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One of the many options for a wedding at OMSI: the Riverfront Courtyard in southeast Portland, Oregon. Photo: Courtesy of OMSI
As a kid, I thought there were few places cooler than OMSI.
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is located in southeast Portland, Oregon, and home to a planetarium, theater, and submarine, among a number of permanent and rotating science exhibits. It was the ideal destination for field trips and summer camps.
But what about weddings? Can you get married at OMSI?
I’m happy to report that not only can you get married at OMSI, you can host arguably one of the most intentional, interesting, and dare I say special weddings possible in the Portland metro area.
Here’s my take as a professional wedding planner.
The basics
Address: 1945 SE Water Ave., Portland, OR 97214
Fits: There are two spots specifically marketed for weddings at OMSI: Theory and the Riverfront Courtyard. Theory fits 160 people for a seated dinner. The Riverfront Courtyard fits 150 people for a seated dinner.
Other spaces at the museum, including Kendall Planetarium and Turbine Hall, are available for weddings. The Planetarium fits 185 people seated in the round. Turbine Hall fits 65 to 350 people, depending on the layout.
Speaking of layout, the OMSI event sales team shared that in Theory, folks have hosted the ceremony in front of the fireplace while in the Courtyard, any view with the Willamette River behind the altar tends to be popular.Costs: $1,800 to $6,000 for the venue rental of Theory or the Riverfront Courtyard. The other spaces at the museum available for weddings didn’t have event pricing listed online but page 7 in the OMSI “Event Planning Guide” might be useful. (If that link doesn’t work, go here and look for a more updated link.)
Can you rent out the whole museum? Yes. In fact, if you want your guests to visit any locations in the museum where you’re not hosting a ceremony or reception, you have to rent that location (i.e. guests can’t wander around the museum unless you’ve rented that specific area).Includes: Any tables or chairs you see in Theory or the Courtyard are included in the venue rental fee. They can also be moved at no additional cost.
The OMSI event sales team said they also had a “pretty extensive inventory” of 48-inch rounds and bistro tables, 60-inch rounds, 6-foot and 8-foot banquet tables, and banquet chairs though they didn’t share specific numbers.
The 30-foot by 75-foot tent in the Courtyard comes with that rental if the tent is already set up for the season (mid-April to late September), and the walls can be removed.
A microphone and sound system are available in Theory at no additional cost with additional A/V services available for an additional fee.
All plates, utensils, and beverageware would come through OMSI’s exclusive catering partner, Epicurean Group, and I don’t believe entail an additional fee outside of the venue fee.
Linens (e.g. tablecloths and napkins) are available for an additional cost. In summer 2023 through September 22, 2023, those prices were $8.50 per tablecloth for red, black, or red or $25.50 for additional colors and $1.75 per napkin (colors not specified).
For pricing after September 22, 2023, go here and look for the catering guide link.
A one-hour rehearsal is included with the venue rental fee though, as is often standard for venues, a specific date and time of the rehearsal won’t be confirmed by OMSI until 30 days out.
The OMSI events staff said that OMSI typically has classrooms available for any getting-ready space at an additional fee starting at $250.Timings: Theory and the Riverfront Courtyard are each available for a five-hour block. For Theory, that block can’t begin until 6 p.m. and must end by 12 a.m. For the Courtyard, the block can start any time day or night and must end by 12 a.m. Hours for the other parts of the museum weren’t available but would likely be influenced by the hours that OMSI is open to the public.
I asked if that five-hour block includes set-up and clean-up. The answer was a bit vague. The event sales team at OMSI told me that “certain vendors” could get access earlier than 6 p.m. (the time I was given was 3 p.m.).
That early vendor access would be vital for nearly all weddings as, at minimum, I recommend two hours set-up time. That time will be higher depending on the floral and decor details of the wedding.
As for clean-up, I recommend an hour, which means that if you have to be out of a space at OMSI by 12 a.m., the wedding reception would need to end by 11 p.m. in order to give that necessary hour.Parking: OMSI has two dedicated parking lots with 500-plus spots including handicapped parking spaces. Starting July 24, 2023, parking will cost $5 plus fees for two hours or $8 plus for all-day parking except for people who arrive after 5 p.m. People who arrive after 5 p.m. will pay a fee of $2 “for the evening,” per OMSI event sales manager, Kathleen Jacobs.
For a wedding, each spot costs $2 for the entire day, as paid through Parking Kitty and per the OMSI events staff. Event hosts can pay for a certain number of spots ahead of time, or guests can pay individually day-of through Parking Kitty.
Please note that this is different from the information listed on page 6 of the OMSI “Wedding Brochure” and is per my July 2023 conversations with the OMSI events staff.Accessibility: OMSI has a robust accessibility policy that also applies to weddings.
Sustainability: I asked the reps for Epicurean Group of any notable sustainability efforts in the kitchen and was told they prioritize this including using reusable materials. No additional details were provided including what, if any, composting program may be in place in the kitchen.
Theory at OMSI. The fireplace has often been used as the backdrop for a ceremony in this space, per the OMSI team. Photo: Courtesy of OMSI
The pros
So. Many. Options.
Can we talk about the planetarium for a minute?
Support a museum
Oodles of parking (for a price)
For a place that centers values of learning and creativity, is it really any surprise that events at OMSI can be equally creative?
Kathleen of the OMSI events sales team shared several stories of wedding clients who were self-described “OMSI kids,” i.e. folks like yours truly who hold special childhood memories of the museum. One that particularly caught my ear: the client who hosted a 130-guest ceremony on neighboring Tilikum Crossing before proceeding over to OMSI for the reception.
And don’t even get me started on the planetarium, i.e. my new dream venue. Excuse my inner space geek for a moment and let me just explain how very cool I think it would be to be married in this 185-person seated auditorium. Beyond being a venue that automatically sits people in the round — an underutilized ceremony seating arrangement, in my humble opinion — the 52-foot domed theater is at your disposal.
This means you could project:
The stars of the night sky the day that you met your partner(s)
Any image available in a NASA-provided gallery
A message from you to your guests
An entire color wheel of options like your own personal aurora borealis
This is the outside of the Kendall Planetarium at OMSI. The inside seats 185 people in the round and is this wedding planner’s new dream destination for a wedding ceremony. Photo: Courtesy of OMSI
Like hosting a wedding at the Portland Art Museum, having a wedding at OMSI has one huge pro: You’re literally supporting a Portland institution. This can have huge appeal both from a place of using the spending power of your wedding to align with your values and from a place of introducing any out-of-town guests to Portland.
Lastly, a notable pro of OMSI is that there are two dedicated parking lots specific to the museum. The catch: They’re open to the public until the museum closes and they also cost money ($2 to $5 plus fees per spot as noted above in the “Parking” section of this article). Still, in a city where parking is at a premium, having two dedicated lots is a notable luxury.
The cons
Exclusive catering
Open to the public
Noisy outdoor spaces
Limited access to the rest of the museum (unless you rent those, too)
If you go with OMSI, you’re also going with Epicurean Group, OMSI’s exclusive food and beverage partner and the team behind Theory. The only potential exception to this rule is a wedding-related dessert. While the OMSI Wedding Packages brochure for 2023 says only outside cakes are allowed, the Epicurean Team told me in July 2023 that other outside desserts are a potential option if discussed beforehand.
Is this a bad thing? Not if you like Epicurean’s food. If you’d like a quick taste test, consider visiting Theory during the museum’s general hours. There’s a wide variety of options including a deli, bar, and pizza oven. (The pizza oven is particularly successful at weddings, said one member of the Epicurean team.)
To get a sense of what’s available, go here and look for the catering guide link. Per the Epicurean team, all menus are customizable and can easily accommodate food preferences, allergies, and restrictions.
As you review the food, keep in mind that OMSI is a public museum. That means like many of the other venues I’ve reviewed (Portland Art Museum and working restaurants Gorges Beer Co. and Produce Row come to mind), you’re going to be dealing with the general public until the place closes (or unless you shell out big time and buy the whole place out).
This doesn’t have to be a con. Like many of these spaces, OMSI has options in place to make a wedding feel private even when the museum is open. (The main one is the limited hours available to host events.) But for someone who doesn’t want to deal with people who aren’t their guests or vendors, a public location like OMSI isn’t a good match.
At Theory, the bar and pizza oven are located near the south end of the same space where the fireplace (pictured earlier) is. Photo: Courtesy of OMSI
Be aware of that, too, if you’re looking for tranquility. OMSI is located in downtown Portland. That means that the outdoor spaces, including the Riverfront Courtyard, are noisy. Specifically, you’re hearing traffic from the neighboring freeways. The upside: There’s really no noise restriction because, as one venue rep told me, it’s pretty hard to beat the noise of the freeway.
That noise won’t matter if you’re indoors but if you’re thinking of using the Courtyard, plan accordingly. This would mean having amplified sound for the ceremony and reception and rolling with the fact that there might be train whistles and honks in the background at times.
Lastly, be aware that if you didn’t rent the space, you don’t get access to it. I note this as, before my tour, I had Night at the Museum daydreams of having unrestricted access to the museum once the public had left. Not so (unless, of course, you pay for those areas).
That said, if you want it, chances are good you can have it. The OMSI events staff struck me as particularly open to out-of-the-box ideas, including ways you could make use of different areas of the museum for different parts of the wedding (not unlike the folks at Portland Art Museum that have a whole gallery you can rent for a wedding). For example, any interest in a cocktail hour in the Turbine Hall? Talk to OMSI about it.
The bottom line
Beyond my own childhood fondness for OMSI, it’s still a pretty cool place as an adult.
It’s not going to be for everyone. This is not the venue that gets celebrate on Wedding Instagram or repinned on Pinterest, but it is a place where a client who values creativity, education, and fun would thrive.
Notably, as of this writing, OMSI only does a couple of weddings a year. The sense I got during my tour was that they’d really like to do more. This means opportunity for a client who’s interested in working with a world-class organization with extensive events experience.
And hey, if you get married in that planetarium, seriously, hit me up.
Learn more about Produce Row: omsi.edu and @OMSI
Check out the other wedding venues I’ve reviewed.
Do you know of a venue that I should visit? Tell me: elisabeth@elisabethkramer.com.