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Weddings

About

Host a wedding event like no other at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, located in Los Angeles, California. With two distinct museum venues to choose from (Natural History Museum in Expo Park or Museum at La Brea Tar Pits on Miracle Mile), these venues offer themed exhibition spaces that provide unique settings for your special celebration. Explore prehistoric installations, edible gardens, and stunning architecture within these cultural landmarks, which are sure to facilitate an unforgettable experience.

Facilities and Capacity

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offers a vast array of one-of-a-kind event spaces perfect for a variety of wedding occasions. Whether you are looking for the perfect backdrop for your engagement photos or hosting an intimate engagement party or a lavish wedding affair, this majestic venue provides a unique space to accommodate your needs in comfort and style. The Haaga Family Rotunda is a breathtaking space featuring an awe-inspiring stained-glass domed ceiling, Corinthian pillars, and ornate accents. At the center of the room stands the famous Beaux-Arts statue, Three Muses, which provides a grandiose focal point for an elegant wedding ceremony for up to 150 guests. For a stunning outdoor ceremony, couples can exchange their vows against the backdrop of the beautiful pond situated in the Pond and Pollinator Garden. This space features vegetation which attracts an array of butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, offering a tranquil and natural setting for your special ceremony.

Inside the museum, couples will delight in the variety of installation and exhibition spaces available to host larger ceremonies and receptions. The Grand Foyer, which is home to the iconic Dueling Dinosaurs, offers space for up to 200 guests for a ceremony or 160 guests seated at round tables. This exhibition depicts the complete skeletons of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Triceratops poised in battle. Surrounding the historic centerpiece; marble columns, ornate chandeliers, and travertine floors create an ambiance of opulence for your celebration. The North American Mammal Hall and the African Mammal Hall feature spectacular dioramas and provide unique ceremony and reception settings for up to 250 guests. For an outdoor evening celebration, your guests can enjoy the Erika J. Glazer Family Edible Garden which offers a changing landscape of fruit, vegetables, and herbs that blossom with the seasons or the north Nature Gardens and lower Otis Booth Pavilion where your guests can dine at a long farm-style table and dance under a 63-foot long fin whale specimen.

Alternatively, at the Museum at La Brea Tar Pits, couples and their guests enjoy exclusive access to the entire museum interior. With views of Miracle Mile and the museum's own atrium garden, the rooftop terrace offers a stunning location for a ceremony before moving inside for dinner and dancing amongst the dire wolves, mammoths, and mastodons on display.

Services Offered

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County are happy to welcome outside vendors to serve your special day. Pricing includes use of the Venus plus tables and chairs to accommodate up to 200 to 250 guests for your event (Natural History Museum location only). Catering and bar service is handled separately by our catering partner Thank Goodness It's Sophis (TGIS). Professional event staff are on-hand to provide setup and cleanup of your occasion and to assist in facilitating a flawless experience. Complimentary parking is provided for you and your guests for the duration of your event.

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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?

$11,000

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

$11,000

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?

$3,850

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

$3,850

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

Chairs
Clean Up
Parking
Set Up
Tables

What is the minimum number of guests required to book your venue?

15

How many event spaces or rooms does your venue offer?

10

Describe your venue:

Garden
Historic Building
Museum
Zoo

What kind of settings are available?

Indoor
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?

Clean Up
Get Ready Rooms
Outside Vendors

What event items are available?

Chairs
Tables

What transportation and access is available?

Parking
Wheelchair Access

Reviews of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Alejandra
Alejandra Sent on 02/07/2025
5 out of 5 rating

This venue is just perfect, not only because of how beautiful all the rooms are, but because of the people behind the scenes on each event.

I am new in LA and they made it so easy that I know we made the right decision choosing the NHM LA. People are very professional and willing to help.
C
C Good Sent on 04/09/2022
5 out of 5 rating

magical dino wedding

Our wedding at the Natural History Museum was magical and everything we dreamed it could be! Everyone at the Museum was always very friendly, professional, and responsive! They were very understanding and flexible/accommodating, keeping us up to date on any policy changes due to the ever-changing COVID rules/restrictions which we really appreciated! Even though having a wedding at the Museum did involve more work than a standard wedding venue, especially if you are trying to stick to a budget (i.e. lots of additional logistics to consider - no changing room, the Museum is open to the public until 5pm, no kitchen; all vendors must be hired in, though the Museum has some chair/table inventory), the uniqueness of the venue and the activities you can add on (e.g. you can rent 1-hour access to some of their exhibits for a very reasonable fee) make it all worth it! I wouldn't change a thing! It was a very magical experience for my husband and I, and all our our guests also had a night to remember as well! Highly recommend! !!!:)
Melissa
Melissa Sent on 12/01/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing experience

We had an elopement ceremony at the Museum of natural history and it was a dream come true. Our event coordinator, Simone, was absolutely fantastic. She was knowledgeable, kind, responsive, and very kind! She made the ceremony planning a breeze. The day of the event went by so smoothly with her. She made the whole process easy for us and relaxing. I absolutely recommend this venue and experience to everyone!
Our event was intimate and unique. We are so glad you we booked our event here. Thank you Simone & her team for such a positive and once in a lifetime experience.

*We also booked a photographer, Tauren Woo, who has experience shooting in this museum. He was able to fully capture our experience with beautiful lighting and angles. Thank you!
Haleh
Haleh Sent on 11/16/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Exciting and fun!

We were so happy to learn that the Natural History Museum was available to us. They were easy to book with. They have us access to the entire museum both inside and out at a reasonable rate. The NHM provided an event liaison who helped us throughout the photoshoot who gave us suggestions on where we might want to take pictures. We feel like we got to experience more thing our special day together by taking photographs in this historic and cherished Los Angeles treasure.
E
E N Sent on 05/08/2020
5 out of 5 rating

Exceptional organization and gorgeous venue

We were so lucky to have gotten married at the LA Natural History Museum! Working with the events coordinators (Jasmine and Alyssa) was such as a breeze. They were very responsive to all communication from start to finish. The museum is such a special venue for a wedding and they did an expert job helping us navigate the process by providing us with extremely helpful recommendations. Alyssa was also present on the day of the wedding, and she helped ensure that the day went smoothly. All our guests were blown away by the uniqueness and the joyful elegance of the venue. I highly recommend checking it out if you are interested in an unforgettable venue!
P
Pat F. Sent on 01/29/2020
5 out of 5 rating

A Truly Epic Venue

I planned and designed a wedding for a client at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles in November 2019. From my first interaction with the sales department of the museum, they were friendly, comprehensive and thorough in their communications. I felt like I had true partners in their event team and it made my job that much easier and absolutely pleasurable. ( I would work with Alyssa any time.) The final product of our design in their venue was truly epic and Pat Frey Designs would gladly create another event or wedding there! It is truly a dream venue with iconic visuals and a great team to help you create a stunning event. My team and I would highly recommend them!
Viridiana
Viridiana Sent on 12/06/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Elopement was perfect

Thank you so much to the wonderful people from the museum. We were able to book this museum for our elopement to be held an hour before their opening hour to help us ensure we could get married on the date we wanted. We got married on our 10th yr dating anniversary. My now husband had proposed on our 9th yr anniversary right after we visited this museum and so it was a very special place for us which is why we wanted to get married there. We weren’t having a big wedding nor party nor booking a whole floor and yet the staff always made us feel like this was as special event to them as it was to us. After our elopement we changed clothing and many staff members working congratulated us as we spent the day at the museum because they saw our elopement as they were arriving for their shifts. It was amazing and I highly recommend this beautiful place with beautiful grounds and amazing staff. Thank you!!

Officiant: Mobile Reverend A Mauricio Lubong
Photographer: Carrie Rogers based in Los Angeles
Catherine
Catherine Sent on 10/29/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely unforgettable experience for all!

Getting married at the Natural History Museum was such a memorable experience. The ceremony was in the African Mammal Hall. With the right lighting and minimal floral arrangements, it looked absolutely incredible. It felt so warm and intimate. Our guests were equally enthused--pretty much everyone we talked to said it was the best wedding they have ever been to. So much of that was about the uniqueness of the venue. The dino puppet was SO great--it was playful with the younger people and very gentle with the elders. My favorite moment was when the dino laid its head on my husband's great-aunt's lap while she pet him/her. It was such a tender moment. The staff at NHM was super professional and pleasant to work with. Trust their list of preferred vendors--they've got it on lock. We were able to take pre-ceremony pictures in different parts of the museum (like the Rotunda), which will make for some very dynamic photos. It is pricey, and it will take some creative logistics (building out the kitchen on the back steps, lighting, sound, etc...) but IT'S WORTH IT!!!!
T
Lauren Sent on 09/16/2011
5 out of 5 rating
Unique, elegant, and lovely, my husband and I immediately fell in love with the idea of getting married at the Natural History Museum. My mom was horrified by the idea of such a non-traditional venue, but we pulled it off and had a gorgeous and traditional wedding, that happens to be in a unique venue. Courtney was a huge help during our 19 month engagement. All of our guests can't stop raving about how it was the most memorable, fun, and beautiful wedding they've been to. There are so many photo ops. By getting married there, we got to experience a year as a fellows member. We loved getting to experience the museum during it's pivotal expansion and renovation phase. Check out the NHMLA Events Blog for photos of weddings held at the museum.
Thanks, Courtney and NHMLA!
J
Dorian Sent on 08/04/2011
5 out of 5 rating
We had our ceremony and reception at the museum and it was absolutely perfect. Our main contact at the museum was Courtney. She was an amazing person to work with - responsive, creative, unbelievably helpful, enthusiastic, professional, calm and fun! She worked wonderfully with me directly before we hired our wedding planner and continued that great relationship once our planner was involved. Courtney knows how to talk to brides, grooms, parents, planners and other vendors. She is calm in the face of a storm, provides excellent suggestions when asked for them and can help to provide solutions when there are problems and went out of her way to help us in pulling everything together.

The museum itself is amazing and has unlimited photo opportunities. And it just keeps getting better with all the new exhibits. As another reviewer mentioned, there are time restrictions. We were very nervous about the limited load in time for our ridiculous number of vendors. However, the staff at the museum is very experienced with this and it was not a problem in the least.

I know it isn't the least expensive place to hold your wedding, but there are so many other benefits that outweigh the pure costs. A portion of the fees are tax-deductible and you also get a membership to the museum which gives you access to invitations for a number of special events. There are venues in Los Angeles that are comparably priced that don't provide those benefits, nor could they accommodate the size of our group (240 people) and frankly - those other places don't provide dinosaurs as the backdrop for your ceremony.

We had an absolutely unforgettable wedding and reception - not just for ourselves, but for many of our guests. The setting of the museum was perfect and I wouldn't have wanted to do it anywhere else.
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.

Awards

18

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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County frequently asked questions

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County includes the following items and services for wedding events in its starting site fee:
  • Chairs
  • Clean Up
  • Parking
  • Set Up
  • Tables
The space offered by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for wedding events is known for:
  • Garden
  • Historic Building
  • Museum
  • Zoo
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offers the following indoor/outdoor options for weddings:
  • Indoor
  • Uncovered Outdoor
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offers the following types of wedding events:
  • Ceremony
  • Reception
  • Bridal Shower
  • Engagement Party
  • Elopements
  • Rehearsal Dinner
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offers the following services for wedding events:
  • Clean Up
  • Get Ready Rooms
  • Outside Vendors
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County offers the following furniture and decor items for weddings:
  • Chairs
  • Tables
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is recommended by 98% 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 value, 4.8 in average response time and 4.8 in flexibility.

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