Annapolis Maritime Museum

how wedding guests could have multiple wedding experiences by using the indoor educational museum, the beautiful art room, the outside deck and piers overlooking the water, and the grassy side yard with a historic boat, platform for a bar, and at the lapping water's edge. All of this seemed idyllic and Paige, the venue manager, was so experienced and helpful. Disaster struck in September of 2024, when Paige informed us that she had regretfully left her position at the museum. The past nine months have been a revolving door of people that have held the venue manager position with little transfer of knowledge and poor communication. Never once did the museum contact us when there was a new person hired as the venue manager, and we only found out that a new person was in the job when our voicemails and emails went unanswered. This instability created mistrust as we were consistently told "don't worry, it will be fine" and it consistently wasn't. Even on the day of the wedding, there were personnel changes to our site supervisor and I spent the morning making sure that a large ugly music stage and stairs were removed from the side yard and that wood chips were placed to cover the bare dirt that now encompassed a large swath of what was once the beautiful boat and platform for the bar area. This should not have been happening on the morning of the wedding, as we had been trying to get a plan for this unexpected change to the yard addressed for the previous month. This is just one example of how the staff instability and lack of coordination among remaining staff created unnecessary confusion and stress throughout the months leading up to the wedding. There are some people who deserve shout-outs! Kudos to Donny for his willingness to be helpful with the physical set-up and to the historic skipjack Wilma Lee team for an enjoyable rehearsal day celebration cruise. Unfortunately, our final memories of the museum are a two week, too late return phone call from the president of the museum (because she was out of the country) after we had left an urgent message on her work phone asking for her personal intervention, and a one month delay in the return of the wedding venue security deposit after repeated requests. Don't be fooled by the beauty of the venue which was overshadowed by the museum's lack of coordination and responsiveness during the time leading to the wedding. Management knew that there were concerns and never once did they ask what they could have done better nor did they say they were sorry. The sales pitch is great, but there are problems under the hood.

recommend booking with AMM, the company that manages Park Campus and the Merrill Family Pavilion. There were serious issues from start to finish, and unless you’re prepared to manage everything yourself, you’ll likely be frustrated and disappointed. Over 8 months, we were passed off to FIVE different coordinators due to constant staff turnover. Apparently the CEO and COO are extremely difficult to work with - so 4 people quit the position within 8 months. I think that says a lot about how poorly run the venue management is here. There was no consistent point of contact, and communication was slow and disorganized. I had to reach out multiple times just to confirm if someone would be on-site to provide the tables and chairs that were part of our rental. The venue itself is poorly maintained. I had to beg them to do basic landscaping and to hang the garden lights that were promised at booking. Worse, the building flooded the night before the wedding because of neglected drainage, soaking a lot of our décor. Even more shocking, there was a massive hole in the roof dumping rainwater into the main space—where our guests would have been seated. My dad had to pressure them to send a roofer (they originally said it would be two weeks—our wedding was four days away). When someone finally came, no AMM staff showed up to meet them. My dad had to go in person, show them where the damage was, and even helped patch the roof himself. To top it off, there’s a wastewater treatment facility across the street that AMM never discloses. On certain days, especially when the wind shifts, the smell of raw sewage can completely ruin the outdoor atmosphere. It was extremely stressful hoping the smell would go away by our big day. The staff on site were also rude and unhelpful. The night before the wedding, we came to drop off décor and were rushed out by someone named Susan who kept locking the door behind us mid-load-in. It was incredibly disrespectful and disheartening at such a sensitive time. In short: No reliable point of contact Zero accountability Rude, dismissive staff Major weather and drainage issues Sewer odor risk that’s never disclosed You’ll end up doing the venue’s job yourself The location is pretty—but that’s where the benefits end. Save yourself the stress. Unless you’re ready to manage every detail on your own and deal with poor service, don’t book with AMM.

nner, and then a visit with our parents). The location is gorgeous with some iconic views of Chesapeake Bay—our pictures turned out amazing with minimal fuss! They have a versatile space that can accommodate one big dance floor, a bar, and even little couches and seatings for folks to sink back and catch up quietly. Great venue, and a fantastic team! They provide a day-of coordinator, who was so professional and kind and really helped support all our vendors throughout the set up and breakdown of the event. It was a truly seamless experience. They also provided a lot of amenities and had a super reasonable price!

here was a site coordinator who was supposed to help keep unwanted visitors off the property, although she gave a tour while I was setting up for my wedding. There were also multiple random couples watching my ceremony from the sides.