Situated within Fairmount Park, Memorial Hall c. 1876 is a museum wedding venue located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This historic property dates back to America’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition, when it was constructed as an art gallery. Today, it is one of the flagship venues of Brûlée Catering and the home of the Please Touch Museum. The building is just 21 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport, making it conveniently accessible to locals and out-of-town guests alike. A National Historic Landmark, this sweeping architectural masterpiece makes for a dramatic backdrop to create timeless memories.
Facilities and Capacity Couples looking to tie the knot at Memorial Hall c. 1876 can rent the entire museum or single event spaces within it. The whole building can accommodate up to 3,000 people for truly spectacular events, while individual rooms suit weddings of different styles and sizes. Hamilton Hall, which can hold up to 650 guests, features glamorous Arts Beaux architecture and 60-feet ceilings that culminate in an impressive dome. This room also hosts a towering replica of the Statue of Liberty, made from toys by renowned artist Leo Sewell. Boasting similarly resplendent architectural flourishes, the South Foyer accommodates 450 guests. Parties of 200 can gather in the Carousel House, a unique space with elegant furniture and a fully restored and operating hand-crafted 1908 Dentzel Carousel. The East Gallery is a two-floor, 1,000-person capacity hall with whimsical attractions including a rainforest atmosphere and Alice in Wonderland-inspired decor. The West Gallery also holds 1,000 people and offers interactive exhibits such as a SEPTA bus and a replica of an urban environment. Visitors can also peruse the Centennial Gallery, where a recreation of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition is on display.
Services Offered As one of Brûlée Catering’s premier venues, Memorial Hall c. 1876 enjoys exclusive catering with this upscale restaurant. Founded by James Beard Award-winning Chef Jean-Marie Lacroix, Brûlée Catering crafts globally-inspired cuisine that will dazzle newlyweds and their guests. Menus are rotated seasonally to reflect the changing ingredients, and the chefs will tailor each meal to the tastes of the clients. The museum also provides tables and chairs, glassware and dishes, tents, and help with setup and cleanup. From micro-weddings set along the vintage carousel to lavish affairs with thousands of guests, this venue is fully customizable for celebrations of all kinds.
We began planning our wedding December 2019. After looking at several venues, we fell in love with Memorial Hall immediately. There was no other place for us.
What made our choice even more perfect was working with Lynnelle, Director of Catering at Brûlée. She helped with every major and minor decision we needed to make about the wedding. She “got” me and my aesthetic immediately and had fabulous ideas that fit my theme.
Of course, we didn’t have a typical wedding planning journey. There was a whole pandemic in the middle! Lynnelle was fully transparent, encouraging, and kind throughout our long wedding process. We changed the date and she made sure the menu, the venue decor, the servers, and all the support staff were in sync with our vision.
I cannot say enough about how awesome Lynnelle and our wedding was. She made everything easy and when we had to adapt to covid rules we felt like we were in safe hands.
Aside from that, she is the warmest, friendliest, and most upbeat person I could ever have hoped to work with. I cannot recommend her highly enough!
Sent on 06/01/2021
Caroline
· Married on 10/12/2019
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Magical Wedding!!!!
Completely magical!!! We just got married at the Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall... It was even better than I could have imagined!!! First of all the building itself is absolutely gorgeous and historic with high ceilings and ornate pillars... you feel like a million bucks just walking in. We had our ceremony in the foyer, our cocktail hour in the carousel house and our reception in memorial hall with blush uplighting, stars on the ceiling, and clouds from the Alice in wonderland exhibit lit in the distance. I felt like I was in a fairy tale. Everyone was amazed at how spectacularly beautiful the venue was. What's more, Chez and Lynnelle were amazing! I must have emailed each of them 100 times and they always got back to me quickly and were super helpful! The food was delicious and I even got feedback from my guests on how impressed they were with how smooth the service was! All together, I couldn't be happier that we put our trust in Chez and Lynnelle to make our wedding dreams come true!
Sent on 10/27/2019
Brittany
· Married on 11/10/2018
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Highly Recommend for wedding!
I'm not going to lie at the beginning of our process, communication with Brulee Catering at the Please Touch Museum had me a little worried. I often had to do follow-up e-mails due to the lack of responsiveness. I also became a little upset because we expressed interest in a particular date that was on a "soft hold" and we were never informed that the other clients backed out of their "hold", and that the date actually became available again. Nonetheless, we kept our second choice date (luckily we did because the weather was way worse for our first desired date), and we are sooo happy we decided to stay with Brulee Catering and the Please Touch Museum. Once we finalized everything, we were assigned Tiffany Johnson, and she was nothing but amazing!!
Tiffany helped us whenever needed; and communication with her was a breeze. She quickly responded to all of my annoying e-mails, and did it in a very professional manner.
She was even very patient and kind when we asked about doing a Pittsburgh Cookie Table - which required a lot of extra planning on her part!! I couldn't imagine what our wedding would have been like if we didn't have Tiffany on our side!!
The Please Touch Museum provided an amazing backdrop for our wedding! Many of our guests were from out of town, and they all fell in love with fun cocktail hour with carousel rides and the amazing architecture displayed in the Hamilton Hall! The food was also amazing!! Unlike other weddings we have attended at other venues, our guests will remember the yummy food!! My husband and I often joke and wonder why other couples would want to get married anywhere else, when this amazing venue is available in Philadelphia!!
I highly recommend the Please Touch Museum and Brulee Catering for your wedding! They were a great company to work with, and helped us with all of our wants and needs!! Not to mention the a gorgeous, fun, and unique venue for a wedding!!
