Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh in Oakland Reviews

Finding a venue was without question the most daunting aspect of all of our wedding planning. We didn’t want a typical church and ballroom/country club sort of affair, that’s not the type of couple we were. For a while we’d joked about wouldn’t it be fun to get married in front of the dinosaurs, and when we found out that was really an option we were over the moon! Then finding out it was actually one of the more affordable options vs other places we were seeing, we were over the moon again! The museum staff was top notch and communicative from start to finish. We dealt with a few different people, but it never felt like we were being handed off, it felt like we were working with a strong team of pro’s and that feeling carried through all the way till the end when we boarded the shuttle to say good night for the evening. They made what should have been an insanely stressful time feel like a breeze helping to cover all the little details and coordinating. The fact they have a built in catering service made life infinitely more easy as well, and wow did they deliver. We’ve had people messaging all throughout the week raving about how good all the food was and that it was easily the best meal they’d ever had at a wedding. The venue itself was lovely with a view overlooking millions of years of history as we began to write a fresh page in our personal history. And after getting married in front of the dinosaurs we had our reception in the North American Wildlife Hall. At first glance it seems like a bit of an odd place, but we knew right away in wanting something different it was perfect. Sure enough it came together in the best possible way on the day of the wedding. That unique setup and extremely interesting location had our guest beaming with excitement all night and we’d heard many times over it was “the most fun wedding I’ve ever been too!” from numerous guests! If you’re looking for an amazing venue that coincidentally also takes a huge part of the stress out of your planning, go with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Genuinely, they were wonderful!

The event staff, and in particular Lindsay McClain, went above and beyond to ensure our wedding reception was a memorable and stress-free experience. Lindsay's responsiveness and dedication to meeting our requests was outstanding. We were easily able to take photos in the art museum and with the dinosaurs.

We couldn't have asked for a more magnificent reception venue than the Music Hall Foyer. Our family and friends were equally impressed. Our heartfelt thanks for making our wedding reception so wonderful!

I cannot thank the Carnegie museums events planners enough; my husband and I had the best time getting married in one of our favorite places and the staff was kind and accommodating. also, our pictures are amazing

I had the opportunity to attend my brother's wedding at the Carnegie Museum of Art & National History a few years back. Therefore, when my wife and I decided that we were going to have our wedding in Pittsburgh, PA, we knew we wanted to have it at the Museum. The Music Foyer, where our reception was held, is the most beautiful, unsurmountable ball room, I've personally ever stepped foot in. The enormity, grandness, and elegance of this room will leave you in awe. If a royal wedding is what you are looking for, then you have found your wedding venue. I would recommend this venue to anyone who is having their wedding in Pittsburgh, PA.

My daughter was married in Dinosaur hall at the Carnegie Museum. Besides being a unique venue, it was accomplished in October of 2020! We had the typical Covid restrictions but i have to say the Nicki and Dallas were a dream to work with. They were so accommodating and flexible. Definitely a wedding to remember

Our ceremony was in the Hall of Architecture and our reception was in the Music Hall Foyer. They are beautiful. Museum services are perfect. For example, one of my guests had an unexpected ankle injury and the Museum gave her a complementary wheelchair to use so she didn't have to rely on crutches. I didn't even know about this until days after. The Events Team is so helpful and open-minded to new ideas. For example, we wanted our ceremony to face a direction that the Museum typically/may not have ever done before. They made it work. You feel like you're the only event they're planning, even though they are almost always fully booked with so many different type of events. The only thing I can think of for potential improvement is that the exclusive caterer partnered with the Museum had some tiny bumps, mostly considering the (higher) prices that they charge. In retrospect, I wish I worked with the caterer a little more closely. 99% exceeded my wildest expectations and the other 1% ultimately worked out - definitely just gotta roll with the punches on your wedding day - so my only tip to future couples is to be a little prepared with the caterer (such as maybe discuss a contingency plan if anything you care about goes awry). Plus, you never know what may cause an issue - could be delayed meal, unexpected guests, seating chart issues, late vendors, etc. which are no fault of the museum. The Museum handles so many issues that you don't expect or can't plan for. It really reduces your stress. And it's phenomenal to have this historic, beautiful venue for your wedding.

Growing up in Pittsburgh I was very aware how stunning Carnegie Museum is, and how the Music Hall Foyer was a dream for a reception venue. What I want to stress to anyone looking for a venue and is considering Carnegie is how highly my husband and I recommend this place. It was the best decision we made for our wedding. All of the people we worked with were amazing, so fun, SO down to earth, talented, professional, and they worked with our budget in ways I never imagined they would. The kindness us and our families received by Nicole with events, and Cassie in Catering from the start was exceptional. The part that may be a surprise to couples looking and what we've bragged about is how flexible and reasonable they were with helping us plan a wedding that fit our vision, budget, and made it easy on us planning from out of state. These people are the best and they deserve recognition for running an impressive operation in one of Pittsburgh's most beautiful spaces, and doing so with professionalism, empathy, skill, class, and an attitude to consistently exceed expectations.

As anyone knows planning for and having a wedding can be a daunting task. When looking for venues my son and our new daughter-in-law decided that they wanted a place that was beautiful, elegant and grand. After looking at other places they decide to have their wedding at the Carnegie Museum. The venue was absolutely perfect and the staff was exceptional. The Carnegie provided us with an outstanding event planner, Tori. She helped us to coordinate and schedule as well as providing us with important information regarding the museum and the general plan of how events worked best in the both The Hall of Sculpture and the Banquet Hall. She also was able to helped us implement the ideas that the bride and groom felt were important for their specific celebration. Tori is talented, knowledgeable, hard-working and very personable. She helped us from the very first meeting until the very end of a very beautiful wedding. In addition, the Culinaire caterers and Cassie provided us with a great deal of assistance in selecting delicious meals and gave our guests outstanding service throughout the evening. Cassie was always there to answer our questions and to carrying out the ideas we had to make our guests have a wonderful dinner. I would recommend the Carnegie Museum as the best venue for a lovely and memorable wedding.

We had the perfect wedding here. The room was spectacular and the guest could not stop talking about it. It was really awesome that the guests were able to tour the museum while we took photos. I also loved having the everyone watch our first dance from the upper level. The Founder's Room was great to get ready in. My bridal party loved that. The staff was very responsive and polite. I am very delighted with our choice.

We had our absolute dream wedding at the Carnegie. The planning staff was attentive and helpful throughout. Eileen, the director of events, met with us for our tasting and was extremely prepared and organized. On the day of, Tori was there to ensure everything went smoothly as well as Cassie, the catering manager. The food was great, the cake was beautiful, and our guests were wowed by the beauty of the venue. If it's in your price range, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better venue.

The Carnegie Music Hall is where we brought all of our loved ones to celebrate our special day, and how special it was. If you are reading this review and live anywhere in the surrounding Pittsburgh area (or can make it there) and want a spectacular, unforgettable wedding, contact them now and save your time looking elsewhere. The venue is absolutely breathtaking, the staff are so communicative, responsible, knowledgeable, and experienced: it was such a pleasure working with them and we got everything accomplished with their help in no time (yes that is a significant run-on sentence to show how much they are worth having your wedding/other event at the Carnegie Museum). To name drop all of the lovely folks at the Carnegie whom we could not have made our wedding day been better if we did it all again: Eileen Twigger (the head master of the venue planning), Mark Balach and Cassie (Cassandra) Norrid (Catering- the food was absolutely delicious, we had everyone at the reception raving about the food), Nicole Straub (day of mastermind who was there every second of the reception (beforehand and all throughout cleanup ). The bottom line is, if you want an unforgettable day/night/wedding/event for you and your family/friends, look no further, stop reading this- and contact the Carnegie Museum. Even from the photos we have already seen (besides the excellent service, value, and venue itself), the venue is beyond stunning. Just go ahead and contact them to save yourself time looking elsewhere, it’s worth it and many times more.

We had our cocktail hour in the Grand Staircase of the Carnegie Museum of Art and our reception in the Hall of Sculpture. So many people have told us that it's the most beautiful wedding reception they've ever seen, and I have to agree. The space is jaw-dropping beautiful and the staff is a dream to work with. We worked mostly with Eileen, and she was always very responsive to calls and e-mails and could answer all of the random and frequent questions that we had. Her and her staff made sure that our wedding day was completely coordinated with the rest of our vendors and made the day flow flawlessly. We couldn't be happier with our decision to have our wedding reception at the Museum!

My husband and I had our ceremony in the Hall of Sculptures and our reception in the Music Hall. They were both PERFECT. We worked with Eileen and Allison, and they were both incredibly attentive and thoughtful, and every detail was taken care of. They helped us think through details we wouldn't have anticipated, and then took care of everything in the days and weeks leading up to it so we didn't have to worry at all.

The venue is absolutely stunning, we are still getting comments on the food, and the fact that the caterer, AV, settings, bar, etc. is all taken care of made it such a special, gorgeous wedding without a lot of hassle. I'm biased, but I think it was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to!

Absolutely wonderful venue. The staff was attentive and helpful; they took care of everything and made us feel so special. Guests are still talking about how well they were treated, how delicious the food was, and how beautiful the venue was. We had our ceremony in the hall of sculpture and reception in the music hall. Everything was perfect!

No one can deny that the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer is the most beautiful wedding reception venue in the city of Pittsburgh, but just as impressive is the special events and catering staff. You can not underestimate the importance of having an organized and well-coordiated team handling your wedding day details. Allison, Laura, and staff helped ensure that every aspect of our wedding would turn out to be as beautiful as planned and they did not disappoint. Everyone had so much fun at our wedding, and we received so many complements on the venue as well as the servers and staff. We could not have imagined a more beautiful day and I would highly recommend the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer to any bride.

The Carnegie and Eileen Twizzer and Liza did a fabulous job helping us with our wedding and the site was magnificent. They were able to keep us organized and relaxed and we had so much fun!

We had our wedding and reception at the Andy Warhol Museum and it was amazing! Our wedding planner, Ryan was so nice and totally accommodating. It was the perfect back drop for our wedding. The Parkhurst is their catering company that you must use and they were awesome too! The food was great and the whole experience was fun and relaxing. Melissa was our rep and she took great care of us. Highly recommended!

I had my wedding at the Carnegie Music Hall Foyer and could not have had a better experience. The staff (Liza and Allison particurlarly) were absolutely amazing. They were patient, professional, organized, responsive, etc etc etc. The venue speaks for itself- it's jaw-droppingly gorgeous and captures the timeless feel of the Gilded Age. A true gem in the middle of Oakland. I had a really positive experience and would recommend the museum to anyone!

Working with Eileen and Ellen to plan our reception was such a breeze. The food was incredible, the servers were so polite and professional. To say it was perfect would be a vast understatement.

The staff at the Carnegie Museum is exceptional. I would recommend this venue to any bride. I personally worked with Mary Jo, Ellen, and Eileen. These ladies were excellent in helping plan every detail of my wedding, just the way I wanted it!! They were always prompt in responding to any questions. They were so easy to work with during our taste testing, and they were outstanding on the day of the wedding. The venue is beautiful. It is a lovely place to have a wedding. You can watch a little of our first dance in the Music Hall Foyer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC_MJwHlE3I.

Before we were even engaged we knew we wanted our reception at the Music Hall. It is soooo gorgeous and grand. We toured the day after we were engaged with Eileen and booked our date. After that, Liza was our main contact. She was awesome and so organized. They made it easy. The day of the wedding was amazing. We had 2 slight hiccups with that they didn't have the lights on in the Hall of Sculptures for photos (we requested this beforehand) so we had to wait for the maintenance man to show up and then after dinner when the dancing started, they couldn't get the lights dimmed. I had to ask 4 times for them to turn down the lights until they finally got it. Other than those 2 slight issues, it was perfect and beautiful. It wowed our guests.

Our experience with Carnegie Museum of Art (Eileen Twigger) could not have been better. She is incredibly knowledgeable and professional and after meeting with her you know that your wedding is in good hands. She handles a lot of logistics and details leading up to the wedding day, but also serves as a day-of wedding planner as well. We planned our Pittsburgh wedding remotely from NYC so it was such a blessing to have such a proactive and experienced professional coordinating all the timing and other logistics with our vendors. We simply provided her the contact information for all of our vendors and she handled site meetings, arrival times, etc. with all of them. Eileen provided phenomenal service and was a pleasure to work with.

Carnegie requires you to use their caterer - Parkhurst Dining Services. Parkhurst is also very good and easy to work with. Their policy for tastings is not very flexible which can be a little tough for brides planning from out of town. However, the food and cake were fantastic and the service they provided during the wedding was exceptional. So many of our guests have raved about the food, cake and service as being the best they've ever had at a wedding. We agree!

I had my ceremony in the Carnegie Music Hall with the reception in the Music Hall Foyer and everything was so beautiful! This is one of the most spectacular places to host a wedding in the Pittsburgh area. You can't event pick a bad place to take a picture here! Dallas was wonderful to work with from start to finish - friendly, professional, and flexible.

I recently (5.28.11) had my wedding in the Music Hall Foyer at the Carnegie Museum and my husband and I couldn't be more pleased! It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful venue I have ever seen and my guests were seriously floored. It is such a unique venue and just breathtakingly gorgeous. Our pictures are absolutely stunning.

Eileen and Liza from the Museum, Bill from Parkhurst, and Alice who did the cake were exceptional and the service was unmatched. They were very attentive and accommodating to any questions or concerns I had along the way and really made planning from out of town a very easy and fun process.

Parkhurst Dining Services was a pleasure to work with and the food was out of this world. Alice seriously created the most beautiful and delicious cake I had ever seen and tasted and was absolutely wonderful during the planning process. Both my guests and I were blown away by the quality, presentation, and uniqueness of the menu and food.

My husband and I would 150% recommend the Carnegie Museum to any bride and groom looking for a showstopping space, and service to match!! You will NOT be disappointed!!