I cannot recommend Kristen and the team at Catering by Design enough. We loved our wedding at The College of Physicians. I can honestly say every aspect of our wedding went completely as planned and looked exactly as I had envisioned and I had a very specific vision! Kristen was unbelievable-- incredibly responsive and took on way more than most day of coordinators (calling vendors, creating the timeline, recommending vendors, previewing decor set up). She made recommendations and was honest when she really thought something wasn't a good idea, but at the end of the day she let me come up with the concept and executed it beautifully. In addition to Kristen, the rest of the staff was incredible. I had a number of guests come up to me and tell me the service was outstanding-- better than most top notch restaurants. We even had our own personal concierge, Zakiya, who seemed to know what we needed even before we asked. We actually got to eat at our wedding! Lastly, the food. It was ... Read moredelicious and again, we got so many compliments. We loved the food so much we ate the packed up leftovers the next night for dinner. Overall, the evening was incredible and we could not have pulled it off without Kristen and the team at Catering by Design. We cannot thank them enough!

We fell in love with this venue the moment we walked in! We were at first worried about our budget but Liz and the Catering By Design team worked with us so we prioritized what was truly important to us. From start to finish, there were NO ISSUES and the day flowed beautifully. Our guests love the food, the ambience, and the opportunity to see the museum during our cocktail hour. We could not have asked for a better venue and team helping us! We loved our day, and much of that was thanks to everyone working at the College of Physicians!! It was a magical day.

We have an outstanding experience with College of Physicians and their in-house catering organization for our wedding. We attribute how wonderful our evening was to them! The Wedding Specialist was super organized from at every point in the planning process through the event itself. We felt so relaxed! The attention to details was phenomenal, and everyone was kind and gracious to us and our guests. Even our guests commented on the kind, professional and gracious staff. The food was delicious! Once again -our guests commented on this! The servers synchronized serving our guests so all at the table received their meals at the same time. Outstanding! Just a class act! The space is beautiful - the various halls, the garden, etc. It was a beautiful event! Thank you, College of Physicians and particularly Kristin Medici.

Kristen Medici and the staff at CBD and CoP did a fabulous job from start to finish. They were responsive, accommodating, flexible about our wishes, and most importantly, made the process personal. Warm and easy to work with, they made an effort to get to know us and our families so the final outcome would be just what we wanted. The venue (especially the garden!) was gorgeous, the food delicious, and the logistics seamless. We highly recommend them without reservation!

From this start, this venue was the one place we could picture ourselves getting married and it exceeded expectations! The ceremony was gorgeous with such historic touches and dark mahogany wood. The cocktail hour was bright and festive, and the reception room was perfect for a large band and 140 guests. Can't rave about this venue enough - you won't be disappointed!

The College of Physicians made our wedding a 100% positive experience and did so flawlessly. Liz was on top of the planning months in advance, always helping us stay on track with flowers, catering, and day-of-details. As two women getting married, it was extremely important that we find a venue was prepared to make us feel safe, comfortable, and as full of love as we deserved to feel on our wedding day. We can say with confidence that the College of Physicians made that happen. Liz displayed clear experience working with same-sex couples and provided multiple"non-traditional" options for our ceremony processional. My wife and I also found that, throughout the night, not only did our family and friends come up and congratulate us, many of the College of Physicians staff came to congratulate us as well, and told how much it meant to them to see us married. These were small, incredible moments that we did not expect but experienced with joy. We cannot do anything but recommend th... Read moree College of Physicians. Yes, the venue was organized and helpful. Yes, the ceremony and reception were beautiful. But most importantly, every person involved at every step in the process was supportive, interested, and excited for us to get married. We had the best experience we could have dreamed of.

The College of Physicians is stunning! We looked at 8 other venues in Philadelphia Center City area before seeing this building. As soon as we toured it and met with the events manager, Liz, we instantly knew this was the place for us. We held our ceremony upstairs in Ashhurst Hall, the cocktail hour downstairs in Thomson Gallery which flowed into the Veranda & Medicinal Garden, and the reception upstairs in Mitchell Hall. The whole building has a magnificence to it. It’s not pretentious though, just dignified and beautiful. It’s a truly unique space that you and your guests won’t forget! -Sam

I cannot recommend this venue enough. If you want a fairy tale wedding, this place will make your dream a reality. Whether you want a classic, traditional ceremony/reception or an enchanting Victorian wedding with vegan catering on a budget, look no further.

I'm nearly three weeks out from my wedding at the College of Physicians through Catering By Design, and I still can't believe how amazing it was. The staff that helped us prepare for the big day were amazing, as were the staff on hand the day-of. Liz was our go-to contact person at the College after Diana got us set up. Liz was amazing--I am a nervous and meticulous planner that obsesses over minute details. Liz was there to answer every question and concern I had promptly, while also giving her advice and suggestions along the way. This was especially important for my wife and I as we planned the entire wedding while living in a completely different part of the country. In the end, this meant that during the wedding itself, my wife and I were care-free as everything went perfectly as planned. Catering By Design at the College is a well oiled machine--everything was taken care of and we enjoyed the day immensely. The venue at the College was everything we had hoped for. Luckily the... Read more weather was perfect so we had our ceremony outdoors. Yet we would not have been worried if it was too hot or if it was raining, as one of the reasons why we chose the College in the first place was because their indoor ceremony space is just as beautiful as their outdoor garden. The ballroom for the reception was grand and made for the perfect setting for our party. As for the food? Amazing. The cocktail hour food was delicious (CBD delivered our food to the bridal suite while our guests enjoyed downstairs). For dinner, we went with three stations: Mashed potato bar, tuscan grille, and a Taco Bar. We were not surprised by how great the food was, as we had gone to a tasting 8 months before the actual wedding date. The cake was super yummy too. Overall, having our wedding at the College with CBD was a great experience, and we are so happy we trusted the staff at the College and at Catering by Design with producing one of the most important event of our lives.

We both want to give a big THANKS! for all the amazing work you and your excellent staff did for Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah. From working with us on the menu to coordinating the various rentals, you were always a pleasure to work with. To top it all off, the food was absolutely amazing! All our guests are still raving about the food and quality of the service.

Wonderful experience! Highly recommend! This historic and regal venue includes the full 2 story building and a private garden! This was perfect because rain or shine for our May wedding, we knew we would be married in a beautiful space. We worked with Diana Airoldi from Catering by Design throughout the planning process and she was there on the big day to ensure everything went smoothly. Diana was wonderful to with - always pleasant, professional, and organized. It's important to note that we don't live in Philly and planned most of the wedding remotely (via email and over the phone) and it worked out great! During the wedding, my bridal attendant Tracy was fabulous! I dubbed Tracy and Diana the "Ninjas" because any time I needed them during the event for anything at all, there they were, ready to help and anticipating my every need. Our guests raved about the delicious food, craft old-timey cocktails, and quality service. 5 stars! Catering by Design knows how to throw a fabulous part... Read morey!!

I had one venue - and only one venue - in mind when my husband and I started the wedding planning process - The College of Physicians. Though booking with a turnkey venue like the CoP comes with a few annoying rules and restrictions (i.e. I wanted a Bassets ice cream bar and late-night pizza delivered, but the standard "no outside food or vendors" rule applied), Kristen worked with us on some alternate solutions and in the end, we were able to have everything we wanted on our wedding day. The venue, food, waitstaff, bar service... all top notch, but the most impressive by far was the experience working with Kristen for more than a year leading up to our wedding day. As someone who prides herself on being the very definition of responsive to emails, Kristen absolutely blew me away. When we needed to stay within a certain budget and were struggling to make it work, she found a way. And when we handed off roughly one million decorations the night before the wedding, she figured it all ou... Read moret with no trouble or questions at all and had everything beautifully coordinated the next day. Kristen made everything about planning our wedding easy and enjoyable. We didn't have to worry about a single thing, and when we did anyway, she was there to answer all of our questions! Our friends and family all LOVED this beautiful and unique venue. With the marble foyer, the natural wood ceremony and reception rooms, the museum, and the gorgeous medicinal garden, it felt like we got 4 venues in 1 amazing place!

My husband and I got married here in Sept of 2018 and we had the most wonderful experience. Here are some of the many things we loved about the CofP that we feel makes it stand out from the rest: 1) Our Day of Coordinator - The College offers a day of coordinator who will be present at your wedding when you book them as your venue. Our coordinator was Kristen and she exceeded our wildest expectations! She was warm, thorough, responsive, thoughtful, everything we could've wanted. 2) The uniqueness of the space - What I love about the College is that it's not just another wedding venue. It's not a hotel ballroom, it's not a rustic chic barn, it's not anything that you've seen before but it's not so weird that it feels like it doesn't belong. It is unique while still feeling grandiose and celebratory! 3) The rain plan - If you are an anxious bride like me, you need to have a good rain plan. We wanted to (and did!) get married outside in the beautiful herb garden, but the indoo... Read morer option was so exquisite that we actually considered getting married inside anyway! We felt so relieved knowing that we weren't going to spend all this money on our big day just to get married under a Plan B tent. 4) The staff - the night went off as smoothly as I could've imagined. There were no issues getting the flowers delivered, the food came out beautifully and on time, the space was set up perfectly (and I didn't have to do any of it! ha!). The staff really works to make sure your day is as stress free as possible. You really cannot beat this place. We are so glad we chose it and would recommend it to everyone!

My partner and I had been looking high and low for a venue that checked as many boxes as possible for our wedding — a grand space with history that still felt modern, with indoor and outdoor ceremony options, something that fit our personalities, and above all, that came with a caterer that served decent food. After months of searching, we came across CBD and the College of Physicians. The overall professionalism and level of quality was incredible — special shoutout to events specialist Kristen Medici, who started with CBD only a few months before our wedding and kept every tiny detail of our wedding in order, from the linen colors to communicating with vendors and making sure things ran as smoothly as possible day-of. CBD even allowed for our dog to act as our "ring bear" and hang out in the venue until the reception. The waitstaff was fantastic, and multiple people told us at our reception how great the food was (hot tip: get the butternut squash ravioli and cheese terri... Read morenes). And then there was the detail of having our own server, Tracy, assigned to us to make sure our wine cups runneth over at all times (and boy, was she good at her job). The staff also did a fantastic job of transforming our tote bags full of various nicknacks of candles, frames, and books into gorgeous decor that was perfectly placed around the venue. (Points deducted for the Mütter Museum staffer who told me rather tersely that I couldn't go into the museum because it was closing in 10 minutes, and for our wedding cake not including the raspberry preserves that we had asked — and paid extra — for). Still, these were such minor hiccups in planning such a crazy, stressful, incredible party. Overall, my husband and I loved working with CBD and couldn't recommend them more.