North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Reviews
Reviews
4.9 out of 5 rating
4.9 out of 5 rating
20 Reviews
98% recommend it
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![Carol]()
Carol B. Sent on 08/12/2021Rehearsal Dinner at NCMNS
One of the easiest parts of this wedding was deciding to have the rehearsal dinner at NCMNS. Robert was great when we were booking and Jeff was the caterer from Rocky Top (Planet Cafe'). The food and the venue was the easiest part of the whole wedding experience. No question was too simple or silly and I asked many! :) Would choose NCMNS and Rock Top over and over again. Outstanding!!! -
![Sarah]()
Sarah Sent on 05/29/2019The museum made for a great venue!
Having our wedding at the Museum of Natural Sciences was a great experience. Not only was the venue amazing and interesting for our guests, but the Special Events Team were very helpful in making our day special. They were responsive to all our questions and were flexible to changes in our rental plans. Their pricing was also very accessible to weddings on a budget. Sydney and Blair were extremely easy to work with and we would highly recommend considering the museum as a venue for any special event. They have so many space options for any event size. -
![Lydia]()
Lydia Sent on 10/24/2018Beautiful venue!
The Museum of Natural Sciences was an amazing place to hold our wedding ceremony and reception. They were able to accommodate all of our requests and were very helpful from the initial tour all the way through the end of our reception. Communication was excellent, and the all of the staff members were courteous and professional. Highly recommend! -
Bethany Sent on 06/20/2018Wow, what an amazing venue for our daughter's wedding reception! We had planned to have the wedding near our home in Wake Forest, but when my daughter and her fiancé toured the NC Museum of Natural Sciences they were hooked. She's an archaeologist and he's a teacher, so it suited them perfectly. It was also the least expensive of all the venues we looked at. They chose to have it in the Nature Exploration Center (dino dome, not planet) which was amazing. We used The Great Raleigh Trolley to shuttle the guests from the hotel to the reception and back which I highly recommend!
The night started with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres on the 2nd floor as well as all the first dances and toasts. Guests enjoyed exploring all the exhibits. Then we all went to the 3rd floor for a buffet dinner and dancing with the dinosaurs. Although I was worried about the layout, it worked out great. There's nothing like dancing with pterodactyls flying above you! We had a wide range of ages that attended, from infants to elderly. All were very happy. Because of the layout, tables could have conversations without screaming and others could be getting crazy on the dance floor. We had 145 guests and the space was perfect. Rocky Top is the sole caterer for the museum and they were fantastic. The food was absolutely delicious and service was excellent. Petal and Oak did all our centerpieces and flowers, they were outstanding! The pies came from East Durham Bakeshop and were delish!!
In hindsight, I wish I would have hired some teenagers to chase the little ones around while they explored, just to give the parents more time to visit. Aside from that, it was fantastic and so many guests said it was the most fun they've had at a reception! Thank you Sydney Bannerman for all you did to make the evening so memorable!North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences's reply:
Bethany, Thank you for the kind words regarding your experience at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for Paul and Shannon's reception! It was an absolute pleasure working with you in anticipation for Paul and Shannon's wedding and we are so glad that everyone enjoyed their time at the Museum! We wish the very best for Shannon and Paul and hope to see everyone return to the Museum in the future. Congratulations to your families and thank you again for such a lovely review! -
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Tanya Sent on 11/20/2017This venue was amazing! My guest loved every moment of the reception. The caterers Rocky Top were friendly and the good was perfection. The service was excellent. We could not have asked for a better Venue!
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Cynthia Sent on 11/18/2017I am the mother-of-the-bride, and my daughter and son-in-law wanted something really different and unique for their wedding, and I wanted to make sure that the guests had a good time and were entertained the whole evening. We ended up having a costume wedding at the museum, and I think family and friends will be talking about how much fun they had for a long time. Even when the bridal party was off with the photographer, the guests could have a drink and walk around looking at the exhibits. The museum staff (and the caterers from Rocky Top Catering) are all awesome and worked with us, even when we threw them some "curve balls". We have a wonderful, lasting memory which includes dancing beside dinosaurs and dining near beautiful North Carolina nature exhibits. I definitely recommend this venue for weddings.
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User2409494 Sent on 11/04/2015The Research Center at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences was a phenomenal place for our wedding! We had the 4th floor for the ceremony and cocktail hour and the 1st floor for the dinner reception and dancing. The venue is beautiful with the marvelous exhibits surrounding us while we got married, took pictures, ate and danced. Our guests were blown away by this museum and were making plans to return so they can take time to see it all. The building has a feeling of spaciousness but also intimate at the same time. The conference room made a perfect ceremony space. We added lighting to soften the room and with the chuppah the space had a warm and cozy feel to it. The 4th floor terrace was lovely with the great view from above and the floor to ceiling windows made it all light and open. The first floor was for dinner and dancing. The DJ set up in the theater-that was fabulous! And we had a photo slide show that played while we danced. The wedding party made an entrance down the big stairs-that looked great! And the tables were spread throughout the exhibits which were a fun backdrop for the party. Our guests said it was the absolute best place they had been for a wedding. We could not agree more! Sydney and her staff were wonderful to work with. -
![Nicholas]()
Nicholas B. Sent on 02/18/2022Beautiful Venue with Lots of Support
Firstly, the museum was a beautiful and memorable wedding. I can't really overstate that.
Very important though, was how helpful the staff was and how smooth they made the process. Rocky Top Catering, affiliated with the museum, was also top notch. -
![Danielle]()
Austin W. Sent on 06/22/2022Nostalgic and unexpected
We loved using the museum for our wedding reception! The only reason that I would not recommend using it is because they have an exclusive caterer. And they didn't do a great job. So if the museum ever adds caterers I would highly recommend it. We didn't need to do any decorating, Rob gave me a great deal for being a nurse, we were able to use all 3 main floors of the museum, and everyone loved it overall. Just note that you will have to pay for security and if you have over 150 guests you will have to pay more. We put the dance floor outside the acrodome and had the bar in the acrodome, so I highly recommend that layout. I would ask the museum to put some seating on the 3rd floor if you dance there. Great photo ops. We ended up being able to leave our supplies at the loading dock on the morning of the wedding. Again, the caterer was a big headache the whole time and unfortunately that is something we will never forget, but the museum is beautiful.
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