NEW ENGLAND NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM WEDDINGS

In the most populous city of Massachusetts is a unique wedding venue that surrounds an elegant event of love with amazing marine life, delicious seafood, and a giant ocean tank. The New England Aquarium is the perfect Boston location for a waterfront wedding reception! The aquarium features stunning settings, one-of-a-kind views of awe inspiring aquatic animals and an amazing background.

A ONE-OF-A-KIND NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM WEDDING

The New England Aquarium is the perfect spot for a Boston waterfront wedding reception. With stunning settings, one-of-a-kind views and an awe inspiring backdrop of aquatic animals this venue captures all that’s romantic about our historic city while giving you something truly unforgettable to look forward to on your special day!

Many Hotel Options

Located in the heart of downtown Boston, you’ll find a variety of hotels within easy walking distance to The New England Aquarium.

We had the wedding of our dreams at the New England Aquarium! The experience of exploring the entire New England aquarium with your wedding guests by your side during cocktail hour and then having the reception out by the boardwalk was nothing other than incredible. Our guests were blown away by the entire experience — it was a huge hit! The private New England Aquarium event planning staff came ready to help plan and were always available when I needed them. They made it easy for me to make decisions. They gave a reasonable price for the private event and were flexible with the payments. Overall, we would enthusiastically recommend having your wedding at NEA (and kissing a seal while you’re at it!) — Jessie L.

World-Class Food

Enjoy world-class meals prepared by the New England Aquarium’s very own executive chef. The New England aquarium’s exclusive in-house catering prepares food that is sure to leave a memorable taste on your big day.

“If I could give New England Aquarium more stars I would, what an amazing venue! We had our wedding here on a Friday evening in May and it was beautiful. Our wedding ceremony was outside on the water, it created a gorgeous backdrop! Our guests are still talking about what a fun and unique experience our wedding was! The New England aquarium staff team was phenomenal from booking the date to service throughout the night. I have nothing but praise! I also haven’t stopped hearing about how amazing the food was. Our New England aquarium wedding was a dream come true and I would not have had my wedding venue be anywhere else!” — Kristen

Amazing Ocean Backdrop

The New England Aquarium provides a view that can compete with any outdoor waterfront wedding — be it from side of the beach, lake, or ocean. Have elegant wedding photos in front of vibrant marine life!

“The New England Aquarium is a dream setting to have a wedding ceremony. My wife and I could not be happier with our wedding there and services they provided. I mean come on, we got married with the penguins, seals, and all the other amazing ‘guests’ that call the New England aquarium home. Its a picturesque setting on the beautiful Boston Harbor located in the heart of the city. Who could ask for more. The New England Aquarium and their staff team run a great operation and do an excellent job to make sure your wedding day is as perfect as you dreamed. Its safe to say the Aquarium will always hold a special place in our hearts.” — Chris

Imagine your guests mingling over cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and world-class food as they bask in the summer sun, living a dream-come-true scenario. The New England Aquarium offers an exciting alternative to traditional wedding receptions for couples who are looking for something truly different.

NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM EVENT VENUES

The New England Aquarium offers the perfect location for any size event. Whether you want a private room or the entire New England aquarium, your guests will be treated with extraordinary wonder and awe that only this landmark can provide. Moreover, many event venues are made available for your ideal aquarium wedding.

We’ve compiled the various event venues for you those looking to host any future New England Aquarium Weddings:

Main Exhibit Gallery

For a unique experience that your guests will never forget, book an event at the Main Exhibit Gallery. The 200,000-gallon Giant Ocean Tank is where you can dine alongside more than 80 penguins.

• Seated dinner for up to 375 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 800.
• Strolling dinner for up to 700 guests with seating available for 300.

“The New England Aquarium isn’t the typical wedding venue, and that’s why we chose it. Both our ceremony and wedding reception were inside the main gallery. Our New England aquarium wedding at the New England Aquarium was conducted on the penguin platform, and our guests had epics views of us while standing on the spiral around the Giant Ocean Tank. They really made us feel like stars.

Our whole wedding planning experience with New England Aquarium was amazing, it truly is unique among the other wedding venues. They provide an event coordinator that gives excellent service. Ours, Tie, guided us the whole way through. She arranged nights for our private food, catering, and wine tasting on separate nights at our request. She answered all of our questions in a timely and friendly manner and worked closely with our own wedding planner to arrange all of the crazy details we came up with. She provided complimentary parking for all of our appointments. On our wedding, Tie also had her team and staff help set up our centerpieces which was above and beyond (normally a separate vendor would do that).

The wedding night itself was magical. All of the floors were open to our guests to enjoy the exhibits, and the bars were opened on each floor as the night progressed — very fun cocktail hour, which was excellent given the size of the venue. We kept the touch tank open and staffed it during cocktail hour. Food and catering was incredible, especially the salmon. They accommodated all special requests for allergies (vegetarian and gluten free). Our guests raved about the food. We had our first dance surrounded by penguins and together we danced the night away.

Having your wedding at the New England Aquarium has everything you need for a scenic waterfront wedding (well actually, for any event) and if they themselves don’t handle it, they have preferred vendors for everything else. We didn’t have to think about renting tables, chairs, coat check, etc; it was all included. The couples’ night tasting happened about 2 months before our big day. All of the details that we stressed out about and/or didn’t get around to, we found answers to that night. Yes, we hired the DJ, who was DJ’ing for the couples’ night. We also went with their preferred limo company and rented 2 busses. Phew!

If you want to experience what an evening event could look like, get tickets to the New England Aquarium Valentine’s Day event, “That’s A-Moray” which is also when the proposal happened (2018) and our engagement photos (2019). 

The overall cost for having New England Aquarium as our ceremony site and catered wedding reception was on-par with other wedding venues we looked at. New England Aquarium captured our heart, and we are so glad to get married there. Every time we visit, we remember our unique wedding day all over again. We would do it again in a heart beat!” — K.T.

West Wing Gallery

The large shark and ray touch tank on the West Wing Gallery is enough to make any event shine. This venue will surely make for a memorably unique wedding!

• Seated dinner for up to 75 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 100.
• Strolling dinner for up to 100 guests with seating available for 50.

“We cannot say enough good things about our waterfront wedding at the New England Aquarium!!! We adored the venue, and many of our guests complimented us on how unique our wedding was and how fun it was to be in the aquarium space. The New England Aquarium staff was absolutely incredible throughout the twists and turns of our planning, including adapting to the rain plan when a summer shower was identified for the hour of our private ceremony, service was absolutely amazing. (getting married amidst the penguins was so memorable!) The food was amazing and catering was a delight; we also received many complements from our event guests there. And the pictures! We got some awesome images on likely any of our friends’ wedding pictures given how special and different New England Aquarium is. If only we could do it all over again! 🙂 Thank you, New England Aquarium team!” — Catherine

Harbor View Café

The breathtaking views from the café’s floor-to-ceiling windows are just one of many reasons to stop by for a bite or drink. The ocean blue tile and natural wood cathedral ceilings add charm, while quality food keeps patrons coming back time after time.

• Seated dinner or cocktail reception for up to 100 guests.
• Strolling dinner for up to 80 guests with seating available for everyone.
• Note that if you would want a dance floor, wedding DJ, or band in this space you may need to inquire with the aquarium as it alters the capacity.

“A little over a week ago, I had the most whimsical, magical waterfront wedding at the New England Aquarium! I am still getting messages about how much of an incredible time our wedding guests had that night! There’s something about being alongside the penguins and beautiful ocean view that can’t be replicated. Food and catering was absolutely delicious and every single person that worked on the wedding was so attentive and friendly, their service was amazing! If you are looking for a unique venue for any future events that gives your guests an enjoyable experience, I can’t recommend the New England Aquarium enough!” — Alanna H.

Harbor View Terrace and Tent

Imagine your guests gazing at the Boston harbor while a live band plays their favorite songs. A rare, outdoor waterfront venue. Host your wedding or any other private event with breathtaking views of the historic harbor and largest collection of Northern fur seals in the United States!

• Seated dinner for up to 300 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 355.
• Strolling dinner for up to 280 guests with seating available for 250.
• Similar to the Harbor View Café, if you would want a dance floor, wedding DJ, or band in this space you may need to inquire with the aquarium as it alters the capacity.

“I can’t say enough good things about the our wedding at the New England Aquarium. It’s one of the most unique wedding venues! We held our ceremony on the terrace and wedding reception in the Harbor View Tent. The waterfront venue is stunning and cocktail hour in the aquarium is unforgettable. Something magical happens in the aquarium at night, the lights are dimmed, the animals are restful, it’s almost unrecognizable from the bustling daytime aquarium. The food and catering service was delicious. It was hard to choose among all of the options! I think, however, one of the best things about getting married at the aquarium is the staff that work with you to make sure everything is perfect. They went above and beyond in every way to accommodate our requests, whether it was related to ceremony timing, beer selection, food offerings, you name it. One our wedding day, there were SO MANY people to help with the wedding setup to make sure everything goes smoothly. I was amazed at how well it was all coordinated. If you’re looking for a unique venue to get married and have your wedding reception in Boston, you can’t go wrong with the New England Aquarium.” — Christine

Simons Theatre

The Simons Theatre will captivate and inspire your wedding guests with its state-of-the art audio visual capabilities. Perfect if you wn

• Seated dinner for up to 120 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 150.
• Strolling dinner for up to 130, with seating available for 100.
• State-of-the art theatre to make your wedding even livelier and even more memorable!

“The New England Aquarium was simply the best — we really couldn’t have made a better choice for our wedding!! They were a really incredible venue, and the staff goes above and beyond to make the day ultra-special. The planning process went super smoothly; the service team here is super friendly, responsive, and helpful, and although there are a lot of specific requirements to work around in order to protect their animals, they are really flexible and accommodating to help get your wedding day perfect.

On the day of, the service was just superb — the food was excellent, and our guests had such a wonderful time dancing with the penguins, watching the sea turtles, etc. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about what a great venue it was!! And compared to other venues in Boston, had a very reasonable price. You really can’t make a better pick!!” — Laura

The Reef Tent

Celebrate your aquarium wedding at the New England Aquarium’s seasonal Reef Tent with fresh seafood, beautiful water views and a friendly staff to help you out.

• Seated dinner for up to 95 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 110.
• Strolling dinner for up to 80, with seating available for 50.

“So happy we chose to have our wedding at the New England Aquarium. The unique venue was beautiful and so much fun. The staff (especially Tiesha) were all so helpful and accommodating. The day/night of our wedding ceremony and wedding reception was seamless thanks to them. Tie had everything under control and I didn’t have to worry about a thing. The team also set up the wedding venue beautifully, one of the most beautiful wedding venues we’ve seen! We received endless comments about how much fun guests had – cocktail hour in the aquarium was a hit. Very happy with our choice and very appreciative that we had such a great team at the Aquarium helping us from day 1.” — Laura

The Entire Aquarium

That’s right — the entire aquarium can be booked to host any size event during the warmer months. They added tented areas on the front plaza and south terrace for addition seating or standing room. Moreover, there will be two indoor spaces where guests will be invited to privately view marine life without getting wet.

• Seated dinner for up to 1,399 guests or a cocktail reception for up to 2,030.
• Strolling dinner for up to 1,700 guests with seating available for 1,000.

“We wish we could give our coordinator Tiesha, and everyone who helped at our wedding at the New England Aquarium more than 5 stars. The aquarium is at Central Wharf, Boston and has a beautiful ocean view so we chose to have a private aquarium wedding ceremony . Our waterfront wedding day could not have been more perfect and it is largely due to the incredible staff at the Aquarium. We chose the amazing New England Aquarium because we wanted more of an offbeat location and we had lots of guests traveling, the Aquarium offered an opportunity to give them a unique experience. Throughout the planning process of the event, Tie was incredible–she was very responsive, very helpful and truly amazing. She and the team at the Aquarium took care of so many details that we were really able to relax and enjoy our wedding ceremony and wedding reception. Moreover, our guests raved about everything–from the touch tank (we had it open during cocktail hour), to the food, to the venue itself–and said it was the most unique wedding day that they had ever attended. If anyone is looking for a venue for future events, I cannot recommend the Aquarium enough!” — Brian