Field Museum 1400 South Lake Shore Drive • Chicago • IL 60605

At the Field Museum in Chicago, your rental fee covers six hours in the space you choose, use of the Northeast Terrace, access to the exhibitions, security and limited coat check. Catering is booked separately with one of the museum's caterers, and all alcohol is bought through the museum as a bar package, with 4-hour packages running $30–43 per person. Florals, lighting and AV, and equipment rentals come from the museum's approved vendors, such as Frost Chicago for lighting and Hall's Rental for equipment.

Yes, you can do both at the Field Museum. Ceremonies can happen on the terrace overlooking Lake Michigan or in the Rice Native Plant Gardens, which can also host cocktails. Then you'll move inside for dinner and dancing in a space like Stanley Field Hall, the nearly half-acre main hall with Máximo the Titanosaur, or the East Atrium and Pavilion under its glass ceiling. Spaces work for as few as 10 guests or more than 1,000.

The Field Museum requires you to use its listed vendors. Catering comes from Blue Plate, Catering by Levy, Food for Thought or Nicole Jordan Catering, and the museum provides all the alcohol served, so outside liquor, donated liquor and consumption bars aren't allowed. Florals and décor come from approved designers like HMR Designs, Kehoe Designs, The Flower Firm, Yanni Design Studio and Southside Blooms, with Frost Chicago for lighting and AV and Hall's Rental for equipment. Approved vendors are licensed by the city and state and trained on museum policies.

The Field Museum in Chicago charges a rental fee of $12,000–25,000, and the biggest thing that moves it is which space you reserve. The East Atrium and Pavilion runs $12,000–18,000, and Stanley Field Hall runs $18,000–25,000. That fee covers six hours, the Northeast Terrace, exhibition access, security and limited coat check. On top of it, you'll pay your caterer, plus a bar package through the museum: 4-hour packages run $30–43 per person, from Standard Beer and Wine up to Super Premium, with extra hours at $3–5 per person. A deposit and signed contract confirm your date, and the deposit is nonrefundable. Florals, lighting and rentals from the approved vendors are separate too.

Your Field Museum rental includes six hours in your chosen space. Events inside the museum can start at 6pm and have to end by 2am, with alcohol service wrapping up at 1am. Amplified music is allowed both indoors and outdoors.

The Field Museum can host a wedding of more than 1,000 guests, and it scales down to as few as 10. It's a historic landmark of Georgia marble on the Museum Campus, with ceremonies on a terrace overlooking Lake Michigan and the skyline, and receptions under Máximo the Titanosaur in Stanley Field Hall. Your rental includes access to the exhibitions, so guests can wander among SUE the T. rex and an Egyptian mastaba. Bar packages lean local, with the museum's own spirits by Journeyman and beers like Off Color's Tooth and Claw. Planning a photo shoot only? Two-hour sessions start at $900 during the day and $1,200 in the evening.

Yes, you can start with the Field Museum's online virtual tour, then request a proposal to set up a site visit. The museum's event staff works with you and your planner from that first visit through the end of your event. While you're there, ask which of the four caterers fits your menu, which space suits your guest count, and what happens to a terrace ceremony if the weather turns.