Skip to main content
Weddings

About

💍✨ Dive Into Forever at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium! ✨💍

Imagine saying "I do" surrounded by stunning river views, historic charm, unique exhibits, and unforgettable photo opportunities. From intimate ceremonies to grand receptions, our one-of-a-kind venue creates a wedding experience your guests will be talking about for years to come.

The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium is the most unique destination wedding spot in Dubuque Iowa, this event facility is ideal for couples seeking a one-of-a-kind experience. Whether you're dreaming of a romantic ceremony, an elegant reception, or an entire wedding weekend experience, our team is here to help bring your vision to life.

Facilities and Capacity

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium can accommodate weddings of up to 250 guests with several event spaces available. Couples can exchange their vows in an outdoor ceremony at the Plaza Pavilion or on a small private patio, Both areas offer stunning waterfront views of the Mississippi River and a small pond.

Couples can also choose our inside Ceremony location, the Historic Train Depot with rustic wooden floors, chandeliers, lots of natural lighting and views of both Dubuque Downtown and our Wetlands area with Stream and Pond. The Train Depot also makes a great Bridal Shower Venue!

After saying "I do," couples can continue the celebrations indoors at the aquarium in our Mississippi River Center building, featuring an open gallery space with two different areas to choose from and surronded ny museum displays as an eyecatching backdrop, and up to 250 guests can be seated here for the reception. The cocktail hours hosted around the Backwater Marsh, with the Fish and Turtles and Otters, offering a unique backdrop.

Services Offered

Various services are available at National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, including catering, bartending, and event planning. With the help of the attentive staff, to-be-weds can organize their wedding according to their tastes and preferences. The events team can provide the essentials, including linens, flatware, and china. They will also manage the set-up and tear-down of furniture at the end of the night. Conveniently, the venue offers wireless internet, parking, and wheelchair-accessible facilities.

Cuisine

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium partners with J&D Catering to provide an array of delicious cuisines. Couples can choose from several menu options to suit their palate and dietary requirements. Plated dinners, buffet stations, and hors d'oeuvres are some of the available dining options. The venue bar offers a variety of alcoholic beverages to accompany the meal, including house wine, champagne, and signature drinks.

Bonus Offer

All to-be-wed couples who book both Ceremony and Recpetion will get a one year membership gift from the museum!

illustration popular

Venues you may like

See other venues that are popular with couples right now

Frequently asked questions

Do you have a site fee for wedding receptions at your venue?

Yes

What is the starting site fee for wedding receptions during peak season?

$1,400

What is the starting site fee for wedding receptions during off-peak season?

$1,400

Do you have a site fee for wedding ceremonies at your venue?

Yes

What is the starting site fee for wedding ceremonies during peak season?

$700

What is the starting site fee for wedding ceremonies during off-peak season?

$500

Which of the following are included in the starting site fee?

Chairs
China
Clean Up
Flatware
Glassware
Linens
Parking
Set Up
Tables

Which of the following are included in the cost of wedding catering?

Server(s)

What is the starting price per person for bar service?

$75

Which of the following are included in the starting price for bar service?

Bartender(s)

How many event spaces or rooms does your venue offer?

4

Describe your venue:

Museum

What kind of settings are available?

Indoor
Covered Outdoor
Uncovered Outdoor

Which of the following wedding events does your venue service?

Ceremony
Reception
Bridal Shower
Engagement Party
Elopements
Rehearsal Dinner

What event services do you offer?

Bar Services
Clean Up
Event Planner
Get Ready Rooms
Wifi

What catering services do you offer?

Buffet
Cocktail Reception
Dessert
Family Style
Hors d'oeuvres
Plated
Server(s)
Stations
Tastings

What bar services do you provide?

Bartender(s)
Cash Bar
Champagne Toast
House Beer
House Liquor
House Wine
Liquor License
Open Bar
Premium Liquor
Signature Drink
Specialty Wine

What event items are available?

Chairs
Tables

What food and beverage items are available?

Barware
China
Flatware
Glassware
Linens

What transportation and access is available?

Parking
Wheelchair Access

What months are included in your peak season?

April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

What months are included in your off-peak season?

January
February
March
December

Reviews of National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Review summary

Powered by AI

The museum & aquarium offers a unique, affordable wedding setting with waterfront, downtown, and exhibit backdrops ideal for photos and guest exploration. Multiple indoor and outdoor spaces and an exclusive caterer earned praise for food and value. Attentive staff handled setup, timing, and teardown so couples could relax, with rare communication hiccups.

Review summary

Powered by AI
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

The museum & aquarium offers a unique, affordable wedding setting with waterfront, downtown, and exhibit backdrops ideal for photos and guest exploration. Multiple indoor and outdoor spaces and an exclusive caterer earned praise for food and value. Attentive staff handled setup, timing, and teardown so couples could relax, with rare communication hiccups.

E
Emily Sent on 05/23/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Unique Night at the Museum

Our wedding at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium was nothing short of magical! All with the help of Teri - she is truly amazing at what she does!

The venue offers waterfront and downtown Dubuque views, creating a picturesque backdrop for both our ceremony and reception. The Boatyard provided an elegant outdoor setting for our after-ceremony pictures, while the Train Depot gave the best lighting and historical feel for our ceremony. The William Woodward Mississippi Center transformed into a gorgeous indoor space with unique museum exhibits adding a touch of charm and sophistication for our reception. We will never forget about the otters and so happy they were celebrating with us!

The additional staff was great (again huge shoutout to Teri!), allowing us to fully enjoy our special day. The catering, provided by J&D Catering, was absolutely delicious, with a variety of options that pleased every guest. We had so many people reach out asking who had catered!

If you’re looking for a wedding venue that combines natural beauty, history, exceptional service, and something truly unique, look no further than the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. It made our wedding day truly unforgettable, and we couldn’t have imagined celebrating anywhere else!
Megan
Megan Sent on 05/06/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium Venue


We got married last September at the river museum and we can’t recommend it enough.

Planning:
Teri is amazing and handled everything with her team. From the rehearsal, organizing times with our vendors, decorating, making sure everyone was where they needed to be and when, and keeping us on track for our schedule during our entire wedding day. The day prior to our wedding we were able to show the team exactly how we wanted our tables set and how we wanted our decorations. In a couple of hours we were able to see our reception area completely decorated!

Our wedding day:
The museum staff was absolutely wonderful and made our wedding happen. Our arch needed to be moved upstairs after the ceremony and before I could even start to worry about it, they had already done it. If I thought of it, Teri made a note and it got done. They truly kept our day on schedule and kept us informed of everything that was going on.

Overall our day was so beautiful and it was all thanks to the amazing team at the river museum. We thought that this venue was an amazing value for the amount of planning assistance , site options, and extra inclusions that were offered with the cost of the rental.
M
Monica Sent on 11/19/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Excellent wedding venue, organized and clean

We had an amazing experience at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium during our wedding. The place was amazing and Teri helped us a lot! The team showed professionalism and knowledge on organizing weddings celebrations. I truly recommend celebrate your wedding in this special venue.
Liliana
Liliana Sent on 06/21/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Historical riverside wedding of our dreams!

We had the unique, beautiful, and affordable wedding of our dreams at the NMRM thanks to Teri and her incredible staff! Of all the venues we toured, nothing compared to the versatility, natural/historical style, and great value that the museum offers. Teri was absolutely amazing to work with and made us feel confident as she walked us through all of our options, answered our questions, and helped organize our event. From our first conversation, I could tell that she is a seasoned professional and extremely thoughtful in her work. We loved that the museum provided a one-stop-shop for both, our ceremony and reception, and that they work with an exclusive caterer with many dining and bar options. As out-of-towners, we were also grateful to be able to set-up our ceremony space, conduct our rehearsal, and drop off all our decor the day before the wedding. Teri and her staff even did the rest of the set-up and tear-down for us! Our guests absolutely loved the museum and we received many compliments about how unique the venue was, and that everyone enjoyed getting to interact with the different exhibits throughout the space. We are so grateful to the NMRM, especially Teri, for helping make our day so special and memorable for us, our friends, and family!
L
Lindsay Sent on 10/26/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely amazing!

The National Mississippi River Museum was the perfect place for our wedding. Both my husband and I are science people and we knew that it was the place to pick the moment we stepped foot into the museum. Our guests loved being able to walk around and view all of the animals throughout the night. We got several compliments on how our wedding stood out compared to others people have been to. Teri helped us make the day perfect! She helped work out specific details and made sure everything was the way we wanted. We can’t thank her enough!
M
Molly Sent on 10/02/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Why go anywhere else?

Our experience with Teri and the River Museum was exceptional. A unique, fun, and memorable environment that all our guests loved.
L
Lauren Sent on 09/10/2023
5 out of 5 rating

The Place for Nature Lovers

This is a great venue for nature lovers! We recently celebrated our wedding at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. The grounds were beautiful and we got so many good photos outside! We appreciated that the space could host our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception as some of our guests had limited mobility. The venue has an exclusive caterer but the food was excellent. We got so many compliments on the space and the food from our guests. A highlight was seeing my cousin's kids fascinated by the otters! Our ceremony was in the train depot, and we had excellent natural light there - I wanted my aisle to be a good length and the train depot was perfect for that too. But key for us was the affordability and the responsiveness of the staff. Teri was quick to answer any emails and was key to our day going smoothly. She understood the vision we communicated, was there to help with setup, and had all of our decorations packed up for pickup the day after. I can't tell you how much of a relief that was - it really helped us enjoy our event until the end.
Jan
Jan H. Sent on 09/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Incredible Venue

Highly recommend Teri and her staff at tge Mississippi River Museum. First of all she is professional. She’s a great communicator, organized and patient. My daughter had a travel theme where every table had a different city to visit. Each table was decorated differently. Her staff took our 12 boxes of decorations and worked their magic. It was amazing!!!

Teri dealt with some last minute items with grace and a smile. She took so much stress off of me. If I was still running a DJ business, this would be one of my favorite places to work at due to her.
M
Megan Sent on 08/08/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Unique, beautiful and memorable

Wonderful place to have a wedding! Unique, inviting, spacious! Great caterer, our guests wanted doggy bags! Dance floor was fun. Great photo ops. Nice and accommodating staff! Highly recommended!
J
Jaclyn Sent on 07/13/2023
5 out of 5 rating

June 2023 Wedding

The River Museum was the perfect venue for our wedding this June! Our guests loved having the opportunity to see the exhibits and thought it was unique that our dinner tables were placed amongst the exhibits. Teri and her staff were phenomenal at supporting us through our wedding planning process and on wedding day. Everything turned out so beautiful, and we could not have asked for a better day! Thank you to Teri and her staff for helping make our day so special and memorable! I would HIGHLY recommend this venue to anyone in their wedding search.
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.

Awards

35
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2023 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

1 Endorsement
Inside Decor Rental Inside Decor Rental Wedding Rentals

Always impressed with the Valentine Dinner at the National River Museum! Thank you for another lovely, fun filled evening, and delicious dinner in such beautiful atmosphere. We will plan on visiting the river museum throughout the year! Lisa

Map

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium frequently asked questions

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium includes the following items and services for wedding events in its starting site fee:
  • Chairs
  • China
  • Clean Up
  • Flatware
  • Glassware
  • Linens
  • Parking
  • Set Up
  • Tables
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium includes the following items and services in its wedding catering costs:
  • Server(s)
The bar service starting price at National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium includes:
  • Bartender(s)
The space offered by National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium for wedding events is known for:
  • Museum
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium offers the following indoor/outdoor options for weddings:
  • Indoor
  • Covered Outdoor
  • Uncovered Outdoor
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium offers the following types of wedding events:
  • Ceremony
  • Reception
  • Bridal Shower
  • Engagement Party
  • Elopements
  • Rehearsal Dinner
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium offers the following services for wedding events:
  • Bar Services
  • Clean Up
  • Event Planner
  • Get Ready Rooms
  • Wifi
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium offers the following furniture and decor items for weddings:
  • Chairs
  • Tables
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium is recommended by 99% of couples who have used their services. Their overall rating is 4.9 out of 5 with the following breakdown: 5 in quality of service, 5 in professionalism, 4.9 in average response time, 4.9 in flexibility and 4.9 in value.

Other vendors in Cedar Rapids for your wedding

Wedding Venues