Top Of The Town

I had my wedding at Top of the Town this past May and let me just start by saying it was A-Mazing! The view is incredible and my family and friends could NOT stop raving about it! The lists they provided for catering and music vendors were absolutely awesome. I found exactly the caterer who fit what I needed and I felt like it gave me a wide range of flexibility on food and costs. Also, it was absolutely imperative that I had an open bar and TOTT let me bring in ALL my alcohol (and my place cards/favors) the day before which was soo helpful. There were a few rules about the dancing -- we weren't allowed to jump which I was a little worried about but it ended up not being a problem at all because I realized that A. I didn't want people "Cotton-Eyed-Joe"ing all over the place, B. "Jump Around" went out of style in the 90's, and C. I think "Congo Lines" are tacky :) Plus, once I asked out it, I realized they are located over condos and that it's really nice of them to be thinking about their neighbors enough to care whether their pictures are vibrating or not. Everything turned out better than I had even imagined - Kate and Joan were super friendly and helpful and my event managers really went out of their way to make sure we had a great night - they even had the caterer bring up some apps and drinks to the TOTT office while we waited to be introduced! I love love love this place and I ABSOLUTELY reccomend it! If nothing else, take a tour, you can't miss this view! more

This is an excellent and memorable place to have a Washington DC wedding reception if you have a lot of guests coming from out of town. It is tucked back in an area by the Iwo Jima memorial and you take a private elevator up to the top of the building. It looks over DC. There are a couple downsides. The managers here tend to book weddings on top of each other which is difficult to do with an elevator and catering. If the weather is bad, the view is a little less scenic but still very neat. You have plenty of parking, which is rare, but I think you have to hire a valet. The managers will negotiate on vendors but beware because many vendors hate this place because of logistics. We set up a wedding video by the elevator. Photos turn out great after the wedding because the whole room is enclosed with glass. If you can have the last wedding of the day, you are all set here. Otherwise you will feel very rushed. more

When we got engaged, DH and I each listed one top priority for the reception - everything else was negotiable/disposable/compromisable. My priority was a location with great atmosphere. With a lot of family coming from OOT, I didn't want an anonymous room that could've been anywhere. I'd been to TotT in the late 80s when it was a restaurant and their view has been my first choice all along. Emily Rike has been our contact and she has been great. I can't imagine how many calls she must field yet she recognized my name every time from the beginning. We brought in a band that wasn't on their approved vendors list and all negotiations b/w TotT, the band, and us went smoothly. Our date was a Friday night which TotT limits to the hours of 7-11 PM, with vendor access starting at 5 PM and out by midnight. The only access is via a single elevator which is why they prefer you use a vendor off their list who is familiar w/ the logistics. The TotT POC on Friday was quite adamant that we clear the building by midnight or we'd be charged for additional hours. (I've been told we made the deadline thanks to our caterer.) I really felt rewarded by the reactions of family and friends all evening. It felt like a gift we were able to give to our guests who wouldn't have much time to explore DC. They had all of DC laid out for them on a beautiful, warm October night. more