Unforgettable Under the Sea Wedding Experience!
Recently updated
This vendor updated their storefront within the last 15 days.
O'Anna Rose
COORDINATOR
The NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island is a truly unique Outer Banks venue that tantalizes the imagination and creates an unforgettable experience. Imagine your wedding ceremony on our 200’ Soundside Pier and gazebo overlooking the Croatan Sound featuring gorgeous sunsets.
Imagine your guests enjoying cocktail hour while exploring many of our galleries! They will see freshwater and salt fish, reptiles, adult and baby alligators, turtles, otters, life around wrecks & reefs and they will be able to touch stingrays and invertebrates. Imagine dinner set in front of our 285,000-gallon Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit featuring the largest collection of sharks in NC. Imagine dancing in our Delicate Drifters Gallery while surrounded by five sea jelly tanks and three bubble tanks. Experience the magic!
Our standard capacity is usually 100 guests, however, we are able to accommodate at maximum 135 guests for a sit-down reception. The type of event/set up determines the capacity.
Amenities + details
Amenities
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Ceremony Types
Civil Union
Commitment Ceremony
Elopement
Interfaith Ceremony
Second Wedding
Vow Renewal Ceremony
Settings
Ballroom
Beach
Waterfront
Museum
Venue Service Offerings
Rentals & Equipment
Service Staff
Any questions?
Meet the team
O'Anna Rose
Coordinator
Hello! I'm O'Anna, the Special Events Coordinator at Roanoke Island Aquarium! Originally from northeastern NC, I graduated from First Flight High School and went on to New York City where I studied Musical Theatre at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. From there, I went on to The New School for Public Engagement where I received my BA: Liberal Arts. Between my upbringing on The Outer Banks and my time in New York, I've gained extensive experience in hospitality and event planning. I'm looking forward to assisting you plan your wedding at the Roanoke Island Aquarium!
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.08 reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Ciera H
Highlighted review.
5.0
4/02/2026
This was the perfect venue for our wedding. We knew from the moment we did our first walk through that this was it. Our guest list consisted of 20 kids from 3 to 14. They absolutel...
y love seeing all the fish and the touch tank add-on was perfect. O'Anna and the rest of the staff were great to work with and always there to answer any questions that I had.
Sophia K
5.0
5/18/2026
Having our wedding at the NC Aquarium was an amazing and unforgettable experience. The dinner setting was beautiful being surrounded by the sharks and fish in the graveyard of the ...
Atlantic exhibit. Our guests enjoyed exploring all of the various exhibits and the touchpools were a big hit as well. All through the planning process and on the day of our wedding the staff were accommodating and friendly. We couldn’t have asked for a more unique and memorable place to host our wedding day! We look forward to visiting in the future.
Any questions?
Elise R
5.0
5/06/2026
We had our wedding at the NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island, and it truly exceeded our expectations. Our ceremony on the pier was absolutely beautiful, and the wetlands made for such a...
fun and unique cocktail hour. Having dinner alongside the shark tank and dancing with the jellyfish created an unforgettable experience for us and our guests.
It was such a cool and one-of-a-kind venue, we have no regrets. Many of our guests told us it was the most memorable wedding they’ve ever attended!
O’anna, the aquarium’s coordinator, was wonderful to work with. She was incredibly responsive, answered all of my questions thoroughly, and made the entire planning process feel smooth and stress-free.
Sydney T
5.0
7/23/2025
We had an amazing evening and all our guests couldn’t stop talking about how we had one of the coolest weddings they’d been to! It was an added bonus that we could add the stingray...
touch tank which engaged many of our guests who weren’t big into dancing.
Emily L
5.0
2/06/2023
The Aquarium is where I held my wedding and I have absolutely no regrets! From me loving the views and everything about it to my husband loving the animals, this was a no brainer. ...
The uniqueness of the venue was incomparable to other venues and they offered entertainment, decor, tables, chairs, and beautiful scenery for a wedding for a fair price. They have three different packages and we chose the first one with access to the entire aquarium and pier. Communication was superb throughout the entire wedding planning process. A lot of questions and information needed to be exchanged since this is a state owned and operated facility. We were still able to hold the wedding of our dreams!
Lindsey S
5.0
11/28/2017
We visited the aquarium Fourth of July weekend 2016, only a month after we got engaged, as we always visit aquariums everywhere we travel. We immediately fell in love with it and h...
ad a difficult time decided where to get married as he is from Florida and I am from Texas and we live in the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. Once we saw the pier out back, we instantly knew we had to get married at the aquarium! We set our date for 10/7/2017 and Cheryl was amazing, took time to take our calls and answer questions, the cost was extremely reasonable with a refundable deposit after the event (provided no incident, of which we had none and got that back). We wanted our family and friends to fall in love with the Outer Banks, just like we did and they absolutely did. Cheryl was beyond accommodating and available to either meet or speak and coordinate everything, her and the staff are beyond pleasant and we couldn't ever imagine having our wedding anywhere else and we will continue to visit frequently!
Carol O
5.0
8/24/2015
My husband and I got married at the Roanoke Island Aquarium on July 11, 2015. We booked this venue over a year and a half in advance after finding it on the Outer Banks Wedding Ass...
ociation Website. We both have always loved the ocean and the beach so we knew that this would be the perfect place to get married. Cheryl the event coordinator at the aquarium was great to work with. Because of her and our event coordinator, Beth, our wedding at the aquarium was absolutely spectacular! The ceremony was supposed to be take place on the pier located next to the aquarium; however, unfortunately it rained that day so we had to move inside to the theater for the ceremony. The theater is a very nice room; however, it lacks any special charm so our ceremony wasn't as picturesque as it would have been on the pier. Our reception took place in the shark tank room; which was such a beautiful backdrop for photos and dancing! Our guests were able to explore the entire aquarium throughout the evening. All of our guests no matter what their age absolutely had a blast, many said that it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Note to brides, the one bad thing is that there are several rooms that your guests can enjoy, which makes it very difficult to track down all 140 of your guests and thank them for being there. This isn't a deal breaker by any means, I just wish a former bride had warned me so I would have spent more time thanking my guests and maybe worn more comfortable shoes! Thank you to Cheryl and all of the aquarium staff who helped out with our wedding.
Amanda W
5.0
7/10/2014
If you want to wow your guests, and have a great time, I highly recommend renting the Roanoke Island Aquarium as your destination wedding location. We had the best time, and our g...
uests loved it! We made the wedding kid friendly, so they had a great time petting stingrays, and viewing the wildlife and fish. Dinner was in the shark tank room, and the ceremony was beautiful on the new pier on the sound. Cheryl was great to work with as well! We will never forget our unique, beautiful, wedding!
Want to book a visit?
Start the convo
*=Required
Use this secure form to reach out and share your wedding vision.
North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
O'Anna Rose
|
Coordinator
Wedding vendors in Manteo
North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
Why use The Knot to message vendors?
Messaging our verified vendors on The Knot is free, safe and secure. Conveniently track vendor messages and planning details all in one place. Our mobile apps make it easy to stay in touch with vendors while you're on‑the‑go. For personalized pricing and package details, sending the vendor a message is the fastest way to get info.