Rent The Gild Hall

The Arden Gild Hall in the historic Village of Arden is the perfect setting for a wedding reception or private party. If you are looking for a warm, friendly, casual, and fun place to hold your event, the Arden Gild Hall might be just the right fit! The 167-year-old building has an ambiance that is loved by many thousands of people including most of the performers who have ever played on our stage.

The Gild Hall is a charming and convenient locale for wedding receptions and all kinds of parties — birthdays, anniversaries and graduations, bridal and baby showers.

Your Choice of Rooms

The main hall, known as Upper Gild Hall, has rustic ambiance with soaring ceiling height, wood floors, a huge stone fireplace, a professional stage and 1100 mini white lights on our ceiling beams. Renters have transformed the Upper Hall with decorations and beautiful table settings creating a unique experience for themselves and their guests. Your rental scheduler can provide you with links to online photo albums showing a wide variety of wedding reception set-ups and decorations.

Lower Hall and the Bratten Room, downstairs but above ground level, are ideal for meetings and smaller events. These rooms are available for rent individually or as one rental. They are very popular for bridal and baby showers, birthday parties, or as a meeting space for smaller organizations.

Gild Hall Rental Rates and Room Capacities

Wedding Receptions: $2200, All Other Party Events: $1850
Upper Hall capacity is 120 people for a sit-down dinner with 12 dining tables, buffet tables, bar, and dance floor. Twelve banquet tables with 10 guests per table is the best use of space. The banquet tables are 8 feet by 2.5 feet. The capacity for theater seating is 250 people (no tables).Upper Hall measures approximately 47 x 44 feet (2,068 sq. ft.) plus stage 23 x 22 feet.

Lower Gild Hall and Bratten Room: $435 each
The Bratton Room and Lower Hall are frequently used for meetings/classes and parties such as baby showers, wedding showers and birthday celebrations. The Bratton Room is L-shaped and measures 35 x 15 and 20 x 14 (820 sq ft). The Lower Hall is square and measures 33 x 28 (924 sq ft). The capacity for either room is 40-45 guests. When the rooms are at seated capacity, there is very little additional moving around room. At capacity, these rooms are best suited for meetings with a speaker or luncheons or dinners where being seated is the primary activity. At seated capacity, there is room for 2 buffet tables and a beverage station. For parties with activity, such as a child’s birthday party, the number of guests is 20-25. For baby or wedding showers where guests want to have cocktails and mingle and have an area for gift opening, the comfortable number of seated guests is 35-40. We welcome you to visit Gild Hall and judge the space for yourself.

Moonlight Theater
Additional Fee: $200
The Moonlight Theater is on the south side of Gild Hall and may be rented (again, only in addition to a Gild Hall rental) for a separate fee. This outdoor amphitheater has a brick-floored stage and grassy, tiered seating. People rent the theater for the cocktail hour before a reception. The Moonlight Theater is available for your wedding ceremony at no extra charge with your reception rental.

Upper Gild Hall:
Wedding Receptions: $2200, All Other Party Events: $1850

Upper Hall capacity is 120 people for a sit-down dinner with 12 dining tables, buffet tables, bar, and dance floor. Twelve banquet tables with 10 guests per table is the best use of space. The banquet tables are 8 feet by 2.5 feet. The capacity for theater seating is 250 people (no tables).Upper Hall measures approximately 47 x 44 feet (2,068 sq. ft.) plus stage 23 x 22 feet.

Lower Gild Hall and Bratten Room: $435 each

The Bratton Room and Lower Hall are frequently used for meetings/classes and parties such as baby showers, wedding showers and birthday celebrations. The Bratton Room is L-shaped and measures 35 x 15 and 20 x 14 (820 sq ft). The Lower Hall is square and measures 33 x 28 (924 sq ft). The capacity for either room is 40-45 guests. When the rooms are at seated capacity, there is very little additional moving around room. At capacity, these rooms are best suited for meetings with a speaker or luncheons or dinners where being seated is the primary activity. At seated capacity, there is room for 2 buffet tables and a beverage station. For parties with activity, such as a child’s birthday party, the number of guests is 20-25. For baby or wedding showers where guests want to have cocktails and mingle and have an area for gift opening, the comfortable number of seated guests is 35-40. We welcome you to visit Gild Hall and judge the space for yourself.

Backstage Gallery: $250

Backstage Gallery is frequently used for meetings and classes. Capacity is 20 people. The Backstage Gallery measures 20 x 29 feet (580 sq. ft.).

Moonlight Theater Additional Fee: $200

The Moonlight Theater is on the south side of Gild Hall and may be rented (again, only in addition to a Gild Hall rental) for a separate fee. This outdoor amphitheater has a brick-floored stage and grassy, tiered seating. People rent the theater for the cocktail hour before a reception. The Moonlight Theater is available for your wedding ceremony at no extra charge with your reception rental.

Learn more about our Wedding Venues

Our Approach

You may select your own caterer (as long as they are licensed and insured) or you can bring the food and beverages including liquor yourself. For wedding receptions, you must have a professional caterer. Many other venues require you to use their catering service and to buy alcohol by the drink at their prices. We don’t! See the important message about Cooking and Food Preparation below.

This is a “do it yourself” rental. You or your caterer must supply your own tableware, tablecloths, dishware, silverware, decorations, entertainment, food and beverage. There are several vendors in the area who you can rent the tableware, tablecloths, dishware, silverware, chafing dishes, etc. You may serve alcohol to guests 21 and older, but it cannot be sold either directly or indirectly.

Our tables and chairs are included in the rental fee. The banquet tables measure 8 feet by 2.5 feet and can seat between 8 and 12 people. The chairs are stackable chairs. You may also bring in your own tables and chairs from an outside rental service if you wish to.

Set-up and Clean-up: No Additional Fee

The rental fee includes the Gild Hall Superintendent meeting with the renter, setting up the tables and chairs before the event, coordinating decorating time, and cleaning up afterward. When the event is over, you just leave! Be sure to take your presents and decorations.

Rental Times

Generally rentals are for the entire day. Parties and Wedding Receptions end at 12 midnight with everyone needing to leave the Hall by 12:30am

Securing Your Date

A signed rental agreement and payment in full are required to secure your date.

Contact Our Scheduling Team

Send an email to gildhallrental@gmail.com

Please email us with any questions not answered by the links above as well as to check availability and to schedule a tour.

Other information you need to know

Ice is available on site

We have a large capacity ice machine on our lower level that is available for use with your rental

Our Stage

For Upper Gild Hall rentals, the stage may be used for a live band, disc jockey, photo booth, etc. All music equipment must be supplied by the renter.

Air Conditioning

There is no air conditioning in the Upper Gild Hall, although many events and parties are held during the summer. The only rooms that are air-conditioned are the Bratten Room and Backstage Gallery. We have a sophisticated fan system in the Upper Hall which pulls air through ceiling vents and out through our exhaust fans at the end of each end of the building.

Parking

There is parking for 40 cars in the paved parking lot adjacent to Gild Hall and parking for approximately 100 cars on the field across from Gild Hall.

Public Events

Public events, fundraisers, theater performances, concerts, exhibitions, etc., are subject to Arden Club approval and different rental fees and requirements, such as security and parking personnel, may apply. Only groups with the tax status of 501(c)3 may sell alcohol and must obtain a one-day liquor license for the event from the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. If you charge a ticket fee and serve alcohol, we consider this to be selling alcohol and you are subject to the restrictions above.

Weekly/Monthly Rentals

For renters desiring space for weekly or monthly events, such as meetings or classes, a volume rental discount will be developed.