The Magic House

and the staff was so accommodating and helped us to make the outdoor part happen anyway. SO happy with The Magic House!

e! Marissa was absolutely wonderful to work with in planning all of our details, she quickly answered all of my questions and had great recommendations for vendors and how we should setup the areas for our day. We rented the Whitaker Theater and the Children’s Village area for our wedding as well as the dinner tables and chairs from the venue at an extremely affordable price. Having the DJ out in the Children’s Theater area was great for both dancing and for those who just wanted to explore the exhibits. Our guests raved at how much personality our day had and just how plain fun it was. We could not think of a more perfect place to have had our “best day ever” at.

has limitations, they are willing to do whatever they can to fit your schedule (once the museum closes for the day). Their flexibility even allowed us to get unique wedding party pictures before the formal reception started! If there were any hiccups on the day of, I didn't notice because the staff kept things running smoothly. We didn't have to worry about details on our wedding day. Everything was set up, staffed, and taken care of. I'm so glad we took a chance on a non-traditional venue. It was the perfect choice for our perfect day!

he feel of our wedding and our budget, but the care and service we received from the event team was incredible. From planning to the setup and service during the event, the Magic House staff accommodated our requests and took care to make us feel welcome and supported. A perfect example of this was the way the staff spoke to us during set up prior to our ceremony - whenever we asked if they needed anything, they simply said, "for you to relax and have a good time!" What a great answer... and what a great venue!

d of reception. Much more interactive and the time just flew by. We had 220 guests in the North Wing. Extremely satisfied.

f my questions during the planning process especially since I was planning the wedding out of town. She also had great recommendations for some of my vendors! The Magic House staff that worked the night of the wedding were all professional and courteous. If we could do it all again, we would choose the Magic House every time! Thank you so much! It was the best night!

o communicate with leading up to the day. She met with my mom and I several times before the wedding to show us the space and offer advice. She creates a social tables website that allows other people helping you to envision the space. Marissa is not present on the wedding day, but her coworker Josh did a great job with follow through. The Magic House offers white tables and chairs that you can rent for a very affordable price. I recommend doing this because they set them up for you. Many of the guests enjoyed socializing in the garden area during the reception. It was great to have this outside space on such a beautiful evening. The exhibits in the north wing are open during the reception and the Magic House provides staff members to oversee the exhibits. The dance floor, outside area, and exhibits were all a big hit at the reception. I highly recommend having your wedding reception at the Magic House!

walked into the space. Just what we wanted. We rented the new wing. Initially, I did not think that this would be enough or guest would be bored bc the exhibits in this section are less interactive (not really, just not what I remember as a child ;) ). Anything more would have been too much. Most of our guest did not take advantage of all that Magic House had to offer. We had circus performers there and Magic House staff were great at giving the instructions even when we weren't present. As everyone has stated Marissa is great. So is Cheryl the manager. And Josh the site manager. They were all great! Extremely accommodating. Even though we only rented a portion of the museum, we were given access to the other exhibits so that we could take pictures. Only thing I would change is the lighting. It is either on or off. We ended up having a party rental company do lighting for us. Turned out to be pretty expensive (because of after hour delivery and setup) but I think dim light is best for receptions.

ool!

o do it all over again, I would choose the Magic House again and again.

stance. We rented the New Wing, and had a cocktail hour downstairs in the star-spangled center and dinner and dancing on the main floor. We ended up with 125 guests with 14 round tables and we had plenty of room. We also had lots of kids at our wedding (around 20 I believe) and they loved being able to play in the Magic House (many of the adults did too!). When I first told people we were having our wedding reception at a children's museum they thought I was crazy, but after seeing it all come together we got so many compliments on picking such a unique location. The only drawback about this venue is that the museum does not close to the public until 5:30pm so there is a very quick turn around time for set up and the very earliest guests can arrive is 6pm. However, everything went very smoothly and was on time. There is also no smoking even outside on the porch. This ended up being an non-issue for us as the only smokers in our families ended up not being able to make it. A previous reviewer also mentioned the fact that the lights are either off or on. We didn't think about this in advance but fortunately our DJ package came with lighting so we ended up with the lights over the dance floor being off and with the DJ lighting it was perfect. So this may be something to think about. Also despite there being lots to do and see at the Magic House there were still guests on the dance floor all night. I had a blast and I think all our guests did too, and I would definitely recommend the Magic House to other brides especially if they have a family with a lot of kids!

e process. Guests loved the unique location and both kids and adults stayed entertained all night! A few pros and cons for brides to consider: Pros: - Great unique location without having to go to downtown St. Louis - Plenty of parking - Guests can visit other areas of the Magic House if you want/pay for it. We paid to have the entire new half open which gave our guests 3 floors to explore. I was nervous that no one would be on the dance floor if they were playing around the Magic House, but there was a good balance all night long. - Great price - Very flexible in other vendors that can be used - Great staff (Marissa and Nick did a great job with my event!) - Have tables and chairs for 200 people available for rental so you don't have to coordinate that detail with another vendor Cons: - The Magic House doesn't close until 5:30 pm on Saturday's so it's a quick turn to set up a reception since they can't do any set-up beforehand. We had no problems with getting it set-up in time though - they are quick! - Don't expect the Magic House staff to act as a wedding coordinator like you would find in a reception hall. Their primary concern is making sure people are safe playing in the exhibits and that the place is cleaned up. It wasn't a big deal for us as our DJ took an active role in prompting dinner, cake, 1st dances, etc. - They say they can seat 200 in the new half, but I wouldn't recommend going over 180. We had 160 and it was comfortable. One other note: Be sure to talk with Marissa about how you want the lighting for the night of your event. The lights they use can't be dimmed - they are either on or off - so it can be too bright or too dark if you aren't careful. Wasn't a problem, just requires some forward thinking :)