Florida Museum of Natural History Reviews

My husband and i just had an elopement ceremony at the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the Butterfly Rainforest. The staff was wonderful, the venue was beautiful and we got the MOST amazing pictures. I couldn't be happier!

Our wedding reception at the Florida Museum of Natural History was fabulous. Amber was incredibly easy to communicate with and helped make sure that everything turned out just how we envisioned. Every detail was covered from table layouts to decor placement and we did not even have to worry about it. Walking into our reception and seeing everything come together was absolutely magical. Our guests loved that they could explore the museum during the reception and the space was beautiful. I highly recommend the Florida Museum of Natural History as a venue space and cannot speak highly enough of Amber Tison and her team.

Ali is truly an artist. He took beautiful shots and even though he wasn’t familiar with the venue, he was up for the challenges that arose with different climates, lighting, and scenery with the venues I had chosen. He is amazing at what he does. I cannot recommend him enough.

We are so unbelievably happy that we had the opportunity to work with the wonderful staff at the museum! They were so flexible with our situation we had during our wedding. The staff is so kind and professional. They accommodated our needs and even jumped in on the fun! I would absolutely recommend them to any couple looking for a fun and memorable place to have their wedding!!

Amber and her team really helped make our wedding wonderful. We live out-of-state, so I was a little anxious about putting together an event from far away. However, Amber was really patient through all my emails and questions and was incredibly responsive and helpful throughout. On the day of the wedding, she and her team made the museum so beautiful and helped keep our reception running smoothly. Our guests were gushing about the mammoth and the unique location all night. If you're thinking about a cool and unique place to host your reception, you can never go wrong with the Florida Museum of Natural History. Amber and her team surely made it a night to remember.

We loved our wedding and thank Amber Tison so much for her help, planning, and prompt replies. We had the perfect wedding. Thank you for everything and making this day so special for us!

Very clear expectations from the beginning, easy to plan around. TONS of support at the event. Great experience all around.

An amazing venue. Our event turned out perfect! Everyone loved how unique this location was. Amber truly made planning easy and enjoyable!

Amazing location for our wedding! Every photo from the day had very interesting backdrops, great lighting, and the space was exactly what we needed for our party of 150 with band! Would highly recommend for future newlyweds!

Thank you for all of your help and assistance planning our Casino Night! Everyone had such a great time! It was a perfect night!

This was an excellent venue choice and was the 2nd year we have held our event there. We are coming back next year as we were very happy with the event this year.

I could not have been happier with the service and unique environment the Florida Museum of Natural History provided for my wedding reception! There were specific guidelines and policies which had to be followed understandably due to this location being a museum and not only intended for events. These guidelines did not prevent us from enjoying anything we wanted though. The staff was very informative, knowledgeable, and helpful throughout the entire experience. Due to living in another city and the event staff remaining very busy, I was only able to meet in person once but all of my other phone and email communication was very promptly and thoroughly addressed. My family and friends absolutely loved having the museum exhibits to explore and I am looking forward to the fun photo opportunities it provided as well!

Our holiday party was a success and everyone loved the museum!!

It was a pleasure working with the very professional staff! We had a wonderful event!

Our Prom went off excellent! The kids and staff at our school were so pleased with the entire event. Amber Tison was such a huge help! We can not say enough about how pleased we were with the entire night.

While I was aware the museum could be rented for special events, I had no idea the Butterfly Rainforest could be used as well. When we met with Amber Tison to tour the venue space and learned our ceremony could be held in the rainforest, we canceled our other two venue tours and booked the Museum that day! This was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding, as our guests still comment on the uniqueness 5 years later. Amber was easy to work with throughout the planning process, and had worked with our vendors previously. I would highly recommend anyone considering this spot for their wedding to stop considering and JUST BOOK IT.

Wonderfully beautiful place for a wedding. The staff is phenomenal, the availability and price were excellent, and the scenery is breathtaking. If youre thinking intimate outdoor wedding, look no further than the museum!

We loved having our reception at the Florida Museum of Natural History. It is a fabulous, unique venue. Our friends and family with children loved it because it gave the kids something fun to do (and the adults too!). The staff were amazing and so incredibly helpful. They were always quick in their responses before the event and were exceptional on the day of. The pricing is great - when someone first suggested the museum to me I thought there would be no way we could afford it, but it fit comfortably in our very modest budget. The one slightly negative thing was the fact that the reception couldn't start until 5:30 because it has to be when the museum is closed, but at the end of July, we appreciated having it later at night anyway, and it was really no big deal at all for our schedule that day. I would highly recommend the museum as a venue!!

My partner and I held an amazing Harry Potter themed wedding at the museum. The event coordinator, staff, and support were simply terrific. Not only were they exceedingly professional for the duration of planning and the event, but they brought their own excitement and style to the wedding. The staff dove head first into our unique theme and gifted us with some magical surprises that completed the atmosphere. I highly recommend this venue and staff.

We held our wedding ceremony and reception at the Florida Museum of Natural History and were very happy with how everything turned out. Amber and her staff were all very helpful and responsive to our emails, which was appreciated as we were planning everything from out of state. The museum itself is an amazing, memorable, and special location for a wedding, and our guests really enjoyed it (especially the butterfly rainforest--for us, it was definitely worth the extra fee to keep it open). Thank you FLMNH!

The museum was great for reception pictures and had plenty of space for guests and entertainment. The highlight of going with the museum is definitely the staff. I planned the wedding remotely and the responsiveness of the staff was phenomenal. On the day of the staff was incredibly helpful and even added some personal touches to the decoration provided by the caterer.

The entire staff went above and beyond to ensure our event went smoothly. They were very organized and professional throughout the entire planning of our event and did any amazing job coordinating with our vendors. I would highly recommend this venue and will be planning future events here as well.

I can recommend the Florida Museum of Natural History as a reception site mainly on two factors: ambience and convenience.

Not that other factors weren't considered, or considered commendable; the process of visiting, asking questions and booking the museum went smoothly and professionally. I communicated largely by e-mail, and always received a response within 24 hours. The staff that were present for the reception were gracious and professional.

But the cost is really only justified by the idea of having your wedding reception in a museum. And that did go over fantastically. Many people commented on "how cool" the reception site was. And the mastodon skeleton definitely made a statement!

The cost was significant (in my opinion, on my budget), considering they provided no services (other than security guards to make sure our guests didn't touch anything), no rental equipment, nothing more than the space - during a time that it would be closed anyway. However, it was ridiculously close to not only my ceremony site (the Baughman Center), it's also across the street from the University Hilton - incredibly convenient, especially for guests who wanted to celebrate a little heavily, if you get my meaning. (The Hilton is a whole 'nother review - they were awful.)

There's also an option to have your reception in the Butterfly Rainforest, or to simply purchase reduced-price tickets for your guests to visit the exhibit. This, of course, is an extra cost.

We did get a great response from the guests, and it certainly helped the out-of-town folk from getting lost. Nothing went wrong - the staff are friendly and responsive. If you are getting married on the University of Florida campus, want to make a statement, or want to be close to a hotel without the dreaded idea of having your reception in a hotel, I highly recommend the Florida Museum of Natural History.