Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple holding hands while walking near a massive red rock structure in Moab, Utah.
TRENDS

25 Unique Wedding Venues We Can’t Get Enough Of

For a Celebration as Extraordinary as Your Love
BY NORA HORVATH / 10 14 22
Photo by The Foxes Photography

When you think back on some of your favorite weddings, what stands out? The people, the food, and obviously all the love. But we’ll bet you’re still thinking about all the amazingly unique wedding venues where these festivities took place. 

Finding the best venue for your wedding is arguably the biggest part of the whole planning process: Not only does the venue account for approximately 40 percent of your total wedding budget, but it’s among the first decisions you and your partner make when planning your big day. And with that, choosing among the many unusual wedding venues out there will make it all the more magical.  

There are plenty of reasons to consider the most unsual wedding venues: Getting creative with your event space inevitably leaves an indelible mark on all of your attendees, but it also gives you the freedom to explore options that are outside-the-box and more authentic to you and your partner. 

Considering everything from libraries to art galleries to renovated train stations, and other unique wedding venues for your special day, plus rehearsal dinners, welcome parties, and more. When it comes down to it, a unique wedding venue is so much more than a room to have a great party in—it can also help set the tone for a truly unforgettable event.

Unique Wedding Venues: Two grooms holding up blue smoke machines walking on a lakeside property in New York.
Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple popping champagne at their outdoor wedding venue in the red rocks of Moab, Utah.
Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple, with the bride in a yellow dress, standing in a rooftop garden loft space overlooking St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

What are the benefits to choosing unique wedding venues? 

One of the big benefits of unique weddings is that you can have a non-traditional wedding almost anywhere that represents you as a couple. That means your unique wedding venue could be in a somewhat hidden spot like a desert or a forest that you love, or it could be in typically public places that you might not expect, like a library or museum. When it comes to getting married, we’ve found that the sky is often the limit and most spaces that do private events will host a wedding—even if it’s not their typical gig.  

If you’re wondering, “Where can I find unique wedding venues near me?” or are interested in options across the United States, this list will provide you with details about special spots in practically every corner of the country. Unique wedding venues can also be found far and wide and in every city, so you don’t have to travel far from home to celebrate. Whether you’re looking for unique wedding venues in Los Angeles, New York, and anywhere in between, you’re sure to find a super-original spot in your area. 

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple smiling at each other in a neon sign-filled outdoor space in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unique Wedding Venues: An indoor reception setup at a library wedding venue with opulent railings, tile floors, and green garlands hanging above.
Unique Wedding Venues: An indoor ballroom with a giant whale hanging above at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Where are the most unique wedding venues? 

We’ve rounded up more than two dozen of the most unique wedding venue ideas that we could find to inspire you and your soon-to-be spouse. If you’re looking for more inspiration, you can find more stunning photos by browsing through the weddings featured in our directories of real weddings too. From fêtes at a private French château to a glamorous North Carolina estate, there are practically no bounds to couples and their creativity.  

No matter what kind of celebration you’re planning, here are some of the most exciting, different, and totally unusual wedding venues out there. While planning can feel like a whirlwind, make sure to take plenty of time to find the unique wedding venue ideas that are right for you. After all, the venue picking process is a big deal: Once that’s locked down, you can really start bringing your entire vision to life.

Unique Wedding Venues: Two grooms with their officiant on a staircase on the grounds of a preserved sugar mill in Hawaii.
01

Haiku Mill

Haiku, Hawaii

Having a wedding in Hawaii is a popular option for visitors and locals alike, but the islands also boast some of the most unique wedding venue ideas. At Haiku Mill, unique weddings take place between old ruins and the natural beauty of a stunning property located on Maui’s north shore. The lush grounds contain the ruins of a sugar mill abandoned in 1879 that’s been preserved and reimagined as one of the most unconventional wedding venues. The property can host up to 100 guests for a picturesque celebration under a glass ceiling surrounded by dripping flowers and regal statues.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple walking on a bridge toward a wooden treehouse in Washington.
02

TreeHouse Point

Issaquah, Washington 

Escape to Neverland (or someplace quite similar) on your big day at this magical four-acre forest known as TreeHouse Point. The whole collection of tree houses, which is located just 22 miles from Seattle, is wrapped with towering pines and twinkling lights to set the backdrop for storybook-worthy photos. Celebrate with up to 80 of your family and friends (the property also offers treehouse lodging for up to 20 guests) or tie the knot just the two of you in one of the TreeHouse point’s planned elopement ceremonies. 

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple holding hands and raising the other near a plane after their wedding at an airplane hangar in Camarillo, California.
03

Commemorative Air Force SoCal Hangar

Camarillo, California 

Take your love to new heights by having your ceremony and reception at an airplane hangar just north of other unique wedding venues in Los Angeles. This property known for unique weddings is a standout choice for any flight-loving duo, or those who simply want to “wow” their loved ones. The on-site team are pros at setting up incredible spaces with a backdrop made up of an impressive collection of vintage planes from World War II and WWII warbirds.

Unique Wedding Venues: A Spanish style inn with an outdoor ceremony setup in a courtyard, located near the California Mission in San Juan Capistrano, California.
04

Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, Autograph Collection

San Juan Capistrano, California

The picturesque scenery around San Juan Capistrano is one of our favorite unique wedding venues—and that’s because the Mission San Juan Capistrano makes a dramatically beautiful backdrop for portraits. After capturing those special moments, you and your guests can immerse yourselves in the equally photo-worthy grounds of the neighboring Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Visitors and Californians alike flock to this spot year-round, and it’s easy to see why. 

Unique Wedding Venues: A bride and groom at their outdoor wedding venue in Las Vegas, a funky graveyard full of vintage neon signs.
05

The Neon Museum

Las Vegas, Nevada 

Las Vegas weddings are already known for being unconventional—so why not ditch the Elvis impersonator and host your big day surrounded by vintage neon in a rustic sign graveyard instead? Couples at this edgy venue can celebrate their big day with an hour-long ceremony and photography experience with up to 50 of their friends and family.

Unique Wedding Venues: A series of lodging at a roadside property in Escalante, Utah, with views of the mountains beyond.
06

Yonder Escalante

Escalante, Utah

Celebrate your love for the great American road trip—and one another, of course—at this 20-acre modern hospitality experience known for unique weddings. Located in the majestic Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Bryce Canyon National Park, Yonder Escalante will whisk your guests away with the nostalgia of yesteryear. The only thing different about this road trip experience is the amenities—unlike most roadside motels, Yonder Escalante has modern lodging and luxury amenities for all your guests. 

Unique Wedding Venues: Two people walking down an aisle at an outdoor venue in a red rock-filled area in Moab, Utah.
07

The Red Earth Venue

Moab, Utah

As far as unique wedding venues go, Red Earth is the closest you can come to renting your own private national park or having a wedding on the moon. Surrounded by red rock cliffs in Moab, Utah, you won’t find a more breathtaking location for the event of a lifetime. The Red Earth Venue is located on a remote 16 acres in the heart of canyon country and surrounded by the privacy of wide-open views. It’s an incredibly unique wedding venue for out-of-this-world couples.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple holding hands during their ceremony, with views of a ghost town and mountains behind them.
08

Ashcroft Ghost Town

Aspen, Colorado

We bet you can’t think of many more unusual wedding venues than an abandoned mining town! The Ashcroft Ghost Town was home to up to 2,000 people during its heyday, aka the silver-mining boom in the 1880s. Today, it's managed by the Aspen Historical Society and is rented out for wedding ceremonies to couples who love this moody, somewhat spooky atmosphere. The space features an abandoned hotel, saloon, and post office that offer unusually cool backdrops for photos.

Unique Wedding Venues: An outdoor reception setup in an open-air courtyard, which is the brick ruins of the former largest flour mill in the world.
09

Mill City Museum

Minneapolis, Minnesota 

Embrace the beauty of Minneapolis’s industrial history at this chic venue. The Mill City Museum is a unique wedding venue in a courtyard amid the ruins of what used to be the world's largest flour mill—if you close your eyes, we think you can still smell freshly-baked bread! As guests party, they’ll have fun exploring the remaining footprints of old machinery, original stone walls, and steel trusses on the outside of the property. Once inside, renovated indoor event space can fit up to 250 guests for an incredible reception.

Unique Wedding Venues: A glass chapel with floor to ceiling windows showing the trees beyond it, with white pews and greenery decorating the altar.
10

Glass Chapel

Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

If you live in the great state of Oklahoma and are seeking an answer to the question, “Where are unique wedding venues near me?” we’ve got you: Glass Chapel is an intimate boutique wedding venue nestled in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The simple and elegant ceremony and reception venue, known for its sweeping windows that overlook the local beauty, has been a staple of the community’s unique wedding venues since 1996. The church has an assortment of different packages for engaged couples that range from a venue-only rental (where you’d choose your own vendors) to full-service experiences where the vendors are managed by the Glass Chapel team.

Unique Wedding Venues: An indoor ceremony setup inside an art deco greenhouse with glass walls, palm trees and more greenery.
11

Jewel Box

St. Louis, Missouri 

Nestled in the heart of Forest Park in St. Louis, the Jewel Box is a gorgeous art deco greenhouse that underwent a $3.5 million renovation in 2002 to add amenities like a catering room, upgraded restrooms and air conditioning—ergo, a perfect place to host unique weddings. The city rents the lush site out for weekend ceremonies and receptions, which is great if you’re looking for a natural, flower-filled space during the wedding planning process. Every celebration here gets to enjoy the permanent floral displays, special seasonal decor, tropical trees and plants, and dazzling water features.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple smiling for a portrait aboard their wedding on a 19th century ship in Galveston, Texas.
12

1877 Tall Ship Elissa

galveston, texas 

Hop aboard the love boat! Elissa is a 19th century square-rigged iron barque that was recovered from a shipyard in Greece, brought over to Texas, and restored in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fast forward to today, and it's one of just three ships of its kind that still sails. Not only that, but it's a floating unique wedding venue—a swoon-worthy spot for avid sailors and anyone who loves a waterside locale (which is everyone, right?).

Unique Wedding Venues: A gothic wooden structure covered in windows and glass with trees all around it.
13

Thorncrown Chapel

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

A chapel might not be the setting you associate with unique weddings, but this is unlike any other. This stunning wooden structure contains 425 windows and more than 6,000 square feet of glass that open onto a view of the magnificent Ozark Mountains. Over the past 40-plus years, more than seven million visitors have taken in the woodsy place of worship—with the luckiest of all getting to say “I do” inside. Designed by renowned architect E. Fay Jones, Thorncrown Chapel has won several architectural awards for its distinct look, including the American Institute of Architects’ prestigious Twenty-five Year Award.

Unique Wedding Venues: Two grooms holding hands on a lakeside dock at a wedding venue in upstate New York.
14

Cedar Lakes Estate

Port Jervis, New York

Get the whole family together for a full weekend of fun at this summer camp-turned-unique wedding venue. The estate property offers both indoor and outdoor spaces with breathtaking views overlooking tree-lined lakes, rolling green hills, and spectacular New York mountains. Here, guests can keep themselves busy in the mornings with plenty of activities, including hiking and biking trails, tennis, basketball, and more. Famous for their unique weddings centered around food, the Cedar Lakes Estate team will tailor the entire weekend’s menu to your tastes and preferences as a couple.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple dancing in a ballroom reception area at a museum in New York City, complete with a life-size whale display above.
15

American Museum of Natural History

New York, New York 

Make a night at the museum a reality at this world-famous natural history museum. Greet your guests after hours in the breathtaking Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, below the dramatic display of dinosaurs; then lead them to sip cocktails in the luminous Cullman Hall of the Universe; and gather for a ceremony or a seated meal in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life under the 94-foot blue whale. Both science and architecture lovers will delight in seeing all the distinct details within this beloved museum.

Unique Wedding Venues: A lofted garden with a long reception table, small pool of water and view of St. Patrick's Cathedral in the background.
16

620 Loft & Garden

New York, New York 

This unique wedding venue is all about its one-of-a-kind city views, which change throughout the year from constants such as St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Radio City Music Hall marquee to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and wintertime ice skating rink. The lofted space inside is just as extraordinary—it boasts huge windows that flood the indoor space with natural light and views of the big city below. With all the glitz and glam, your guests will feel like they stumbled into an episode of Gossip Girl

Unique Wedding Venues: A long table in an intimate dining room with a neon sign saying,
17

Hotel Chelsea

New York, New York 

On the flip side, escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city at unique wedding venues like Hotel Chelsea. Couples who pick this trendy venue can choose to celebrate in a variety of spaces within the hotel, including the sprawling ballroom (The Bard Room) and El Quijote, a smaller space that provides an intimate setting for small to larger groups. The hotel can also accommodate full buyouts of the restaurant or semi-private dining experiences, like rehearsal dinners, in the wine cellar.

Unique Wedding Venues: A retro sign with airplane departure and arrival information at a hotel in Queens, New York.
18

TWA Hotel

Queens, New York

Transport yourself into the 60s at this midcentury modern hotel connected to John F. Kennedy International Airport. With an impressive 50,000 square feet of event space, outdoor terraces, and rooftop pool, this place is made for the grooviest couples looking for a retro vibe. Not to mention, it'll be an incredibly easy destination for any guests traveling through JFK!

Unique Wedding Venues: A series of ponds with a castle wedding venue in the background on Long Island in New York.
19

Oheka Castle

Huntington, New York

This meticulously maintained château remains the second-largest private residence ever built in the United States, and it’s one of our favorite unique wedding venues on Long Island. It’s nestled on a quiet property between New York City and The Hamptons, just a short drive from the local NYC airports. After the party wraps up downstairs, you don’t need to send your guests out to find a hotel: The historic property has 32 guestrooms and suites on the upper floors of the estate, where your guests can snooze like royalty.

Unique Wedding Venues: An opulent six-tiered library with cast-iron columns and gold-accented railings, with a ceremony setup on the ground floor.
20

George Peabody Library

Baltimore, Maryland

Live out your real-life Beauty and the Beast fantasies in this towering Baltimore library. The famous Reading Room is filled with more than 300,000 volumes of books that are stacked over six tiers of cast-iron columns and gold leaf-accented railings. The result is one of the most unconventional wedding venues with an ambiance that is both enchanting and scholarly. As far as unique wedding venues go, we’d say it’s a smart pick.

Unique Wedding Venues: An indoor reception setup with all white florals in Union Station in Washington, DC.
21

Events at Union Station

Washington, D.C.

Once just considered hubs of transportation, city train stations are having a glow-up in the form of unique wedding venues, including Union Station in our nation’s capital. Designed by architect Daniel Burnham, it was preserved as part of the Union Station Redevelopment Act of 1981. The upgrades included restoring its use as a passenger railway station and building out a spectacular mixed-use complex. Since completion in 1988, this mixed-use space has become a grand and versatile special event site, and is now known as one of the area’s best unusual wedding venues.

Unique Wedding Venues: A drone view of a Tudor-style estate in Virginia, with the sun shining on the well-manicured grounds.
22

Dover Hall

Manakin-Sabot, Virginia

If you’re looking for a unique wedding venue that can handle your huge family—and guest list—look no further. This English Tudor-inspired estate can comfortably fit up to 400 guests, so you can make this an even larger affair. You’ll be wowed by the care and detail reflected in each part of the property, from the grand chandeliers adorning each room to the carefully manicured 55-acre grounds.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple holding hands and walking with their backs facing the photographer and a view of the estate property in the background.
23

Biltmore

Asheville, North Carolina 

History buffs will love this one: This historic house museum and estate was built for art collector George Washington Vanderbilt II and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, making it one of the most popular unique wedding venues. Still owned by Vanderbilt's descendants, it remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions in the country and truly one of the most gorgeous and unusual wedding venues to choose for your special day.

Unique Wedding Venues: An outdoor reception table at a shuffleboard club with colorful flowers, a light pink tablecloth and white chairs in Florida.
24

St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

St. Petersburg, Florida

Have a roaring ‘20s party that even Gatsby would be jealous of at this 1927 clubhouse. Game-loving couples who choose to get married at this club can also rent out the shuffleboard courts and staff to teach guests how to play. Outside, take advantage of an abundance of green space that’s available for food trucks, tents, and other games such as cornhole or croquet. For competitive couples, it’s a serious win-win.

Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding ceremony setup at an opulent parking garage venue in Florida.
25

1111 Lincoln Road

Miami Beach, Florida 

Your guests’ jaws will drop when they step into your wedding set in this ultra-creative venue: a parking garage. But this isn’t just any parking garage: The Ferrari of unique wedding venues was designed by the world-renowned Swiss architectural firm of Herzog & de Meuron. Since its opening in 2010, it’s attracted brands and guests hosting all kinds of events—most of them interested in the sweeping views of South Beach, which makes it a dreamy backdrop for a wedding too.

So, what's next?  

Now that you’ve looked through a variety of unusual wedding venues, it’s time to narrow down the right one for you. After all, the most unique weddings are held in places that bring your guests into some part of your life and love as a couple.

If you’re still having trouble narrowing down the unique wedding venue for you, follow this super simple advice: Think about what spaces where you feel the most celebratory (and the most like yourselves), and then go from there. Because there are unusual wedding venues fit for almost any wedding size, you can easily find the special spot that suits your vision. So, whether you’re considering microweddings or a huge celebration, there are plenty of ways (and places) to showcase your individuality and personal style. There are sure to be places that can personalize unique weddings for you, whether that’s in Michigan, Washington, D.C., or anywhere else you can think of. As we now know, there are unique wedding venues on Long Island fit for royalty, industrial-inspired options in the Midwest, and much, much more across the country.

Unique Wedding Venues: A bride and groom posing at an outdoor shuffleboard club in Florida.
Unique Wedding Venues: A runway-style ceremony setup in a greenery-filled space in Maui, Hawaii, complete with hanging chandeliers and white cushioned seats.
Unique Wedding Venues: A wedding couple holding each other in a portrait on their wedding day, with views of the mountains beyond.

Once you’ve settled on your favorite among these unique wedding venues, it’s time to get planning. And no matter where you land, always remember that there is no “perfect” wedding venue—it’s about what’s the best fit for you. After all, each of these stunning and downright unusual wedding venues takes on a whole new look when it’s filled with a few key elements: you, your spouse-to-be, and all of your favorite people.

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