Benicia Arsenal

Our daughter recently got married at this venue. It was terrific!!!Each of our 180 guests for a sit down buffet dinner raved about the place. One of the main reasons is the historic charm of the building. The other reason is that most of our guest had never been there before (or even heard of it!) making it a special memory. And lastly, it has three areas/rooms which make it feel quite spacious.The main room is a perfect size for 18 round tables that fit 10 people each plus a small sweetheart table, d.j. tables and a round small cake table. My daughter used black tablecloths (mother gasped at first) and they looked stunning in the room due to the high ceilings and painted white brick and cute white wooden chairs. We had a d.j. and there was plenty of room for dancing. The bar area is also a great size and we had a present table, an appetizer table and a photo booth in the corner with a table for the guest book. It was a nice place to come and chat when the music got too loud! The buffet table for dinner was able to be in an inside hallway that allowed for great traffic flow and the food didn't have to take up room in the main room or bar room. The grounds right outside the room are nice with a large fountain. The area around the arsenal is old, somewhat industrial and funky with little shops. My only complaint is that it is a little hard to find the entrance to the building (and it happened to be raining)...but that makes it more a treasure when you find it! None of our guests complained about it.And my daughter who paid for this venue said it was very reasonable! I can't remember the caretakers name, but he and his daughter were very accommodating. It's a little off the beaten path, but not too far from Concord/Pleasant Hill (about 20 Min) and definitely worth the drive!!

I recently went to a wedding at this venue and thought that it was quite cute. My boyfriend officiated :). The kitchen actually worked really well, the bar set up was good, sound system was okay, and bathrooms fit the guest load. Make sure your guests know to go up the stairs, as I wandered around lost and had to be helped by an obliging firefighter. The place had been decorated really nicely and everyone had a great time. It felt much bigger inside than I was expecting!

As much as I love the space the the pricing of this venue, I cannot in good conscience suggest this venue to anyone.TL;DR - Great price, but do not book unless you want to chance it with the incompetent management.Carol is in way over her head. I saw older reviews of her being difficult to work with and gave her the benefit of the doubt. I wish I hadn't. I first contacted the Arsenal in January and set up a tour. I was told to call upon my arrival so that she could come and unlock the venue and show is around. I did so, multiple times, but Carol did not answer. My fiance and I walked the grounds for 20 minutes or so when Carol finally texted me to let me know that she was in Oakland and stuck in traffic and would not be back in time for our tour. I decided to reschedule, but was annoyed that she did not let me know soon that she was going to be late. When she got back into town, she offered to run the venue if we weren't too far and we agreed. The venue was lovely and the price was great. I signed my contract February 2nd and paid the initial deposit and started planning the rest of my wedding around this, including buying the invitations and booking other vendors. A full TWO MONTHS later, and less than six months before our wedding, Carol emailed me saying, "Unfortunately due to an oversight beyond our control that date was previously reserved." Meaning, she had double booked our date and that we no longer had a reception venue. She blamed it on getting a new computer system and phone and that the technician didn't properly transfer the dates, but how this wasn't discovered until two months after we signed a contract and paid a deposit is beyond me, but is CERTAINLY not beyond their control, since the bare minimum of their business model is to book their venue for requested dates and make sure requested dates are available before booking. I am devastated and currently scrambling to find another venue less than 6 months from my wedding in a year where all postponed weddings are finally being held. Carol turned my wedding planning bliss into a stressful nightmare and I may have to postpone my own wedding by at least three weeks if I cannot find a venue available on the same date.

My Son and fiancé' were looking for a wedding venue. The arsenal had the look and vibe that was exactly what they were looking for. It ended there because the manager Carol does not seem to want to rent the building for weddings. The pictures of the courtyard on the pamphlet with wedding ceremonies now has many rubbermaid plant pots with dying plants they have also placed a cement table and benches which makes it to crowded to have a ceremony. We asked if we could hire someone to move these out and put them back after the wedding she said no. She showed us an inside room that we could have the ceremony but warned that renters in the adjacent offices might walk through during the ceremony. She just seems to have an attitude of not wanting to accommodate anything. After reading reviews and speaking with my local party rental company, who had the exact complaints about the venue, we choose not to rent the arsenal, which was sad because the interior is beautiful and perfect for what we wanted. We ended spending 4x as much on a different venue. I hope the owners read this and realize that if they want to make money renting this venue they need to find a Yes Man/Women not a NO Man/Women.

We loved this venue and it was so perfect for us and beautiful. We also had a band we were thinking of using that required some power for their lights and instruments. The arsenal was unable to provide the power needed. I asked if we could open up discussion between Carol and the band and us to figure out if the generator would work. I copied Carol on all emails between me and the band. The band stated it shouldn't be a problem and that they would be able to provide a generator for the even and all would be well. I tried to get a hold of Carol numerous times to make sure this would be ok. She NEVER responded.At this point the band told me someone else was looking at them for our date. So I reserved the band thinking that we would figure something out without a problem. My fiance finally called Carol again and she explained to him that she had talked to the owners of the building and they said they would be unable to accommodate the band. This would have been FINE if she had ever responded to me. However she even admitted to my fiance that she just decided to not respond since it wouldn't work. WOW. Talk about a lack of communication.Also on a side note, when my mom and I went to check out the location we met the building manager Dale. He was just as rude and incompetent as Carol was.STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS! There is a reason they can offer the venue for such a great deal.

My wedding was ruined by the horrible management of this beautiful building! On the day of my wedding while setting up and cleaning up we were unmercifully hounded by the caretaker/manager of the event space. Prior to getting married here we went over everything that would be and not be allowed at the venue site. We got special permission prior to the wedding to allow music out in the courtyard for the purpose of the ceremonial wedding march only. We explained to this person that we are a professional lighting and sound company for the past 20 years and that the sound would be minimal and tasteful for the wedding march. So on the day of the wedding we were then told that it would not be allowed! We brought up our concerns that this is a import piece of the wedding and it would be ruined without the music for us to walk to, and also reminded them of the verbal ok we got prior to the event. We were told by the owner and the manager it was not their problem and thus they didn't care if our wedding would be ruined with out the wedding march music. My bad for not getting this verbal ok in writing. The wedding reception area was also filthy!!!!! With layers of dirt and grim that we had to clean up, and when pointed out to the owner of the building ( which is a historical site) she responded to us its not in the contract that we give you a clean event space.......REALLY you own a historical building and you host weddings in that space, your in the business of making memorable moments! The least you can do is offer a a clean space. We were also harassed for the few lights and candy bar , which we went over with the building manager prior to the wedding as well. He conveniently forgot that we got permission with him for these so called decorations and was not going to allow us to use them, thank god it was not in the contract stating anything of the sort so we were able to light and decorate our wedding with the items we paid for. I can continue on the maltreatment and harassment we endured on our wedding day, but in short my SPECIAL DAY was riddled with undo stress and thus took away from our memorable day. For a company that promotes and host weddings they are not invested or even concerned about you or your day. They want your money. They tell you what you want to hear and when the day comes they deny you what was agreed on. Even the linen's company and guest's were appalled by their behavior!