My husband and I took one of our first vacations together to Richmond, VA and went to the Poe Museum on a whim. We both love Poe's work and had never been. As soon as I stepped into the Garden, I knew that this was where I was going to get married. We booked them for a Halloween wedding with an original guest count of 75. With COVID, we wound up having just over 50. The space was beautiful, Debbie was helpful beyond measure, and the entire staff was welcoming. The space itself is gorgeous and perfect for a small, quirky wedding. I do not suggest it for larger than 50 or 60 if you plan to have the ENTIRE wedding there (with the reception). That said, we also did not have the space for a dance floor because we didn't want one. Then again we had a photobooth. You could make it work if you were dead set on a dancing space. The price is also unbeatable.
This place seems like an odd wedding venue but for those that love quirk, history, and everything romantically macabre, I promise it is perfect.

This venue is gorgeous but not for the faint of heart. Although this venue takes more work to organize and coordinate than other venues, if you put in the work you will be rewarded with the most unique and beautiful wedding you could imagine! Debbie Phillips and the other staff at the Poe Museum were helpful and responsive while we were planning our wedding, particularly during the pandemic. Debbie was extremely helpful in finding and working with vendors who were familiar with and respectful of the historic site. While the Poe Museum may not have traditional amenities other wedding venues may have – such as a formal kitchen, an indoor option, or specified parking – it really makes up for it in character, beauty, and a romantic atmosphere. A few caveats to consider before renting would be that you are not allowed open flames in the garden. We had to carefully consider what catering option would work with this restriction. As this space does not have an indoor option available, we had to gamble on the weather. We chose to host our ceremony and reception at the Poe Museum, but we had to seriously consider how many people would fit. This was during the pandemic and we already had to cut our guest list substantially. Ultimately, we had approximately 35 guests attend. We could imagine the space would feel full with 60 guests and respective tables and seating. If we had had more guests, we would have held our reception at another location. Ultimately, we absolutely loved this space. Even with the incredible amount of energy put into making this event possible, given the choice, we would still choose to get married at the Poe Museum.

We got married in the Poe Museum's garden on July 5th, we couldn't of envisioned a more romantic and charming place in the heart of the city to exchange our vows. Debbie was so helpful leading up to the event in coordination and answering any questions we had. So glad we chose to have our ceremony here, even in the July heat..it was perfect!

The Poe Museum was perfect for our wedding. The garden is beautiful and Debbie Phillips was great to communicate with. Nothing but the space was included but it's affordable enough to rent everything and still be less expensive than comparable venues. They have good connections with vendors (Party Perfect and Blue Ridge Lighting among others) that know the space and won't have any questions/concerns about set up. This in particular was helpful and made having our wedding there so easy. There are some stipulations because it's a historic venue but none of them were an issue at all. I even think the "no open flames" rule worked out better since I didn't have to worry about my battery operated candles (that flickered and looked real) from blowing out or getting wax everywhere. As soon as the ceremony started Debbie realized that the fountain was too loud for our guests to hear us and she immediately ran and turned it off. I loved how present and accommodating the staff is there while also not being overbearing. The Poe Museum was the first thing we booked and I'm so glad we did!

The Poe Museum was the perfect venue for our garden wedding. The unique location was a favorite with guests. Everyone at the museum was very helpful. They always responded to my emails promptly and had great vision for the day.

The site was beautiful! Jamie responds quick and is very helpful.

This was a beautiful setting for our beautiful day. Amber was very helpful, although a little slow on getting back to my emails. But everything went off without a hitch and I would highly recommend this hidden gem inside the city.

As much as I loved that our ceremony was in a beautiful garden behind the oldest little house in Richmond - I felt like the staff here didn't go to great lengths to make us feel appreciated. I was in town from NY for only one day and was able to finally show my mother, who had flown across the country, the venue (only two months before the wedding) and the woman with whom I'd been speaking with over the phone didn't try very hard to be available that day to walk us around. In the end, we saw her getting into her car right as we were pulling up. She was out on her lunch break the whole time we were there. And because of that we received some wrong information from the curator who was present.

Every exchange with the museum was a bit like this... it is a business and their emails and phone calls are very professional when I'd prefer them to be a little more personable. And when they need to act professional (like that day we stopped by), they fell short.

While the courtyard garden is BEAUTIFUL and this is aesthetically a PERFECT location if you are a history buff and want a vintage theme for your wedding, the Poe Museum seems to be on the fence as to whether or not they WANT to make their museum available as a wedding venue. I signed a contract with the wedding coordinator, Amber, in February of 2014 for my September wedding. She was FABULOUS, but I later received an email from her that the Board wanted to get away from allowing wedding events and they were letting her go. I was told to follow up with the new Director who was not easy to get a hold of, and I had to call several times until I found someone who could take my payment for the balance. The first time I met with the caterer (A Shaper Pallet, who I HIGHLY recommend) the director was not there and we were left with another manager who didn't really know anything about the wedding procedures and regulations. Bill the maintenance guy performed all the set up and we spoke with him and made a plan for the chair placement, etc. When we met later for the rehearsal the DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING we found out Bill no longer worked there and had not communicated any of the plans to a NEW Coordinator, who knew nothing about my wedding. When we arrived the chairs were dirty and folded in a pile. Also there were many miscommunications between the manager we had met with and this new coordinator about where we could store decor, etc.
On the evening of my wedding, I had paid to rent the space until 9 PM. Apparently my contract was never updated from the original 8PM because the girl who was closing that night had an attitude about us not being out at 8- no one had told her any different and we ruined her plans for the evening, apparently.

Bottom line is, the place is GORGEOUS, and the price makes it a great value, but the Poe employee service is lacking and disorganized, and the Board needs to decide once and for all if they want to be a wedding venue going forward.