“Before you read this lengthy review, the short answer is: YES, get married at the New England Aquarium!
We started our search looking for venues and wanted something fun and unique. The Aquarium made it onto our list, and the prices were comparable to other venues—it wasn’t significantly more expensive than renting out a restaurant with food and drinks.
We read every review possible before we had our first meeting and toured the venue. Our biggest concern was catering because there were some older reviews on The Knot about this being an issue. At our first meeting, not only was there a representative from the New England Aquarium, but also a representative from the catering company. This was definitely a green flag for us, and it sounds like the Aquarium took the older reviews seriously and transitioned to a new catering team.
Throughout the planning process, the team was wonderful. They kept in touch via email, gave us clear deadlines, and answered all of our questions.
We did have to get pre-approval for all of our centerpieces and anything else we were bringing into the Aquarium because of animal safety. This was not an issue for us and was a very straightforward process.
A few months before the wedding, we also had our food and wine tasting. This was definitely one of the fun parts of the planning process because all we had to do was show up! We knew we wanted buffet stations instead of a plated dinner, so we told them which entrees we wanted to try. The Italian dishes were really great, along with all of the salads. We also had some suggestions for a customized Indian station, and the team took very detailed notes, which was a great sign that they were listening to what we wanted.
Amanda Solomon was the person we worked with very closely as we got closer to our wedding date. The week before, she sent us encouraging messages and made sure everything was on track. On the day of the wedding, she and her team made sure the setup was done correctly and that everything was ready for us.
We didn’t have a wedding ceremony at the Aquarium—just the reception. Cocktail hour was inside the Aquarium, while dinner and dancing were outside in the tent.
Everyone absolutely raved about the venue! One thing we loved was that guests had options throughout the night. They could hang out in the tent and dance, go inside the Aquarium to see the animals, or walk along the harbor. It made the whole experience feel really unique and gave people plenty to do.
People also said they really enjoyed the food, which was the only hesitation we had when touring potential venues. We were so happy that we decided to go with the Aquarium and would highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for something unique, fun, and memorable!”
