Glenview Mansion

I’m a bride and was excited to take a tour of Glenview, however because of poor staff service, the tour never took place. I spoke with Sandra and stated which day would be preferable and she called out a time. We got there early morning and waited for 40 minutes outside. I left a message explaining the situation and I received an email later in the day, but honestly; out of courtesy, Sandra should have called me and tried to set up another appointment. If this is how the beginning unfolds, I can only imagine how the actual planning will take place. This mishap took up a day where my fiancé and I could have actually taken a tour of a different venue.

Rude staff. Absolutely no sense of customer service and one of the staff members grabbed a member of my party. Others were heckling from the porch yelling «BYE!!» All because we were there taking our wedding photos prior to a wedding they had scheduled for the evening. While our photographer didn’t call ahead, the staff was incredibly inappropriate in the way they handled the situation. They didn’t bother to explain their policy to us politely; instead they got hostile and harassed us. Way to ruin a beautiful day for my best friend and her husband.

The venue is gorgeous. But the staff was unhelpful at a wedding I was in. We had a group of people crash the ceremony of the wedding and when we asked a staff member who was responsible for preventing this she stated she should then changed her response to ‘your day of coordinator’. A venue that obviously has so many events shouldn’t have that happen.

Glenview might be a pretty venue, but I would be hesitant to recommend Glenview to future brides. I understand that my wedding day was unique because we had to use the mansion for our ceremony due to a passing rain storm/​thunder. However, when Glenview’s house manager for the night (Sandy) made the call at 5PM that we were not allowed to use the tent on the lawn for our reception because of the storm (which later passed) I was convinced that Glenview was a dishonest venue and was very dissatisfied. Glenview is not very straightforward with a lot of their policies and their contracts are very poorly written. I was never told that the Glenview staff would be making important calls on my wedding day about weather changes without my consent. I actually asked Susan Klise during my walk through what the policy was if it thundered and she said you wait 30 mins before returning to a tent. When it thundered at 5PM, Glenview made the call right then and there that they would restrict us from using our tent. The are NOT forthcoming at all with the fact that in the event it does thunderstorm on your wedding day (even if it’s at 5PM and it passed) they can call of the use of a tent and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. In the end Glenview felt the need to push all of the blame onto other vendors saying that they made the decision to not use our tent, but at the end of the day after speaking with all my vendors they all agreed that it was Sandy from Glenview who told them it was her decision, even though they thought we still could have had dinner under the tent.
On another note, Glenview has a lot of rules and red tape when it comes to holding events there (no staking of tents, Shepard hooks, etc, you cannot use sparklers for a send-​off, no red wine). If you’re looking for a venue where you can have any control over your own wedding day I would not advise you use Glenview.

I’ve attended several events here from weddings to birthday parties to car shows and echo the other comments before mine that talk about the beautiful grounds as well as interior.
The events here have always been nice and the hosts seem to be very happy with the service they received from the staff in regards to getting a tour of the event, to making easy payments to the actual day of the event.
I love the coziness of this venue for weddings and parties.
This is one of the only venues where you can provide outside food which is a plus. There is a staff to serve the drinks and food if you so desire. If you do not desire this service, the staff is waiting in the wings to service you just in case.
This venue is at the top of my list for hosting events.

As a wedding venue, ideal for under 50 but can accommodate up to 192 people. I would not hesitate booking another event here (and hope to in the future). There’s nothing close to the value offered by this place (in its price range) in the DC/​MD/​VA area (I looked for months).
PROS
— Bring your own alcohol (Try Costcos in Delaware! for great selection and no taxes) for no extra charge
— Bring your alcohol in the night before and store it securely for no extra charge
— Bring your own caterer (I recommend Spilled Milk Catering)
— Charming, historic setting
— Very professional, personable and knowledgeable staff (esp. Susan and Kathleen) that have been there for years
— Very reasonable prices, discounted if you’re a Rockville resident
— Unbelievably beautiful grounds, exquisite gardens
— Great inventory of furniture (tables, chairs, etc) that may be used for free
— Interesting art exhibits upstairs in the gallery
— Plenty of dressing rooms
— Straightforward contract
— Bring your own tent contractor — I highly recommend Sammy’s Rentals of Manassas, VA for both rentals and your tent
— 2 very helpful on-​site managers for the event
— Expansive kitchen for your caterer (no actual cooking though)
— Very prompt and organized with transactions (processing deposits, payments, issuing deposit refunds, etc.)
— Unique, memorable setting — so much better than a lame, generic hotel
— Extensive indoor + outdoor space, all very-​well cared for
— A photographer’s dream (I recommend Ryan Holloway)
— Conservatory room makes an excellent dance floor
— Ample parking for your guests (hundreds of spaces)
— Unspoilt surroundings (deer abound in the surrounding woods)
— Many different settings keeps the event moving along in an engaging way (have the ceremony on the terrace, cocktails on the patio, dinner in your tent, dessert in the dining room dancing in the conservatory, etc.)
CONS
— You’ll need a tent if you want to serve food for more than 50 seated (and don’t want to risk it raining)
— No red wine or red drinks (e.g., cranberry, etc)
— Your bar can only be placed in designated areas
— No flower petals
— Use of the outdoor chairs incurs an extra charge
Note: Some of these cons/​rules really just ensure the place remains in excellent shape, so I really can’t fault them too much, right?

We got married at Glenview Mansion in September 2011. The venue itself is lovely. Classy with a lot of charm. It’s older obviously and will require you to budget extensively for décor. In addition, the venue could use an update in various rooms (chipped paint, cobwebs, chipped furniture). But overall I loved the venue for my wedding. It fit us well. My wedding planners were very frustrated with the venue staff due to their extensive list of rules/​regulations. I found them willing to accommodate on most things. Great for an outdoor wedding ceremony, just «okay» if you have the ceremony inside.

When I got engaged I knew I wanted to get married in a mansion. Bethesda doesn’t have many, so this made our search immediately difficult. I wanted a destination fairly close to our church and easy to get to for our out of town guests.
Finally, after reading some bridal magazines, I heard about the Glenview Mansion. Years of living in the area and never knew about this treasure. When my husband and I arrived we immediately fell in love with the place. It has a beautiful lawn, gardens, terrace, trees, and plenty of parking. Inside, the mansion has a beautiful grand staircase, and incredible balconies. It somewhat reminded me of my grandparents’ home and I was hiding my excitement. To my delight, my husband said this was it. We were so excited that we both fell in love with the place that we gave a deposit right away.
We were given a tour by Susan, who is a very patient and helpful lady. She answered all my questions and helped me with all my wedding ideas to make the mansion look at beautifully decorated as possible. She invited me to their bridal show to find local vendors. And that is where we met Corcoran Caterers and the other Susan. Susan of Corcoran Caterers has known Susan of the Glenview Mansion for over 20 years and they both work very well together. This made our final walkthrough run very smoothly.
Thanks to the Glenview Mansion I never felt an ounce of stress throughout my whole engagement. I didn’t have any meltdowns and ended up having a beautiful wedding. We had about 110 guests, most of out of the country who said they had never been to a wedding like ours.

As a photographer I like the Glenview grounds for weddings as there are lots of shady green spots, little garden paths, a nice stone archway and lots of boxwood.
inside there are plenty of spacious, well decorated rooms, as well as a great fireplace.
It’s a joy for me to shoot at Glenview, as there are plenty of options, both indoors and out.
To see a wedding I shot at Glenview check out

Consider Glenview for your wedding! My brother and now sister-​in-​law (yay!) got married here recently, and here are some things to know:
Pros
— Beautiful gardens, lawns, fountains, terraces — this place was MADE for bridal pictures. Absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.
— The rental isn’t too expensive. I can’t remember the exact price, but it’s pretty reasonable, especially for MoCo residents.
— The staff are very helpful and friendly. There were people on the grounds during our picture-​taking time who weren’t supposed to be, but the staff took care of them very professionally and effectively.
— It’s a convenient and secluded location (off of Veirs Mill, tucked away in a neighborhood).
— Plenty of parking.
Cons
— The rain plan sucks. If you have to have your ceremony inside, you’ll only be able to seat a couple dozen people and that’s it.
— If you want to have your reception inside the house, they only allow buffet — no seated dinner inside. There’s just no space for it.
— No red wine allowed. Even if your reception is outside, there’s carpeting and artwork inside the house, and they don’t allow the red in case you decide to bring your drink inside the house.
— If you have less than 160 people, you’re set. Otherwise, look elsewhere!
Check them out!