Imperial Event Venue - Banquet Hall - Pasadena, California

Marian G.

This is nice venue for wedding, retirements, birthday celebrations and baby showers. I came for a wedding and the staff was very helpful. The wedding was beautiful decorated. The ceiling are magnificent with beautiful chandeliers, and light fixtures. This hall could use a few updates, but overall I think it will work for a small or midsize event. The patio is nice but could use some new furniture. Parking is valet. The ladies room is large enough for the bridal party to put on their makeup and get dressed without bumping into one another and clean. Really nice size dance floor and the lighting in the place is great.

Greg B. P.

I am a wedding photographer that serves the Los Angeles area. I photographed a large wedding reception here and this venue was spectacular. The food was delicious, especially the rice and beef plates. Salads were fresh as well. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. There is a large lobby room where cocktail hour takes place and guests spend most of their time there before entering the venue itself. The bride and groom had their own dedicated table, as usual, in the middle back of the venue. There was a lot of room for guests and their assigned tables. The tables were various sizes and there was plenty of room to walk between everything. The dance floor is massive and easy to move around. There was enough room for guests to dance in other areas that were not specifically the dance floor.

Gabriel B.

My wife and I recently got married on 11.02.24 and had our reception take place at Imperial. It was absolutely perfect! Since the beginning of the booking process, to the food tasting, and our final walk through with linen choice, guest seating, time line, vendors set-up, and drinks, the entire experience was truly stress free.

Amelia and Amber were ALWAYS friendly, honest, and professional. They both were always available to answer any questions we had and were always flexible to set up a meeting with them. We also appreciated how relaxed and straightforward they were with us because it made things so much more simple. It's easy to over think things when planning a wedding and working with them made it a pleasant experience.

We had a guest total of 200 that showed up and every single person loved everything about the venue. We aren't exaggerating, they all loved it! There was plenty of food for everyone and it was so delicious! A lot of guest said they wish they could take some home. During the cocktail hour, they provided sweet and fresh fruit to our guest and also served hors d'oeuvres that were delicious as well.

We bought our own alcohol for our specialty drinks and the bartender that they provided did a great job making drinks for everyone. We asked Amelia about the bartender and she happily gave us his contact. We were able to talk to the bartender, Joe, about the kind of drinks we wanted and how much alcohol/beer to buy. Joe is super cool and really helpful! Thank you Joe!

The staff did an outstanding job the from beginning to the very end of the reception. The valet staff were all friendly and helpful. They made it easy for vendors to pull in and unload their equipment. Guest had no issues getting their vehicles back and left with no issues.
Two security guards were at the front by the entrance, (venue provided) and kept professional all night. The guest tables and sweetheart tables were all clean and presentable with food already at the table and a lot of guest really appreciated how the servers were so attentive to everyone. As soon as a food tray was empty they replaced it immediately with another full one. To the all the staff, all of you are awesome!

Thank you so much Amelia and Amber for your help and for providing us an amazing venue for our wedding. To anyone looking for a venue to host an event, give them all call! We highly recommend Imperial! 100%

Mark C.

I did not book this venue, just reviewing the venue based on the tour. The main event space was beautiful and has great lighting. The reasons we didn’t book this space for a wedding was mostly because there just isn’t enough space for all the activities of a wedding. Cocktail hour would have to be in the lobby. Bridal suite could use some updates and does not have a private bathroom. The staff we talked with were very nice. The other big negative is they only have like 30 parking spots, so you have to do valet parking which just adds unnecessary complication.

Judy R.

Beautiful venue unfortunately the customer service was terrible. The day I tried to pay my deposit I was treated rudely by Amelia and got no apology. She claimed it was a joke and I should have known that. I know I should have walked away that day but my daughter was so excited about the place. The day of rehearsal(night before) they canceled on me because they had something else booked. Finally, allowed us to rehearse in part of the building. Food tasting was also cancelled last minute and when we did have it the food options was not what we had been told. The worst of it all was a fire that unfortunately occurred the day of our event Jan 2023 and till this day we are still waiting to be reimbursed for our losses. We were offered half of our payment initially and finally were reimbursed what we paid but not the vendor losses. We used the venue for 1.5 hours max. We spent hours out in the cold alongside all our guests, with no access to our vehicles for the remainder of the night. Imperial Event Venue please make this right.

Jorge M.

My wife and I, photographers, covered an event at this hall a month ago.
We were denied food by the hall servers. We asked them 3 times, one time to a male server and twice to a female server. All 3 times they were supposedly going to bring us a plate and never did.
We didn't bother to complain to my client as we didn't want to disturb them while they were having fun.

Jubilee R.

My husband and I got married in Pasadena on June 29, 2024 and booked Imperial for our wedding reception since we had a separate church ceremony. The location was convenient since it was close to the church and spacious enough to fit our large guest count (300+). We went with their bar and drinks service as well as their in-house rentals for things like tables, linens, and silverware, all of which had enough customization to suit our wedding theme. We enjoyed working with Amelia who was friendly and enthusiastic.

That said, I'm docking 2 stars because of a few things:

1. Communication was difficult at times. Outside of an initial email consultation to set up a venue tour, the staff only responded to calls and sometimes texts. This was especially inconvenient for our other vendors who needed to work with Imperial such as our caterer and day-of coordinator.

2. For some reason, the bartenders were told to close the bar after our 3-hour open bar, even though it was specifically stated in our contract that after the 3 hours, they were to convert to a cash bar. This was caught by our day-of coordinator early on, so this was corrected.

3. We hired an outside caterer to do a plated dinner. Initially, Imperial's staff helped serve the meals, but the catering staff and our day-of coordinator caught some of Imperial's staff members eating the meals intended for our guests. This was obviously a huge, unprofessional no-no, so our caterer took over serving the meals from that point forward. Luckily, all our guests were served, although the last few tables got their food late because of this interference.

4. When Imperial's staff were bussing the tables, they threw away around 20-30 of our wedding favors that were set on the tables for each guest. These favors were teapot-shaped boxes that included coasters that I personally crocheted. We found out this was happening because one of the guests whose favors had been thrown away let my husband know and our day-of coordinator had to intervene to stop more from being trashed. Again, fortunately, we over-prepared and had enough extra favors that everyone was able to go home with one, and some of the trashed favors were able to be salvaged.

If it weren't for our other vendors and the contingencies we had in place, one or more of these things could have led to a disaster during the reception. But they didn't, and the night turned out fine.

Overall, the space looked and felt great and was perfect for our needs, especially with the recent renovations they've done, Amelia did her best to help us feel comfortable and sort out all the details, but Imperial's staff as a whole should be held to a higher standard of professionalism and care.

Felix G.

WARNING: This place is a scam, just avoid if you don't want to be mistreated and lied to. Or have everything they say or promise in writing if you work with them. They're just sketchy, will say yes to whatever you want just to get your money and run after. Lot of bait and switch tactics. Just unprofessional overall.

We attended a wedding at this venue recently. Venue itself is small, there's almost no parking and no place to sit inside or out. The reception area is very small, limited seating and gets very hot. It's as if they didn't bother running the AC all night there.

First of all if they try to upcharge you for "top shelf" alcohol package. Their opinion on top shelf is Kirkland branded alcohol, Johnie Walker black, bottom shelf crown royal and jack daniels among other $20 bottles. Make sure they specify what is "top shelf." The bartenders will act like you don't know alcohol actually saying "how do you know Kirkland isn't top shelf?" They won't even bother to learn the bride/groom's signature drink in preparation, I heard one even go to the other bartender asking "what's that?" When someone ordered from the menu that's right there on the bar.

If you need the wedding coordinator, good luck as they're pretty much non-existent in planning and on the day of. I don't think they know what "coordinator" means. Expect family and friends to basically tell people when to walk, prepare table settings, decor, etc. if you bring up issues with anything, they'll just say "well, I don't know, I'm leaving it to the experts"

Food was mediocre at best. Everything was overly salted, especially the proteins that most people at the table couldn't even finish it. Such a waste too.

In the middle of everything, they'll start cleaning out tables and may "accidentally" remove personal belongings as part of the cleaning. Some people had their belongings go missing, but they "magically" appeared soon after when we asked for camera footage or asked to go through the back. This was especially the case with the groom's sunglasses that were on the bride and groom's table all night.

Staff going in and out of the brides changing room was also inappropriate. Bartenders getting their alcohol and bottles in the middle of celebration left little privacy. Wouldn't be surprised if additional things went missing.

They just don't communicate. We were told valet parking was going to be covered or a $10 fee. But valet was charging all family and friends $13 plus tip per vehicle, even cars that were parked before valet arrived. Sketchy team trying to take advantage of a celebration. It was only caught after a guest mentioned it, so at least 30 cars were overcharged. Even if the valet was an independent contractor, the venue is responsible for communication and handling.

At the end of the day, just avoid working with these people. They'll say whatever you want and agree to everything, with all the promises. At the end of the day, they'll leave you disappointed.