The Masonic Temple weddings: venue guide and wedding DJ
500 Temple St, Detroit, MI 48201
Dave has played here
Patricia & Bryan’s wedding · Allie Siarto & Co.
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The Masonic Temple at a glance
The Masonic Temple stands on Temple Street in Detroit’s Cass Corridor, a neo-Gothic building designed by George D. Mason and built between 1920 and 1926. Its roughly one thousand rooms include theaters, a chapel and two ballrooms, finished in ornate plaster, carved detail and chandeliers, with work by the sculptor Corrado Parducci. It now runs as a concert and event venue operated by AEG Presents. Weddings use the Chapel for ceremonies and the Crystal or Fountain Ballroom for receptions; the Fountain reopened for the building’s centennial.
- Setting. Neo-Gothic landmark in Detroit’s Cass Corridor
- Guests. Up to 550 in the Fountain Ballroom, 350 in the Crystal
- Ceremony. On site in the Chapel, seating up to 400
- Season. Year-round, indoors; books up to 18 months out
- Style. 1920s plaster, carved detail and chandeliers
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How many guests can we have?
| Space | Used for | Guests |
|---|---|---|
| The Chapel | Indoor ceremony | Up to 400 seated |
| Crystal Ballroom | Indoor reception | Up to 350 with a dance floor |
| Fountain Ballroom | Indoor reception | Up to 550 with a dance floor |
Ballroom capacities differ across press and reference sources; these are the venue’s own wedding figures, so confirm with the events team.
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What are the music rules?
- Good to knowThe venue doesn’t provide a DJ; couples book their own
- Good to knowA concert or other weddings may run in the building the same day
From The Masonic Temple’s own pages. We confirm every detail with the venue before your day.
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What are the spaces, and what’s included?
- The ChapelIndoor ceremony · Air conditioned, though the venue notes it never gets cold
- Crystal BallroomIndoor reception
- Fountain BallroomIndoor reception · Reopened for the building’s 100th anniversary
- In-house catering, prepared on site
- Outside licensed, insured caterers allowed for a buyout fee
- Prepaid bar packages
- Gold or mahogany Chiavari chairs available to rent
- Rehearsals on Thursdays, or Fridays if arranged about six weeks out
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Has Menzo Weddings played here?
Yes. Patricia and Bryan's wedding in July 2015, with The Groove Party, and Nick and Liz's in July 2017, with Dave as their DJ.
Photographs: Patricia & Bryan’s wedding · Allie Siarto & Co.
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Where do guests stay?
- Shinola HotelDetroit · About 5 min
- Detroit Foundation HotelDetroit · About 5 min
- The Inn on Ferry StreetDetroit · About 5 min
- Detroit Metro (DTW)about 35 min
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Questions couples ask us
Does the Masonic Temple provide a DJ for weddings?
No. The venue's own weddings page says it does not provide DJ services, along with the officiant, cake, photographer and a few other things, so couples book their own. See the venue's weddings page for the full list.
Which ballroom at the Masonic Temple is bigger?
By the venue's own numbers, the Fountain Ballroom is the larger room, holding up to 550 for a wedding reception with a dance floor. The Crystal Ballroom holds up to 350. The venue's coordinator can tell you which is available on your date.
Can we have our ceremony inside the Masonic Temple?
Yes. The venue lists a Chapel that seats up to 400 for ceremonies, so the whole day can stay inside the building. Live ceremony music on guitar and vocals, or piano, can be added to your DJ and MC booking. Ask the venue whether a piano is available in the Chapel if you'd like one.
Has Menzo Weddings played the Masonic Temple?
Yes. Dave played Patricia and Bryan's wedding there on July 25, 2015 with The Groove Party, a Michigan wedding band, and DJ'd Nick and Liz's wedding there on July 8, 2017. See Patricia and Bryan's wedding.
Are there decoration rules at the Masonic Temple that affect the reception?
The venue publishes a few: no confetti, nothing hung on the walls, candles only in a votive or vase, and no balloons or adhesive floor wraps. Check the latest list with the venue before you plan a send-off or a monogram on the dance floor.
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Our full guide to The Masonic Temple
The Masonic Temple sits at 500 Temple Street in Detroit's Cass Corridor, a neo-Gothic building that the venue describes as the largest of its kind in the world. Couples choose it for the scale: carved stone, tall ceilings, chandeliers and ballrooms that feel like they belong to another century, because they do.
Menzo Weddings provides wedding DJ and MC services at the Masonic Temple, with live ceremony and cocktail-hour music to add. Dave Menzo, who founded Menzo Weddings, has played weddings here with a band and as the DJ. This page covers what the venue offers, those weddings, and how we approach music in a building this size.
What is the Masonic Temple like for a wedding?
The building was designed by the firm of George D. Mason, the cornerstone was laid on September 18, 1922, and the theatre opened on February 22, 1926 with a concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The building has 1,037 rooms and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Music has been part of it from the first night: it is still a working concert venue, and its main theatre has been the Jack White Theatre since 2013.
The venue's weddings page names three spaces for weddings:
- The Chapel: seats up to 400 for a ceremony.
- The Crystal Ballroom: up to 350 for a reception with a dance floor.
- The Fountain Ballroom: the largest ballroom, up to 550 for a reception with a dance floor.
The venue does not provide a DJ, officiant, photographer, cake or photo booth, and it allows outside licensed and insured caterers for a buyout fee. Read the venue's weddings page for the current details.
Weddings Dave has played at the Masonic Temple
Patricia and Bryan, July 25, 2015
Dave played Patricia and Bryan's wedding with The Groove Party, a Michigan wedding band he performed with in 2015 and 2016. Their day was built around a love of live music: invitations that looked like concert tickets, gold records as chargers at every place, and tables named after Detroit landmarks. They used the building the way it deserves, with a ceremony in the Chapel, portraits on the stone steps and on the empty theatre stage, and dinner in the ballroom under the chandeliers. Allie Siarto & Co. photographed it, Say Studios filmed it, and The Knot featured it as a wedding story.
Wedding storyPatricia & Bryan
The Masonic Temple, Detroit · July 25, 2015See the wedding
Nick and Liz, July 8, 2017
Two summers later Dave was back at the Masonic Temple, this time as the DJ for Nick and Liz's wedding.
Ceremony music in the Masonic Temple Chapel
A ceremony in a 400-seat chapel has a long walk from the back of the room to the front. Our approach to a long aisle is to plan the processional around it: choose where in the song each part of the wedding party starts, and arrange the music so the moment you appear lines up with the part of the song you love most. Played live, the song can stretch or close gently to fit, so nobody is left walking in silence.
Live acoustic guitar and vocals, or piano, suit a room with this much history. If you'd rather hear something recorded, the processional can be played through the sound system with the same attention to timing. See live ceremony music.
Cocktail hour at the Masonic Temple
The venue's weddings page doesn't name a separate cocktail-hour room, so where your guests gather depends on which spaces you book. Ask the coordinator early. A live acoustic set works well in a smaller room or a corner of a ballroom; a DJ playlist suits a larger space where guests spread out. See cocktail hour music.
Wedding DJ and MC in a historic Detroit ballroom
Big, ornate rooms with high ceilings, stone and plaster tend to carry sound a long way. In a room like that, our approach is to keep dinner music low enough for conversation, aim the sound at the dance floor rather than the whole room, and bring the volume up as the floor fills. Toasts and announcements need a clear microphone more than a loud one, which is where a good wedding MC earns their place.
Detroit receptions also have a soundtrack of their own, and a Motown set after dinner rarely needs explaining. The wedding DJ and MC booking is the core of the night. If you'd like something with more of a concert feel, add DJ plus live music, with live drums, guitar, sax or violin on top of the DJ set, or book a live wedding band, with a DJ between sets and closing out the night if you like.
What to ask the Masonic Temple before you plan the music
- Which ballroom and ceremony space are available on your date, and whether they can be combined.
- What time music needs to end, and when vendors can arrive.
- Whether any of the decoration rules affect your send-off or dance floor plans.
More Detroit wedding venues
Dave has also played weddings at The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms and Laurel Manor in Livonia. For more of the area, see Detroit weddings, or browse all the venues we've played.