Central Massachusetts' Unique Wedding Venues
by Norm Goldman
Artwork by Lily Azerad-Goldman

Worcester Art Museum

How wonderful it would be if Henri Mattise, El Greco, William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Vincent Van Gough, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Thomas Cole, James Whistler, Claude Monet, and many more of the greatest masters could attend your wedding!

You are probably saying to yourself that I am living in fantasy- land! Well, it may be impossible for these great artists to physically show up. However, how about if you and your guests could be surrounded with their masterpieces?

You could even experience a dramatic and regal grand entrance walking down a magnificent stone staircase leading to a museum's 100-year-old Renaissance courtyard. Incidentally, the largest and finest group of Antiochin mosaics is on display in the courtyard.

Where can all of this happen? At the Worcester Art Museum.

Perhaps you want something more intimate? You can arrange to celebrate your exchanging of vows in the intimacy of the Museum's Court Atrium or in the Museum's 12th century Romanesque Chapter House - one of the first medieval structures transported to the New World. You can even celebrate your wedding in the Museum's cafe area combined with a romantically lit sculptured garden.

As for your guests, haven't you been to a wedding where you walk around with a cocktail in your hands, smiling, trying to make small talk, yet at the same time bored out of your mind? Wouldn't it be more interesting and exciting if your guests could tour the many galleries of a museum, where they could admire some of the greatest works of art, such as James Peale's Still Life or perhaps Paul Gauguin's, The Brooding Woman? That certainly would be one way to break the ice, and keep the event memorable for years to come.

As for your photographs, you are permitted to use the Museum's cafe, the Renaissance Court and the Romanesque Chapter House. The museum also provides a very imaginative catering service, however, they are open to alterative caterers as long as these are chosen from their recommended list.

Receptions range from 75 persons to as many as 300, while the museum can accommodate as many as 120 for dinner or as little as 22. They are also fully licensed to provide all alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. For an additional fee, you can have wine service.

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