While the rental fee only gives you the space, it is SO beautiful and you can truly make it whatever you want. If you are someone with a specific design vision this is the space for you. I am SO happy that I had my wedding here and would do it 100x over. So easy to get to, parking options, close to downtown SB, so many hotel options nearby. AMAZING!

We picked out the Historical Museum in 2019 for our 2020 wedding and were so excited to be able to use this beautiful space for our dream wedding. Obviously we were unable to have our wedding in 2020, but we were finally able to celebrate in the space in 2022. It was absolutely stunning! Just the most beautiful place to have our wedding. Our guests were just as blown away as we were--the market lights were a huge hit!

Working with Heather was super easy--she was very responsive, and was willing to reschedule our date for us two separate times. We could not have picked a better location.

Beautiful venue, our guests all couldn’t stop talking about how pretty it was. We loved the grounds and that we could have both our ceremony and reception in one convenient location. Parking is also very convenient. Couple issues—right now there is no permanent event coordinator. The girl that is running is seems spread pretty thin and I felt like there was very minimal communication and support leading up to my wedding day. Also, they sent an email saying they had to install these plastic balls in the main fountain but that the fountain would be running on the day of the event. In my opinion, the balls are ugly and take away from the charm of the venue. And on the day of our event the fountain was not running until I asked my wedding planner to tell the on site coordinator to turn it on (this was at 8pm our event started at 4pm). After the wedding, I received a bill that a vendor stayed late so when I asked my coordinator about it she said that the on site person was very strict on making sure our caterers cleaned meticulously to the point she felt they were cleaning up things unrelated to our event. I’m hoping the issues I encountered will be resolved when there is a more permanent event manager because I did love our venue. Also note that you have to bring in EVERYTHING when you book the museum—and for lighting you can only you BVD. They are great but add an immediate 2-3k to your cost for just lights.

*photos by Kaylee Chelsea Photography

My wife and I had our wedding reception here in July. It is the perfect venue for any event and the people are incredibly helpful and accommodating. There are sections to the courtyard that we used which made the event feel even bigger than it was. The sun went down and lights went on. Everything looked awesome. Would recommend to everyone.

Such a beautiful venue! The Santa Barbara Historical Museum was everything I could have imagined on our special day.

This is most hidden gorgeous venue in Santa Barbara! If you are looking for a true Santa Barbara style-esque wedding you cannot go wrong with the beautiful adobe style courtyards. My now husband and now live in the Bay Area but lived in Santa Barbara prior and wanted to find a venue in Santa Barbara that truly showcased the style and beauty that is SB and to share our love for this town to our guests! We wanted a central location and everything to be outside. We had our ceremony in the lower courtyard, held cocktail hour in the middle courtyard and then moved up to the upper courtyard for the ceremony. We only had about 120 people and the space can accommodate much more. You could easily do everything in the lower courtyard to save money as well. The grounds are just stunning and it fit our summertime, Southern California theme perfectly. The staff and Lyndsay (Rental Coordinator) were extremely friendly and easy to work with.
-Some things to note-it's not cheap, but the price is not outrageous and very much in line with other venues in the area (most likely much more affordable than a nice hotel as well and much better!) The plus side is that it's historical, unique and beautiful and you are not stuck in a cookie cutter banquet room. You can choose to be outside under beautiful lighting and there are also inside options as well.
-You have to bring everything in, such as rentals, etc. They have a list of recommended vendors are are flexible and allow you to be creative. We brought in our favorite Mexican food, Los Agaves and even had a churros served in the courtyard as a late night snack.
-No parking, although it's centrally located. We told guests to find parking, walk from their hotels or take an Uber or Lyft.
Beautiful spot and highly recommend!!!

We had a great experience at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. We held our ceremony in the lower courtyard and our reception in the upper courtyard with around 150 guests. Erica and Katherine were both great to work with and very flexible- we had an Indian wedding with a horse and all, and the staff at the museum were very accommodating. I liked how we could choose almost all of our own vendors.

The only drawbacks are the museum has a strict cut off at 10pm because of a city noise ordinance. Also you'll need to rent absolutely everything if you want to have your reception here. It's a beautiful space so you don't need to embellish it much, but I was a bit taken back by how expensives rentals were for everything we had to bring in.

Overall it was definitely worth it though and I'm really glad we chose to have our wedding here. It really does offer the best of Santa Barbara with the architecture, open courtyards, and views of the mountains.

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum was the perfect venue for our wedding ceremony and reception. Erica and Katherine were both extremely helpful in planning our event. We held our ceremony in the lower courtyard and had the reception in the upper courtyard and it was truly the perfect space for 125 guests. We were so happy with our decision to celebrate our big day at this venue!

We held our wedding reception at the SB Historical Museum this past Saturday, January 31, 2015 in Santa Barbara, CA. It turned out better than we could even imagine. We had a smaller guest list, about 40 people, and utilized the small outdoor adobe area. The space was perfect, very rustic and charming. Erick Reynolds the venue's event planner was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and helped to make the event stress free. Our guests loved it, and we can't wait until we get all of the pictures back.

The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is the perfect wedding venue for a ceremony and reception. The venue is beautiful in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara and everyone who works there is very helpful.