$2,500 starting price
101-150 guest capacity
This venue can host up to 150 guests
About this vendor
The Carousel Museum allows you and your partner to step back in time for an unforgettable wedding celebration in Bristol, CT. This whimsical wedding venue is home to a fantastic collection of art pieces, chariots, and various memorabilia from the golden age of amusement parks. You can swap your vows and say "I do" in the Main Gallery, surrounded by stunning carousel art and antique treasures.
After you share your first kiss as a married couple, you can lead your wedding party towards the reception area for a memorable night of dining and dancing. The charming Ballroom, with its sparkling Venetian crystal chandeliers and ample dance floor, is the ideal setting for gathering your closest friends and family. This customizable area can be the setting for your nearest and dearest to dance the night away as you celebrate your love and create memories that will last a lifetime. Along with a comfortable capacity of up to 150 guests, the Carousel Museum is also fully wheelchair-accessible, with an elevator and a ramp to the second floor.
Carousel Museum welcomes all outside vendors, including your favorite catering company, to ensure the day is about you and your loved ones. The friendly team at the museum will be happy to share their list of recommendations for local businesses should you require any assistance on that front. Ample parking is available at the Carousel Museum for your friends and family, who can rest assured that their belongings will always be safe, secure, and nearby.
Take a 360° Virtual Tour and enjoy an exclusive sneak peek of The Carousel Museum today!
Sincerely,
Morgan Urgo
The Carousel Museum
Executive Director
Amenities + details
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Guest Capacity
- Up to 150
Settings
- Ballroom
- Historic Venue
- Industrial & Warehouse
- Museum
Venue Service Offerings
- Rentals & Equipment
Reviews
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4.2
out of 5.06 reviews
Review photos
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Highly recommend The Carousel Museum as a wedding venue. They were great with communication, the venue has so much character, and I like that it is a non-profit. Didn't even have to do much decorating because the venue is already amazing to look at. We had just under 100 people attend and there was so much room for everyone including the huge dance floor in the middle of the room which we definitely utilized. They made the whole process easy.
I found out about The New England Carousel Museum from my now sister in law who was a bridal party member for a wedding there in 2014. Back then, the Carousel Museum was extremely rustic, an industrial brick style building standing in Bristol, Connecticut. When my husband and I began searching for venues, our budget was not grand. I mentioned the museum to him in hopes it would fulfill our fairy tale vision. From the moment we met Morgan Urgo(the now Director), her spark was just contagious. We booked the Museum at the end of 2018, with plans for a May 2020 wedding. When COVID happened, the museum was excellent with communication as we struggled to keep postponing our wedding. Although we didn’t use them for our elopement ceremony, we kept our hopes for the reception! When we got the green light, the museum helped us get everything we needed: set up, bar and caterer information, where to put the DJ, gave us another tour of the NEWLY renovated grounds, etc. They never missed a beat with getting us the right coordinator and rehearsal plus day of assistance. Without their energy and love for happy endings, we NEVER would have thrown the party we got to throw to celebrate our story. The museum now has more great collections, air conditioning, an active carousel for guests to enjoy, how can you not want to see this hidden gem of Hartford County???!
They were very flexible and easy to work with. For a small fee they set everything up and broke it down. Reasonably priced and totally worth the price
The carousel Museum was amazing and perfect for our Carnival themed wedding. It was something totally unique and different and really set a whole different tone to have fun and be yourself. I've been to weddings where I was afraid during the ceremony if I could even sneeze, this place is very animated and you feel like you're at the fair. I totally recommend it to those who like to have a good time. It's absolutely amazing in the staff there especially Elaine help with anything you need. If you're considering it do it no if ands or buts. Just do it, we are so happy we did. Go take a look for yourself. 😁
Booked an interfaith (Christian/Jewish) wedding on 10/17/17 at the New England Carousel Museum. We were informed that the venue would be decorated for Christmas but ENSURED that it would be tasteful (only wreaths/Christmas lights) and not tacky or over the top. Two weeks prior to event I went to the museum for one last walk through to find multiple Christmas trees, a large sleigh, a large reindeer, a large Christmas village table display, ornaments hanging from all chandeliers, and children's drawing contest pictures on the wall. In addition, there was a Medieval tattoo exhibit in the room we rented for our cocktail hour displaying a variety of old tattoo equipment. Long story short, they refused to remove ANY of the Christmas decorations or move the large items out of the ballroom to accommodate the number of tables we needed to seat our guest and the tattoo exhibit took up a significant amount of space, preventing us from using the space for our cocktail hour for our 160 guest. We ended up having to move our wedding to a different venue due to their unwillingness to accommodate requested changes that were necessary to fit the tables we needed in the space we paid for. The event coordinator was very rude and inflexible. I found them to be dishonest in their description of the venue during the holiday season. The venue is unique and affordable, but there is no guarantee of what you will end up with. Proceed with caution.
Other things to note: they do not allow open flame (candles), the place smells a little musty, and parking is difficult for large parties.
We just had our wedding the evening of Oct. 13th at the New England Carsouel Museum. The venue is unique, beautiful and very entertaining for guests of all ages. We had our ceremony in the main musuem hall exhibit (downstairs) and then had our guests walk upstairs for the reception. There is a working carsouel that our all our guest, young and old, could take rides on during the cocktail hour and we were able to take some gorgeous portrait shots on there for our album. Our guests were able to tour the entire museum throughout the entire reception. We had a little over 100 people and could definitely fit another 50 people comfortably. The upstairs reception hall is handicap accessible. The museum staff is very easy to work with and flexible. Multiple friends told us it was one of the nicest wedings they had ever been to! There's just so much to entertain people with. The price is very affordable especially considering that the entire museum is yours with a working carsouel! There are a few drawbacks...there is plenty of parking, but it's a little bit of a walk for some guests. At the moment there is no AC for your planning a summer wedding. They are currently raising funds to have a central air system installed, so check back on this with the museum. Also make sure you confirm everything with Musuem staff the week of the wedding. We arrived Friday night before to set up as I had arranged, and the board of trustees had scheduled dance fundraiser that night. The staff was great to help accomodate us, letting us store our decorations and come back anytime we wanted in the AM the day of wedding to set up, setting up the tables for us. Was honestly somewhat of a big inconvenience, but there we worked together and made the best of the situation. This is also what happens when you choose a DIY wedding. Overall the day was better than I had hoped for and our guest raved about the venue. I would definitely recommend if your looking for a unique and interesting venue on a budget!
Contact
95 Riverside Ave, Bristol, CT
The Carousel Museum
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