Wedding Band at the University Club of New York
A members' club in an 1899 McKim, Mead & White palazzo at Fifth Avenue and 54th Street, with wedding rooms on the first floor and the seventh.
Inquire About Your DateAbout the University Club
The University Club of New York opened its clubhouse at Fifth Avenue and 54th Street in 1899. McKim, Mead & White designed it after the palazzos of the Italian Renaissance, with Charles F. McKim leading the work, on a stretch of the avenue once known as Millionaire's Row. The city has designated the building a landmark, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
This is a working club, and joining it takes an earned bachelor's degree. The club's showpiece is its library, which it calls the largest club library in the world: more than 100,000 volumes in rooms modeled on the Borgia apartments of the Vatican, looking out over Fifth Avenue.
A wedding here can use rooms on two levels. The wood-paneled Dwight Room and Dwight Lounge on the first floor handle receptions and cocktails, and College Hall beside them works for dinner and dancing or as the ceremony hall. On the seventh floor, the Main Dining Room sits under a high, muraled ceiling and opens onto a renovated outdoor terrace. The couple gets a complimentary suite on the wedding day, and guests can book rooms in the club for the weekend.
- Address
- One West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019
- Venue website
- universityclubny.org
The spaces at the University Club
College Hall
The first-floor ballroom, set for dinner and dancing for 100 to 170 guests or used on its own as a ceremony hall.
Dwight Room and Dwight Lounge
Wood-paneled first-floor rooms beside College Hall, for receptions of 75 to 160 or a cocktail hour.
Main Dining Room
The club's grandest room, on the seventh floor, for weddings of up to 300 together with the Council Room.
Council Room
A room with a frescoed ceiling next to the Main Dining Room, used for cocktails.
Terrace
The renovated outdoor terrace off the Main Dining Room, open in the warmer months.
Planning your night at the University Club
A sponsoring member
The club's banquet rooms are for members and their guests, and using the Main Dining Room takes a short letter from your sponsoring member to the House Committee. We ask about your sponsor at the start and keep our own timeline in step with the club's approval.
Jackets and ties, all day
The dress code is in effect at all times, which means jackets, dress shirts and ties for the men. Our band performs in black suits and black gowns as standard, and everyone on our team, crew included, arrives dressed to the club's rule from load-in on.
Nothing taped to the walls
Nails, tacks, staples and tape are not allowed anywhere in the clubhouse, and anything hung needs the banquet office's approval. We plan our cable runs and any stage lighting so they need none of them, and we send our setup plan ahead for sign-off.
The weekend entrance
Weekday deliveries go to 6 West 55th Street, but weekend and late-afternoon load-ins use 3 West 54th Street unless the club arranges something else. We confirm the door and the time in advance, and our sound engineer is in the building two hours before the event starts.
The band at the University Club
Scaled to the room, from the duo to a full eleven-piece band.
Your Playlist
The full live band, seven to eleven pieces: lead female and male vocals, keys, guitar, bass, drums and saxophone, with horns, electric violin or a second vocalist to add.
Eddie & Gabby
The two founders, with every decade from the fifties to now. Made for cocktail hours, ceremonies and smaller rooms.
DJ Hybrid
A DJ anchors the night while live musicians move through the crowd on saxophone, electric violin, guitar or vocals.
"THE BEST EVER. Not only are Gabby and Eddie so easy to work with, they are extremely talented and fun. It has been two weeks since our wedding and guests are still contacting us about the band. They did not stop playing once, and the dance floor was more crowded than any other wedding, all thanks to their energy, talent, and perfect song choices."
The Heitners · New York
Questions about the University Club
Have you performed at the University Club?
Yes. We have performed at the University Club of New York, and we plan around its house rules, from the dress code to the load-in door.
Which room should we dance in?
It depends on your guest count. College Hall suits dinner and dancing for up to 170, and the Main Dining Room upstairs takes the larger weddings, up to 300. We size the band to the room, anywhere from Eddie & Gabby, The Duo, up to an 11-piece band.
Can the ceremony be at the club as well?
Yes. The club offers College Hall as a ceremony hall. Your package includes a complimentary ceremony musician who stays on through cocktails, and Eddie can build a larger ensemble, up to a string quartet. Our guide to wedding ceremony music walks through the choices.
Do we need the club's sound system?
No. We bring a full PA and a sound engineer, and Gabby or Eddie handles every announcement from our own microphones.
Let's fill the floor at the University Club
Tell us your date and we will take it from there.
Let's Talk New York weddings Manhattan weddings