500 Pearl Reviews

We couldn’t have picked a more perfect venue for our wedding reception. Our Venue Coordinator, Bri, made sure our entire planning process and day-of preparations went flawlessly. The on-site staff during the event were personable and professional. The food was fantastic. We used Forbes Theatre which had a lot of unique spaces for photo booths, kids activities, outdoor space, and plenty of space to dance. The original architecture in the room is gorgeous for a wedding backdrop.

Our original venue canceled due to flooding and we had to find a new venue, four months out! We were lucky to find 500 Pearl had our date available. It’s absolutely beautiful and came with a coordinator! They were thorough and everything they were supposed to do, was done. We were thrilled with this venue. Thank you, Brianna!

The moment I walked into 500 Pearl I knew it was the venue for us! It checked all of our boxes: in house catering, hotel attached, downtown Buffalo location and we LOVED the 1920s art deco style. Our coordinator Bri was absolutely wonderful to work with, she was able to answer every question we had and provided great insight and advice and was very reassuring during the whole process. We couldn't be more thrilled with how our wedding turned out, we had multiple people tell us it was the best they've attended!

Experience with 500 Pearl was nothing short of amazing!!! The service was amazing, the food incredible and MJ made the whole process easy and enjoyable. Would highly recommend 500 Pearl to a future bride for a wedding venue!

My Fiance and I decided to go with 500 Pearl for our wedding venue. We made the decision last year, for a wedding date of 9/12/2020. The property is beautiful and offers many unique factors when considering for your wedding venue. The process leading up to our wedding was smooth, and our event planner Kristy was such a big help and easy to get a hold of and get answers to all my questions and concerns.

. Shortly after the process began, COVID hit, and everything stopped. We held out as long as we could before we regrettably had to postpone our wedding. Kristy was wonderful and extremely understanding. She provided us a list of alternative dates with no penalty and made the process as smooth as possible so I did not have to stress about a thing. She has been in contact since, to keep me updated, and is very accommodating with our specific requests for our wedding day.

I am very thankful we have someone who is so helpful to be with us during this process, as it is very stressful in general, especially with a pandemic on top of it. We are holding on to hope that we will be able to have the wedding we pictured before this all started, and we are excited to have it in such a beautiful and unique venue!

Working with Brianna and her team at 500 Pearl was like working with a Godsend that we didn't know we needed. Everyone talks about wedding stress... and one would often think, "oh, that's not applicable to us" (We were those people) but let us tell you - wedding stress is very real. The staff at 500 Pearl were absolutely incredible, and the level of professionalism and hospitality was second to none. Their organization and attentiveness was stress relieving. Every question was answered, and the scheduling and event planning had been gone through with a fine tooth comb to ensure our peace of mind. Everything was perfect, and I could not recommend them enough. If you're looking for a classic, yet posh event that runs smoothly - this is your place. Don't pass it up!

Just overall amazing! They were so accommodating as we were married during the November ‘22 blizzard with so many out of town guests. They truly went above and beyond as a venue and made so many changes and extra accommodations for our guests and ourselves to make sure all are safe and have what was needed.

We booked this venue 2 years out due to the pandemic. While there was a lot of staff turnover during this time we ended up working with AnnMarie by the time our date came. Ann Marie and her team were unbelievable. They worked so seamlessly with our wedding planner and us. We had many odd requests and received little to no pushback on execution. We got married in the Forbes Theatre at 500 Pearl. We did the ceremony in the balcony and the reception beneath. I would recommend this venue and working with Ann Marie over and over again. There was no one single error on the venue side.

My wife and I (husband) were early adopters to the team at 500 Pearl. So early, in fact, that we committed to their venue before it had finished being built in 2018. You see, we had already all but committed in our minds to booking a different wedding venue in the city when an article about the restoration and hotel development at 500 Pearl caught our eye. In a moment of serendipitous timing between venue consultations combined with our newly piqued interest we decided to schedule a somewhat spontaneous walk-through of the facility. Donned with hardhats and safety vests we took a tour through
the complex during the demolition phase of the original building and infancy of the new hotel construction. We walked in without expecting much beyond grand visions of renderings and blueprints that were surely to change, but walked out knowing that we had found our perfect wedding venue.

After touring every major wedding venue in WNY, the biggest difference that stood out to us at 500 Pearl were the people. We immediately clicked and grew to become professional colleagues, then personal friends with a few members of the original staff. They showed us the most courtesy and
sincerity throughout our meetings than anybody else had. They were creative, imaginative, and open to any ideas or questions we could come up with regarding our big day. Yet they were never sales people. In fact, they would be open and even brutally honest with any hard hitting questions we may have about their construction, development, or fact that they had yet to host an actual event.

However, as everybody knows, no wedding can go on without issue. We were not naïve enough to think there would not be growing pains with a new (at the time) venue, but 2020 surprised us all. What followed would be a string of changes involving dates, personnel, menus, packages, and rates.
Throughout all of the volatility we were always met with comfort, care, and understanding. The venue would honor and work with every previous agreement and help satisfy us with any necessary changes throughout the entire process. No better example of this occurred just 2 weeks prior to a wedding that’s been contracted for 4 years at this point. At this critical juncture in the home stretch of our big day, which should be the “calm before the storm”, everything was turned on its head as our wedding coordinator announced she would be moving on from the company. But this is when our trust and faith in 500 Pearl really paid off.

With about 10 days until our wedding, and a 4-year-old contract that has more cross outs and whiteout than a 6th grade research paper on feudalism, the director of sales stepped in to save the day. AnnMarie Taft took the time to learn and understand every minute detail of our uniquely amended contract to instantly fill us with confidence. She even took things a step further by adding personalized details to our wedding to really show how much she cares for clients. Through all the turmoil thrust upon her at the last minute with us and other clients, she made herself available to us at all times. That strong professional service trickled down throughout all of the venue staff as well. From servers to bartenders to front desk staff, everybody showed the epitome of service, class, care, and personal attention from start to finish.

To reiterate my point that it’s the people of the 500 Pearl venue that won us over is an understatement. When something inevitably goes wrong with any wedding this staff has proved to us time and time again that they would be willing to step up and make any situation right by us. To plan, prepare, and execute a wedding has proven itself to be an anxiety inducing hell we’d never want to go through again, but if we had to, we know we’d never change a thing. The 500 Pearl venue and Aloft hotel will remain our recommendation to all friends and family moving forward.

I absolutely cannot say enough good things about 500 Pearl for a wedding venue. We worked with Christine and she was SO responsive and easy to work with! She answered any and all questions we had and was honestly such a pleasure. She did everything in her power to make our wedding fantastic. So accommodating and wonderful in every way. The service, food, bartenders, staff and everything was just incredible. We had our reception in the Grand Aeries Ballroom and it was just so beyond gorgeous. We loved working with the team at 500 Pearl and highly recommend them to everyone! Seriously if you’re on the fence, BOOK THEM!!

I could not speak more highly of the coordinator and team at 500 Pearl!!! My fiancé and I had unexpected life things happen halfway though our wedding planning that really shook us, but 500 Pearl was BEYOND flexible in working with our situation and making our wedding absolutely perfect! We ended up having the most beautiful micro wedding in The Exchange Room, cocktail hour in the WXYZ Bar, and after party at Patrick’s Rooftop. The flow of things were seamless, the food was delicious, and the service was wonderful! The coordinator had huge weddings in the large rooms at the same time and she made it over to our room multiple times to check in - which meant so much. Absolutely loved our experience with 500 Pearl!!!

I highly recommend having your wedding at 500 Pearl in Buffalo NY. We chose this venue for the convenience of everything being in one place - hotel, ceremony, reception, after party and it did not disappoint. The space itself is beautiful and was able to accommodate all of our needs. We worked with Brianna Chadwell who was a DREAM. She truly helped bring our vision to life, made recommendations, and went above and beyond the day of to make sure everything ran smoothly.

From the moment we saw the Forbes Theater at 500 Pearl, we knew we had to have our reception there. It is such a gorgeous space and even though it’s a big room, it feels intimate. We had our entire day there, starting with getting ready in the bi-level suite, our first look on Patrick’s rooftop, photos in the venue and around the theater district, ceremony in the Fuhrmann Room, reception in Forbes and Sunday brunch in the 1914 Room. Honestly everything was perfect. The getting ready suite is amazing if you have a big bridal party - it’s two floors and we had the girls upstairs and the guys downstairs. We loved doing our first look on the rooftop with views of the city behind us. Fuhrmann is a simple room for the ceremony but we were able to dress it up with a few simple additions. Forbes is stunning, looks great with almost every color scheme, has a stage for the band/DJ and a patio if the weather is nice. And the brunch in 1914 was simple but just what we needed. The venue is also connected to the Aloft (Marriott) hotel, and since many of our guests were from out of town, it was really important to us that people didn’t have to drive all over town. You really can’t beat the convenience of having everything in one place and I know our guests appreciated being able to relax. Now onto the staff. I can’t say enough good things about Christine, our coordinator. From day one, she didn’t miss a beat. She had every detail documented and most importantly was such a “yes” person. Anything we wanted (within reason), she did her best to give to us. She was kind and compassionate, responsive, and you can tell she really takes her job to heart. On the day of, she was present and running around getting us whatever we needed. The rest of the staff was also great, the servers, bartenders, and everyone else involved. We got a lot of compliments about the service and the food and felt like we were personally taken care of. All around, we had an excellent experience and would recommend 500 Pearl and Christine any day!

Working with 500 Pearl was a breeze! Everyone was so easy to get a hold of whenever we had a question, the overall planning experience was so organized and easy. The day of things were beyond smooth and our wedding coordinator, Brianna, made sure that everything was exactly the way we had talked about and then some! Her attention to detail was perfect!

From the moment my husband and I stepped foot into 500 Pearl and the Forbes Theater, we knew it was the perfect location to have our wedding. We had a 2 year engagement and booked them right away. There was a change in coordinators which caused some hiccups throughout the planning process, but their new team knows what they’re doing and will help you plan a great wedding. The coordinator who was assigned the me, Bri, was truly amazing. She worked with us so much and put everything she had into our wedding. She helped make our wedding into everything we wanted and I am so grateful that we had her!!! The Forbes is beautiful. We had our ceremony in the balcony, our cocktail hour in the WXYZ bar and our reception on the main floor of the Forbes.
We also hosted a welcome party at Spare Lanes in the hotel which was so much fun.
This was a destination for most & almost all of our guests stayed in the Aloft Hotel which is attached to the venue and that is where we booked our getting ready rooms! The rooms were absolutely gorgeous and the staff did everything they could to make sure I was super happy about everything in regards to my stay. I highly recommend 500 Pearl for your wedding!

Shout out to Christine and her team at 500 Pearl, they were AMAZING!! My husband and I both live out of the area and Christine was so easy to work with and accommodating during the planning process.

Her and her team were readily available the days leading up to our event and on the day of our event.

We had our cocktail hour at Patrick’s Rooftop which was so beautiful and our reception in the Grand Aeries ballroom.

Everything turned out better than we could’ve imagined! Don’t hesitate to book here, especially if you’re working with Christine, you’re in great hands!!! Thank you for everything!!

Once we walked into the magical room of the Forbes Theater room we knew that we wanted our special day to be at this location. Kristy has been an amazing resource, helpful, and has been there for us since day 1. She has answered all of our concerns right away. We can not recommend the location or Kristy enough!!

500 Pearl’’s staff and Christine Casucci went above and beyond for our wedding! We were the largest wedding they had had yet and they did not miss a beat. Everyone was so amazing and would absolutely recommend them to be in charge of your special day or any other event!

In 2021 at the height of COVID, this venue, 500Pearl, held over 100 events. This was one of the key deciding points for us to select 500 Pearl. If they could manage under last year’s duress, then they can do our wedding this year. They did not disappoint. Our wedding manager Christine Casucci was super professional, organized, experienced, accommodating and a very nice person. As Father of the Bride I was very aware of the overall quality of the food and service. I was very pleased along with our 150 guests. The food was particularly good including the late night snack meal. Service personnel were plentiful and the bartenders performed at a high level. For the cost, I feel that we got a very high value product and I congratulate Christina and the entire 500 Pearl staff. PJP

Bri at 500 Pearl was great to work with! From answering my million questions, to be extremely flexible, to helping us have the best reception ever. Everything went great, and I cannot recommend them enough!! Thank you for making our wedding so special!!!!!!

We had the absolute best experience working with Bri to plan our wedding at 500 pearl. The grand aeries was perfect and she did an amazing job setting up and helping my make the day perfect. The service for the reception was exceptional as well as the food. Would recommend 100x over!

From beginning to end Christine and her teams execution of any event that we work with them on is perfect!
The team communicates well and welcomes all vendors with open arms . Being a wedding event coordinator in western New York we have had our fair share of locations wondering if we will step on their toes… 500 Pearl was so not only excepting of working with us but made it a pleasure to come back over and over again as my experience with not only Christine the wedding planner but everyone from the front desk, to the banquet staff, to the concierge have a nothing but helpful, pleasant and an absolute pleasure to work with.
I continue to urge couples to look for not only a vision of their wedding but a team that is going to execute the day you always dreamt of so perfectly, and 500 does just that!

Kristy and her team at 500 Pearl have gone above and beyond from when we toured the venue to date. There was a special champagne toast waiting for us along with a personalized letter board and gift bag, and honestly these touches were the deciding factor for us. We felt honored and valued and cannot imagine our big day somewhere else. We’ve also had a tasting already and the food far exceeded our expectations. We are looking forward to next October and hoping to make our guests feel as special as we have so far!

We had the most incredible wedding, and we have 500 Pearl to thank for it! We started working with Kristy in 2019, and originally scheduled for August of 2020. 500 Pearl was unbelievably accommodating throughout the pandemic and the postponement process, and we were lucky enough to have the exact wedding we had dreamed of one year later. The food was fantastic, the staff were phenomenal, they incorporated all of our details flawlessly, and we'd pick 500 Pearl again in a heartbeat! Thank you Kristy!!!