£1850 - £4000 for Venue Hire
Up to 120
Bedrooms
Exclusive Use
Wedding Licence
shortlisted
19
COVID-19 Update
The Museum is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, our dedicated events team is still available for enquiries. Please do get in touch for availability and for more information about weddings at the Museum.
Science, history, and beauty are effortlessly merged in this unique venue providing your guests with the ‘wow’ factor for an unforgettable evening!
Pricing & Costs
Venue Hire Only
Prices Start At
£1,850
Maximum Price
£4,000
We offer an hourly rate for venue hire, and will work flexibly with you to help you decide which spaces you want to use for how long, to suit your budget. The prices here are a guide based on shorter and longer wedding receptions - please contact a Museum events manager for a quote.
The Museum has a list of recommended caterers for you to choose from, and you will work with your chosen caterer directly to create your mouthwatering wedding feast.
What is included in this pricing:
Exclusive use
Choice of preferred caterers
Private room(s) included (non-exclusive use)
Wedding coordinator available on the day
Features & Capacity
Overview
Venue Type
Museum
Attraction
Dining Capacity
120
Reception Capacity
400
Usual Access Time
05:00 PM
Usual Finish Time
12:00 PM
Late Night Extension
Yes
Venue
Exclusive Use
In-House Wedding Coordinator
Grade I/II Listed Building
Disabled Access
Food and Drink
In-house Catering
External Catering Permitted
Corkage Charge for Own Alcohol
Alcohol Licence
Ceremony & Reception
Church Within Walking Distance
Dancefloor Available
Sound System Available
Full Description
Congratulations on your engagement! The Museum of Natural History provides a stunning backdrop for a wedding reception with dramatic wrought iron decoration, a tiled glass ceiling, and fascinating specimens from the natural world. Built in 1860, the Museum is a gorgeous Victorian neo-Gothic building and is the perfect location if you are looking for a unique and historic setting for your wedding.
The whole Museum is yours for the evening, and our excellent events team is very happy to work with you to come up with interesting ways that you can use the space for your reception. Your guests will be welcomed into the beautiful colonnaded Victorian South court for drinks and canapes with the dinosaurs. The Museum has a list of four possible caterers to choose from so you can have the exact food and drink experience you want. After drinks, you can dine in style under the T. rex in the Main Court or on the Upper Gallery with gorgeous views of the wrought-iron roof decoration. Both the Main Court and the Upper Gallery can seat up to 120 guests on round tables for dinner or up to 80 in the Upper Gallery on one long table. You can then dance the night away with the dramatic skeleton parade as a backdrop.
The dedicated events team at the Museum will work closely with you to create a bespoke event which reflects your tastes and personality.
Personal Message from the Manager
Name of Wedding Contact: Laura Ashby
The Museum is such a special place to work and we love being able to share some of that magic with you for your wedding! Our events team works hard to provide bespoke experiences for each couple and we would be delighted to work with you to build your perfect day.
Experience
Year Business Was Established
1860
No. of Weddings Hosted
Between 10 and 30
Public Liability Insurance
true
No. of People In Team
2
Reviews
(2)
(2)
H & G
Married in July 2019
August 2020
Guests raving about it!
Thank you so much again for your amazing efforts, creativity, and professionalism to make our wedding day in July an absolute dream come true. It was honestly incredible and our guests have been absolutely raving about it! We had such a joyful day and are still buzzing from all the memories! - H&G July 2019
S & W
Married in July 2019
August 2020
The museum looked stunning...
Thanks so much for everything you and your team did in the run up to the wedding and, of course, on Saturday itself. The museum looked stunning, and so many people have told us how magical it was to be dining under that glorious roof. We were so impressed by how smoothly everything went, and how you and all the suppliers coordinated seamlessly. - S & W, July 2019
Location & Contact Details
Address
Oxford OX1 3P, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 3PW, England
Nearest Town
Oxford
Nearest Motorway & Junction
M40
Nearest Train Station
Oxford
Nearest Airport
Heathrow
Press & Awards
(1)
Accreditations / Associations (1)
FAQ
(10)
Describe the best wedding that happened at your venue?
Each wedding is so unique here - how could we possibly choose between raucous Indian drumming, beautiful words spoken, upbeat ceilidh dancing, or the wedding where the couple wore one eye of makeup each to mask the groom's black eye..?
What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?
It's your special day - if you can think of ways to use your venue so it reflects your tastes, don't be scared to ask. Your friends will love the uniqueness of your wedding, and (more importantly) so will you!
What’s your favourite personal touch you’ve seen at a wedding?
We love it when people get their geek on about our venue - one couple named each table after a dinosaur, and wrote a fact sheet about each dino for guests to read while they ate!
Describe your venue in 5 adjectives.
Unique, historic, awe-inspiring, quirky, enchanting
Where’s the best photo spot at your venue?
A wedding photo under the jaws of the T. rex is a must!
Have you had any celebrity guest or wedding at your venue?
The world-famous Oxford Dodo is our resident celeb, and attends all the weddings we host in the Museum! That being said, the Museum has been host to a number of Nobel prize winners attending events as well as a few Hollywood films...
What’s your favourite canapé?
/
What’s your favourite midnight treat?
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What is your venue's most unique feature?
The Museum is a spectacular piece of architecture with loads of interesting decorative touches and hidden secrets - and the very flexible spaces mean each wedding here is a one-off!
What part of your business are you most proud of?
We love to work creatively to make your vision of your wedding a reality; even in a Grade 1-listed building, the events team always strive to say 'yes' to any ideas the couple have, however quirky or unusual!