The Whitney Detroit Wedding

If you’re dreaming of a wedding that feels like stepping back into Detroit’s golden age, The Whitney needs to be on your radar. This isn’t your typical venue. We’re talking about a 21,000 square foot Romanesque Revival mansion that a lumber baron built back in 1894. Yeah, it’s that gorgeous.

The mansion sits right on Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, and honestly, the location is perfect. You’re close enough to downtown to feel like you’re in the heart of the city, but the venue itself feels like this romantic escape tucked away from everything. The stone exterior, the Tiffany stained glass windows, the crystal chandeliers everywhere you look. It’s the kind of place that makes you feel fancy just walking through the door. Picking The Whiney Detroit for your wedding means a whole lot more than your average wedding.

What Makes The Whitney Special

Here’s what I love about The Whitney as a wedding venue. It’s been voted Detroit’s Most Romantic Restaurant over and over again, so you know the vibe is right. The whole mansion is available for weddings, and they’ve got options whether you’re planning something intimate or going bigger.

The garden is where most couples do their ceremony. It’s this lush, colorful space tucked behind the mansion with stone fountains, wrought iron details, and enough greenery to make you forget you’re in the middle of a city. It hosts from 10-350 guests and feels like a secret oasis. If you’re getting married in the spring or summer, this spot is unreal.

Inside, there are a couple different unique options for your ceremony or you can hold your ceremony in the garden outside. There’s a bridal suite to get ready in with your best friends. There are also a variety of different rooms available to hold your reception. They offer discounts on the ceremony spot if you hold your reception here as well and they have minimum requirements for food packages to hold your receptions here.

And can we talk about the food? The Whitney is still a functioning fine dining restaurant, so their culinary team isn’t messing around.

Getting Photos at The Whitney

From a photography perspective, The Whitney gives us so much to work with. The mansion itself is obviously stunning. Those grand staircases, the detailed woodwork, the natural light coming through all those windows. We can get elegant, timeless portraits inside without even trying.

The garden is perfect for those softer, romantic shots. The fountain area makes a beautiful ceremony backdrop, and there are these intimate corners throughout the space that photograph like a dream.

One thing to note: after your ceremony, you get about an hour of photo access in the gardens or mansion. It’s not totally private since the restaurant is still operating, but honestly, it’s plenty of time to get what we need.

Photo Spots Around Midtown and Detroit

Here’s where being near downtown really pays off. The Whitney is right in Midtown, which means we’ve got Detroit spread out around us with all these incredible photo locations within a short drive. This gives us the great opportunity to spend even more time getting those beautiful, dreamy and romantic portraits you want!

Right in the Midtown area, you’ve got the Detroit Institute of Arts just down Woodward. Those white marble steps and columns are iconic. The lawn there also provides a nice spot for wedding party photos as well.

If we’ve got time to venture a bit, there are some spots I always recommend:

Belle Isle is about 10 minutes from The Whitney and gives you completely different scenery. you can get waterfront shots with the Detroit skyline in the background, or we can shoot near the conservatory for something more lush and green. Belle Isle does require a photography permit through the state parks, but it’s totally manageable and completely worth it.

Campus Martius and Hart Plaza is great if you want that downtown Detroit energy. The area is always well-maintained and looks especially good around the holidays when everything’s lit up. This is one of my favorite spots to get that large city feel with the skyscrapers, but you’re also near the river for those river shots.

The Fisher Building is perfect for a spot that won’t cost you anything extra (unless you want to go beyond the main floor lobby area). It has all the old Detroit architecture vibes with the Art Deco design and marble halls.

Planning Your Whitney Wedding Day

Planning your timeline for your wedding day at The Whitney is so important, especially if you plan on venturing off the property for photos. Drive times, locations, and traffic are all factors that should be considered. I am more than happy to help plan out your wedding day including the times of day that you might want to consider having certain events occur and how much time certain parts of the day could take.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a Detroit wedding venue that gives you both history and elegance without feeling stuffy or overly formal, The Whitney hits all the marks. The mansion itself is a showstopper, the garden is this romantic escape, and you’re positioned perfectly to take advantage of everything Detroit has to offer for photos.

Yeah, being in Midtown means you’re dealing with some city logistics, but honestly, it’s worth it. The location gives you options. You can keep everything intimate within the venue, or you can use Detroit as your backdrop and create this whole experience for your wedding day.

One cool thing about this venue not just being a restaurant, but they also offer packages for proposal dinners as well. So, if you aren’t quite ready to say your I dos and you are just trying to plan how you are going to pop the question, then this is a great romantic way to do so.

The Whitney isn’t trying to be anything other than what it is: a piece of Detroit history that happens to be the perfect setting for celebrating your marriage. And that’s exactly what makes it special.