Winner: The Peabody

Old South ambience and world-class food services make The Peabody hotel the Mid-South’s favorite place to mark special occasions. Of course, it also helps that within its 80,000 square feet of banquet space, The Peabody has a room that fits nearly any event, from intimate ceremonies for 25 in the cozy wood-paneled Cockrell Room to larger events in one of the hotel’s seven ballrooms and the Skyway.

“We had a wedding three years ago that had about 800 guests,” says Shannon Williams, director of catering & conference management. “Just to decorate they had a team of 150 people.”

149 Union, 529-4154; peabodymemphis.com.

Finalists: Woodland Hills / Memphis Botanic Gardens (tied)