Nestled in Columbia, Maryland, Historic Oakland is an elegant manor house style venue for weddings and events. Over two centuries old, it offers a storied setting for couples to begin the next chapter of their lives or where you can celebrate any type of milestone event. Oakland is situated on a large estate brimming with trees and seasonal florals which adds to the mansion’s stately ambience. Between the antique charms and lush grounds, our clients can celebrate in memorable splendor.
Facilities and Capacity
There are multiple areas throughout Historic Oakland that can be transformed into event space. For weddings or other social events, Historic Oakland can accommodate up to 172 guests to come together to mark a milestone moment.
The main ballroom features crystal chandeliers and wall scones and is a soft tone that will go with any color palette. Here, 80 guests can gather for a banquet-style dining experience. When including the Veranda with the Ballroom, one can accommodate up to 112 guests. The Ballroom opens onto the Veranda through a series of glass doors. The Veranda is well suited to cocktail hour using Historic Oakland’s high-top cocktail tables. The Foyer is a flexible space and is often used for dancing the night away.
Ceremonies can take place in the beautifully manicured grounds or gardens. Or, for those who may want an indoor ceremony, our sunny Magnolia can accommodate up to 80 guests.
Outside, larger weddings or events with up to 172 guests can be held in the tented area. Historic Oakland’s tent provides the perfect space for your guests to gather and celebrate your significant milestones together.
Additional smaller rooms throughout Historic Oakland can be used for dressing rooms or as the backdrop for engagement parties, showers, and rehearsal dinners.
Services Offered
Historic Oakland’s provides an on-site Facility Manager for your event to manage the building’s operational functions. Historic Oakland’s rentals include a selection of round, banquet, and cocktail tables along with indoor and outdoor ceremony chairs. Outdoor rental equipment for ceremonies is an additional rental fee. Clients can select their own vendors to include the caterer of their choice.
Kyonna Cousin(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 24-04-2021 This venue was absolutely perfect for our special day, especially, if you are like me and want to be involved in planning every aspect of your wedding day. Planning through the pandemic was challenging but the staff at Historic Oakland always responded to voicemails and emails quickly. We were able to get appointments for tours easily and the staff was always accommodating with our requests. The mansion has separate wings that the bride and groom can use to get ready and there’s also extra space for the wedding party to hang out if you want a quiet area to get ready. Property is clean and the grounds is perfect for pictures. We highly recommended this venue! 5 stars all around! Reviewed on 23-05-2021
Amber Haight(other)4 out of 5 Rating
This Vendor is a great historic venue that is budget friendly. Overall they are good. If you have an outdoor ceremony on a Sunday they will make you decide on Friday if that is where you want to have the ceremony due to not staffing on Sundays. This is the reason I gave 4/5 stars. This venue is great for small weddings or parties. I do recommend and would consider this venue for parties in the future Reviewed on 19-09-2023
Santiago Lacayo(groom)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 18-09-2020 My husband and I got married on September 18th 2020, from the moment we inquired about the venue back in October 2019, LaTasha has been a gem and made the process so smooth and stress free. She was always easily available to answer any questions and replied in a timely manner. When COVID hit she was also constantly getting me up to speed and communicating with me via email. My husband was thrilled as well with the few times he spoke with Lori of how kind she was and helped us out a lot! Our wedding was truly a dream come true and while I know they must hear this a lot, we are definitely another happy couple who had their dream turn into a reality at Historic Oakland. The interior antique charm and outdoor greenery made it a magical place to capture! The entire team is AMAAAAZING, HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO BOOK FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT! Reviewed on 25-09-2020
Susan Skoda(parent)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 14-10-2018 The venue was beautiful and is perfect if you want an \"a la carte\" venue. This venue is just the venue. You must provide your own caterer, rent linens, rent outdoor chairs, and a cleaning company. The indoor space is perfect for a smaller guest list! We had a beautiful wedding! Reviewed on 27-11-2018
Elizabeth Wheatcraft(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 23-09-2018 Well organized, supportive, affordable, and I loved the inside/outside venue options. It was very customizable! Reviewed on 18-10-2018
Santoria Williams(bride)1 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 11-06-2017 I had the worst experience with the staff, except, the host. The man that helped my family the day of my wedding was amazing. The ladies I worked with in the office was horrible. They changed a lot of details less than a month before my wedding. They were rude and unhelpful. I wish I choose another venue. Reviewed on 20-03-2018
Bradle Nizer(bride)2 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 04-06-2017 I just had my wedding here on June 4th and the wedding itself was a success and we received wonderful compliments on the location and how beautiful the day was but the stress that we went through with some of their staff was uncalled for. Between not recieving paperwork when we signed the contract to have to put out more money for some details they had overlooked with said paperwork to other details we apparently could not negotiate on it was a fight the whole way to the wedding day. Along with our rehearsal dinner which had to be changed because they do not have rehearsals during the weekend which we were not told in advance but just a two mere weeks before the scheduled date we signed for that they overlooked when w we signed the contract. Thankfully they did have some other wonderful people on their staff that did help us, from advice to paperwork from Freddy to Daniel helping us that night with any little thing that came up these two people helped in so many ways to make our special day happen. All in all I say if you choose this location for a wedding make sure to look into every single detail from inside to out and if you find it's the place for you I hope you enjoy your special day as we did! Reviewed on 24-06-2017
Sarah Meares(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 03-07-2016 We visited a few mansion options in the area before deciding Historic Oakland offered the best layout in our price range. We had the ceremony in the Bishop's Garden, appetizers/cocktail hour in the foyer, dinner /dancing in the ballroom, and cake cutting upstairs. We had around 80 guests and did not use the tent. All my guests said the mansion was beautiful and perfect for our classic wedding theme. We booked our wedding venue over a year in advance and I heard we received an even better price than brides that were booking in 2016. They had also power washed the outside of the building and everything looked even better than when we put down our security deposit. However, a few rules that we were told in 2015 had changed by the date of our wedding. I was under the impression we weren't allowed to have alcoholic drinks out unless they were being poured by a licensed bartender but when I asked about it again closer to our date, I was told it would be fine as long as it was not a 21 yo & under party. This was nice to know because this meant we could leave buckets of beer out for guests that didn't want to wait in line for the bartender. I was also unaware the red wine rule was no longer in use until I read a wedding wire review today. The staff was always very responsive to my e-mails/phone calls. I dropped by the venue the weekend before my wedding & we reviewed the layout. There a few disparities that were caught by me and the staff person on location and it was changed before the big day. Overall, everyone was very nice and the accommodating. My only suggestions would be to book early but then review everything before your big day to be sure everything is as you planned. I would highly suggest Historic Oakland to anyone looking for a mansion venue in the area! Reviewed on 25-07-2016
Danielle Finn(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-08-2013 This was a great place to have the reception for our wedding. We used the outdoor back area for dining and the mansion for dancing. \rCareful, when you book the mansion and you want to use the outdoor area. There is a tent, which is already setup. The tent belongs to a tent company, which is an additional fee on top of booking the mansion. You will have to rent the tables and chairs from the tent company.\rBe mindful if you are going to use the outdoor area, the noise level has to be a certain level due to the residential area. The staff told us about the noise level and that is why we moved the dancing to inside the mansion.\rThe staff at the mansion were very helpful. They had given us the tour and the history of the mansion. They had given us a list of vendors that has used the mansion and that was very helpful. All the vendors that we used were from their resource list.\rOur family and friends really enjoyed themselves at Oakland and they loved that we picked this location for our reception.\r Reviewed on 28-08-2013
Tynese Daniels(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 18-05-2013 Historic Oakland was the perfect location for our wedding. It's located centrally between Baltimore & D.C. The old mansion is decorated with enchanting classic feel appeal with winding staircases and a quaint ball room and large fantastic veranda. The grounds are landscaped beautifully -front and back. We held our ceremony outside on the tree lined lawn and it was goregeous. The service staff was great especially the coordinator Nadia. She was intrumental in pulling together the details. Reviewed on 28-06-2013
Aisha shajee(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 24-08-2012 So let me start off with saying that overall my event was a success. I had a pre-wedding event here. Some 50-75 people. few problems i had with them: first i asked them not to deposit the check cause i had changed my mind about this place...she said that was ok, and that she won't deposit it...two days later the check was deposited ....they apologized...but i was pushed to keep my event there. \rsecondly, the cleaning is a big problem! You have to hire their cleaning crew.. one asked for $500...and the other one i couldn't get a hold of..till week before the event, this guy was somewhat reasonable. the place is already so expensive because of historic value. the cleaning will charge you extra to throw away the trash because the dumpster is far.if you don't pay them they will leave it there... great...more expenses... lastly...days before my event when i went there to finalize the decorations, the person i usually talked to was out...and this other women was giving me an attitude the whole time i was working out with my decorator. then she came up to me and said that bunch of paper work for your event are missing, later she found them... i know very unorganized. Thankfully my event was a great success. Very beautiful place, if you are willing to keep up with the BS. Reviewed on 29-10-2012
Pamela Quintern(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 27-07-2012 They were very accommodating in every way. It was clean, easy to get to and the staff was so nice! Reviewed on 13-08-2012
Zakiyyah Towns(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 21-06-2012 This venue was more that worth the money. I was able to bring in my own catering. They allowed me to make the mansion my own for my special day. This place was so lovely, that I did not have to put too much into decorating it. The staff were very friendly and helpful in the planning process. Reviewed on 17-07-2012
Yanika Pongsudhiraks(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-09-2011 Nadia was a pleasure to work with and it was a great venue if you want to be creative and do your own thing. Because of its old fashioned appeal, it was easy to dress up or down! Only recommendation, they have a wireless mic system that I should've taken advantage up but didn't! So take advantage! Reviewed on 18-10-2011
Deborah Kaiser(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 26-03-2006 It was held in a gorgeous mansion and was very relaxed and not in any way 'stuffy' as were some of the other historic sites we looked at. it was ideal for the small wedding/reception we had. we were allowed to bring in our own music, as well as our own food--we brought in all the food ourselves. Reviewed on 22-09-2007
Nestled in a peaceful wooded area, in the heart of downtown Columbia, Historic Oakland stands proudly in natural splendor.Built in 1811, it is truly one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in Howard County, Maryland.Elegant Oakland is the perfect setting for ceremonies, wedding receptions, bridal showers, holiday parties, family celebrations, business meetings or retreats.As you walk through its grand entrance, you will step back into time to experience the serenity of an authentic country estate.