- A Complete Guide to Planning Your Wedding at The Henry Ford Museum
- The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
- Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at The Henry Ford Museum
- Lovett Hall Wedding
- Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at Lovett Hall
- Wedding day Amenities at Lovett Hall
- Greenfield Village
- Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at Greenfield Village
- More Resources
A Complete Guide to Planning Your Wedding at The Henry Ford Museum
Are you thinking about planning your wedding at The Henry Ford Museum? This iconic piece of Americana is home to stories that tell the tale of American ingenuity & innovation. By the way, they have the actual artifacts to back it up! When you add all of that together and turn it into a wedding venue, you are left with one amazing experience. But, The Henry Ford Museum has a total of three unique wedding venues. And, within those venues, there are additional spaces. So, it can get kind of confusing! In fact, you can find a map of the campus, right here.
But, as Detroit Wedding Photographers, we’ve seen them all. Yes, really! Our experiences inside the walls of these venues working to capture our couple’s best day ever, also left us with the ability to give you some insider information when it comes to planning your own wedding. We are detailing everything you could possibly need to know about planning your wedding at The Henry Ford Museum, so keep reading for more, or feel free to use the jump links above to help you easily navigate each section.
The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation
Spaces & Capacity Within The Henry Ford Museum
In total, there are four different spaces within The Henry Ford Museum where you can host your wedding. Spaces for your ceremony, cocktail hour, fabulous portraits, and, of course, your epic wedding reception celebration! The spaces inside The Henry Ford Museum include Museum Plaza, Prechter Promenade, Anderson Theatre, and Pennsylvania Courtyard. We’ll give you a bit more insight on each space, below.
Museum Plaza
So, Museum Plaza is kind of like the epicenter of The Henry Ford Museum. It’s the absolute focal point of all museum events and it is surrounded by their collections. Here, you’ll find national artifacts like the Kennedy Limousine, Rosa Parks Bus, and Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House. We love utilizing this space for wedding portraits! The possibilities for epic backgrounds are endless. 1952 Oscar Meyer Weenie mobile anyone? But, it can also serve as a reception space! Your guests will spend the night dining, and dancing under the Douglas DC-3 airplane. In total, when this space is utilized for a reception, it can host anywhere from 100 to 5,000 guests.
Prechter Promenade
If you think of Museum Plaza as the main epicenter of The Henry Ford Museum, Prechter Promenade serves as its grand entrance. This space can be combined with Museum Plaza for your wedding reception, or it can be used as a flow-through space where your cocktail hour begins, before leading your guests into your reception space at Museum Plaza.
Anderson Theatre
A historic theatre featuring all the gilded decor you could possibly imagine! It’s the epitome of the Gilded Age with its upper balcony, private restrooms, and of course a spacious stage. The Henry Ford Museum also offers the Anderson Theatre for wedding ceremonies. Or, if you are truly planning a one-of-a-kind wedding day experience, The Anderson Theatre can be utilized for the digital projection of your engagement photos or a montage of your love story!
Pennsylvania Courtyard
If you’re having a grand wedding and looking to utilize several spaces within The Henry Ford Museum, the Pennsylvania Courtyard is a beautiful open-air space. This classic garden space features plenty of shady space for an outdoor ceremony or cocktail hour. All in all, Pennsylvania Courtyard has the ability to host up to 400 guests. We also kind of love this space for mid-afternoon weddings in the spring!
Capacity & Start Time
The total recommended capacity for a wedding with a seated dinner at The Henry Ford Museum is 100 – 550 guests. If you are having a more informal strolling dinner wedding, the total recommended capacity is 100 to 4,500 guests. However, the total capacity will of course depend on the spaces you utilize. Your wedding can begin at 6:30 pm. and will conclude as late as 1:00 am. However, if you are hosting your ceremony at The Henry Ford Museum as well, your ceremony start time will be at 6 pm.
Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at The Henry Ford Museum
Ok, we know pricing can be a bit tricky when it comes to wedding venues. So we’ll do our best to give it to you straight forward. Your facility fee will run around $12 – $24 per person and the minimum spend for hosting your wedding at The Henry Ford Museum is $4000. Additionally, there will be a minimum food and beverage spend required for your wedding and this will totally depend upon the day and date of your wedding. You’ll need to contact the venue directly to inquire about your preferred date and time.
Wedding day Amenities at The Henry Ford Museum
Now that we’ve gone over the total cost and spaces available to host your wedding at The Henry Ford Museum, we will tell you that your wedding day will come along with a slew of amenities! All the things you don’t want to think about or pay extra for.
Here is the full breakdown of amenities for your wedding at The Henry Ford Museum:
- 60-inch round guest tables with white floor-length linens (set for 8 guests).
- Limited 72-inch round tables set for up to 10 guests (available upon request, no additional fee)
- Classic white china
- Bar & stemware
- Flatware
- Hurricane lamps & table numbers (optional)
- Mahogany Chiavari chairs
- High & low cocktail tables with white floor-length linen and three votives are included
- Cake table
- Auxiliary tables (6 or 8 feet long) with white floor-length linens are available for your gift table, escort cards, or for your DJ
- Mahogany resin chairs for your ceremony
- Ceremony includes auxiliary tables with white floor-length linen
- Custom diagram of your wedding day set-up & design, including an online collaboration tool for seating
- Museum Plaza Innovation Columns have over 30 complimentary images available for your event
- Parking
- Set up
- Security
- Guest Services support
Do you need a few extras on top of the amenities included with your wedding venue fee at The Henry Ford Museum? The venue does offer the following to their couples. However, an additional charge will apply.
- Specialty Linens
- Chargers
- Lighting Design
- Chair Pads
- Specialty Glass & Stemware
- Lounge Seating
- Specialty Chairs
- Specialty China & Flatware
- Specialty Bars & Barware
- Specialty Tables
- Specialty Column Design & AV
- Ice Sculptures
- Valet
- Staffed Coat Check
- Auxiliary Tents
Lastly, The Henry Ford Museum allows couples to hire their preferred wedding pros, when searching for the following services.
- Linens
- Wedding Cake
- Ceremony Music & Musicians
- Reception Band or DJ
- Florals
- Photo Booth
- Off-Property Transportation
- Wedding Officiant
- Photography
- Videography
Lovett Hall Wedding
Lovett Hall is the second wedding venue inside The Henry Ford Museum, and we’ll give you all the specifics for that space as well! How’d you like to spend the night celebrating as newlyweds in a ballroom built in the 1930s by Mr. Henry Ford himself? Lovett Hall was built by Henry Ford to entertain his guests and host dances led by Benjamin Lovett. Now, this iconic piece of Detroit history can be yours on your wedding day, grand staircase, ballroom, foyer, 40-foot ceilings, and all! Here are all the details you need for planning your best day ever, at Lovett Hall.
Spaces & Capacity Within Lovett Hall
So here’s the scoop! Inside Lovett Hall, you’ll find the Lovett Hall Ballroom, the Lovett Hall Lobby, the Ginger Meyer Garden, and the Lovett Library. Each of these spaces is available for different elements of your wedding day. Some spaces are amazing for your ceremony or reception. While others are smaller spaces best for your wedding day portraits or signing your ketubah or marriage license.
Lovett Hall Lobby
With marble flooring and sky-high ceilings, we love this space at Lovett Hall for capturing unforgettable wedding day portraits. Conversely, you can also host your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, or even yoru wedding reception in this space. The total capacity of the Lovett Hall Lobby is suitable for up to 300 guests.
Ginger Meyer Garden
A literal garden wedding space, do you love it? Intricately laid brick and a limestone gazebo make the Ginger Meyer Garden at Lovett Hall an ideal space for your wedding ceremony or your cocktail hour. Portraits, too, if you’re asking us! It is beautifully picturesque and features a statue of the Roman goddess Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. All in all, the Ginger Meyer Garden can host up to 300 guests.
Lovett Library
The Lovett Library is actually the original library of The Edison Institute. Pretty rad, right? One thing is for sure, The Henry Ford Museum is full of history, at every turn! This space is intimate and quaint. Which makes it most ideal for smaller-sized break-out events on your wedding day. We highly recommend it for your ketubah ceremony or singing your marriage license.
Lovett Hall Ballroom
Really looking for that crystal chandelier teakwood flooring feeling for your wedding day? You’ll find it at the Lovett Hall Ballroom! Here vaulted ceilings with an overlooking balcony create a reception venue fit for a couple straight from the Gilded Age. It’s an atmosphere that is refined, but iconic, and you can use the space to bring your creative wedding day vision to life. It’s a true gem of a wedding space inside The Henry Ford Museum. All in all, the Lovett Hall Ballroom can host up to 350 guests for a seated banquet. Or, for a reception with a dance floor, the Lovett Hall Ballroom can host up to 300 seated guests.
Capacity & Start Time
If you’re thinking that you’d like to host your wedding at Lovett Hall at The Henry Ford, the venue recommends this space for a guest count from 160 up to 300. Additionally, your wedding at Lovett Hall will begin as early as 6:30 pm with an end time of 1 am. If you are hosting a combined wedding ceremony & reception at Lovett Hall, you have the flexibility to begin your ceremony at 6 pm.
Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at Lovett Hall
Wondering what the total cost is of a wedding day at Lovett Hall? The facility fee for Lovett Hall comes in at $3500, and this includes your venue rental, set-up, parking for you and your guests, security, and clean-up. However, we will point out that it does not include your food and beverage minimums, which will happen when you are ready to sit down and plan out your wedding menu.
If you are pairing your Lovett Hall Ballroom wedding reception with a wedding ceremony at the Lovett Lobby or Ginger Meyer Garden an additional fee of $1100, will be added to your venue fee. This ceremony fee includes your 1-hour ceremony, portrait time, and 45 minutes for pre-wedding preparation. Do you need to throw in a wedding rehearsal ahead of time? A one-hour wedding rehearsal can be scheduled 60 days in advance of your wedding and will be confirmed for the week of your wedding. There is no additional fee for your wedding rehearsal because it’s all part of your overall ceremony fee.
Food & Beverage Service for a Lovett Hall Wedding
All food and beverage service at the Lovett Hall Ballroom for your wedding reception will be provided by the team behind The Henry Ford. The only exception to this is your wedding cake and desserts such as a cupcake bar. But, not to worry, The Henry Ford has an extensive full-service menu and you will not be disappointed with the selections, we promise! Keep in mind that the food and beverage minimums will be added to the total cost of your venue fee.
Wedding day Amenities at Lovett Hall
- 60-inch round guest tables with white floor-length linens set for 8 guests
- Limited 72-inch round tables set for up to 10 guests (available upon request, no additional fee)
- Classic white china
- Bar & stemware
- Flatware
- Hurricane lamps (optional)
- Table numbers (optional)
- Mahogany Chiavari chairs
- High & low cocktail tables with white floor-length linens & three votives
- Cake table white floor-length linen
- Auxiliary tables (6 or 8 feet long) with white floor-length linen (gift table, escort cards, etc)
- Mahogany resin ceremony chairs
- Ceremony includes auxiliary tables with white floor-length linens
- Custom diagram of your wedding set-up and design, including an online collaboration tool for seating
- Parking
- Security
- Set up
- Clean up
If you need a little extra razzle-dazzle for your wedding at Lovett Hall, the following items are available for rental through The Henry Ford:
- Specialty Linens
- Chargers
- Lighting Design
- Chair Pads
- Specialty Glass & Stemware
- Lounge Seating
- Specialty Chairs
- Specialty China & Flatware
- Specialty Barware
- Specialty Tables
- Ice Sculpture
- Auxiliary Tents
- Valet Staffed Coat Check
And if you still need just a dash more, you can, of course, hire your own wedding pros for the following items.
- Specialty Linen
- Wedding Cake
- Ceremony Music or Musicians
- Reception Band or DJ
- Florals
- Photo Booth
- Off-Property Transportation
- Wedding Officiant
- Photography
- Videography
Need some help setting up ahead of time? You can drop off small items for your wedding day, such as escort cards, photos, programs, menus, guest book, cake knife, or personalized champagne flutes 2-3 days before your wedding day. The staff on site will make sure all of your personal items are set up and ready to go for your epic wedding day!
Greenfield Village
The third and final wedding venue space within The Henry Ford Museum is Greenfield Village. The best way to describe Greenfield Village is as a step back in time. Greenfield Village celebrates the days of yesteryear. If you’re looking for a horse-drawn carriage kind of wedding, Greenfield Village is one hundred percent the wedding venue to make it happen for you!
Greenfield Village is the place at The Henry Ford for a unique but intimate wedding day experience. They have that whole timeless and romantic feeling down, and the whole place is wrapped up in historic charm that evokes the 1850s. If what you envision out of your wedding day is something traditional but with a unique spin and a dash of history, then you will absolutely fall in love with Greenfield Village. We’ll give you some more specifics on planning your wedding at Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford, below.
Spaces & Capacity Within Greenfield Village
Inside Greenfield Village, you’ll find two unique spaces to host different events on your wedding day. The Martha Mary Chapel, and the Eagle Tavern.
The Martha Mary Chapel
Wedding ceremonies at Greenfield Village take place at the Martha Mary Chapel. Reserving this chapel within Greenfield Village comes with a one-hour wedding ceremony and an additional 45 minutes for those pre-wedding prep moments. In total, this space is able to comfortably accommodate up to 125 of your wedding guests. And, we have to say, that number is strictly enforced. So no squeezing in any last-minute RSVPs, allowed.
If you need to run through your ceremony beforehand, you can reach out directly to The Henry Ford 60 days in advance about a one-hour wedding rehearsal for the week of your wedding. The Henry Ford works to prepare the chapel space for you ahead of time, and your wedding package comes along with a guest services ceremony host. Note, that this is not your officiant!
Eagle Tavern
If you need an all-in-one-stop shop out of your wedding at Greenfield Village, you’ll go from your ceremony at The Martha Mary Chapel to a reception at the Eagle Tavern. In total, the Eagle Tavern is able to accommodate 70 – 135 guests. Wedding receptions at the Eagle Tavern begin at 6:30 pm with an end time of 1 am. So plenty of time to eat hit the dance floor, and grab a late-night bite before heading out as newlyweds!
Catering at Eagle Tavern
All food and beverage service at the Eagle Tavern for your wedding reception is provided by the team behind The Henry Ford. The only exception to this is your wedding cake. Which you can hire a separate vendor for! But, let us just tell you that The Henry Ford has an extensive full-service menu and you will not be disappointed with the selections available for your wedding day!
Wedding day Amenities at Eagle Tavern
The following are provided for your wedding reception at Eagle Tavern:
- Guest tables (8-foot wooden tables), with or without white linens
- High cocktail tables with white floor-length linens
- Custom diagram of event set-up and design
- Cake table
- Two hurricane lamps for each table
- Table numbers (upon request)
- Historic-inspired wood ladder-back cane chairs (alternate chairs not available)
- Classic white china
- Bar & stemware
- Flatware
- Three votives
- Eagle Tavern’s historic menu includes historic transferware (china), pottery service items, and, just for fun, the staff is dressed in 1850s-period clothing!
- Add a warm fire to the Eagle Tavern bar fireplace November-April (fee of $200 for fire specialist required)
Need to add a little something extra to your wedding reception at the Eagle Tavern? The Henry Ford offers the following at an additional cost.
- Specialty Linens
- Chargers
- Lighting Design
- Ice Sculpture
- Specialty Glass/Stemware
- Lounge Seating
- Staffed Coat Check
- Specialty Flatware
- Specialty Barware
If there’s something you really have to have for your wedding day that’s not on the list, The Henry Ford does allow you to work with an outside vendor for the following:
- Specialty Linen
- Wedding Cake
- Ceremony Music or Musicians
- Reception Band or DJ
- Florals
- Photo Booth
- Off-Property Transportation
- Wedding Officiant
- Photography
- Videography
Need a little help in the setup department ahead of your wedding? You can drop off your escort cards, photos, programs, menus, guest book, cake knife, or personalized champagne flutes at The Henry Ford 2-3 days before your wedding day and the staff will make sure your items are set up and in place just in time for your dream wedding!
Cost of Hosting Your Wedding at Greenfield Village
The cost of a ceremony only at the Martha Mary Chapel at Greenfield Village comes with a venue fee of $2000. However, a “ceremony only” package at the Martha Mary Chapel is only offered from mid-April through December. Additionally, for a ceremony-only experience, during that time frame, The Henry Ford Museum offers wedding ceremonies at 11 am, 1 pm, or 3 pm only.
However, if you’d like to host your wedding ceremony and your wedding reception at Greenfield Village, you have a bit more wiggle room with the time frame! A ceremony at the Martha Mary Chapel paired with a wedding reception at the Eagle Tavern comes in a venue fee of $1100 and is open for hosting your wedding, any time of the year. We will point out, that fee does not yet include your food and beverage minimums, so please keep that in mind.
