Peabody Essex Museum Reviews

Space (5/5) – our wedding package included a reception in the main atrium which was more than enough to fit our wedding of about 110 people. The reception was preceded by a cocktail hour in a large room separate from the atrium as well as the museum’s garden space, weather permitting. After the cocktail hour, guests also walked through exhibits to reach the atrium. For the Couple, we took photos in the garden as well as half-a-dozen of our favorite exhibits. The PEM also had a private room for us and the wedding party to eat and recuperate before the reception. The only downside was the East India Marine hall was under construction so we were unable to use that room.

Staff (5/5) – The staff was a major part of why we were able to focus on just enjoying our wedding on the day. After months of planning, we had zero doubts about the PEM. Everyone we worked with was professional, friendly, and accommodating. Natalia helped us coordinate with staff at the PEM and catering. PEM allowed us to tour the museum to get an idea of the layout for our vendors. They answered all our questions, took us to the loading docks, showed us people’s favorite exhibits for photos. The staff was more than happy to hold onto items for us before and after the reception. And, the PEM had very clear boundaries which they explained. For example, the museum must be open to the public until the day of the wedding, any cash at the wedding cannot be handled staff, no soil in the flowers as it could damage the exhibits, etc. Communication was quick, clear, and friendly. We did not use a wedding planner and the PEM staff were still able to get everything set up just fine.

Budget (4/5) – the PEM venue fee is expensive but not unlike other venues in and around Boston, and the money goes to a museum to help preserve and educate about history. For the space and atmosphere of the museum I think it is worth it. For catering, the PEM allows only their specific partner Gourmet Caterers. Gourmet Caterers had several tiers of catering and alcohol for different budget levels. With the venue fee and only one choice of caterer, much of the budget is set before making any decisions. The PEM also has some additional options such as higher quality chairs which you can forgo to reduce expenses.

Location (5/5) – the PEM is located in the heart of Salem. It was very pedestrian friendly. There are dozens of shops, events, and locations to explore. The PEM’s location made it feel like we rented the entire town of Salem rather than just the PEM.

We had the most beautiful wedding at the PEM! As soon as we had our tour, we knew this was exactly where we wanted to get married. Everything was absolutely perfect from the venue to the staff. Natalia along with all of our vendors, made the day so enjoyable and we’re absolutely wonderful to work with! We love that it’s a place we can always go back to to visit!

If you want a stunning moment in your life and one that guests who could not attend your wedding continue to talk about, go with PEM. My husband and I knew pretty soon after being engaged that we wanted to have our wedding at the PEM. Having lived in Salem this place meant a lot to us and we were certain it would be the perfect venue. Perfect does not to it justice! Natalia and her team were able to create the most magical experience for us, our family, and our guests. They transform an already gorgeous venue space into the most stunning and elegant space you can imagine. Natalia is a pro at this and you notice that immediately. She is always there to answer your questions, give you perfect advice, and be your friend during this process. She truly wants what is best for you and does everything to make it happen. To get married in one of the oldest museums in the country is a remarkable experience.

Also, I really love that my husband and I can go back whenever we want to walk the same steps, stand where we said "I do", and transport back to the most special night of our lives. 

We had a great experience at PEM. They were extremely communicative and helpful throughout the planning process and ensured that everything on the day of went smoothly. It was a beautiful space and we are so glad we chose PEM for our wedding!

Natalia and the team at PEM was perfect. We loved working with them so much. They were easy and very professional. The entire wedding was seamless without a single issue, and there were people around at all times willing and happy to help. We would recommend to the PEM to anyone who asks.

As non-wedding people, we couldn't have chosen a better venue. Using PEM was like a venue cheat code.

First, PEM stands on its own as a wedding venue -- it doesn't need a lot of extra decor, lighting, etc. We went pretty minimal on these "extras" for our wedding, but our guests still loved the venue, commenting on how elegant the space was, how much they loved walking through the galleries and seeing the exhibits as part of the wedding experience, and how fun and interesting was the East India Marine Hall in which we had the dinner and dancing.

Second, the on-site staff and in-house/exclusive caterer, Gourmet Catering (GC), handled everything with aplomb day of. Our wedding went super smoothly and PEM and GC really went above-and-beyond in terms of their level of service: (1) We had a beautiful staging room, which was always well-stocked with food and beverages (champagne, among other drinks) as we transitioned from ceremony to cocktail hour to dinner and dancing and made for a great place to take pictures. (2) PEM and GC staff frequently checked in with us to make sure everything was going well, though without at all being overbearing and even helped with some last-minute hair adjustments. (3) PEM staff did all of the setup and breakdown for us -- we didn't have to worry about a thing.

Finally, we love Salem and the area around the museum. PEM is situated in a great place for pre- and post-wedding activities.

People often asked, as they do, whether we were stressed about the wedding. Especially as the date drew near. With PEM as our venue, I can honestly say that the answer was always no. We're so happy with our decision to choose PEM.

We couldn't have chosen a more perfect venue for our wedding than the Peabody Essex Museum. The venue itself is absolutely stunning—elegant, timeless, and breathtaking, and it created the most magical atmosphere for our special day. Our guests were in awe of the beauty and uniqueness of the space, and we received endless compliments!

The staff at the museum truly went above and beyond, making sure everything was flawless from start to finish. A special shout-out to Natalia. She is, without a doubt, one of the kindest and most caring people we have ever met. From the very first meeting, Natalia made us feel supported, understood, and incredibly well taken care of. She ensured that every detail was executed perfectly, and her kindness and professionalism were unmatched.

Thanks to Natalia and the entire team at the Peabody Essex Museum, the wedding planning process was not only seamless but enjoyable! They made what can often be a stressful experience feel easy and fun. We are forever grateful to them for helping make our wedding day as perfect as it was.

If you're looking for a venue that combines beauty, impeccable service, and a team that genuinely cares about your happiness, the Peabody Essex Museum is the place to be!

The team at Peabody Essex Museum was a dream to work with for our wedding. From our very first interaction with Natalia, her communication was speedy, knowledgeable, and incredibly informative, putting us at ease throughout the planning process. On the day of, the venue was transformed into a magical, one-of-a-kind space that perfectly captured the vibe we were going for. Natalia was especially helpful, guiding us through all the decisions, communicating with our vendors, and making us feel completely prepared. The value she provided was truly exceptional, and we're so grateful to have celebrated our special day in such a beautiful and unforgettable setting.

The Peabody Essex Museum was the perfect nontraditional venue. Its beauty and elegance was only matched by the professionalism and kindness of everyone who worked to make our day so special. Natalia was especially wonderful. She helped with every detail big and small, answered countless questions and was incredibly kind and calm each step of the way. Thank you Natalia and everyone at PEM!

We chose the PEM for our 2024 wedding and couldn't be happier with our choice. Natalia was incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and professional.

Long time fans of the museum, we were thrilled to book our event there. We held our ceremony in the East India Hall and the reception in the Atrium, creating an experience filled with art and music for our guests.

The entire PEM staff was terrific; courteous, cooperative and helpful.

Natalia and the entire PEM team were wonderful to work with! From the first tours we had at the museum to picking up our decor and cake the morning after the wedding, we never doubted that we were in good hands. Natalia is an absolute joy to work with: we exchanged so many emails and calls over the course of one year, and she was accommodating and on top of all the little details (like lighting details and where we would do outfit changes between the ceremony and reception).

Not only were the logistics a breeze, our guests were so impressed with the PEM as a venue. They were able to visit the famous Yin Yu Tang (Chinese house) during the day, and each of the rooms and atriums that the wedding was held in were beautifully laid out. We are so, so happy that we were able to hold our wedding at the PEM!

Natalia and the whole staff at PEM are excellent! We feel so lucky to have gotten married at the PEM, and Natalia is a huge reason that our day was so wonderful. She is extremely capable, knowledgeable, and responsive, and made the entire planning process far less stressful. We did not hire a wedding planner which we had worried about, but Natalia goes so above and beyond that we knew we were in good hands. We had multiple calls leading up to the wedding and Natalia was always prepared to answer any question we had. The museum itself is beautiful and historic and makes for a perfect, memorable venue. We had the best time, as did our guests. We cannot recommend the PEM enough!

We came across the PEM as a possibility in one of our final sweeps to find a place, and we are so happy we did! We love Salem, and we remembered that the museum had a lovely space, so we decided to investigate. After visiting the museum with a wedding in mind and speaking with Natalia, the Director of Event Rentals, we knew we had found the right place. We loved that everything was clearly laid out and transparent. Also, since they have an exclusive caterer, they are used to working in tandem, which translated to everything going smoothly on the big day. People always say to expect that something may go not quite as you plan on the wedding day. However, everything went 100% the way it was planned, and we attribute that to the seamless coordination of the vendors that PEM handles. Also, there was so much care in terms of taking care of all our belongings, such as the ketubah, which had to be stored during the reception. We chose the Marine Hall to have the ceremony and the Atrium for the reception, which made the most sense given the size of our wedding party. Since it's in Salem as well, our guests enjoyed taking in all the magic of the Witch City!

The Peabody Essex Museum is an absolutely wonderful venue. It's not just the beautiful space that made our wedding so special but also Natalia and her staff; they were professional, kind, and organized through both the planning and the day of. We also appreciated how upfront they were with information as there wasn't any small text you could miss or info you had to chase down. We will never forget our wedding at PEM. Highly recommended!

Ashley & Brian

The PEM was our first vendor booked and, by far, one of the most memorable aspects for our guests as well as one of our best wedding decisions.

Natalia and her team at the PEM were knowledgeable, flexible, and patient throughout the planning process (we planned the wedding with only minor assistance from an external day-of-coordinator). Despite having so many questions, Natalia did a phenomenal job guiding us through the process. On the day of the wedding, we had many small details, but the PEM team made our wedding day flow flawlessly.

We had a magical evening and couldn't have hoped for a better venue or venue coordinator!

Natalia was fantastic! As a wedding planner planning her own wedding, my fiance and I were looking for a venue that was unique and spoke to us, but also one that had extensive experience with the intricacies of running a wedding.  Natalia and PEM ticked all of these boxes, along with being such an incredibly beautiful building, and an experience that our guests will never forget. Natalia was with us through the whole process, toured us through the space, gave our parents a second tour, and let us come by as much as we needed to plan out our ideas. She was even there overseeing the set up on our day, and made sure to check in with us! Even as a functioning museum having many rules to protect the art, they always worked with us to be as flexible as possible and offered us solutions as needed. We loved our whole experience, and love that we can come back and visit our wedding venue anytime :) Thank you to the whole PEM team, and especially Natalia! 

We chose PEM because it was so different from all the other Wedding Venues that we had ever been to. Natalia is an amazing coordinator that helps bring your wedding vision to life. My husband and I, along with our guests, were blown away when we saw the reception room on our wedding day (the lights, flowers, decor, setup, etc!) - there were a lot of WOWS! There are also so many cool spots for wedding photos. Our guests raved about the food ( short ribs and salmon). We are SO HAPPY we chose PEM as our wedding venue.

Choosing the beautiful Peabody Essex Museum was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding! The PEM staff, especially Natalia, were flawlessly organized and professional. No one ever says your wedding will be “stress-free”, but ours was largely because of how incredible the PEM team is. The Garden Atrium, East India Maritime Hall, and Main Atrium are gorgeous, spacious, unique spaces that blew our guests away and looked stunning in photos. The acoustics for the band in the Main Atrium were wonderful! Just outside the museum entrance is picturesque Salem with so many wonderful spots for first-look photos and a charming vibrant locale. We can’t say enough positive things about PEM, and have no regrets in choosing PEM for our “I do”s!

If you are looking for a nontraditional, absolutely stunning wedding venue, please look no further than the PEM. Getting married in an intimate and elegant setting set the tone for our special day. Natalia is the most knowledgeable and easy person to work with. She was always there to answer our questions, hop on a call, or let us tour the venue multiple times. Natalia also has such a calm presence that is so comforting when wedding planning is so stressful. We always felt like everything would be okay after talking to her. The staff and security were also so kind to us and our guests. Everything about this venue was absolutely perfect.

Everything about this venue is wonderful. The location is perfect, the staff is accommodating, and the overall vibe of the event spaces are exquisite, high end, beauty. My wedding was here 6 months ago and my guests are still telling me it was the best wedding they've ever been too.

Our wedding was in May 2023 - the Peabody Essex Museum was the perfect venue and Natalia made sure everything ran smoothly. I couldn't have imagined a better wedding! We had so many guests come up to us about how beautiful the venue was with all the art and the food was incredible! Salem is also a great area for guests to explore before and after the wedding.

Thank you to Natalia and the PEM team for giving us a day filled with so much love and support - everything was perfect!

Our wedding day was perfect and we have Natalia, the PEM staff and everyone at Gourmet Caterers to thank. Our guests enjoyed being able to view artwork as they walked from the ceremony in the main atrium, to cocktails in the garden atrium and the reception in the East India Hall. I can't wait to see our photographs as there were so many areas both inside and outside of the museum to get beautiful shots. I highly recommend having a wedding at his venue.

We had our wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum in December 2021 (after 2 reschedules during COVID). We chose PEM because it is a unique and beautiful location (not too stereotypically wedding-y) and also offers a pretty turn-key solution for weddings. We used all of the PEM suggested vendors which made planning relatively simple.

Echoing many of the reviews here, Natalia is amazing to work with. She is responsive and patient and she is able to pull from years of experience to provide advice and vendor recommendations. She and the rest of the staff made our wedding night so fun and seamless.

In the end, our guests all said they had a great time and a regular comment was how incredible the space was. 10/10 experience at PEM and I recommend it completely!

When our wedding night finally arrived after two-and-a-half years of planning, there were a lot of emotions -- happy tears from us and the staff who had been on this journey with us through the ups and downs. We were fully taken care of from the moment we stepped inside until the last guest left with Natalia (PEM) and Ann (Gourmet) helping with last-minute to-dos and tweaking the schedule throughout the night to ensure that my husband and I, and all of our guests, had everything we needed to fully enjoy the night without any stress. The venue itself is gorgeous and offers guests an added experience with surprise reveals throughout the space, the food is the highest quality with wide-ranging options, and the staff was both extremely professional and also really fun!

Here's our quick story about the absolute gem that is PEM: While it was admittedly not what we were initially looking for, we immediately knew it was right on our first visit: a unique blend of modern and quite literally historic, which impresses each time you turn a corner from one space to the next. The staff, Natalia in particular, gave us the no-pressure tour and walked us through the whole experience. When we went back to sign the contract, I decided to flip everything on its head to make sure our white-tie wedding was exactly how I envisioned it. They worked with us on every detail and we were all set for our 2020 winter wedding until Covid shut it all down. Natalia worked with us to rebook for NYE (even more exciting) the following year without any issues. Then another round of Covid restrictions. Natalia and their catering partner Gourmet jumped on dozens of calls helping us workshop logistics and backup plans, and in the end, they made us extremely comfortable with whatever direction we ended up taking. Ultimately we pulled the plug for a second time just a week before and immediately rescheduled to Memorial Day Weekend 2022. We worked with Natalia and Ann (from Gourmet) to redesign the winter wedding of our dreams into a summer version. We tweaked the menu, played with the flow of the space, and in the end, we pulled off the perfect night. We're smiling from ear to ear in every photo, and the PEM staff was a big part of that. The way PEM and Gourmet treated us through really difficult times showed their true character to be genuinely invested in their clients' experience.

If you're looking for a venue that feels both impressive but intimate, fancy but not overstated, and unique, at least go take a tour. I feel like the options to personalize it are endless and the backdrops for photos throughout the museum are an added bonus.

Natalia at PEM was flawlessly perfect as our venue coordinator. I had heard so many horror stories about planning weddings from my friends. We had no hiccups, no speedbumps, no derailments - and a large part of that is thanks to Natalia. She was responsive right from day one - she helped us find appropriate vendors - she had amazing ideas but was also totally on board to let us plan our wedding the way we wanted. We met up with her during the rehearsal walkthrough and she told us what most people do ... and then took our unique ideas to heart ... and we came up with a perfect combination of the two. She worked with our vendors and each of them told me what a pleasure she was to talk to. Seriously - if you are in the Salem area and want an amazingly beautiful wedding ... the Peabody Essex Museum is your venue. Take my word for it.

Having our wedding at a museum was such an experience for us and our guests, but especially more so at the PEM. We couldn't get over how beautiful PEM is, and all our guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves, especially in the Chamber of Light and Shadows room. We worked with an amazing team, and Natalia and her team are top tiered - they're all kind, responsive, and are so willing to help make your vision for your dream wedding come true. Definitely recommend them!

We had the most amazing experience working with Natalia and the rest of the team at PEM. Natalia made planning our wedding an absolutely stress-free and joyful process. Our day came together so perfectly, and it was more than anything we could have imagined. Our guests had the most incredible time, and we would get married there all over again if we could!

After Natalia helped work out availability for an evening proposal to end 2020, we knew we wanted to plan our wedding at the PEM as well. Although the pandemic threw a number of challenges our way, Natalia kept every step of planning stress-free. Our wedding was exactly what we wanted, thanks to Natalia's expertise and her team's professionalism. We are so glad that the Peabody Essex Museum is part of our story!

The PEM is a gorgeous setting for a wedding/reception and Natalia Laskaris (Event Director) is a gem to work with! We were in the unfortunate situation of having to postpone a wedding date twice due to Covid. Natalia couldn’t have been more kind and accommodating. When we were finally able to hold the event, the museum staff was absolutely lovely and the rooms we used looked so beautiful. I would highly recommend the museum (and Natalia) for a beautiful and memorable event!

The Peabody Essex Museum is a HIDDEN GEM tucked within the cobblestone streets of Salem! And, it’s the PERFECT VENUE for a wedding! Not only is it a unique venue, but the staff is incredibly kind and knowledgeable, especially Natalia Laskaris (Director of Events). My husband and I were absolutely blown away by Natalia’s composure, professionalism and talent throughout every step of the planning process. We were most notably grateful for some advice she shared in the home-stretch; it truly helped us enjoy every moment of the wedding we worked so hard to plan. We couldn’t have picked a better venue for such an important occasion — mainly because of Natalia!

The Space: The Peabody Essex Museum is a wonderful blank canvas that you have unlimited design options to play with. Whatever theme or look you’re going for; the museum will take it to the next level. I had my doubts on how this very white and “clean” space would be able to transform into a magical and romantic space but as soon as the sun starts setting and the way the lights illuminate the high ceilings and sails…it will take your breath away. Words can’t describe what only photos can show! AND it was a cool feeling being able to party surrounded by history and art. You can take really interesting wedding portraits in different areas of the museum as well so if you’re feeling artistic, edgy or classy; there’s a space that will let you express that! Let your imagination run wild and let the museum be your design canvas!

The team: Natalia and her team are the most gracious, accommodating and friendliest people you’ll ever work with! They will literally work their butts off to make your special day a truly unique experience. They were always transparent, honest and great with communication throughout the planning process. On the day of the wedding, Natalia was always around to make sure my husband and I were well hydrated or fed, she made sure my family and guests were all doing okay throughout the night. When we were thirsty, she gave us water and drinks IN PAPER STRAWS. WE LOVE AN ENVIRONMENTALLY COGNIZANT ORGANIZATION AND ITS COORDINATOR! It made me love her even more, she is the best! This attention to detail only goes to show how much she cares for you, the place and your event so I highly recommend this as one of the most unique and creative venues you’ll ever look at.

Photos by Zev Fisher Photography

We had our wedding at the PEM in September and we were BLOWN away with the venue. When we first booked in the winter we could only use our imagination for what the end results would be. The event coordinator Natalia was by far the easiest person to work with. She had genuine interest in our choices and set up leading to the big event. She cares so much for the venue and does her best at guiding you to make the best choices and puts no pressure on anything. Her responsiveness was extremely fast which made planning so easy. I cannot express enough how beautiful the space was and the crew at PEM was extremely professional. All of our friends and family were amazed with how extravagant the ceremony and reception looked. I love PEM!

We had the most wonderful wedding reception at the PEM. It's a gorgeous space and offered a unique experience for our guests. Natalia Laskaris is incredibly professional and wonderful to work with. She and her team made wedding planning so much easier. We were lucky to have the cocktail hour in the brand new Garden Atrium, which coincidentally had their grand opening the same day as our wedding. PEM pulled off the events seamlessly! I highly recommend this location!

The museum speaks for itself in beauty and elegance. Our wedding was everything we had hoped for with a gorgeous location for both the ceremony and reception. Natalia was an absolute pleasure to work with and so helpful in fulfilling our vision. Every little detail we threw at her, she was able to accommodate and make the night exactly what we wanted. We can't recommend the museum and Natalia enough for anyone looking for the perfect Boston area wedding.

Everything was great - food etc! Natalia was so sweet and we love the museum. It felt more comfortable than the other venues we visited which were more like wedding factories and would focus on spending time gushing over ring, engagement etc (so not us!) Natalia kept it real and we felt much more comfortable with her.

When my husband and I got engaged and began discussing locations for our wedding, the Peabody Essex Museum was top of the list from the start. The transformation of the Atrium from a museum gathering place to cocktail and wedding reception space is like no other. Working with Natalia left us with full assurance that when we and our guests entered the venue everything would be perfect, and it was. Henry was also amazing, taking care of all our lighting requests and even offering his own suggestions, which we loved. From the light projection on the wall and dancefloor, to collaborating with the catering company, greeting us at the front door, and ensuring that we got to take pictures in all the best spots around the museum. We truly could not have asked for a more beautiful location, and an amazing team of staff. It is because of Natalia and her team being so strong, that we were able to simply enjoy the wedding with no worries, and for that we are truly grateful. Our guests were all astounded with the venue, and we knew they would be!

My daughters wedding was beautiful! Natalia and her staff were so professional and made the whole experience a pleasure!
She was extremely responsive and offered so much advice and recommendations I didn't even think of. I would absolutely recommend having a wedding there, it was perfect!

To say we had the most perfect wedding reception at the Peabody Essex Museum would be an understatement. From the first day that we saw the venue, Natalia was super responsive, accommodating, sweet, and flexible with us and what we envisioned for our wedding day. She eased our minds during every step of the way and not only made the planning process easy but enjoyable. When our wedding day arrived, she took care of everything and we were in awe when we walked into the cocktail hour/reception. Everything looked absolutely beautiful and was laid out exactly how we wanted it to be. They did a phenomenal job transforming the space into a stunning room that all of our guests were extremely impressed by. Even three months after the wedding, we are still receiving compliments about how beautiful the venue was and surpassed everyone’s expectations. We are so thankful for everyone at the PEM and highly recommend it!

We got married in July 2018, and we couldn't be more thrilled with our PEM wedding! The Atrium itself is absolutely stunning and photographs beautifully. Our guests were all very impressed! More importantly, we had an amazing experience working with Natalia. She is incredibly sweet, responsive, attentive and reassuring - especially towards the end when the stress of wedding planning really kicked in! She truly cared about making our day perfect, and always made us feel like she was as excited as we were for the big day. Our wedding was exactly what we wanted (and more!), and we owe that to Natalia for her attention to detail and for going above and beyond to make the planning process as easy as possible for us. We can't say thank you enough!!!

I can't say enough about how happy we were to have chosen the Peabody Essex to host our wedding reception. From the start, Natalia was so easy to work with, and put my mind at ease many times throughout the process. Natalia and her team are just amazing. The atrium is just stunning, and we still have guests raving to us about what a fantastic venue it was. If we could do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing!

Our wedding at the PEM in April 2018 exceeded all of our expectations. The venue is spectacular, and Natalia was a true professional in helping us to bring it all together. It was the perfect choice for us. Thank you PEM!

We couldn't be happier about how our wedding reception at the PEM turned out. The space was beautiful, and Natalia and the staff were extremely helpful in making it a beautiful event. The Atruim has a well earned reputation for being a beautiful event space, but until you're in there with the lights down and everything set up, it's hard to fully comprehend how amazing it really is.

From our the earliest days of our planning, Natalia helped us stay on track so that by the day of the event, our vendors knew what to do and we just got to focus on our guests. We didn't need a separate wedding planner because the PEM does such a good job with day of coordination.

As soon as we arrived at the PEM on the day of, they made sure we ate, and the took us into the museum for pictures which was such a cool experience. And for the rest of the event they handled the schedule of things like the first dances and cake cutting, so that all we had to do was have fun.

We highly recommend the PEM and Natalia for your wedding reception (or any event). It was white glove service from start to finish and a spectacular way to celebrate with our friends and family.

The Peabody Essex Museum is a phenomenal venue for many reasons: (1) The atrium is a gorgeous, dramatic, unique space that looks stunning in person and in photos. The architecture is amazing, with high ceilings and windows but it is also neutral so you truly make it your own and you have a lot of options and flexibility for how to decorate. (2) Natalia is fantastic to work with. She has great knowledge of the industry and vendors and gave us really good advice throughout the process. She was also very flexible and accommodated our many requests and vendors despite the added complexity. Everything was perfectly executed on the day of despite some of the complicated logistics involved, and it was in no small part due to Natalia’s level of organization and dedication. (3) Having the wedding in the Museum was really special because we were able to take photos in the museum galleries (though galleries are closed to guests during the reception for good reason) and were able to give our guests museum passes in the welcome bags, and everyone really loved being able to explore the museum during the weekend. (4) The PEM is in a great location where guests can stay at one of the many hotels that are in walking distance of the venue and take advantage of the great restaurants and things to do in the area throughout the weekend. It made everything very easy from a logistical standpoint.

All in all, I highly recommend the PEM for all of the reasons outlined above. It will make for a truly special venue to celebrate your wedding!

My partner and I just hosted our wedding reception at the Peabody Essex Museum. She and could not be happier with our experience. It was stellar! The space was a stunning setting for our reception, and working with Natalia was an absolute pleasure. We had quite a few of our guests (many of whom work in the arts, as we do) comment on how wonderful the museum's atrium setting was, and, they were thankful for the opportunity to be in Salem for the day and take advantage of the museum as well. We used the Hawthorne for a caterer and the planning integration between them and the museum was seamless. Moreover, we wanted to have a masquerade reception, it being October, and Natalia worked with us to make that happen. Finally, Natalia worked with our photographer to get us into a few beautiful gallery spaces for photos after hours. If you are looking for elegance and the arts, all with the beauty and quirkiness of Salem as an environment, look no further than the Peabody Essex Museum.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Natalia Leskaris or the Peabody Essex Museum. The venue is so gorgeous and had the unique, modern, high end vibe I was looking for and it's such a cool contrast from the old cobblestone New England streets outside. Natalia was so easy to work with from our initial meeting throughout. I don't think I would have survived the week of or the day of our wedding without her.

My husband and I got married at the Peabody Essex Museum this August in the Atrium. We were over the moon with the location when we first saw it and it lived up to its first impression. We've heard from many family and friends how much they loved the venue and enjoyed the evening. Not only is the location lovely on its own, but Natalia and her team, as well as Hawthorne Catering, were such an amazing team to work with. Natalia proved us with much insight when we probed her with multiple questions and was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. The PEM team was there every step of the way included the night of, where not only did we have a day of coordinator from PEM, but from Hawthorne catering. We had all hands on deck and the night was successful! We are so grateful for the beautiful location and amazing team and would not change a thing about our big day!

I cannot imagine my wedding reception anywhere other than the Peabody Essex Museum. If you are looking for a gorgeous venue, protected from the elements and flexible for a bigger or smaller crowd, amazing people to work with (Natalia and Liz) and a space that is just totally unique both inside and outside, this is the place.
We had our cocktail hour and reception in the Atrium (cocktail hour in the Atrium spine and reception in the main Atrium). Words do not do it justice – go look at the photos online! The soaring ceilings, the balconies make for amazing photos and my husband and I had fun looking over the cocktail hour while we took a few photos up above. Then you can do your entrance by walking across the balcony and waving down at the whole reception – just awesome! We also took some large group photos on the dance floor looking up at the photographer. The space held 230 people very comfortably (we invited 315) and felt like one big party.
Natalia was amazing from start to finish – she’s super responsive and willing to work with you. We had a kid’s table and she suggested using a table the museum had in their Discovery Center and she even used all blue chairs to match our colors! As we got closer to the wedding, Natalia went over each and every detail with us, entertaining questions from both of us and both of our parents. The day-of, Liz was with us and she was on top of everything.
Although there are a few options for food, we went with Hawthorne, who does the museum’s regular catering as well. Separate review on them (they were awesome, food was amazing), but just to say they work seamlessly with Natalia and the museum, it really feels like one team that is working with you. They are completely in sync.
My husband and I loved Peabody Essex Museum for our wedding day and we also think it is really special that it is a place we will go back and visit for years to come.

Our reception at the Peabody Essex Museum was incredible-the atrium makes a for a beautiful and unique space for a wedding reception. Natalia was so helpful through the entire planning process and took care of every detail for us. We had an amazing wedding thanks to her and the PEM!

I was truly impressed with the PEM. We had 300 people and it did not feel to crowded. We worked with Natalia Laskaris, who could of not been any nicer. She was flexible, accommodating, professional, and kind. She understood what we wanted and worked with us to achieve it. Our guests were impressed with the venue and they loved everything about it.
We would highly recommend this venue A+

My daughter and her husband had their wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum in January of 2016. Although the weather outside was dreadful, the wedding and reception went without a hitch! Natalia Laskaris and her team went above and beyond their duties to have a perfectly coordinated event! The venue is spectacular to the point that it almost doesn’t need any decorations. It elevates any reception to the highest level The couple only had special lighting as decor and the place looked sophisticated and classy. The dancing space is plentiful. I highly recommend the Peabody Essex Museum to any couple looking for their perfect place!

The Peabody Essex Museum was the first of several venues we visited and nothing compares. We had our cocktail hour in the atrium spine and reception in the atrium itself this past August and I'm still getting compliments from guests and vendors. Natalia is the event coordinator at the museum and she is AMAZING. She was so involved with my entire wedding I honestly felt like she was my own personal wedding coordinator. I can't thank Natalia and the whole PEM team enough. If you are looking for a gorgeous venue this is it!!!!!!

If I could give 10 stars I would. Natalia and her team are so responsive, even with me who tended to be quite "organized." The venue is exceptional and they made every little detail seem magical. It was seamless from beginning to end. Every other future event I plan, I want to have at PEM and I want Natalia to plan it.

Natalia and her staff at the PEM are professionals and just great. They made the entire process incredibly easy and stress free, answering any questions we had and helping us with things we hadn't even thought about. The venue itself is incredible and the staff make it all the better.

My husband and I couldn’t be more pleased with our decision to have our wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum! We checked out a few different venues but upon walking into the museum, I knew instantly that this was the place - just a very unique space, with great lighting, and a lot of character. And then we met Natalia (who manages private functions for the museum) and she is just one of the most delightful people I have ever met. I honestly can’t say enough great things about her. Planning and figuring out all the details was not my forte but she was super helpful – answering emails promptly at all hours of the day, putting me at ease, and just there for anything I needed. I told my husband that if she wasn’t already going to be there, I would have wanted to invite her to our wedding! As for the actual wedding day, the museum looked amazing. The lighting in the Atrium was awesome and the dance floor was spacious. So many guests came up to us and commented on how incredible our venue was. We also had access to the Intersections Room and Spiral Staircase for pictures which was just an amazing backdrop and provided us some unique and breath-taking pictures. It was simply perfect! We just loved our wedding! Thanks again to Natalia and PEM!

We don’t even know where to begin when explaining just how amazing the museum and Natalia were throughout the planning process, ending in what could only be described as our picture perfect wedding day. From the moment we first stepped in the museum at our initial visit, we knew it was the spot for our June reception. Once we met Natalia, any possible doubts were erased. Natalia is one of those amazing types of people who just set you at ease the minute you meet her, and our appreciation of Natalia only grew as time went on. She is a calming presence, and always made us feel like we were her top priority; even with all the couples she works with throughout the year! We had boxes upon boxes of reception details (not that they were needed with the beautiful backdrop of the museum!) and Natalia and team made sure it all went off without a hitch. Every single detail was carried out to perfection, which meant a lot to this detail-oriented perfectionist bride! From the rooms (East India for cocktail, atrium for dinner and dancing), to the lighting, to the staff, everything was just amazing. Natalia even made sure to extend our cocktail hour so we could get some amazing photos in the museum. Our guests raved about the unique venue, and we will always have such wonderful memories of our wedding night. We also have to extend a shout out to Jenn, who stuck around for the whole reception and made sure everything continued to run smoothly; she was organized, professional, and so much fun! If you are considering PEM for your wedding, or just poking around for a unique venue, don’t hesitate! Email Natalia, schedule a visit, and we are sure you will fall in love just as we did! We would not change a thing about our day, and Natalia and everyone at PEM are a huge reason for that. Thank you ALL again for everything, it was a night we will never forget! And a special thank you to Natalia for always being so graceful when working with my opinionated family :)

We looked as several museums and libraries in the greater Boston area, but when we walked into the Peabody Essex Museum, my fiance and I looked at each other and said YES at the same time.

Not only is the PEM a beautiful space and an amazing musuem, but their wedding coordinator, Natalia, and her PEM colleagues were immensely helpful. We felt that our thoughts were heard, ideas were offered, communication was easy, and the PEM made it easier for us to create our special day.

Enter our wedding day - it could not have been more perfect. We were married in the East India Marine Hall, cocktail hour was in the atrium spine, and our reception was in the atrium. Every detail had been mapped out to maximize flow of people and attention, and time for food, dancing, visiting, and special moments. Our guests had a wonderful time because the PEM took such great care to make it awesome - and everyone commented that the wedding was so "us".

We used the Hawthorne Hotel Caterers who worked seamlessly with the PEM, and the food was fabulous. What an amazing staff they have, too!

I cannot recommend this venue enough - for both ceremony and reception.

The best part is that when you have a wedding at the PEM, you have to become a member ($100 well spent!). We've already attended special events as members, and since the wedding we've been recognized and congratulated by several of the PEM staff. It feels like "our" museum in a way, in that we created a wonderful set of memories and get to walk back through them together every time we visit.

You can't go wrong with the PEM. Love you guys!

Hosted a fabulous event at the PEM and had a great experience working with Natalia. It’s an amazingly unique venue and the staff made planning our event so easy. Our guests raved about the location and every detail that was handled to perfection. Its also a great value and they work with terrific vendors. Highly recommend!

When searching for a wedding venue, my (now) husband and I knew we wanted a location that was unique. We had visited Salem previously and loved the city. It was not too far away from Boston, and provided out of town guests a nice weekend away. Also, we were both huge art fans, having got engaged at another art museum. Holding our wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum was a no brainer. The venue is truly stunning. We had our ceremony, cocktails, and reception all the museum. The ceremony was in the Atrium, cocktails in the Bartlett & Copeland galleries, and the reception in the East India Marine Hall. Each space flowed very well into the other. In addition to the beautiful location, the staff at the Peabody Essex Museum were fantastic. Natalia was great to work with. She was always available for questions, as well as multiple site visits with various family members. Also, we worked with the in-house caterer, Hawthorne Catering. Working with both the Hawthorne and the Peabody Essex Museum, made planning effortless. These two team up so well together, as the bride, I didn’t have to worry about the details. They are a class A act. Thank you to Natalia and the Peabody Essex Museum, for making our wedding a truly memorable amazing event. I couldn’t of dreamed of anything better!

The Peabody Essex Museum, and in particular our wedding coordinator Natalia Laskaris, did a superb job in helping our dream wedding come true. My wife Jen and I had hoped to be married in a museum given that I proposed to her in one. From the get-go Natalia and the staff of PEM were diligent, courteous, and thorough in making sure all our questions were answered and our needs were met. The result was a stunning occasion - one that left guests in awe of the venue and its overall ambiance.

My wedding at the PEM was everything I could have hoped for and more! Natalia is amazing to work with, extremely helpful in every aspect of the wedding planning process.
Everyone is ver professional and work hard to make the wedding day go smoothly (which mine did! :) )
The pictures you will get from using the PEM as your wedding venue are worth a million dollars. It is just stunning there! The rooms transform but still keeps the museums natural beauty present. I would HIGHLY recommend every bride to have their wedding at the PEM, it was an absolute dream
Come true!!!!

Natalia and her staff were so helpful throughout all the planning and the night of everything ran so smoothly. We loved how the museum offered a unique experience for our guests and a million different photo opportunities for us. The food from Hawthorne was really good and the vendors all work so well together. I would choose them all over again in a heartbeat.

The PEM Is amazing and so is Natalia and her staff at the museum along with the Hawthorne's staff and catering. It was the most perfect night. Everyone was happy and all the details and planning paid off beyond my imagination. The pre wedding meeting was great and so helpful because they knew exactly what I wanted and planned it all perfectly. When I saw the East India Marine room done up for my wedding I was speechless. it was as though I had set it up myself because it was just as perfect as I wanted it to me. Natalia was so accommodating and helpful. I could go on and on but you just need to see the room to know how beautiful it is. My guests all raved about it that it was like being in a time warp and just not having to think about anything because there was so much to see and look at. I am still reliving the night and so happy!

OK first of all, I was a big ol' dummy and thought getting married in FEBRUARY in NEW ENGLAND would not be a problem, weather-wise. Planning the wedding up until that point had been a breeze, with Natalia (our wedding coordinator) basically being a reassuring big sister the whole way through. Unfortunately, the weather turned abysmal and we were on pins and needles, wondering if we'd have to cancel our dream wedding due to the snow. However! True to form, and exceeding our expectations, the PEM and Natalia came through, generously allowing guests to use staff parking when a parking ban went into effect. All our guests had a wonderful time, and were totally unaware of the blizzard conditions outside! The only major snafu was our wedding cake collapsing (through no fault of the PEM or Hawthorne Catering staff!), and even then, every single PEM/Hawthorne representative was calm, cool, and collected.

The PEM is an amazing wedding and reception venue - we had lots of options to choose from when it came to lighting, linens, and space. Everything was beautiful, and perfect, and I couldn't have asked for a better wedding. ALSO NATALIA IS THE GREATEST.

Amazing venue, staff, and event planner! Natalia was wonderful throughout the planning process, and the day of. She made us feel relaxed, and helped make our wedding day more than we could ever dream of. The venue is a standout- you really can't go wrong!

The museum and the team worked all year leading up to our wedding to make it the most spectacular night. Natalia was a dedicated and amazing coordinator. She genuinely wanted our night to be perfect. We also received a lot of feedback from our guests. Regarding the museum, we had multiple people remark on how it was the most amazing venue they have ever been in for a wedding - it also captured our personalities perfectly. We used East India Marine Hall for the ceremony, the spine for cocktail hour and the Atrium for our reception. Natalia worked very hard to accommodate our large number and in the end, it seemed a lot more spacious than we had anticipated, including the dance floor. We also worked with the electrician at the museum to make our lighting and projections perfect. Thanks Henry! The caterer/venue relationship was very noticeable because it was seamless. Communication with our photographer and DJ beforehand and during was amazing and helped the outcome to be as great as it was.

We held our wedding at PEM in August of 2015 (with Hawthorne Catering) and we were so happy with the venue and its team. The museum itself is so unique and we loved that we could have a modern look at cocktail hour in the Atrium and then a more traditional but still interesting look in East India Marine Hall for the Reception. We also took pictures in the Asian Garden which look fantastic. It's such a great venue in that it's sophisticated but not stuffy and there is lots for your guests to look at. Plus there are a number of hotels, b&bs and churches within walking distance. But even more importantly, their team is awesome. Natalia is so friendly, so organized and so helpful - I felt like I was in great hands from the start and she happily put up with my many post-it notes and directions for the day of the wedding. She was always quick to respond to my questions and coordinated everything perfectly the day of so I had nothing to worry about. Jen and the rest of her team also made sure everything ran smoothly all night and even noticed that I left my grandmother's pin on my bouquet and put it aside for me at the end of the night. Once we looked at PEM we knew it was the spot for us and we were thrilled with the way everything turned out!

The venue, the staff (Natalia, Liz), are all of the utmost quality. Our guest list consisted of folks from all over the world (fact, not bragging) and almost each and every one of them were more than politely effusive of the Museum as a perfect place to celebrate a wedding. They led us gently through the entire process; were there for us when we had questions or concerns; and they dealt with all concerns in a precise and rational manner, all the while keeping an anxious family (us) on a steady and excited keel.
And the final setup was BREATHTAKING. Truly special.

Trying to find a great venue for our rehearsal dinner in Salem, we stumbled upon the Peabody Essex thanks to word-of-mouth. Depending on the size of the dinner, they have a few options of rooms. We had our dinner in the Bartlett Gallery, which also allowed us to use the garden, which was absolutely beautiful. We did our rehearsal in the Atrium, which is large, bright and was great for the number of people with us. The catering was by the Hawthorne Hotel and let me tell you, this was one of the most delicious catering experiences I have ever had. The appetizers were so good I pretty much just filled up on them before the dinner. The catering and museum staff were friendly, helpful and overall wonderful to work with for our dinner. I would have an event here again in an instant and would not change anything about the experience. I can't speak more highly of how happy we all were with the Peabody Essex.

This venue could not have been more perfect!

Our wedding was absolutely perfect thanks to the Peabody Essex Museum. A truly unique venue and so wonderful to work with. Natalia the event coordinator made planning fun and easy and all of the staff at the PEM the day of the wedding were extremely professional, friendly, and helpful. Our guests raved about the museum. We highly recommend the PEM for a wedding or event!

The Peabody Essex Museum is simply a phenomenal venue. This past August, my husband and I held our ceremony in East India Marine Hall, our cocktail hour in the Atrium Spine, and our reception in the Atrium; we loved this arrangement and would strongly recommend it. Two months after the wedding, our guests are still commenting on how beautiful the venue was and how smoothly the events of the day unfolded.

We credit that seeming "effortlessness" to Natalia and her team. Particularly in the weeks leading up to the wedding, I was struck by how well she communicated with our vendors, especially our caterer (The Catered Affair). There really was no need to hire a wedding coordinator; Natalia coordinates everything marvelously. Under her guidance, the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception were all seamless. Consequently, we could really just enjoy our wedding day, and for that, we are enormously grateful.

The moment I saw pictures of the PEM, I instantly fell in love with the space. It was completely mesmerizing, unique & had an elegance about it that truly took my breath away. As soon as I had a chance I reached out to the Manager of Private Functions & Rentals, Natalia; never expecting that I would be greeted by one of the kindest, most accommodating & thoughtful people I would have ever met. Natalia is not only extremely knowledgeable and competent in her role but she also helps to create a full experience for the bride and groom, making them always feel like they are the only couple she is working with.When I went to visit the museum I immediately knew this was the perfect venue. The atrium was modern, sophisticated and really had Erica (me) written all over it. When we walked up the spiral staircase into the East India Marine Hall, I was blown away by the grandness of the room, the breathtaking arch windows & the old world feel. This room had my husband written all over it. I had truly found the perfect blend in this space for us. The cocktail hour space was the icing on the cake. It would be hosted in one of the museums beautiful art galleries which also led out into a vibrant garden. From that moment on, everything was seamless. I knew all of our guests were going to be blown away by the exquisite details of the museum, and they were. I cannot tell you how many guests told me that “this was by far the most beautiful wedding they had ever been too”. Now even months later we still receive tons of compliments from our guests about great everything was. However, I cannot say that I have been completely surprised when I hear these compliments, because what our guests experienced that evening was exactly what my husband and I had been experiencing over the past year. Professionalism, impeccable customer service, incredible attention to detail, an amazing setting & by far the best wedding manger that we could have ever asked for!!We highly recommend the PEM!

My wedding reception was held at PEM on May 31, 2014 and it was the best day of my life. The second my husband and I walked into the museum we knew it was "the place". The atmosphere and setting is amazing, you can't help but fall in love with it.Natalia Laskaris is expectational, she was always on top of things and very responsive whenever we had questions. She made the process of planning a wedding very easy.She wanted our day to be perfect and stress free and its exactly how things turned out. Everything was perfect, every time I look at our wedding photos it brings a smile to my face. I recommend the PEM to soon to be brides all the time!!!

We recently had our wedding this past September at the Peabody Essex Museum. Our ceremony was held in the East India Marine Hall followed by cocktail hour in the atrium spine and the reception in the atrium. Everything was absolutely perfect and exceeded our expectations. Natalia, the special events coordinator is an absolute dream to work with. From the first email I ever sent her to the minute I walked down the aisle she was available to answer all of my questions. Working with her made our wedding planning absolutely stress-free.

The PEM is a spectacular wedding venue. If you are looking for some place unique, look no further. It will certainly be a wedding to remember!

I had my wedding at the PEM in June, and from the moment I booked the venue (a whole year before) to the day of the wedding, my experience was absolutely wonderful.

Let me count the ways. First, the wedding planner at PEM, Natalia Laskaris, is THE. BEST. She is so friendly, knowledgeable, reassuring, helpful, and competent. After meeting her, my then-fiance (who was rather anxious about the wedding) told me he felt a million times better, because he could tell that she knew what he was doing.

Second, communication with the venue was so fast and easy. Any doubts and questions I had were answered immediately.

Third, the venue is AMAZING. I had my ceremony in the East India Marine Hall and my reception in the Atrium. We got dozens of compliments after the wedding about how beautiful the museum was, and about how professional the staff were.

By the way, I highly recommend booking the catering from Hawthorne Hotel if you choose this venue, as PEM and HH work together like a well oiled machine!! Oh, and book Ned Jackson photography too. :)

I LOVE YOU PEM! Thank you for making my day perfect.

From the day my husband and I first looked at PEM to our wedding day our expectations were always surpassed. Natalia Laskaris is the event coordinator- she is helpful, efficient and exudes competence. We liked her as much as the venue! We knew we could trust them for our wedding day. The rooms and staff were perfect on our wedding day. If I was planning my wedding again I would 100% still pick PEM. (note we had our ceremony at the Immaculate Conception Church and our cocktail hour and reception at PEM).

We had our rehearsal dinner here, and it was stunning! This is an incredible venue, and the food was excellent. There is only one caterer to choose from, which is not ideal; however they did an outstanding job customizing a menu to our vision and serving delicious food!

I highly recommend the lovely Peabody Essex Museum wedding reception venue based upon my recent positive experience with Natalia Laskaris, the Manager of Private Functions & Rentals and her team. Natalia is friendly, experienced and professional and coordinated a wedding reception which was beyond our expectations. She was very responsive to our planning questions and worked seamlessly with our vendors, including the Hawthorne Catering team (under Lindsay Otis and Liz) which provided fabulous service and delicious quality food and beverages. The Museum venue has that WOW factor which impressed our guests and provided unique photo opportunities and wonderful memories. Our cocktail reception was held in the dramatic Atrium room with dinner and dancing in the historic East India Marine Hall. The Museum is in close walking distance to the Hawthorne Hotel and Salem Waterfront Hotel which made for a wonderful wedding weekend experience with our guests. A constructive point of attention for future brides is that the Museum shuts down sharply at the end of the night. As such, if there is an interest in having an after-hour gathering with your guests, I would suggest meeting with local area bar/restaurant management in advance to confirm their ability to accommodate such a gathering. The Salem hotels have strict quiet policies and the local/hotel bars which we had understood would be open late were closed the night of our wedding. Overall, we were very happy with our wedding reception and our friends and family are still raving about the event several months later. We wish we could do it again!

I cannot say enough good things about the PEM. Nor can I say enough about the help and value of Natalia Laskaris. From the moment I said Yes to the moment I said I do, I felt that there was nothing left out. Our needs were attended to with a very subtle and easygoing manner that made it feel as though all of the details that were in our wedding occurred organically, and naturally. From the table setting to the food, every detail was top notch. There were occasions where we felt as though we may have been in over our heads planning things. However, the staff, and more importantly Natalia offered plenty of solutions that worked for our special event. When you make a decision to have your wedding at the PEM, you have made a decision to put your trust in a beautiful venue that really produced the most perfect day! What is more exciting than the ease of planning, and all of the support was the event, and the reaction of the event to our family and friends. We have had so many compliments regarding the venue, the food, the ceremony, and all of that was made possible by Natalia and the illustrious staff of the PEM! Well done indeed!

Our July wedding at the PEM was absolutely AMAZING. I can’t put into words how gorgeous and unique the space is. Natalia and Lindsay (Hawthorne Catering) were so helpful. From the day that we showed up and wanted to see the space, until the very end of the reception. The PEM and Hawthorne went above and beyond in accommodating us. After our final meeting on the day before the wedding, I felt relaxed knowing that everything was going to be awesome. We were able to enjoy the whole wedding day without a single worry. I knew that I could trust their expertise and I am an event planner! Everything went off without a hitch, the evening was perfect. The only glitch in the wedding day was the fact that I had the most uncomfortable shoes. They were killing me, to the point where I could not walk. Natalia saw that I was uncomfortable, ran up to her desk and got me 2 pairs of her own sandals that she let me borrow for the evening. She truly saved my day… I am not joking! Natalia is the best- I know that most people would not have done what she did, and it is something that I will always remember. There are also so many great picture oppurtunities all around (inside and outside) of the PEM. The East India Marine Hall is so beautiful in itself that you don’t need to go crazy with a ton of your own decorations (which takes away a lot of unnecessary stress!) The PEM is THE most perfect spot to have a wedding reception; I have received so much great feedback from everyone who attended. It makes us both happy and confident that we chose the museum to celebrate our wedding with our 200 guests. It is a really neat place that people of all ages appreciate. I would highly recommend the museum, and I am still so thankful to have had such a great support team at the PEM and Hawthorne Catering. Also, they were so kind to our other vendors, which is always helpful! No other wedding will ever compare to our own celebration at the PEM. I wish I could do it all over. Thank you!

I can't say enough great things about PEM, Natalia and her entire team. We had our coctail hour in the Atrium and our reception in East India Marine Hall. Not only is the venue stunning and unique, everyone at PEM was extremely flexible and went out of their way to make sure that everything would be exactly as we wanted it. Compared to other venues we saw, we thought it was a great value as well. We just received our professional photos and the whole museum photographs beautifully. We were absolutely thrilled with everything about the museum and we can't wait to go back and visit.

Beautiful location and amazing event coordination. Our wedding at the PEM couldn't have been more perfect from start to finish thanks to Natalia Laskaris, the Museum's event coordinator, who handled everything expertly and graciously from start to finish.

We cannot say enough about how great our wedding was at the Peabody Essex Museum. The support and cooperation leading up to the wedding was exceptional. The best part was working with Natalia, she exceeded all expectations. Natalia gave up her Friday night to help with our ceremony rehearsal even though we were not having the ceremony at the PEM. Highly recommend with no reservations!!!

Getting married at the PEM is the single best decision we made in our wedding planning process! First of all, the space is so striking and unique--we got married in the East India Marine Hall, had cocktails in the Bartlett/Copeland galleries and patio, and our reception was in the atrium. The spaces are just beautiful and make for striking photos. But most of all, working with Natalia made the process so easy. She was responsive, flexible (for example, it was 95 degrees the day of our wedding and she let us wait until 2pm on the day of the wedding to decide whether cocktails would be outside or inside), and beyond professional. Her staff is also amazing.

My wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum was a dream come true. It is an absolutely gorgeous venue (we had the ceremony in the East India Marine Hall) and the reception in the Atrium, with an amazing amount of character. There are beautiful locations for pictures, an ideal space for the bridal party to wait - and Natalia is a joy to work with. She is helpful, responsive, flexible and so kind. She helped us out with extra flexibility to set up, handled our rehearsal beautifully and was the ideal liasion throughout the process. I wouldn't have had my wedding anywhere else. Choose the PEM, you will not regret it!

HIGHLY recommend this place for a reception - it's amazing in every way!! Thank you so much!

My Husband and I had our wedding reception in the East India Marine Hall with the cocktail reception in the Atrium. Words can not explain how picture pefect it was. As soon as we saw the hall and atrium on our tour we knew no other place we looked at could ever mesure up and boy were we right! We went home that night and talked about the dates and booked it immediately. Working with Natalia made it all seem too easy. She was so phenomenal to work with, she was so accommodating with everything and took the stress away! When the big day came, walking into both the atrium and East India Marine Hall took my breath away. I had to keep pinching myself that this was real, it just seemed like it was straight from a movie, we got so many comments on how it was the absolute nicest wedding our guests have been to.

We used the Hawthorne Hotel for catering, Lindsay Otis, just like Natalia, took the stress away! She made everything so easy, and was there for all of our questions and requests without any hesitations. When we had our tasting, she was sitting at our table and told us all of our options and all the information we needed to know. The hardest part was deciding on what dishes to offer our guests! You seriously cannot go wrong with ANYTHING they offer! We go so many comments on how incredible the food was, from the hor dourves to the salad to the appetizers and so on, everyone wanted more of everything! The service was beyond impeccable, the staff was so attentive to everyone and knew where each person was who had a food allergy and went over how their meal is going to be cooked and served.

Natalia and Lindsay were there from start to finish, they made our wedding day better than we have imagined it could be. We were shown what a dream wedding was like. I could go on for days about how great everything was, so just know your dream wedding will be in great hands when you choose the Peabody Essex Museum!

My daughter's wedding was this fall. We had 8 months to plan and after looking at several locations on the North Shore we decided on the PEM. Natalia couldn't have been nicer or easier to work with. The wedding was perfect from the beginning to the end. I didn't have to think of one thing other then having a great time. The PEM is a beautiful large space with awesome artifacts that are so true to our northshore history. Our guests were more then complimentary to the whole affair. Coctails in the Bartlett Gallery and reception in the East India Marine Hall. Both rooms are so unique and beautiful. Can't thank everyone enough for a truly beautiful night.

If have your wedding/reception at the Peabody Essex Museum you will not be disappointed! The place is unique and beautiful and the staff are excellent to work with. I got married in April of 2012 and 8 months later people are still talking about how beautiful the wedding was and what a great time they had.

The museum has a great list of prefered vendors to choose from for music, catering, florists, photographers, etc. It made it much easier to find quality vendors that work well with the venue and fit a variety of price ranges.

Also, the location was great, especially for my out-of-town guests, or guests that just like to party! There are two hotels just a short walk from the museum so we didn't need to provide a shuttle bus to the hotels. Also, there are lots of things to see in and do. My relatives from out of state enjoyed visiting the witch museums and other historic areas, shopping and eating in the Pickering Wharf area, and the Peabody Essex Museum itself. All just a short walk!

My husband and I had our wedding reception at the PEM this past May. Our day was perfect in most part because of the PEM and Natalia Laskaris. From the first meeting with Natalia I knew that I wanted to have our reception at the PEM just because she was so nice and easy to work with. Even when we were faced with problems or difficult decisions, Natalia was right there with us, helping us through them. Our guests were so impressed by the space and proffesionalism of the staff. I would definitely recommend the PEM as a wedding venue!

We were so happy that we chose the PEM for our wedding venue, after looking at 10+ different sites around the Boston area. The PEM is a unique, special, classy place with great history and beautiful architecture. We wanted a wedding venue with character and meaning and we found that in the PEM. Our experience with the PEM was even more special because of the event coordinator, Natalia Laskaris. Natalia was professional, caring, kind, knowledgable and calm throughout our year-long planning process. She responded to our countless emails quickly and always answered our questions, making us feel like we were a top priority. Natalia helped coordinate all of our vendors and communicated with them in the days leading up to our wedding, so everyone was on the same page. She went above and beyond what we were expecting and was an absolute pleasure to deal with. The PEM is lucky to have Natalia!

If you decide to book the Peabody Essex Museum, keep in mind you are hiring all vendors on your own. Your payment to the PEM guarantees you the gallery space, tables and chairs but that's about it. You have to choose from a list of 5 or 6 catering companies and you have NO choice about the alcohol vendor (you have to use the Hawthorne Hotel/Catering). This worked out well for us, because we got to pick and choose the vendors we liked and really were able to plan our wedding with our personal style in mind.

The PEM is a great venue. All of our guests were amazed by the space (we had guests from NYC, DC, France, London, etc. and many said they have never seen such an amazing and unique). We had the cocktail hour upstairs in the East India Marine Hall and the reception downstairs in the atrium. We had amber uplighting which made the space amazing. Natalia was a pleasure to work with and the museum was very accommodating. We had the ceremony in a private residence and PEM easily accommodated our plan to have the PEM as our rain back up (luckily we did not need it!).

We recently had our wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum. After struggling to find a venue in Boston (where we live) that wasn't a generic hotel, wasn't hugely overpriced, wasn't too tiny for our big families, and didn't have any other weird deal-breakers, we started to look outside the city and immediately found PEM. We'd visited the museum a few times before and knew how beautiful it was. As soon as we visited to look at it as a potential wedding venue, we knew we'd found our place! It's absolutely gorgeous. Natalia was incredible to work with from start to finish. She was responsive, organized, helpful, positive, and enthusiastic. She always had an answer to my many, many questions! Her staff on the night of the event was wonderful, too. They got every detail right, and we didn't have to think about a thing except enjoying our wedding! I can't recommend PEM more highly!

Our wedding at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA was on May 12, 2012 and it was the picture perfect evening. Natalia Laskaris, the wedding coordinator at the PEM is top notch. Everything went off without a hitch and was absolutely beautiful. From the first day I met Natalia I knew my wedding day would be perfect. Not only is one of the nicest wedding coordinators I have ever met she is very organized, easy to contact, quick to respond, and has a love for the PEM which makes each function she hosts special. The entire staff at the museum was so accommodating, professional, and nice. Lindsay Ottis at the Hawthorne hotel and her staff, especially Elena and all the bar and wait staff were impeccable. The meal was delivered fast but with personal service that our guest have never encountered at a wedding. Not to mention that the food from the hors d'oeuvres to the entrees were delicious. Coupling the PEM with the Hawthorne Hotel's food and bar service was a winning combination. Natalia and Lindsay work so well together, you are guaranteed a perfect night! Both vendor's staff work seamlessly together to put on a flawless event at the museum. The setting of the East India Marine Hall is so unique and breathtaking. I can not thank everyone enough that had a hand in making our day perfect! I highly recommend the PEM for a unique and memorable wedding!

Natalia was amazing and the museum was such a beautiful spot. Natalia was able to answer any question we had and help with every last minute issue that popped up. She was wonderful to work with.

My husband and I had our wedding this past September at the PEM. I was searching for a unique, elegant, and breathtaking venue. The PEM was everything and more! Our ceremony was in the Atrium, cocktail hour in the Bartlett Gallery, and reception in the East India Marine Hall. All of our guests said that our wedding was THE BEST and would never forget the experience of having dinner and dancing in such a beautiful setting. One of the best parts of my experience with the museum was Natalia Laskaris, she is the best vendor that I encountered. You can tell that she truly loves what she does and is so calm that she can have such a soothing effect on nervous brides and grooms. She is extremely knowledgeable about what the museum can offer and goes out of her way to accommodate every request no matter how big or small. She replied promptly to every call or email and had no problem meeting us in person when he stopped by the museum to scope things out during the planning process. We had a family friend as the Officiant who was not well versed on how the ceremony should flow, however Natalia had no issue with stepping right in and running the rehearsal when her help was needed without ever over stepping her boundaries. She really helped make our wedding the most important night of our lives and I would never dream on changing a thing.

I couldn't say enough wonderful things about the Peabody-Essex Museum and Natalia. The museum is such a unique and beautiful location for a wedding. Natalia and her team were fantastic through the planning phase and on the day of. When the location of our ceremony had to be changed several months before the wedding (due to unforseen construction), Natalia bent over backwards to ensure that our new ceremony venue was perfect. My husband and I and our friends and family could not have had a better time! Everyone is still talking about what a wonderful wedding it was! I highly recommend the PEM!

The best place to have your wedding! Natalia was very attentive, professional and pretty much awesome from beginning to end. Only reason our wedding went perfectly was because of Natalia and many thanks to her and the museum.

We had our reception in the Atrium at PEM. It is so beautiful! All of my guests told me how great it was because it is such a different place. If you're not the guilded ballroom type, this is a must see.

Natalia is the BEST to work with. She is calm and kind and truly so easy to deal with. It was a wonderful experience!

Natalia was the best. She put us extremely at ease, and was always very responsiveness and helpful. The venue was GORGEOUS.