that! From the start Dan was super easy to work with, and our reception went off without a hitch. He and his crew helped us totally transform the space into exactly our wedding vision. The space was the perfect size for our wedding of 150 guests and the theater setup was optimal for our 12 piece band. Everyone kept commenting on how perfect and unique the space was AND how delicious the signature cocktails Dan worked with us to create were! This venue is perfect for those who want to break from the event center mold and enjoy some creative freedom. We loved having the flexibility to bring in whatever vendors we pleased and being able to make the space our own. If we could do our wedding day again we’d do it at the Woodward a hundred times over!

We had our wedding ceremony and reception back in October (sorry this is late) and I cannot say enough good things about this venue and the staff! Dan and Wednesday were very easy to work with and available to answer questions whenever needed. They provided recommendations on other vendors, venue set-up, and design and even allowed us to come visit the venue numerous times with family and friends for planning. The staff on the day of the wedding was fantastic and everything was flipped, broken down, and cleaned up without a hitch. I continue to get compliments on the uniqueness of the venue and the beautiful space. I recommend this venue to everyone I know who is planning a wedding!

Woodward Theater is the absolute perfect spot to have your wedding ceremony and/or wedding reception at. Both Dan and Wednesday were very easy to work with and quick to respond to any questions I had during the planning process. They also were both there the day of our event when we were setting up and even throughout the night to help with any issues or concerns we had (which there were none!). I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for a venue in the downtown / OTR area of Cincinnati! The space is absolutely beautiful!

We wanted a fun/downtown-OTR venue for my daughter's wedding rehearsal and the Woodward Theater was perfect. Dan, one of the owners, made it so easy to plan our event...everything from arranging the room to working with our caterer and musician couldn't have gone smoother. With 20+ craft beers on tap and a good selection of wines/champagne as part of the package we selected, it also made for a cost-effective option for our 45+ out of town guests and family members to gather.

The Woodward Theater is the perfect place if you're looking for a unique venue. We had about 175 people for a buffet dinner and although it was a little tight, they made it work. Dan was super helpful throughout the planning process and was quick to respond when we had any questions. You get a lot for the price of rental and their open bar package includes 24 or so craft beers...hard to get that anywhere else!

We had our reception at the Woodward Theatre this September. Dan, the owner, was very accommodating about letting us bring in our own vendors for food. He is still a little new to wedding management, but worked with our planner to make sure everything was ready to go. The theater held 230 of our friends and family - we had a buffet dinner with passed apps, dancing, and a live band! He was very open about letting us go crazy with the decorations - we strung cafe lights over the dance floor and had a blast making everything look beautiful - as long as we didn't hang it on the ceiling, it was fair game! He provided bartenders and worked with us to have a fairly priced bar menu. Everyone was great to work with and it was a dream come true for us - we met and fell in love right next door, and to start our next chapter at the Woodward was a perfect fit. If you love Over the Rhine and want a unique venue, this is your spot!