One hundred and sixteen thousand square feet of Tudor Gothic space, built between 1927 and 1929 for two and a half million dollars. The Ballroom is ninety-nine feet square, the chandelier holds 200 lights and weighs 2,500 pounds, and the white oak floor panels are three feet square. Numbers like that do not describe an ordinary wedding venue.
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Six Rooms, One Cathedral
The Scottish Rite Cathedral was built between 1927 and 1929 as a Tudor Gothic ceremonial building for the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The interior carries marble, wood, and stained glass across six rooms totaling 116,000 square feet. The Grand Hall accommodates 600 seated and 2,000 standing. The Ballroom is a 99-foot square room with pillars framing a 66-foot-square dancing area over white oak floor panels; the chandelier weighs 2,500 pounds and holds 200 lights. Smaller ceremonial rooms handle intimate ceremonies.
The acoustics are live without being as long-tailed as a stone cathedral, because the wood paneling and oak floors absorb what the plaster and vaulted ceilings would otherwise send ringing. That balance makes it an easier room to play than its scale suggests.
The building sits on North Meridian, two blocks above the Indiana War Memorial and a short walk from most downtown hotels. If you're still choosing between live music options, the string quartet vs. DJ guide covers the tradeoffs honestly.
Project String Quartet is led by founder Rebecca Hamilton, a conservatory-trained violinist with 200+ Midwest weddings behind her. The group holds a 5.0 Google rating and performs both classical repertoire and Bridgerton-style pop arrangements, so the music can move from a Haydn processional to a string arrangement of a chart-topping first dance without breaking the atmosphere. You can browse the full repertoire on the music library or try the playlist builder to draft your ceremony order.
Practical Notes
In the 99-foot Ballroom we set up at the minstrel's gallery end, using the oak paneling behind the quartet as a reflective surface. Oak floors and wood paneling actually absorb a surprising amount of the reverb a room this size would otherwise have; we can keep standard tempos on classical repertoire without needing to slow down for the space.
The 2,000-person Grand Hall behaves differently. Above about 400 guests we recommend the venue's AV team add light reinforcement through the house PA, because even a quartet needs a little help reaching the back wall of a room that size. Under 400 we are comfortable acoustic.
The building's carillon plays at the top of the hour. Scottish Rite events staff silence it during ceremonies, but we also plan prelude selections to avoid starting a sustained legato piece in the final minute before a ringing hour just in case the silencing gets missed. For a broader look at ceremony music planning, the complete ceremony music guide walks through timing and song selection start to finish. You can also see how other Indianapolis wedding venues handle live music logistics.
Ensemble Fit
Violin + Cello
Appropriate for a smaller ceremonial room at under 60 guests. None of the main event spaces (Ballroom, Grand Hall) work for a duo.
Request QuoteViolin, Violin + Cello
A fine fit for one of the smaller ceremonial lodge rooms or for a 150-guest Ballroom ceremony. Three voices sit cleanly in the oak-paneled rooms.
Request Quote2 Violins + Viola + Cello
The right ensemble for the Ballroom at full capacity and for any ceremony in the Grand Hall. The Gothic atmosphere and the scale of the principal rooms both reward the harmonic depth of a four-voice ensemble.
Request QuoteSpring and fall Saturdays book out months in advance. Tell us your date and room and we'll confirm availability within one business day.
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Tell us about your event at Scottish Rite Cathedral and we'll send a personalized quote.
Send us the date and the room (Ballroom, Grand Hall, or a ceremonial lodge room). The Scottish Rite books its wedding calendar well ahead, especially for Saturdays in spring and fall.
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