The Backstage Event Center Reviews

The Backstage Event Center team helped us put together the best rehearsal dinner for our wedding! They were super responsive, helpful, and flexible. The event team was very professional, kind and helpful during our event. Would definitely recommend using them for any event you're throwing!

Nicholson’s is a great place for a rehearsal dinner. The atmosphere, the food, the service - all top
notch! Elenya, the event planner was so flexible and helpful. I, the mother of the groom, wasn’t worried about anything!!! The whole event went exactly as we had hoped. We don’t live near Cincinnati - not as easy to coordinate decor, etc. Elenya helped us with flower arrangement suggestions and made it so easy for those to be delivered and set on the tables.
Sooo glad we chose Nicholsons. I highly recommend them!

The staff was friendly and helpful. The space was lovely and the food was absolutely delicious!

I can't say enough about the wonderful experience we had at the Backstage Event Center for our son, Scott and his now wife Lisa as we hosted their Rehearsal dinner held on THUR SEP 16th. Katie Swantko, Austin, Finn and team provided a seamless experience. Austin was amazing and Finn was great as they worked with us setting everything up. The chef made a last minute entree change from a mahi mahi to piccata chicken. The atmosphere was outstanding as we received soo many compliments about the venue along with how delicious the food was. Again we cannot thank Katie and her team enough for such an excellent experience!

The team at the Backstage Event Center were terrific to work with! Katie S. was super helpful and responsive. We hosted a brunch event with delicious food, great service, and beautiful venue. Highly recommend!

My husband & I got engaged in 2018 fully anticipating a 2020 wedding. Obviously, covid changed a lot of plans and our original date was postponed a year. Backstage Event Center was absolutely phenomenal through it all. Cara was my event coordinator & she made our day so incredibly special. She put me completely at ease and delivered everything I wanted & MORE! We've gotten so many compliments from guests saying everything went flawlessly and they never felt rushed like they've felt at other weddings. The whole set up was beautiful. The entire staff were so courteous and professional and an absolute dream to work with. I could not recommend this venue enough, even more so Cara for executing my vision! I could not have done it without her! Everything exceeded expectations! It was a perfect day!

Thank you, Backstage & thank you, Cara!!!

Backstage Event Center downtown Cincinnati hosted our rehearsal dinner. It couldn’t have turned out more perfect! Katie Swantko was absolutely wonderful in helping us plan our event. The space was perfect, food was awesome, service impeccable. Highly, highly recommend it.

Katie and team were great to work with and the service the day of the wedding was superb! Communication was good throughout the process. The Backstage Event Center was flexible with us in terms of COVID restrictions and working with us on last minute changes to numbers. Overall, it was a great experience and we could not have picked a better venue!

Cara and the entire team at the Backstage Event Center provided an absolutely flawless experience for us. We hosted a rehearsal dinner of about 35 people. The bartender, wait staff, and entire crew were attentive and extremely accommodating. The food was all so delicious, and the event space was romantic and spacious. If our wedding had been smaller, we absolutely would've gone with The Backstage as a reception venue as well.

We planned our rehearsal dinner during the coronavirus pandemic. Backstage was extremely flexible with the changing ordinances and shifting guest list. The food was excellent and the staff was professional and helpful during our event. We were extremely pleased with the party! We would definitely have another party at Backstage Event Center.

This venue was everything we wanted. Our guests loved the food and the location was great! The staff were super professional and helpful. Our wedding could not have gone any better.

Katie and her team at the Backstage Event Center were amazing to work with. We were a destination wedding that had to quickly come up with a new plan because of COVID. With a little over two months to change all of our plans, Katie was able to give us the wedding of our dreams. Katie communicated clearly, never made me feel like I asked too many questions, and handled more than I thought she would including decorating our venue from photos I sent her, running our ceremony rehearsal, and just being a sweet calm face right before I walked down the aisle.

We felt like queen and king during our reception. We never lifted a finger. The food was on a whole new level! This is not “wedding food” this is top tier, elegant comfort food. Our hors devours were the talk of the night. The beer cheese and soft pretzels, cranberry Brie bruschetta and spanakopita were huge hits! Also, if you’ve never considered pot roast for your wedding meal, this is the place to do it. The meat was so tender it fell apart, and our guests could not say enough about it.

Katie and the venue made sure to handle a guest who had a lot of food allergies. He made sure to find me and let me know that everything he ate was off the charts delicious. He didn’t worry at all about cross contamination because the staff were beyond professional and handled his allergies with care.

Something you might not consider but ended up being a game changer were the terraces off of the front and back of the event space. A beautiful view of the lights of downtown Cincinnati, wrought iron cocktail tables and chairs, and propane heating towers in case it got chilly. Our guests took photo after photo with the city scape as their backdrop.

You will not regret using the Backstage Event Center for your special day. I can’t say enough about it, just that I could do it all over again!

I’m so glad Backstage was responsive and had our date available! The coordinator was so helpful as we, parents of the groom ,live more than 2 hours away. Menu options were amazing but with help we decided on the family style meal and it was delicious.

Loved all aspects of Backstage from event pricing, to hard working event planners, event space, and food was delicious. Booked our rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception all at Backstage and Horse and Barrel. All staff worked so hard before and during events to ensure a wonderful memory. Would definitely recommend to family and friends and would also book other events there myself.

Cara was so helpful during this whole process! She was very helpful with anything we needed. She even gave me breathing exercises to help calm my nerves in the minutes before walking down the aisle. She was so supportive. Thank you, Cara! The food and service was excellent too! Our waiter boxed up our food and we enjoyed it the next day! Still delicious! I could not be more grateful to have worked with them! I cannot say enough good things about working with the Backstage Event Center from the food to decorating! You guys went above and beyond for our day!