Absolutely breathtaking having our reception and ceremony in the coral reef room. Food was amazing. Service was great.

This venue is MAGICAL! The entire day was a beautiful experience. The aquarium offers a beautiful backdrop for every single photo, and a fun and unique experience for all of your guests.

The personal I worked with were all amazing! We hit a few bumps with some miscommunication on required vendors, but we were able to iron everything out. The day itself ran so smooth. The Florida Aquarium team did a fantastic job working alongside my coordinator to keep everything on track and stress free!

My husband and I got married at the Florida Aquarium in March 2022, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

At first, I had no idea you could have a wedding here. It wasn't until we were looking at potential venues and saw ZooTampa listed as an option that I even thought to look into the aquarium — and once I knew it was a possibility, I pretty much had my heart set on this place. We wanted something a little different than the usual hotel ballroom (not that there's anything wrong with that, I've been to a number of gorgeous weddings in hotels... but that just wasn't what we wanted). We both love animals, and when we realized our money would be helping to support a non-profit, the decision was rather easy. After all, weddings are expensive, so if we're going to spend thousands of dollars anyway, knowing it was going to a good cause helped ease the pain in our pocketbook.

Kimberly was my main contact, and she met with me to go over all of the details of everything we wanted (plated instead of a buffet, what kind of chairs, upgrades to the open bar, etc.). They have a pretty sizable menu to choose from, and hold a showcase twice a year so you can taste all of the food (we opted for chicken and salmon, and our meals were seriously so good!). You do have to use their catering — you can't bring in an outside vendor for that. Your wedding also includes a food display table during your cocktail hour as well as a great open bar (that lasts your entire cocktail hour and reception). We opted to pay to upgrade the champagne from Riondo to Korbel, and upgrade the bourbon from Jim Beam to Evan Williams. When my husband and I wanted to go back to the aquarium to check out areas for photographs (so we could tell our photographer), Kimberly was happy to send us comp tickets so we could visit on our own. And she sent us another round of comp tickets once my month-of coordinator came on board so we could do a walk-through with her. Kimberly was always super responsive with each and every question I sent her way.

We had our ceremony in the coral reef room (which has floor-to-ceiling glass where you can see sharks, turtles, stingrays and fish swimming by). We paid extra for the "bubble curtain" that happens during the first kiss, and it looked awesome. We had also paid to have penguins walk down the aisle, but sadly 7 of their 10 penguins died about six months before our wedding, so that option was no longer available. I was pretty bummed about it, but the health of their penguins is obviously far more important. They've since gotten a new penguin colony, but I don't know if they're doing the penguin aisle walk option anymore.

After the ceremony, our guests were able to explore the aquarium on their own during the cocktail hour, or they could just head up to the rooftop (where our reception was). While they explored, our bridal party and family took photos in the coral reef room, and my husband and I then went around the aquarium and Wetlands area for more photos on our own.

We couldn't have asked for a better reception than on the rooftop, overlooking the water and downtown Tampa. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we partied until the very end (we paid for an extra hour so our reception started at 7 pm and ended at 11 pm). So many of our friends told us this was the most fun wedding they'd ever attended, and we absolutely have the aquarium to thank for that.

My husband and I had the best experience at the Florida Aquarium! It truly was our best day ever. It wouldn’t have been the best without this venue and the amazing staff.

First off our guest loved the private ability to explore the Aqurium during cocktail our with a champagne glass in hand! We loved the backdrop of the tank during our ceremony and having our reception at the rooftop with the water and city views of Tampa!

Kimberly our event coordinator at the aquarium was the absolute best! Constantly stayed in communication with us throughout all the planning and went above and beyond! From helping with decorations to making sure we had food and drinks! All other staff was beyond helpful as well. For example, if a staff member noticed our drinks were empty they did not hesitate to quickly grab it for us! We also enjoy our private tasting with them!

I’ve attached photos here and our photographer was feedlebee photography!

The Florida Aquarium was one of the best decisions we made! Ceremony, reception, and catering all wrapped up in one! It is a great value, bonus that it is a non-profit and the staff from booking/planning all the way through seeing to our every need the night of was stellar! The food was terrific and we can't say enough about the staff and service. Impeccable.

The Florida aquarium was the perfect unique venue we were looking for! It was super affordable and the aquarium staff could not have been more helpful throughout the entire process! I would recommend this venue to anyone looking for a beautiful and unique venue!

Cant say enough good things about having our wedding at the Florida aquarium. From the ceremony in the coral reef room to the reception on the rooftop, everything was amazing. Couldn't tell you the amount of compliments we got about how cool this place was. Food and beverage was easy and very good as well. Would highly recommend this venue to anyone!

The Florida Aquarium is such a beautiful and unique venue. Our guests loved being able to take a self-guided tour of the aquarium during the beginning of cocktail hour. All the staff the night of the wedding and leading up to the wedding were wonderful and such please to work with.

We were on the search for a unique venue that gave a Florida vibe but was NOT a beach. Getting married in June we knew we wanted an entirely indoor venue, and that was hard to find! The second we stepped into the Florida Aquarium we knew we had found the perfect spot. We worked with Kim who was incredibly responsive, and we were able to tour the venue multiple times throughout the planning process. There were so many details that made the day unique, but our favorite was that during cocktail hour, our guests were able to tour the exhibits. The day of the event, the entire Aquarium staff was phenomenal. There was a torrential downpour of course as my bridesmaids and I were arriving, and multiple staff members greeted us with umbrellas, escorted us where we needed to be and even carried my train. Everyone was kind and professional and really made our day special. The catering and bar was with Aramark through the Aquarium and Erica and her staff were wonderful to work with as well. We had a private menu tasting which was tons of fun, and both Erica and Kim helped us create a menu we knew our guests would enjoy. The bar included tons of options at no extra cost, the food was delicious and again the bartenders and catering staff was wonderful. We truly couldn’t be happier with our choice to get married here!

We had a small wedding (40ish guests), and the Coral Reef Room in the Aquarium was the perfect, unique, and romantic venue! All our guests were awed by the ambience! On my end, as the bride planning, the staff was very communicative, friendly, and helpful every step of the way. The price was reasonable for the venue and catering for all the we got, and the food was delicious! I definitely recommend the Florida Aquarium to make a special day even more so!