Welcome to the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh in Oakland, located minutes from downtown! Our historic building and regal spaces including the Music Hall Foyer, the Hall of Sculpture, the Hall of Architecture, and the Grand Staircase make us Pittsburgh’s premier wedding venue.
The Music Hall Foyer, finished in 1907, is a beautiful example of baroque architecture. It has a 60 ft ornate guilded ceiling, majestic green marble pillars and an ornate inlayed marble floor. This is our largest and most popular space. It makes a truly elegant reception space.
The Hall of Architecture, opened in 1907 was inspired by one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, The Mausoleum of Halicarnasses. It is ideal for a ceremony, dinner, cocktail party or just a s a locatiton for photographs.
The Hall of Sculpture is modeled after the inner sanctuary of the Parthenon. The floors and pillars are white marble from Greece. It is a very popular space for wedding ceremonies.
The soaring three story marble Grand Staircase is the centerpiece of the museum. Murals by artist John White Alexander cover the walls of the staircase. You can host a dramatic wedding cremony or cocktail party on this iconic regal staircase and balconies.
And won't even go into all the unique locations in the Natural History Museum where you incorporate dinosaurs in your wedding!
With so many breathtaking choices you are bound to have the perfect backdrop for your wedding day. Your guests will also be dazzled by the customizable offerings of our exclusive caterer Culinaire, whose taste and presentation are second to none.
To ease your planning process, our experienced event staff is happy to recommend top-rated vendors from florists to photographers and everything in between. We also include the use of our: tables/chairs (gold chiavari chairs with an ivory cushion), floor length linens, china, flatware, glassware, and an events coordinator for your special day.
To begin planning your wedding at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh in Oakland, call today.
Recommended by 83% of couples
10 User photos
Miriam Grundman · Married on 05/25/2019
Dinosaurs!
I needed a venue with on-site parking and that was handicapped friendly. I have always loved the museum.
Sent on 08/06/2019
My wedding was probably much smaller than average for this venue but they worked with me at the same degree of respect and professionalism that you would expect for a larger wedding.
They went above and beyond my requests for setup and comfort of my guests. I had my ceremony in the hall of architecture and reception in Hall of North American wildlife. My guests walked through the dinosaurs and were excited about the chance to have a private viewing of the sections of you museum they walked through.
I give a lower score on flexibility because, well, it is a museum and open to the public. That limits their flexibility, specifically, you have very strict time constraints. That said, they bent over backwards to help me with everything else. I had a few amateur vendors I knew personally. While I could vouch for them, it was a shock for the museum when I answered,"a group of women from my aunt's church." as one vendor and, "my mom's friend" as another. My contact from the museum just asked for a number and after a chat, they understood why I chose the two amateur vendors despite the museum being prestigious.
I had some issues with my catering contact (museum has a contract, you must use Culinaire, you can't hire a different vendor). She and I have very different methods of communicating. I prepared documents explaining what I needed from the venue and caterer. While the venue and chef and pastry chef were easy to work with and marveled at my organization, the catering contact complained that she wasn't clear on my needs, asked for reformat, but didn't specify how she needed it reorganized. I got very frustrated speaking with the caterer assigned to my event. The food was fine in the end, just frustrating to organize. I had vegans, celiac disease, fish allergies, picky eaters (only beef), children, and several Indian friends (definitely no beef or pork), and other contradictory dietary restrictions among my guests. I contacted Culinaire early to arrange for all the restrictions. Apparently a professional caterer like this can handle all of those restrictions, but I had to wait for a response and I got anxious.
The complaint about my catering contact aside, this was a lovely place to have a wedding, much more interesting than the more typical venues.
Katy Rosen · Married on 05/11/2019
Five stars!
We had our reception in the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer and the venue speaks for itself! Most of our guests were from out of town and had never been to Pittsburgh and they were blown away by how beautiful the foyer was! I planned the entire wedding myself from California, where I now live, and their staff honestly made it so easy and enjoyable to plan! I worked with Tori, Nicki, and Rion, all of whom were wonderful!! They did great job communicating as a team so that whoever I was meeting with or whoever was there the night of the wedding knew exactly what was going on. They were very responsive and professional throughout the entire process. They helped to coordinate our meetings so that we could get as much done whenever I was in Pittsburgh. Now that the wedding is over, everyone has been asking if there were any big hiccups during the day, as most weddings have, but honestly we had none!! Everything ran so smoothly and went exactly as planned! Rion was also so helpful at the end of the night with loading up our things in the car. We were so happy with everything and cannot recommend them more!
Sent on 05/28/2019
Serena · Married on 06/02/2018
Our ceremony was in the Hall of Architecture and our reception was in the Music Hall Foyer. They are beautiful. Museum services are perfect. For example, one of my guests had an unexpected ankle injury and the Museum gave her a complementary wheelchair to use so she didn't have to rely on crutches. I didn't even know about this until days after. The Events Team is so helpful and open-minded to new ideas. For example, we wanted our ceremony to face a direction that the Museum typically/may not have ever done before. They made it work. You feel like you're the only event they're planning, even though they are almost always fully booked with so many different type of events. The only thing I can think of for potential improvement is that the exclusive caterer partnered with the Museum had some tiny bumps, mostly considering the (higher) prices that they charge. In retrospect, I wish I worked with the caterer a little more closely. 99% exceeded my wildest expectations and the other 1% ultimately worked out - definitely just gotta roll with the punches on your wedding day - so my only tip to future couples is to be a little prepared with the caterer (such as maybe discuss a contingency plan if anything you care about goes awry). Plus, you never know what may cause an issue - could be delayed meal, unexpected guests, seating chart issues, late vendors, etc. which are no fault of the museum. The Museum handles so many issues that you don't expect or can't plan for. It really reduces your stress. And it's phenomenal to have this historic, beautiful venue for your wedding.
Sent on 06/20/2018
2 Endorsements
The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh being world class in the arts and history also is a world class venue for a beautiful and opulent wedding, corporate function, parties, etc. The staircase at the museum and the hall of sculpture are truly remarkable in their beauty and lavish atmosphere. Eileen the coordinator is truly professional and courteous as one would expect from such a spectacular venue. We just photographed an event at The Carnegie Music Hall which is part of the Carnegie Museum; we noticed that everything was highly professional and suited for the guests. It truly was a wonderful day in a world class venue. -John Lokmer - Lokmer Photography Inc.
There is just not much needed to be said about the Carnegie and their staff. It's an amazing place, like no other in Pittsburgh to hold a wedding. For a vendor, they are so helpful and realize that we both are working towards the same end...creating a one of a kind evening for the married couple and guests. Believe it or not, so often venues are so hard to work with. But not Eileen and her staff.
By clicking "Request pricing" I agree to sign up and accept WeddingWire's Terms of Use.
Write a review
