Chester’s at Bell Tower Square

I emailed this business to see about hosting a baby shower there and was told that they no longer rent this space for functions. Obviously they need to update their website to reflect that, but in the meantime, I figured I’d update here.

My husband and I got married about 2 months ago and hosted our reception at Chester’s at Bell Tower Square. The night was incredible, seamless, romantic and just an all-​around great time.
When starting to plan our wedding, we knew we wanted something unique– not the standard cookie cutter venue, but a place that had character. Because we live in California, we also wanted a venue that had a wedding planner who was easy to get a hold of and work with.
Chester’s and its wedding coordinator, Elizabeth, gave us everything we wanted. I have all good things to say about Elizabeth. She was always there to help answer my questions, she was creative, thoughtful, energetic and overall excited for us to get married.
The space is a great size. We had 175 guests seated comfortably with room for a good sized dance floor, DJ and 2 separate food stations.
I recommend Chester’s to anyone looking for a unique venue with unlimited ability to make it your own personalized space.

It is surprising to me to see all the positive reviews for this venue and the event coordinator. Perhaps we caught them on an «off» two days, but I have never witnessed the lack of professionalism we received as a wedding party– ever, in my life. From the rehearsal dinner to the event itself, we were treated with such arrogance and hostility that I was livid by the end of the night, and it wasn’t even my wedding.
From the beginning the whole thing was… wrong. We were not lined up in proper order for the processional, but when we pointed it out it was ignored. We were told it would be corrected by the ceremony, but it wasn’t. We went out backwards and were not matched up with our proper partners.
The lights were not dimmed for the ceremony. We asked that the lights be dimmed but were told no, because the photographer needed to be able to see us (which of course is not true). They were not dimmed until during the meal, and only because another bridesmaid had to demand it. We were told we had to have the lights on all the way so that the waitstaff could get us our food– even though it was buffet– styled.
The seating was completely ignored– guests were told to sit where ever they wanted, resulting in completely useless place cards and seating arrangements.
Every time someone mentioned anything that was amiss– from the bartender being completely rude to the timing of the ceremony, which was almost an hour off– we were spoken down to like children.
The night was saved only by the fact that we actually knew what we were doing as a wedding party, dealt with the problems ourselves and waited until the dancing started, which was when any hand the event coordinator had in organizing anything was complete.
I feel badly, because my friend was completely stressed during one of the happiest events of her life. I would never book an event with Elizabeth or at Chester’s Bell Tower. Of course every ceremony has its flaws, but when no one seems to care, or worse– can not admit they’re wrong and try to fix what isn’t working– it is time to re-​evaluate your career choices.

A little over a month ago, my husband and I got married at Chester’s at Bell Tower Square, and I am still smiling from the incredible day. I can’t say enough amazing things about this venue!
I’ll be honest, I was a little unsure about the location, but I was drawn to the venue because of how incredibly unique the space looked in the pictures I saw online. Well after 20 minutes touring the place with the event manager Elizabeth, I was sold!!!
The main function room is an open loft-​style room with a ton of flexibility to set things up however you want. Huge bonus there! There are original hardwood floors, antique lighting, and my all time favorite detail — exposed brick walls! Not only does this give the space an industrial yet intimate vibe, the acoustics are fantastic for a band! In addition to the main room, we also used the outside courtyard for our ceremony, and the adjacent Essex Art Gallery for a cocktail hour.
Aside from the space, Elizabeth, the event manager, was an absolute joy to work with. She was extremely organized, easy to talk to, and I really felt like she was there to make our wedding day as special as it could be. I was so grateful for her attention to detail and friendly demeanor — and she was a key player in making our the entire day absolutely perfect!
I can’t say enough about Chester’s at Bell Tower Square! If you’re looking for a funky, AFFORDABLE, creative and special location for your wedding, do not let the atypical location steer you away. Our friends and family are still talking about how great the venue was… and I couldn’t agree more!
To see from photos of Chester’s from the big day, here is a link to our photographer’s blog:

My now-​husband has already written the pre-​wedding review on Chester’s. I’m here to write the post-​wedding review.
I am fully convinced that having the wedding at Chester’s and working with Elizabeth, Carolyn, and the Sidell’s, was the best decision we made throughout this whole experience. Specifically Elizabeth though — without her, our wedding day would not have been the same. She was meticulous, organized, upbeat, flexible, easy to work with, and just such a joy throughout the whole year and a half of planning we did together. She really brought together all the planning we did for the most perfect day of our lives; she was the glue.
A note on the venue itself: it’s gorgeous, charming, versatile, and modern. It was everything we’d hoped for. A big open space with a flexible personality. We planned to have the ceremony in the courtyard but at the last minute brought everything inside. The change of plans really bummed me out but Elizabeth provided us with such an excellent back up plan and seamless transition inside from ceremony to reception.
Also, you must have your cocktail hour in the Essex Art Center next door. For an additional $ 150 donation you get this funky, cool art space (exhibits and all) for the back drop of the cocktail hour. Super cool.
All in all, an amazing venue. I can’t imagine having gotten married anywhere else!

Time for a story, everybody.
I asked a smart, beautiful, funny Unilocaler to marry me and she said yes. It was an extremely exciting day, and laughter and tears abounded. That exciting day turned into an exciting week, full of phone calls and picture taking and ring flaunting.
After that first week, though, the reality set in that we actually needed to hunker down and plan a wedding. Fairies don’t magically appear and plan it for you, and there’s a lot of legwork to be done to get a giant party off the ground. The initial step was finding the absolute perfect venue.
Chester’s at Bell Tower Square was the perfect venue. We knew immediately and cut a check on the spot, and then felt a little bad that we would miss out on the joys and heartache of traveling around New England for two months looking for the perfect venue. Isn’t that what wedding planning is all about? Stressing out over where to have it and what money to put down and all that? To find the place we knew we’d be getting married in after the first weekend just shouldn’t be. Yet, apparently, it was.
How could we go anywhere else? With nearly 5,000 square feet of exposed brick, natural light and hardwood floors, where else could we find that would give us the hip industrial vibe we were looking for? How could we say no to the gorgeous courtyard, or the attached art gallery? I’m not sure I’d have been able to live with myself if I walked away from a venue that I could have access to for the Friday and the Saturday of my weekend weekend.
After spending an hour with the event coordinator (Elizabeth), my fiancé and I had no choice but to call off our search after a grand total of seven days of searching. If you are getting married and want to have it in a huge, unique, gorgeous, historic space, look at Chester’s last. If not, your venue search is going to be very, very fast.