Seymour Marine Discovery Center

cation on an ocean bluff to the event room itself, it was the perfect setting for the dinner. We really appreciated that they did not require us to use their vendors (although they provided suggestions), plus we were able to bring in our own alcohol which saved us a lot of $$. The staff was so easy to work with. Of all the vendors I had contact with, they always gave the quickest responses. They were very accommodating to some of our more unique needs. We used just the La Feliz Room, but the entire Exhibit Hall was also available to rent. It is a flexible venue that can be used for a fully catered formal wedding or a more casual do-it-yourself event. Ours was somewhere in between so it was perfect. I would highly recommend this venue for any large gathering.

ew and the sunset at this location is simply unbeatable!

y and her team were so helpful. Guests are still talking about the aquarium wedding!

hotos. The inside rooms are very spacious and can comfortably fit a nice sized group. The coolest part are all the marine exhibits and touch pools – such a great talking point, and loved by adult and kid guests alike. The staff were easy to work with, communicative and welcoming. It was perfect, highly recommend!

osphere. The views are amazing - just what we wanted. It is a build-it-from-the-ground-up venue, which means you can create your own vision. We only used the La Feliz room & its patio, as our wedding was small (30 people). The ceremony was on the patio, and cocktails, dinner, & dancing were inside. Had it rained, we would have moved the ceremony inside, too. The room has two walls of windows that allow you to continue enjoying the view until sunset. We highly recommend having bistro lights in the room; the room's lights are gym-like and do not have a dimmer switch. Pricing is by the hour and very reasonable compared to most other venues. Emily and her Private Events staff were great to work with. With just two-and-a-half months to plan the wedding, their help was invaluable. Emily is a wealth of knowledge, especially for vendor categories that are not on their preferred vendors list. Particularly for the caterer, it is best to use one of their preferred vendors as the Seymour Center does not have a commercial kitchen. We used Feast For A King caterers; their food was delicious, and their service was wonderful. Our guests were so complimentary about the venue and really enjoyed the atmosphere - and best of all...so did we! We would highly recommend the Seymour Center.

ibly helpful and answered as many questions as I could think of! The beauty of the sea cliffs during the ceremony could not have been more perfect for our wedding. All of our guests loved visiting the touch tank table for cocktail hour and being able to just browse the exhibits when they needed a break from dancing. All in all a 10/10 experience! If I had to do it all over again I would choose the Seymour Center every time.

touch. The staff were extremely responsive and great to work with. Not having specific required vendors was a huge plus. You're very much renting the space only here. That was great for us, and the venue pricing matches, but we definitely benefited from working with a coordinator (Rebecca from Danzante Events) that knew the space well.

utiful place to host guests, the ability to work with your own caterer and bartending staff opens up a wide variety of budget options, and throughout our whole event our guests were continually remarking at what a unique and beautiful place it was. Thank you for helping us to host our "science rave" wedding!

e true. My family and friends were so delighted to get a chance to touch a starfish and their jellyfish exhibit was beautiful. A big shout out to the staff who were so kind and personable. The ocean view through the windows were breathtaking and the ocean breeze really calmed our nerves for the big day.

l of our guests raved about how amazing our venue was and the touch pool was a big hit with the kids. It was also meaningful to us that our money goes to fund marine outreach and education. The event staff were so accommodating, professional, and prompt when answering our hundreds of questions. Thank you Emily, Audrey, and the rest of the staff!

ould want, and if something did come up, questions were answered promptly. The venue was unique and gorgeous, the touch-tanks during cocktail hour were fun for our guests and the docents were really friendly and educational. We had to change our plan last minute for unexpected rain, and ended up doing the ceremony indoors, there was plenty of space and when people ask me how the wedding went I forget to even mention it rained because the indoor wedding was just as lovely and memorable.

sts were very impressed. We had a small ceremony with 20 people on the back deck, and a reception for 90 people in the entire space afterward. The staff was very responsive and knowledgable, and they have connections us to excellent vendors who were know the site well and offered great service. Also, it's an incredible value and we were glad to support the center's mission with our wedding

oosing this venue and it was truly an unforgettable night for all of our wedding guests (even the young ones!). My husband and I are still getting comments on how amazing the venue was.

also recently redid the floor in the banquet hall and it looks amazing. They were always responsive on email. I definitely recommend it!

d the event coordination team were wonderful to work with and helped reduce the stress around getting married. The venue allows for a lot of flexibility in plans, and we loved that the cost of the venue is put back into the research center. Guests told us they had never been to such a uniquely beautiful setting. The best decision we made, 1000 times over.

tes, we knew this was where we wanted to get married. The ceremony took place on the breathtaking bluffs overlooking the ocean. At our rehearsal, we saw dolphins swim along the coast. We utilized the exhibit hall, class room, and all of our guests enjoyed the opportunity to see the fish and sea life. The resources, preferred vendors, and information provided by the Seymour Center staff made planning our wedding easy. Everyone was friendly and professional to work with throughout the planning process. The only challenge is the hours the Center is open to the public, I wish we could have at least set up or started the ceremony outdoors earlier. We are still grateful the money for the venue goes to education and research rather than the very pricey wedding industry! We love the Seymour Center and can't wait to bring our kids there one day. It is a magical place to have a wedding.

ce. The Seymour Center team was friendly and responsive every step of the way, and working with some of their recommended vendors helped us use the space for an ideal setup. We got to treat our friends and family to breathtaking scenery, and the walking path around to the shipwreck deck made for a slow-building, dramatic bridal entrance. Plus the exhibits and docent-led touch pool were a great way for our youngest guests to stay occupied!

the event coordinator (Emily) answered all of the questions we had during our year of planning. There are a good number of forms to fill out, which is typical for any venue, but expectations were clear, and there was plenty of time to handle any issues that came up. The venue itself is incredible - there are gorgeous ocean views a stone's throw away from the building, and there are exhibits that are open during the event. Our guests are still talking about getting to touch starfish at our wedding! We ended up needing to hold an indoor ceremony due to rain, but luckily there is a built-in rain option in the La Feliz room. They are very flexible about vendors - anyone insured can be a vendor, and their suggested vendor list was very helpful when planning our wedding. Additionally, holding a wedding at Seymour Center helps support marine science and education, which is a fun bonus!

for the younger (and adult) kids was just so wonderful. Everyone we needed to communicate with through the UC was extremely friendly and over the top accommodating. We just cannot praise this beautiful venue enough!!

, and made it easy to plan our wedding there in April. Many of our guests complimented on the venue and said it was one of the coolest places that they've been to for a wedding. I highly recommend the Seymour Center for both visiting and for hosting events.

oking Monterey Bay with a beautiful section of coastal trails for guests to explore. We had access to the two outdoor patios, the large conference room with a wall of ocean facing windows, as well as the full exhibit hall and it made for quite the party! Emily, the event coordinator, was great to work with, very responsive and helpful with all of our many, many questions. We were able to have two docents work at the touch tank in the exhibit hall, and it was absolutely the most fun and unique part of the experience, really fun for both the kids and adults. With all of the exhibits to peruse, we were able to do minimal decorations. For the views and the perfect sized setting, there isn’t a better location for such an affordable price. We are also very happy that the cost of the venue actually goes towards funding the outreach and education center. I grew up visiting the Seymour center in elementary school, and it was awesome to have our party at such a unique and memorable site, and end up with some wedding photos in front of a blue whale skeleton! SO awesome! We did a *VERY* DIY wedding, and there are a few things to think about when planning. The Seymour center can recommend someone (Sarah at A Paper Flower Wedding) to do lighting in the Feliz Room, which looked great and I would highly recommend going for it. For the dance area, we purchased our own uplights, which was an added task that our crew of friends helped set up, but were great to set the mood. The sound system in the center was not functional at the time of our wedding and we ended up having one set up, there were a few snafus with set up, although I don’t think anyone noticed, and the dance music sounded great. The Feliz room has beautiful windows out onto the bay and the patio also has a great view, but if you have seating outside on the Feliz room patio, it might be hard for guests to hear if speeches are going on inside. We had enough space in the room to have everyone sit inside, and I’m really glad that worked out. I would also note that on the Monterey Bay, you can’t be too sure what the weather will be, and while it was perfectly beautiful out, it was quite windy. We had our ceremony in a redwood grove (Wagner Grove at Harvey West Park) earlier in the day so it didn’t matter at all. Luckily we also didn’t have any fog roll in, although I would honestly guess it would be very pretty in the fog as well. Wish we could do it all over again!

n and Emily, and both were calm, collected, and kind. I appreciated that the Seymour Center was upfront with its policies and procedures but also willing to be flexible and work with us to figure things out. We ended up only using the Seymour Center's furniture, and it turned out well. You might want to see the chairs ahead of time in case they don't match your aesthetic. We didn't go with a caterer but instead brought in food orders from local restaurants and hired a team of event staff to help with setup, serving, and cleanup. We held our ceremony on Shipwreck Deck and rented a portable microphone and speaker for the outdoor AV (highly recommend because it can get windy out there). Now go and give the Seymour Center a call and see if your wedding is a match for the venue—you won't be disappointed!

edding day happen without a hitch. She was responsive and supportive as we navigated the pandemic. I found myself speechless when I caught my first of our decorated ceremony and reception areas on my wedding day in 2021. Our ceremony was outside with panoramic ocean views. Our reception was inside and was the perfect size. Our guests loved having access to the marine center while they sipped their drinks and enjoyed appetizers. I would highly recommend Seymour Marine Center as a wedding venue. Thank you to the staff there who played such a huge role in making our wedding day so beautiful and memorable!

event coordinators are wonderful to work with -- so responsive and helpful with every question and request. The planning process was seamless and the team there was so flexible, accommodating and ready to help make our day perfect!

ing room was the perfect size and faced the spectacular ocean panorama. Kids enjoyed all the exhibits while adults had plenty of room to get their groove on. We all had the most amazing time! Lindsey worked with all our vendors to make sure we got the wedding of our dreams. The best thing, too, was feeling like we were supporting part of Santa Cruz!

al element. We paid the extra fee to have access to the exhibit hall and I highly recommend it. While my husband and I were off getting some sunset engagement photos, the guests and wedding party were enjoying cocktail hour, a touch pool and all the tanks and exhibits. Fun for all ages. Well worth what you pay. Felt like a much more expensive event than it was.

k into the ocean education programs. It's a great center to visit, and a great place for an event!

is place provides. I would recommend this place to anyone!! But do keep in mind that it's very much a DIY wedding venue, which also means you can bring in your own caterer and provide the alcohol yourself!

y and some gifts from the cutest gift shop EVER there, AND the guests got to check out the exhibits for cocktail hour! We had a band on the back deck and dancing and it was the perfect size for 70 people! Couldn't recommend this place enough, I love sea life so it was so perfect for us! Pretty easy to get great photos with the beautiful nature and awesome whale skeletons in the background! If you are into science, this is your place! Also shout out to Ray and Rebecca who were both great to work with!

the gorgeous Monterey Bay. Our cocktail hour was in the exhibit hall so guests could see the aquarium and displays while strolling with their drinks. Our dinner and dancing was in the La Feliz room which was intimate with lovely floor to ceiling windows. The facility is part of UCSC and their event staff are student positions. It was challenging to reach staff, their response were delayed and often we received different answers depending on who we spoke with. It was frustrating and things changed right up to the night before the event. If you are patient and have nerves of steel this location is worth it!

ent (last 6 months) communication was fabulous! There are a lot of restrictions because of the location, but if you can play by their environmentally sound rules then it's an amazing venue. We booked both the reception room and the exhibit hall because we wanted to get married on the Shipwreck Deck. It is a gorgeous site! Plus our guests were able to walk around the exhibits (which was great since many of them didn't dance). You will want to use your own sound system. Theirs is great for meetings but not a wedding. And you will want a portable sound system for outside ceremonies because of the wind. Biggest downside is that there is a noise curfew and we had to shut off the music at 10pm.

m from 5pm until 11pm on a Saturday. We had our Saturday evening ceremony on the outdoor patio overlooking the water at 6pm, and reception until 11pm. The huge window overlooking the cliffs and Monterey Bay made the perfect backdrop for the reception. Uplights that we rented and candlelight from our centerpieces gave the room a soft glow so we didn't have to use the rooms regular lighting, although it wasn't really horrible industrial lighting. Fabric in our wedding colors easily covered the bulletin boards around the room pulling our look together (it could give you a place to hang pictures of the bride and groom too). We were able to use our own vendors (or DIY it which we did a lot of) and our caterer was very happy with the full kitchen that was available for us. The events manager Elena was so nice too! She knew we were doing everything but putting down a dance floor (which you will need to rent) on our own and was able to get us into the room the afternoon before the wedding so we could decorate! The only negative things I can think of are that it is definitely for smaller wedding parties, and you need to have the room cleaned and empty (party over all clean for the next days event) by 11:45pm

The outside Shipwreck deck was the site of our ceremony and it was absolutely breathtaking! we had a beutiful day with zero fog and a cool breeze. our guests were able to mingle and cruise the exhibits as we had our photos taken, and the center provided trained docents to answer questions and have the touch tank on. our guests loved that they could interact and be entertained. drawbacks - be on your game, communication between you and site can lag at times, ask questions about everything because you cannot assume they will give you all the info you need (ex/ media requirements, time lines, etc)