The Elissa House
Private Beachfront Weddings in Galveston
Holds ceremonies and receptions
About this venue
Madison Johnson
OWNER
Typically responds within 24h
The Elissa House is a one-of-a-kind private beachfront wedding venue located on the only privately owned beach in Galveston. Designed for couples who want an elevated, intimate, and truly unforgettable coastal celebration, our venue blends natural beauty with a relaxed luxury atmosphere.
Your full-day rental includes exclusive access to the property, allowing you and your wedding party to get ready inside the beautifully furnished beach house before exchanging vows steps from the shoreline. The Elissa House is ideal for coastal weddings, micro-weddings, and celebrations that prioritize connection, scenery, and effortless elegance.
We offer outdoor ceremonies and receptions overlooking the water, along with picturesque photo locations throughout the property. Tables and chairs are included, and couples are welcome to bring in their preferred vendors. Our on-site team is available throughout the event to ensure a smooth, seamless experience from start to finish.
If you’re dreaming of a private beach wedding where the ocean becomes your backdrop, The Elissa House delivers a setting unlike anything else in Galveston.
The Elissa House is a wedding venue located in Galveston, TX.
Meet the team
- Madison JohnsonOwnerMadison is one half of the sister duo behind The Elissa House. With a natural talent for organizing, coordinating, and staying calm under pressure, she makes sure every wedding day feels seamless and stress-free. Madison leads the day-of operations, supports couples through timelines and logistics, and brings a warm, welcoming presence to every event. Her genuine care for people and her dedication to smooth, thoughtful coordination help create the relaxed, memorable experience The Elissa House is known for.
Reviews
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11/21/25
Excellent tour of immigrant museum and Galveston's history as a port of entry. The sailing ship Elyssa is also an excellent self-guided tour of a steel sailing ship. Fascinating history...and this ship still sails including with volunteers! Hig...
hly recommended!
1/15/26
Wonderful to see the beautiful old ship that still sails! It is dwarfed you the massive cruise ships on either side. The Battleship Texas sits patiently across the water. I wouldn’t go on one of the cruise ships if my wife and I were given fre...
e tickets.
12/05/25
Did you know that Galveston, Texas used to be the "Ellis Island" of the South? Immigrants from all over the world would come through Galveston and either move into central Texas via the railroads (hence the large German and Czech populations of...
Texas Hill country and Oklahoma) or they'd take the Mississippi River North towards Illinois and Iowa or branch off into Tennessee.
Galveston used to be a bustling, metropolitan and diverse city with languages from all over the world being spoken here. When the East Coast talked of limiting immigration, especially to Jews fleeing Russian pogroms, New York financier and philanthropist Jacob Schiff and Galveston's B'nai Israel's Rabbi Henry Cohen spearheaded the Galveston Plan to reroute Jewish immigrants from the East Coast to Texas.
There was a substantial fear that the poverty, overcrowding and cultural differences in Jewish immigrant neighborhoods would increase anti-Semitic frustrations on the East Coast, which would then lead to immigration restrictions on Jews. While some Jews fleeing pogroms fled to Palestine, tens of thousands of them came to Galveston to settle in the South and Midwest.
Not only was Galveston a place for freedom for immigrants fleeing persecution abroad, Galveston was an important stop on runaway slaves' path to Mexico or even Northern states that had outlawed slavery.
I didn't know any of this before visiting this museum. The museum at this historic seaport was incredibly informative and so well done.
Our ticket came with entry to the museum and access to the tall ship Elissa and we paid for an add-on of the Galveston harbor tour in a boat. It was an excellent tour, the ship was actively being trained on and restored while we were there and the museum was fantastic. Highly recommended!
Visited November 2025
12/08/25
We went to Elissa as part of the Dickens on the Strand festival and it was our favorite part of the festival! Of course it’s open other times too. It was clean, amazingly fun to see all the spaces. If you have a baby you’ll want to baby wear th...
em. Strollers can’t go below deck because it’s stairs. We took kids 2+ years old and it was possible and functional for them. Some of the stairs are tight or small spaces but you don’t have to take the smallest stair you can take one main stair down and then back up. The crew were so kind and helpful! The atmosphere was light and jolly. We have a delightful time. There is a bathroom in their gift shop and benches by the gift shop for anyone who needs to sit. There is also parking just there near it, paid is what we used, not sure about unpaid. Worth every penny!
12/24/25
Small museum & the Elissa boat was okay. No tour guide. You just buy ticket to wander around on her while they restore it.
Expensive in my opinion!
Staff were super friendly.
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The Elissa House
Madison Johnson
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Owner
Typically responds within 24h
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