About this vendor
The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is the Miami Valley’s most unique wedding venue, providing couples with an innovative ceremony and reception sites with unparalleled event backdrops.
Celebrate your day under the stars, with a customized star show in the Caryl D. Philips Planetarium or host your reception in one of our distinct exhibit spaces.
You'll find something for everyone at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
- Second Wedding
Settings
- Ballroom
- Historic Venue
- Museum
- Park
Venue Service Offerings
- Rentals & Equipment
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.3
out of 5.011 reviews
Our wedding was a few weeks ago and I can't say enough about the Boonshoft. There was a change in event coordinators about two months before our wedding and Jessica made sure every...
thing went smoothly. All the staff was wonderful. We rented the entire museum and had the bespoke planetarium star show and ceremony, as well as animal encounters. Our guests are still raving about how much fun it was. The hedgehog was a great success. I just wish I could have gone down the slide in my dress!
I was the wedding planner/coordinator for a wedding at the Boonshoft Museum a few months ago. I cannot say enough good things about the space and their staff! Mandy was responsive,...
friendly, and helpful in the weeks leading up to and on the day of the wedding. The rest of the staff was also fantastic - ready and willing to help with whatever we needed throughout the day.
Couples who choose to get married here are in for a real treat! In addition to being just a super cool space for an event with many exhibits open for guests to explore, the museum created a customized star movie in the theatre which showed the constellations and planets at various important dates throughout their relationship (the day they met, got engaged, their wedding date, etc.) It was nerd-tastic.
I highly recommend the Boonshoft Museum as a wedding venue.
Had our wedding reception a few weeks ago. Couldn't not have gone better. Thank you to Amanda who is the queen of organizing. Thank you to Sean as well for all his hard work on mak...
ing it all come together day of. Everyone says best wedding they have been too. Amanda is a great addition and you would be crazy not to book the wedding here. Thank you to the boonshoft crew for all you did to make the dream come alive.
Boonshoft was amazing. Every hiccup was quickly taken care of, they were extremely clear and accommodating about everything and Amanda was so helpful in the few weeks leading up to...
our wedding. Everything was beautiful and all of our guests had an absolute blast. The staff were super friendly. I think everyone should have their wedding reception here!
Everything ran very smoothly. All of our guests were impressed with the quality service. I also liked the fact that you were able to bring in most everything as far as decor. So m...
any places try and make you rent everything from them and charge ridiculous prices.
Working with their staff to plan our reception was a joy! They were so professional and their experience in the business really shows. They gave great advice and worked with all of our requests.
I feel like Jodi's professionalism is a lost art in this industry/business. I appreciated her quick follow up, candor and flexibility.
Thank you guys so much.
We had our wedding here in 2016. Overall I am very happy with how our reception turned out, but would like to forewarn brides about some complications along the way and share some ...
of the things I loved!
Cons: Their new event coordinator Jodi seemed fairly disorganized; she was slow to respond to emails, lost track of things (for instance: that we had paid for the museum), and didn't follow through with a lot of what we had agreed on for the reception. I also will warn people who are renting an entire floor like I did. I had rented the whole second floor mostly because of how awesome their zoo is and I thought it would be the perfect complement to the cocktail hour. However, the museum double booked and the zoo was closed during our cocktail hour to our surprise when we showed up.
Pros: The space is a great layout for all ages, I had a flood of happy guests who are still raving. We wanted to have kids at our reception so the playground and separate food area were perfect. We still had a nice adult reception without people having to leave kids at home. We also converted the SOS room to an "after party" which I would highly recommend. The main exhibit hall converts beautifully and its easy to save on decorations. Their set-up guy is also helpful and takes the time to make sure you are happy with how the exhibit hall looks.
Overall I'd say you have to be a lot more thrifty to rent this venue because of the higher price but you can work it! Definitely be careful with their event coordinator though, you will have to figure out a lot for yourself and make sure you don't pay for something that you don't actually get.
We had our ceremony in the planetarium. They worked with us on all of the options for what would be shown, and what music would be played. Our ceremony was very short so I asked ...
the guy running the show to have fun for the next half hour. The show was amazing.
The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is it was very warm. Understandable with all of the computer equipment, but I was still sweating way too much.
Jodi began her role as events coordinator after we booked our wedding there. She was AMAZING and I am so thankful for all of her help. The Boonshoft is an EXCELLENT place to host y...
our reception. All of our guests commented on how much fun they had, adults and kids alike! (Actually I think the adults had more fun haha!) if you're looking for a unique place to hold up to 300 guests, this is it. Staff was there the whole time to assist us and they prepared for us well in advance!
We went to a young professional event at The Boonshoft once a few years ago when we first started dating and had THE BEST TIME. It's an adult playground as much as it is a Childre...
n's museum. Where else can you have a drink in your hand and go down a slide at the same time. Every room is unique and fun, there is no shortage of interesting things for your guests to do. We had our wedding hashtag projected in the Science on a Sphere room and our guests were so impressed. The staff is wonderful, the rooms looked beautiful and every one had the best time (maybe too much fun!) I highly recommend the Boonshoft Museum. Jamie, the events director, is so helpful and patient.
The Boonshoft Museum itself is an excellent facility for an event. We had our wedding reception there and it provided the unique and fun backdrop we wanted and it was the perfect ...
facility for our event. The rental management, however, is a bit of a drawback when it comes to renting space here for an event. We found the management we worked with in particular to have very poor customer service skills and did not seem to care about how our event actually went on the day of the wedding. Before the wedding, we ran into some issues and she seemed more than happy to assist with problems, but the promises made to us before our event were not actually kept on the day of the event and management did not seem to care or want to make things right. Also, in the rental brochure they state that they will make your event a private event even if it is scheduled during the day - they state that they will make sure your event remains private. However, management ended up booking another event during ours and although we were assured the other event would not interfere with ours, we had guests of the other event roaming freely through our rented space and there was no staff stopping this from happening.
My recommendation is that if you are okay with not having privacy during your reception and if you are okay with having to work with rental management who do not care how your day goes, then I wouldn't hesitate about renting the facility because it is a wonderful location and our guests loved their time at the museum. However, if you are looking for decent customer service from management that wants to help you make your day go well, then I recommend looking elsewhere as there are other locations that are also unique and can be fun for your guests.
In brief, it is an excellent location, my guests loved it, and it fit our wedding theme/vibe perfectly. But on the flip-side, very poor service from management that has no interest in you or your day.
The Boonshoft is a beautiful venue and you can rent out the whole museum for less than $3,000. However, it is a museum. We essentially just rented the space, but had to go with an ...
outside vendor for all of the tables, chairs, linens, etc - which really adds up. Also, the museum stays open regular hours, so we couldn't get in to setup until 2.5 hours before the ceremony and everything had to be broken down that night (meaning the groomsmen had to do the cleanup). They do let you bring your own alcohol, but have preferred caterers. They worked with us to bring in our own caterer, he just couldn't use their kitchen. Overall, a great venue if you aren't a DIY bride like myself that would need more time to setup.
Contact
2600 DeWeese Parkway, Dayton, OH
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery