Private Events

Buildings & Venues

  • Museum Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Café Flo hours: 11:30am to 2:30pm, Tues-Sun.

Private Events at the Florence Griswold Museum

We can accommodate private parties, weddings, and corporate events for up to 150 guests in four locations around the museum campus.

Highlights & Guidelines

Adrian P. Moore Garden Terrace

Exclusive and private use of the Museum’s riverfront facilities during the event. The Adrian P. Moore Garden Terrace is equipped with a catering staging area (electric and water service is provided) and can graciously accommodate gatherings of 150 guests under a tent overlooking the Lieutenant River. In addition to the Moore Garden Terrace, the Belding Riverfront Green and veranda of Marshfield (see below) may be used by your guests.

Fees: $10,800 to $12,000 for six hours of use and based on tent size. (Limited to 150)

The exhibition in the Krieble Gallery will be open for your guests for the first two hours of the reception.

An Event Supervisor will be present during the event.

Convenient guest parking areas.

Accessible bathrooms.

Please plan the beginning of your event to coincide with the Museum’s closing time (5 p.m.) or later.

Music must be keep to an acceptable volume to accommodate our neighbors.

For events after 5pm, the curfew for music and the bar is 11:00 pm. The event needs to end, and guests depart, no later than 12:00 am. Clean – up is the responsibility of the leasing party and should be completed and all parties leave the premises no later than 12:30 am.

For events on Sunday morning, the event needs to end, and guests depart, no later than 12:30 pm. Clean-up is the responsibility of the leasing party and should be completed and all parties leave the premises no later than 1:00 pm.

Please ask for the Museum’s list of preferred vendors. All tents, tables, chairs, dinnerware, glassware, or linens needed are rented from outside sources.

Throwing rice, birdseed, flower petals, potpourri or any other loose material after weddings is prohibited. (Alternatives include bell ringing, blowing bubbles, and releasing butterflies).

Photography is allowed.

Smoking is not permitted in any Museum building or on the grounds.

Certificate of Event Insurance for the day of the wedding is required.


Highlights & Guidelines

Marshfield

Marshfield is a large Colonial Revival house that overlooks the Lieutenant River and has three beautifully appointed rooms with a wide and spacious connecting hallway available for your use. The setting is an ideal one for your groups offsite whole or half day meetings or a special place for your next cocktail party or seated dinner. Welcome your guests at the front door of the house as if it were your own. In warm weather your guests can spill out onto the veranda surrounding the house and the lawn sweeping down to the water. Cocktail parties can include up to 75 people with outside use in warm weather. Seated dinners can be held for up to 50 guests, using the living room as dining space and the other rooms for cocktails. The Museum is happy to provide a list of caterers, and rental companies for your information.

Fees: Weddings: $3,600 for six hours use of Marshfield House

All other events: $1,800 (members) $2,000 (non-members) for up to three hours of use

$2,970 (members) $3,300 (non-members) for three to six hours of use

If you are a nonprofit, please contact us to see if a reduced rate is available.

In addition to the first floor of Marshfield House, the Belding Riverfront Green and veranda of Marshfield House may be used by guests.

Please Note:

Use of candles or any open flame is not allowed in Marshfield House.

Music must be kept to an acceptable volume to accommodate our neighbors.

There is no space for dancing inside Marshfield House.


John and Dyanne Rafal Landscape Center

A historic 19th century barn in the center of the Florence Griswold Museum’s campus, the John and Dyanne Rafal Landscape Center is great for meetings, lectures, workshops, and gatherings. Your gathering will be held in the very setting that inspired a generation of artists. The barn features an exhibition that highlights the history and significance of the region’s landscape.

The exhibit features a silent film from the 1920s and reproductions of historic photographs to convey the openness of the local landscape that once existed when artists from all over America visited the area. In addition, the building includes program space for workshops, meetings, and lectures for your group’s special gathering. A docent lead tour of the historic gardens is also available. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks can be provided by one of our catering partners.