Goodman Community Center

The Goodman Community Center was perfect for our wedding. We used the Ironworks for our ceremony and the Brassworks for our reception. The spaces worked great for our needs, and the staff was really helpful at every step of the way. We got our catering through their Good Works Community Catering and were blown away!! The food was delicious and the catering staff were professional and on top of things! We couldn't be happier with our experience at Goodman Community Center!

The Goodman Center is a beautiful place. It had a nice gym, nice rooms you can rent, and a cute playground. There’s nothing negative to say.

Had a Madison Art Guild meeting here on a Tuesday night for a member discussion on Art Shows. Very nice room where the speakers were able to access the large screen for a power point presentation. Excellent acoustics. There was plenty of seating for a group discussion. Highly recommend as a community meeting space.

Great community center. Always events and things to do to help the community. I was a volunteer for a Thanksgiving basket event. That was a really good time and what they do for the community. I want to be able to donate my time to a place that will always be there for the community. It warms my heart.

Hard to communicate. The space seems to allow you to hear neighboring round tables than conversations at your own round table. But great place to go for community meals.

We highly recommend the Goodman Center to anyone looking for a wedding venue that offers both a beautiful setting in the Madison downtown area without breaking your bank. Their team exceeded our expectations in every way, and we are so grateful for the incredible memories they helped us create on our special day.

We rented a room in the Iron Works building and catered in for our rehearsal dinner. It was super convenient for us to be able to set up the decor the day before the wedding.

Our wedding was held at the Brassworks Building. The space is versatile and effortlessly transformed to accommodate our dream wedding.

We couldn't make the travel to attend the tasting events so we were a little nervous about the food but our guests couldn't stop talking about how delicious the food were. We went with their buffet option, and ordered cupcakes from nearby Festival Foods.

We had an open bar with two signature cocktails. Everything ran super smoothly. Guests had a lot of fun.

Wedding planning is hard but ours was especially difficult because we had a multicultural wedding and planned it all out of state. This meant we relied extra on Vivian and her team to communicate with us whenever we had questions regarding the space and they couldn't have done a better job. Vivian communicated with my vendors such as wedding coordinator, DJ, photographer, videographer etc. to ensure that things ran smoothly. She went above and beyond to ensure every detail was perfect on the day of the wedding.

But what truly sets the Goodman Center apart is its sense of community. It's not just a venue; it's a place where genuine care and support are woven into every aspect. The team worked seamlessly to make sure our vision was realized, and their dedication was evident in every interaction.

My partner and I were very fortunate to get married at the Goodman Center Ironworks Building in May. From the first time we reached out everyone has been genuinely kind, supportive, and excited for us. This set the undertones for the rest of our wedding. Overall, we are sincerely grateful we held our wedding here. The building is beautiful, the food was excellent, the staff is amazing!

We toured the Ironworks and Brassworks buildings in November 2021 and selected our date for 2023. After touring with Liza, we were so excited. Ultimately we selected the Ironworks wedding package for the reception. A few months later we decided we would like to have the ceremony at the Goodman Center as well and added in the Grace Schmid Room. These rooms are stunning, my partner and I decided to go rather minimal on the decorations to highlight the beautiful features. We feel like it looked elegant.

We elected to work with Good Works Community Catering for the reception dinner. About ten months prior to the wedding there was a tasting event. This was incredibly helpful and gave us a lot of direction! Besides finding what foods we did or didn't like, it helped us visualize details of the reception such as the size the of the tables, the way we could have the tables set, or different centerpiece options. We had several guests with soy, gluten, and dairy allergies and all of the food could be made with these modifications in mind. One of our guests usually brings in their own food to weddings because typically there aren't options that exclude all of their allergens. But for our wedding they were so excited they could eat anything on the dinner menu without worry; this made my partner and I really happy. Other guests told us this was the best wedding food they have had. Everything was cooked perfectly and tasted great.

One of the best parts of working with the Goodman Center was how flexible they were for us. We were on a tighter budget and they let us provide appetizers and desserts. My extended family brought these; my aunts were really excited to make a dish to bring! This made our reception feel really personal to us and also helped with the cost. We were also able to customize our bar requests; we bought a couple of half barrels of beer, a few cases of wine, and put down a specified amount for mixed drinks. They let us know when we hit our limit and we were able to choose to extend it or not.

In the months leading up to the wedding, we worked with Vivian a lot. She is such a sweet person and works so hard! She made everything leading up to (and the actual wedding) go smoothly. She was quick to respond to questions, checked in on us, made dates clear, and provided a ton of helpful advice (from shatterproof lights to beer barrels)! She also provided us with a list of preferred DJs in the area. While most of our interactions were with Vivian and Liza, on the day of our wedding Juliette also helped us coordinate. We were able to direct questions to them and they were so helpful! The TEENworks staff was excellent, they put in a lot of time and effort, their food and service was great! Finally, John was the bartender for our wedding and he was very good natured about getting a bunch of Harvey Wallbanger requests. Overall, we were impressed and happy with every interaction with Goodman Center staff.

We were able to stay within budget but provide a fun experience to our guests because of the Goodman Center. My partner and I wanted our wedding to celebrate all of the people who have supported and loved us through our relationship (and our marriage). Holding our wedding and reception here was a perfect fit for us.