Maison Biltmore

I will start by saying that this venue is unique, versatile, and has a great location (Columbia Rd and Biltmore St NW). We held both our ceremony and reception here. We did not want a seated meal, so the fact that this venue is a house with many different rooms was a positive — though they do have a very large room that could accommodate a seated dinner for a smaller party. We also wanted something in the city that was not a hotel. Maison Biltmore fit our requirements at a competitive price. Additionally, there is a beautiful garden and porch, which served as a nice place for photographs.
Our contract stipulated that the venue would provide a manager on the day of the event. However, it was just the owners of the house (who live upstairs). They really did not manage anything– they just pretty much watched out for their stuff. I do not necessarily blame them, but strongly suggest that they should either do more to actually manage the event or leave it out of the contract completely. Because of this, I would not recommend using this venue if you do not have a dedicated wedding planner/​coordinator. Luckily, we had a caterer (Northwest Fresh) who stepped up and helped with some of the coordination.
One unusual thing was that they had no idea about the process for obtaining a temporary liquor license, which is required in DC. When we were filling out the application and requesting certain information from the venue, the owners stated, «they had never been asked for this before,» and basically implied that we were doing something wrong and/​or bothering them with unnecessary questions. This was fairly insulting and did not make me confident in our choice of venue. Once again, our caterer was able to help here.
The actual event went well… our guests seemed to enjoy the venue and its nontraditional vibe.
The day after our wedding, my husband went to pick up our leftover food and some décor that I had purchased. The owners only gave us a portion of the leftovers — I guess they kept the stuff they liked. At least they gave us the top layer of our wedding cake back. Additionally, they kept all of my decorative items, which cost a lot of money. When my husband requested it, one of the owners said she had «packed it away.» That seemed to be the end of the conversation..
Bottom line — it is a nice place, but don’t let them take advantage of you — make sure they live up to their contract and get a wedding planner.