Alexandria Ballrooms
A 1906 Beaux Arts landmark in Downtown LA’s Historic Core, with three distinct ballrooms under one roof — a venue we’ve returned to for weddings across three years running.
A 1906 Beaux Arts landmark with three ballrooms in one building
Opened in 1906 inside the historic Alexandria Hotel, this Beaux Arts landmark added its showpiece Palm Court in 1911 — a room capped by a stained-glass skylight in the Tiffany style — and quickly became LA’s premier event space until the Biltmore opened in 1923. Presidents Taft and Wilson both spoke here, and in 1919 D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks are reported to have met here in the founding of United Artists. Designated an LA Historic-Cultural Monument in 1971, the building was later converted to residential apartments while its event spaces kept operating separately.
Three main ballrooms give couples very different looks in one venue: the Palm Court under its stained-glass skylight, the gold-leafed King Edward Ballroom with floor-to-ceiling windows, and The Mezz, an industrial-chic space with exposed brick and a dramatic staircase entrance. A separate standalone building down the block, The Bank, offers a smaller reception-only option.
A venue we keep coming back to in DTLA
We’ve photographed multiple weddings at Alexandria Ballrooms spanning fall 2023 through a booking on the calendar for early 2026, typically with a two-photographer-plus-videographer team over a roughly seven-hour day. The venue requires a $1M Certificate of Insurance well in advance, and access is controlled — we always confirm arrival time ahead so building security or the coordinator can let the team in. Our venue-side contacts there, Jemma Du and Olivia Squires, have been consistently responsive across every booking.
Good to know before you book
- $1M Certificate of Insurance required well in advance, naming the venue’s holding entities
- Building access is controlled — confirm vendor arrival time ahead for a security escort
- Underground vendor parking plus a marked Loading Zone for load-in
- A dedicated day-of coordinator is required by the venue
Where we like to shoot
- The Mezz’s dramatic staircase entrance under industrial chandeliers
- The Palm Court’s stained-glass skylight ceiling
- King Edward Ballroom’s gold-leaf grandeur and floor-to-ceiling windows
- The building’s marble staircase for formal portraits
What couples and guests notice about Alexandria Ballrooms
Reviewers consistently call the historic ballrooms stunning enough to need minimal added decor — three genuinely different rooms in one building.
Multiple independent reviews single out responsive, helpful staff by name, consistent with our own experience booking here repeatedly.
Add-on costs beyond the base rental — security, valet, dance floor, cleaning fee — are worth budgeting for upfront; several reviewers called the headline price misleading on its own.