Penn Museum Reviews
Reviews
4.9 out of 5 rating
4.9 out of 5 rating
75 Reviews
99% recommend it
Awards
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![Kat]()
Kat Sent on 04/06/2022Wedding of our Dreams
To say that the Penn Museum went above and beyond for us on our wedding day would be a complete understatement. Let me tell you — this venue and their dream team were beyond exceptional, Attiya and Jenn in particular! Where to start.
First - the Museum itself is stunning! The pictures don’t do it justice. Located in the heart of University City, Philadelphia on UPenn’s campus - the museum was such a creative and special place for us to tie the knot. Rich with history and stories of cultures from across the world, when Attiya showed us around we knew immediately that this was the place. I’ll get to this miracle worker in a second but first I wanna hit on our truly magical run-of-show. The Museum staff gave us two classrooms to prep once we arrived - super clutch for sprucing up, any costume changes, and a safe space to keep our stuff. We did our photos beforehand with hair and makeup fresh and ready to go in the back Stoner Courtyard by the fountain which was perfect. We were greeted with a plate of cheese and wine and an Attiya there to help settle our nerves with reassurance that all prepped and that the ceremony would go off without a hitch. Then we were off to the races! We got married in the Warden Garden with our parents walking us down the gorgeous steps from the main entrance of the building with the beautiful Coy pond adjacent to our entrance. After that, while everyone made moves to the reception on the main floor in the Sphinx Gallery, my new wife and I snuck away to the rooftop for a moment to ourselves with some bubbly. From there we joined our guests for cocktails and passers in the Sphinx Gallery with speeches there from our Maid of Honor and Best Man on the side steps. After that we headed up to the most magical dinner of our lives. You’ve probably seen the Chinese Rotunda online. It was simply breathtaking with the lighting and florals. We did our first dance upon our entrance (gotta be a slow dance because of the delicate statues) and then our parent dances after the first course. Cut the cake, and then danced the night away in the Egypt Gallary next door. We closed up the night with hot Philly pretzels and made our exit under sparklers in the Warden Garden where we’d just been married a few hours ago - facilitated by the amazing Penn Museum Staff.
That brings me to one of the most important parts of this review. Attiya. Wow. This woman is one of the most organized, get shit done no matter what, intelligent, people I’ve ever met. Eager to problem-solve with her astute knowledge having organized weddings for couples many times before - we leaned on her wisdom through the duration of our planning. Also she is an awesome human being who we really enjoyed being around. A good thing for us because we had so many questions with planning around COVID and making things work with our guests, vendors, and run-of-show. Let me tell you, planning a wedding during a pandemic is not for the faint of heart. Attiya was responsive, honest, straight forward yet kind - and very obviously knew what she was doing. It felt like she truly wanted our wedding day to be as fabulous as we did, almost like a friend or family member would. Attiya is a great leader and we are so grateful she was there to guide us through the planning and day of. Sometimes we’d be like … let’s do this! And she’d be like, I like that but here are some things to think about based on what I’ve seen. (SO HELPFUL!) She’d listen to our ideas and always try to make it work. Attiya made our day so special. We simply couldn’t have done it without her.
We did our catering with CxRA and were blessed beyond measure to have Jenn lead the way on this hugely important piece. She helped us create a innovative and delicious signature cocktail for the reception and helped us piece together everything from the bar menu, to the apps, to the cake, to the full dinner itself. Jenn organized a menu that blew us away and presented us with options that utilize fresh, local ingredients, by chefs who care deeply about getting it right. The food represented a tireless dedication to quality and Jenn was there to ensure every aspect of our catering went off without a hitch. Our reception apps were AMAZING:
- Jumbo lump crab cake
- Maine lobster
- Jumbo shrimp cocktail
- Creekstone farm beef tenderloin
- Smoked gouda
- Garlic glazed chicken Starters
For dinner we served:
- Barolo Braised Beef Short Rib, Olive Oil Whipped Potatoes, Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Cipollini Onions, Aged Balsamic
- Miso Glazed Salmon, Ginger Carrot Puree, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, 5 Spice Red Wine Reduction
- Ricotta Tortellini, San Marzano Tomato & Butter Emulsion, Pecorino, Toasted Bread Crumbs, Basil
Our party desserts were:
- Dark chocolate ganache
- Caramel cheesecake
- Lime Coconut Cream Tart, Mango
- Mini apple pie
*This worked great because everyone got some sweet treats as we moved to the dance party … and then upon their departure got bags of our cake at the exit door! (We did the traditional thing and saved a layer of our cake to enjoy on our anniversary.)
As you can imagine … the food was one of the best parts of the wedding. It was also an aspect that we didn’t really worry much about after the tasting with Jenn. We knew this woman had everything covered and that the food would be amazing. Believe me - it was!
This review is already way too long and I’m not even close to finished but I will close with this. We had the wedding of our dreams at the Penn Museum. If you’re looking for good people and the most magical spot to make the promise of a lifetime before your family and friends? This place is next to none. 10/10 stars. You won’t be disappointed. We’re 6 months out and already eager to plan a vow renewal so we can do it all again!
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Molly Sent on 06/10/2023
Perfect All in One Venue
When looking at wedding venues we knew that we wanted somewhere that could host all of our wedding day events - ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. But we also wanted a venue that would wow our guests. The Penn Museum was the first place we looked and all other venues fell short of its beauty and the energy, professionalism, and enthusiasm of event staff. Our coordinator, Allison, was helpful throughout the whole planning process - she was responsive and accommodating, offering to take us around as many times as we needed. Our wedding day ran smoothly in large part due to her and her catering counterpart, Grace. If you are looking for a one of a kind wedding experience with a truly wonderful staff, look no further than the Penn Museum. -
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Carolyn W. Sent on 06/30/2022Incredible venue!
We are so happy that we went with the Penn Museum for our wedding venue. The Warden Gardens was gorgeous for the ceremony and cocktail hour. The guests were SO wowed by the Chinese Rotunda and Egyptian Gallery for the reception. Guests kept coming up to us and saying this was the coolest wedding venue they’ve ever been to! The events team was awesome - Atiya and Angela answered all our questions and were so helpful. Jenn on the CxRA catering team was very accommodating and the food was delicious - like the best wedding meal ever, definitely recommend getting the arancini appetizer! We can’t say more positive things about the venue and the team. -
![UKJM]()
Ukjm Sent on 03/28/2020Oh what a night!
We could not have been more happy with our wedding at the Penn Museum! Atiya (Penn Museum) and Jamie (CxRA catering) were such a pleasure to work with and ensured that everything went perfectly on the big day!
We had an October 2019 ceremony in the Stoner Courtyard, followed by cocktails in the Warden Garden, then dinner in the Chinese Rotunda, and dancing in the Egypt Gallery and definitely recommend this flow to the evening. Our -225 guests were blown away by the venue, the food and the staff. They remarked that it was a great experience exploring the museum during the cocktail hour. Jamie and the chefs were able to provide some delicious South Asian-inspired dishes, which our guests loved.
Both Atiya and Jamie were always available to answer questions we had about the venue and ensured that we stayed on top of things during the planning process. Our favorite part about getting married at the Penn Museum, beyond it going better than we could have ever imagined, is that we’ll forever be able to return to the museum and walk around as guests reliving the night.
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Jackie D. Sent on 10/03/2019
Beautiful and unique venue
The Penn Museum staff and catering team were amazing and our wedding turned out better than we could ever imagine. The museum's indoor and outdoor spaces are beautiful and give you flexibility to customize your event. The food is truly restaurant quality - our guests raved about this for days after the wedding. Our museum and catering coordinators (Hladini and Jamie, the best!) were very responsive and anticipated our needs. Could not have asked for a better day! I would also suggest using the recommended vendors as they are familiar with the unique spaces, lighting/sound needs, and design elements. -
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Haoxiao Sent on 10/03/2019
Great experience!
We had so much fun hosting our wedding in Penn Museum. The venue is very charming, with a touch of old antique and nice tall ceiling. We worked with Hladini and Jamie on the venue and catering. I have to say that working with them gave me the best assurance and I couldn't thank them enough of the support they provided. The venue was elegant, the food was delicious, and the service was superb. -
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![Katie]()
Katie L. Sent on 10/10/2019Do yourself a favor and get married here
I got married in March 2019 and people are still talking about 2 things- how amazing the Penn Museum is as a wedding venue and how delicious the food was. Atiya and Michelle were amazing to work with. From the start they had amazing recommendations on DJs, cake, how the day should flow- they just made it super easy, including handling last minute (like less than 24 hours) changes to the guest list. The catering staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating to our guests.
If anything went not to plan (and I seriously doubt that the team at the Museum would let that happen, but, you know, stuff happens), neither my husband nor I knew about it, that’s how seamless the day was. -
Kate V. Sent on 04/11/2019
Wedding of our dreams!
This museum holds a special place in our hearts. Bill and I had our first date, walking through the beautiful halls and exhibits in spring of 2014 and he later proposed to me in the Chinese Rotunda on 2/24/18. When researching venues, I initially thought that the Penn Museum would be way out of our budget . I did a bit of research and found the Sweet and Simple Ceremony and contacted Hladini Mensah
Hladini answered all of my annoying questions and countless emails. She helped ease our nerves and even held one of our bags that held my spare shoes.
Our Simple and Sweet ceremony was held in the Upper Egyptian Gallery on a beautiful Thursday in November. It was a perfect day! -
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Morgan Sent on 10/20/2017I truly can’t recommend the Penn Museum more highly. Working with Atiya and Michelle was an absolute pleasure. They made every aspect of planning this huge event a joy. We feel incredibly lucky to have had such a thoughtful, professional, and talented crew as part of our big day. Guests are still talking about how magical the wedding was!! They are so flexible (don’t have to call indoor vs outdoor til 10am the morning of) and were super accommodating to any request. We had a wedding with 155 guests in October. The ceremony was in Pepper Hall/Buddhism Gallery, cocktail hour in Lower Egypt, dinner in the Chinese Rotunda, and dancing in Upper Egypt. Our guests faces when they walked into each room were PRICELESS. We were initially a little worried about having an in house caterer but CXRA is absolute best case scenario. The food was fantastic. If we had chosen a different venue I would have wanted to pay them to come to us! I also highly recommend using Philly Star Events for your DJ and for lighting. They are experts in this unique venue. We had Kaitlyn Phillips as our day/month-of coordinator and I cannot speak more highly of her. I had ZERO stress on my wedding day, no lie! Our wedding day will forever be so special and even the guest photos are spectacular because the museum is so lovely!
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Sarah Sent on 01/05/2018We couldn't have asked for a better venue. In fact we got this place by luck. I had an 8 month planning session (which apparently is fairly difficult). It just so happened an even the museum was planning to run was canceled and I got the October 7th weekend. It was beautiful, the staff was very professional and I couldn't' have asked for a better spot. The only thing I would note is that there is no air conditioner and we somehow got an 80 degree day on October 7th, so it was slightly hot on the dance floor.
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