Madison Children's Museum

ed to the 2nd floor for dinner. Our guests could not get enough of all of the interactive, fun exhibits! My husband and I did not want to have a ballroom/dancefloor focused evening and MCM provided AMAZING alternative entertainment. Additionally the staff at MCM was wonderful to work with. In particular, Sarah Davidson was great - always responsive and very organized. We were also happy to know that what we payed to reserve the venue and in service charges goes back to support the mission of the Madison Children's Museum, a wonderful asset to our local community!

ding reception on the second level. Working with Sarah, the event coordinator, was a dream. She was attentive, informative, and an all around superstar. The guests had so much fun! We got a ton of compliments on how unique and memorable our wedding was. Both the adults and children enjoyed themselves, and we couldn't have had a better evening. If you're looking for boring and traditional, please steer clear! The only possible downside I would warn of - since the museum is open during the day, events can't really get going until 6-6:30, and the end time is 11 unless you pay for an extra hour. The night flew by! If we did it all over, I might pay for that extra hour because I was having such a fantastic time, but otherwise it was the perfect night. I can't recommend it enough.

r us! It is a beautiful space and has built-in entertainment since your guests can access all the museum exhibits. We opted to rent the entire museum for our wedding, though you can choose to rent only specific floors. The MCM has a preferred catering list you have to choose from, but it has a ton of great options. You do only have one alcohol vendor option (Roman Candle), but we had a great experience working with them. The staff at MCM (especially Sarah) were great to work with and very accommodating, which was a huge plus as I was planning my wedding from out of state. I probably visited the space a dozen times before the big day, and they were helpful at every visit. They also were quick to answer my many emails during the planning process. We held our ceremony on the rooftop garden, which has great views of Madison and beautiful landscaping. The one drawback is that there is not a lot of room for seating and we had 120 guests. We chose to set up 2 rows of chairs for immediate family and elderly guests. The rest of our guests found a place to stand and this worked out just fine. The kids also loved being able to see the chickens and other animals in the indoor exhibits. We got amazing pictures up there as well. As an added bonus later in the evening, we could totally see the Rhythm and Booms fireworks light up the sky next to the Capital Building. Beautiful!! Our reception was held on the 2nd floor. Most of the dinner tables were set up in the art room, and the rest spilled out into the main area. Again, this is not a typical banquet hall, so we chose not to do a head table as many of the guests would not be able to see us anyway. It worked out great. Another bonus of the museum is that you don't need to provide additional decorations. The space is already so colorful with a lot of cool things to look at. We chose to do our dance floor on the 2nd floor as well. We had a live band, and they had no problem setting up in the space. They sounded great too! I would highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for a unique way to say 'I do'. I had many guests tell me it was the most fun wedding they had ever attended. Thanks MCM!!

ovember and April), and as our wedding was fairly low-key, it was nice that we could let the museum be the decor. I think the only downside for some couples is that events can only be held before or after their regular business hours; our reception was from 5-11pm. Alcohol can only be catered through the Roman Candle (due to their particular liquor license), and they have a list of pre-approved caterers they work with, though they made it clear that they're always interested in forming relationships with new caterers if there is someone else you'd like to use. As for the wedding, I know my husband and I had a blast! Several guests have told us that our wedding was fantastic, and family members who don't often attend or stay very long at celebrations stayed the whole night. Staff was also very friendly, and Sarah B. (their events coordinator) was a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend keeping MCM in mind for your event, wedding or otherwise, as it truly was fun for everyone, no matter their age.