Carnegie Hall

This past weekend I attended a wedding at Carnegie Hall and it was wonderful. The hall is super nice and the location was perfect for a lot of us coming in without a car. I lived in Cincinnati for 4 years and I never even knew that the Carnegie Hall in Newport existed. I attended a friends wedding and they did both the ceremony and the reception inside the hall. The staff working here were super friendly and nice and very accommodating to everyone who was in attendance. The upstairs is where the wedding was at. The room was a little warm, but it was big enough to hold about 100 people. They did a very nice job with the set up of the chairs and the alter for the wedding. The sound system in the hall was great. For appetizer hour it was downstairs in the entry way. The area had two big rooms and a center room where the bar was set up. The food at the wedding was typical wedding food. It was good but not great. Overall I had a wonderful time at this wedding. I would for sure attend an event here or plan a wedding or function if I lived in town.

Amazing space with super friendly staff. This venue made our wedding reception dreams come true!

The Carnegie Event Center is in the former Newport Public Library. When we took a tour of restored homes last fall, we also visited this building to get our tickets. The building houses the event center's office, as well as a tea room downstairs. There's a nice garden area off to one side and a large event room with a stage on the top floor. I have also noticed a large tent behind the building, also for event use, I'm guessing. According to its website, the center is available for weddings and other events.

We had a corporate event at Newport Carnegie and LOVED it!! Peggy went out of her way to ensure everyone had a great time and everything was taken care of. We can't wait to return!

My wife and I are professional wedding photographers. This venue is the only venue that we will never EVER return to for a wedding. Quite literally, unless it's a close family friend or family member's wedding, we will never shoot in this facility again. The one and only time we have shot there was this past year. It was a great couple with awesome families and a fun bridal party. A recipe for success in our field. However, once it was time for the family photos immediately following the ceremony, things got really bad in a hurry. The owner/manager told us that we HAD to only be on the dance floor (maybe 20x20?) as they needed to flip the room from the ceremony to the reception venue. But that didn't just mean us, it meant for everyone to only be on the dance floor. So the whole family and bridal party were forced to be on the dance floor. But not only that, the DJ who played during the ceremony was also to be out of the way which meant he had to be up on the stage. A PERFECT background for us. Never mind the fact that the family photos were only going to take 15 minutes and the staff a full hour to flip the room. In fact, when I would back up off of the dance floor just a bit to get a shot of a large group with distorting the image (nerdy photography stuff), I was tapped on the shoulder by the manager and told, "SCOOT UP!" When you combine 30+ people with lighting for the family photos and two photographers and DJ equipment, it becomes VERY cramped and nearly impossible to deliver the type of product that we want to deliver. Also, there isn't another space to shoot photos in for large groups. It was also night time and cold outside so that wasn't an option either. Not only did she bad mouth us to the bridal party and the B&G (I was standing behind her when she said it but she didn't know I was there), but she also gave a TON of attitude to a family member who wasn't sitting at the "Family" table. The wedding wasn't assigned seating except for two tables for the close family. This aunt had two kids that she just settled into their seats. Since it wasn't at the "family" table, she FORCED this woman to move nearly screaming at her. The DJ and I witnessed it and were just shocked. Who cares where she sits lady?It was all so bad with this person that the bride texted us the following day apologizing for the manager/owner's behavior. We have shot at other venues owned by the same company and it's been great. However, this same manager/owner wasn't there. It seemed as though she didn't want to be there and wanted everyone to know it. Either that or she doesn't want to do weddings here anymore and thought, why not just make this night terrible for everyone so they will review me poorly.Mission accomplished. Other notes, the bar is set up downstairs and the venue is upstairs. Being as it's historic, there isn't an elevator. Something to keep in mind for anyone with a disability.