Home / Venues / The Carter Center
Poncey Highland Wedding Venue
The Carter Center weddings
The Carter Center campus beside the presidential library rents a chapel for ceremonies and the Cyprus Room for receptions. Rooms look out on Japanese gardens, lakes and the koi pond, and the foyer faces the downtown skyline. Catering and bar come only from its exclusive caterer.
Ceremony And Reception Spaces
| Space | Guests | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cecil B. Day Chapel | Ask the venue | A 5,498 square foot room with a raised hardwood stage and three story windows over the grounds, listed for wedding ceremonies. |
| Cyprus Room | 210 banquet style without a dance floor, 275 theater style | A 3,372 square foot room the center calls popular for weddings, with a wall of windows over the Cyprus lawn and Japanese Gardens and a stage that can hold the head table. |
| Kitchen at Copenhill | 150 seated, 250 cocktail | A patio looks over the upper lake and the Carters' koi pond. |
| Main Foyer | Ask the venue | Atrium windows look at the downtown skyline. |
How It Photographs
Walls of glass in the chapel and Cyprus Room look onto the Japanese Gardens and lawn, and the foyer frames the skyline.
Venue Details
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Catering | In House Only. Proof Of The Pudding Is The Exclusive Caterer, And All Food And Alcohol Must Come From It. |
| Website | The venue site |
| Address | 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 |
Facts from cartercenter.org, read November 2026.
What The Venue Publishes
- Free on site parking
- Setup and breakdown
- Basic A/V and Wi-Fi
- Event staff and volunteer greeters
- Security and cleaning
- Access to the private grounds
- Tours of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum can be added for a fee. The Rotunda holds 150 for a reception and the Lower Commons 75.
How I Would Photograph A Wedding Here
A garden wedding lives or dies by the time of day. I walk the paths with the venue before the day, note where the shade falls at ceremony time, and save the best beds and the longest view for the last hour of sun.
Big windows are the best light indoors. I would put the two of you near them for the getting ready photographs and for a few portraits if the weather turns, and keep the room lights low so the color stays clean.
A long view is worth planning for. I would find the spot where the view opens up behind you, then come back to it right at sunset and again at blue hour, about twenty minutes later, when the sky turns deep blue.
Ask where you will get ready. A bright room with a big window makes the dress, the details and those first quiet minutes look their best, and if it is close to the ceremony spot it saves time on a hot day.
Questions To Ask The Carter Center
- What is the food and beverage minimum for our date, and what does the package include?
- Is there a suite for getting ready, and does it have a big window?
- Where is the shade at the time of our ceremony, and can the chairs face away from the sun?
- What time does outdoor music have to stop, and is the space private to us all day?
- Which areas of the grounds can we use for portraits, and when is the last call for the rain plan?
Send me the answers and your date, and I will plan the photographs and the film around them. Check your date.
Plan The Day
A Wedding Day At The Carter Center
The Carter Center is an indoor venue, so the light inside stays the same all day and the sunset is a bonus, not a deadline. I plan twenty minutes right at sunset for the two of you outside the doors, and we time the toasts or the first dance so nobody misses dinner.
The times below are worked out from the sunset in Atlanta on the 15th of each month, with daylight saving included. Move everything earlier in winter and later in June.
| Month | Ceremony | Portraits Begin | Sunset | Blue Hour Ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 6:45 PM | 7:30 PM | 8:30 PM | 9:00 PM |
| October | 5:20 PM | 6:05 PM | 7:05 PM | 7:35 PM |
Getting ready photos usually start about two hours before the ceremony, so book hair and makeup to finish thirty minutes before I arrive.
Compare
How The Carter Center Compares
At up to 275 guests, The Carter Center sits in the middle of the 65 venues here that publish a capacity. Like most venues here, it does not put a full price online. 26 of the 80 venues in this guide do. Other museum or garden venues in this guide are Fernbank Museum, High Museum of Art, Fair Oaks, Marietta Educational Garden Center.
Questions About The Carter Center
How many guests fit at The Carter Center?
The Carter Center publishes up to 275 guests. Ask the venue which space fits your plan.
Will you photograph our wedding at The Carter Center?
Yes. I photograph and film weddings all over Atlanta. Check your date and tell me about your plans.
Found Your Venue
Tell me where in Atlanta you are getting married and I will tell you how I would photograph it.