National Aquarium

d all of our stress. The dishes and the layout for our wedding had us filled with joy and excitement. Every single dish chef Tyler presented us were absolutely delicious. Just the Maryland crab cakes, Peruvian steak, and paella could have sufficed, but chef Tyler went the extra mile and was able to incorporate dishes from our culture. Dishes that our older family members could not only appreciate, but enjoy because of how delicious they really were. He was able to create pancit, lumpia Shanghai, and lechon kawali (that's pork belly) that was so good I ended up eating all of it. We were so confident and impressed with Chef Tyler's creations that we gave him full creative freedom on the dessert menu. Food is a big part of our lives and one of the significant factors that started our relationship in its early beginnings. Tasting how good the food was, we knew our guests were going to be blown away. Not only was the food amazing, but the setup and layout of our wedding was beautiful. Nicole was able to envision something truly incredible. The use of space, colors, and aesthetic that Nicole was able to conjure up was exactly the look we were hoping for. My favorite part was the bar next to the dolphin tank. It was an aquarium bar which only exists here. A place you can watch sealife while enjoying a drink rather than awkwardly at your phone like at so many weddings I've been to before. My now wife and I were able to see the beautiful layout, but Nicole made sure we had drinks in our hands the whole night which was incredible. She also got a plate of lechon for my now father in law who didn't have to wait in line for the mouth watering pork. She really took care of us that night. It was absolute beautiful and I can't thank Joe, Nicole, and Chef Tyler enough for all their work and help.

sure off decorating everything else. Their prices may have gone up a bit (I think they were planning on raising their rates right around the time we booked it), but it was a great deal, especially for the DC area. (Other museums I looked at in DC and Baltimore were much more expensive.) I did have to be a bit pro-active about clarifying details with Vicky, the events liaison. That could, however, be because I'm a control freak and needed to know way more information than the average bride.

he contract, but they stalled that, and I'm still not even really sure what happened, but they ended up after two months (in which I had lined up a hotel for my guests, an officiant, and ordered Save the Dates), just refused to send us the contract for weird made up excuses that made no sense. They did slip up and mention that they weren't sure the date was available anymore. The best I can tell is that they figured we were a small wedding and someone else must have contacted them wanting a bigger event on that date which they figured they could make more money off of, so instead of explaining that to us and seeing if we would be willing to change our date (I would have been, or I would have just made an extra donation to the Aquarium to help it make sense for them to rent to us, I understand they are a non-profit organization and I have no budget on my wedding) they were just extremely rude and unprofessional. I have never worked with an organization that behaved this way and it's such a shame because it would have been an amazing place to have my wedding.

ate our once in a lifetime event but also to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity. How many times can you say you had an aquarium all to yourselves? The staff went above and beyond to make sure that we had the perfect evening and I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.