Summer offer · 45% off invitations with code SUMMER45 — applied automatically at checkout

City venue guide

The 10 best wedding venues in Memphis

Memphis weddings cluster in three pockets. Downtown holds the grandest rooms — the rooftop Skyway at The Peabody Memphis, the 1928 ballroom inside The Cadre Building, and the 1914 station waiting room that is now the Grand Hall at Central Station. East Memphis is the garden side of the city, with ceremonies in the Rose Garden at Memphis Botanic Garden or on the South Lawn at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. Beyond that, couples head south to the Mississippi River bluff at the Metal Museum, out to Graceland's Chapel in the Woods in Whitehaven, or northeast to the 1846 estate grounds of Cedar Hall in Bartlett.

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-17. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

Memphis, Tennessee — where couples marry — Memphis · Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0

The Peabody Memphis — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: peabodymemphis.com

No. I

The Peabody Memphis

Historic hotelDowntown, Union AvenueUp to 400 seated in the Skyway or Continental Ballroom; 1,240 seated in the Grand Ballroom

Rebuilt on Union Avenue in 1925, the Peabody is the room most Memphians picture when they hear the word reception — partly because of the twice-daily duck march through the lobby fountain. Couples usually pick between the Skyway, an Art Deco rooftop space from the 1930s with the Mississippi River in view, and the Continental Ballroom downstairs at just over 5,200 square feet. The Grand Ballroom runs past 16,000 square feet and divides into six rooms, which is how the hotel handles guest lists that would swamp anywhere else in the city.

Art Deco rooftop above the duck march

Visit venue site Get an invitation for The Peabody Memphis

Central Station Memphis — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: centralstationmemphis.com

No. II

Central Station Memphis

Railway hotelSouth Main Arts DistrictUp to 250 seated in the Grand Hall

What you book here is the 1914 passenger waiting room, now the Grand Hall, with 33-foot ceilings and tall windows that carry daylight deep into the space. The building still functions as a working Amtrak stop with a hotel wrapped around it, so guest rooms, the ceremony and the reception all sit under one roof in the South Main Arts District. It suits couples who want an industrial-scale room without the gilt and chandeliers of a traditional ballroom.

A 1914 waiting room with 33-foot ceilings

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Central Station Memphis

Memphis Botanic Garden — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: membg.org

No. III

Memphis Botanic Garden

Botanical gardenEast Memphis, Audubon Park2 to 600 guests depending on the space; Hardin Hall seats 350

Ninety-six acres of collections give this one an unusually wide range of ceremony sites: the garden ceremony package steers couples towards the Rose Garden or the secluded Blecken Pavilion, while Seijaku-En, the Japanese Garden, takes about 100 among its conifers and water. Dinner then moves indoors to Hardin Hall, the largest room on the property at 350 seated and 600 for a standing reception. Tables, chairs, linens, setup and an on-site concierge come with the room, so the quoted fee covers more than bare space — worth holding in mind when you line it up against a venue quoting for four walls alone.

Rose Garden and Japanese Garden ceremonies

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Memphis Botanic Garden

Dixon Gallery and Gardens — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki · CC BY 3.0

No. IV

Dixon Gallery and Gardens

Museum gardenEast Memphis, Park AvenueUp to 200 for ceremonies; 80 to 150 seated in the Hughes Pavilion

Two outdoor ceremony options sit on this art museum's grounds — the open South Lawn and the smaller circular Bowlin Stage — and both cap at 200. Dinner then moves to the Hughes Pavilion, a glass-sided room lit from overhead and dropped into the Woodland Gardens, holding 80 to 150 seated or 200 for cocktails, with patios and a seasonal tent to spill onto. The Dixon also books very small vow exchanges of 15 people or fewer in tucked-away corners of the garden, which is rare for a venue of this size.

Woodland-garden pavilion with skylights

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Dixon Gallery and Gardens

Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: VictorianVillage · CC BY-SA 4.0

No. V

Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum

Victorian mansionVictorian Village, Adams AvenueUp to 150 guests

Built in 1870 on the stretch of Adams Avenue once known as Millionaire's Row, this French Victorian house anchors Victorian Village and has had weddings on the property since 1871. Read the rental carefully: what you get is the grounds and the Carriage House rather than the museum rooms — front lawn and garden for the ceremony, Carriage House for dinner, 150 people maximum — with a photography session inside the mansion included in the package. Two rates are published, $4,700 for the Carriage House and garden or $5,000 with the front lawn added, both covering twelve hours, security and cleanup.

1870 mansion on Millionaire's Row

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum

The Cadre Building — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: cadrebuilding.com

No. VI

The Cadre Building

Art Deco ballroomDowntown, Monroe Avenue at SecondUp to 350 seated; up to 950 standing

The Cadre is downtown's big-room answer when a hotel ballroom is not the look you want: 36,000 square feet inside a 1928 building at Monroe and Second. The grand ballroom covers about 13,000 square feet under crystal chandeliers and ornate moldings, and a 2,500-square-foot mezzanine looks down over the floor from above. Seated dinners top out near 350 and standing receptions near 950, and couples typically use the mezzanine for cocktails while the main floor is flipped from ceremony to dinner.

Mezzanine overlooking a 13,000 sq ft floor

Visit venue site Get an invitation for The Cadre Building

Metal Museum on the Bluff — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0

No. VII

Metal Museum on the Bluff

Riverside museumFrench Fort, south of downtown250 to 300 seated on the terrace; up to 800 across the grounds

The bluff campus of this metalworking museum looks straight out over the Mississippi and the Harahan Bridge, with century-old trees, a gazebo assembled from salvaged architectural castings, and a 40-by-105-foot paved terrace that absorbs most seated dinners while the wider grounds take larger crowds. One thing to know before you enquire: the galleries are shut while the museum moves to a much larger campus at Overton Park, reopening there on 11 September 2026, but the bluff site stays in the rental programme and is booked separately from the new building. Rentals are evening-only, 5pm to midnight with setup access from 11am, so the ceremony hour is dictated by where sunset falls that month rather than by preference.

Mississippi River bluff at sunset

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Metal Museum on the Bluff

Old Dominick Distillery — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: olddominick.com

No. VIII

Old Dominick Distillery

Working distilleryDowntown, South Front StreetUp to 120 per space; 350+ for a full buyout

The distillery at 305 South Front Street books out in three pieces — the bar, an upstairs event room, and a rooftop looking back at the downtown skyline — each taking about 120, with a full-building buyout past 350. Moving the night through all three is the usual pattern: drinks at the bar, dinner upstairs, the last hour on the roof. The bar pours the house's own spirits, so the drinks list is shaped by what is distilled on site rather than by an outside supplier.

Downtown rooftop over a working distillery

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Old Dominick Distillery

Graceland's Chapel in the Woods — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: graceland.com

No. IX

Graceland's Chapel in the Woods

ChapelWhitehaven, Elvis Presley Boulevard75 in the pews; about 100 with added seating

Set back in trees on the Graceland campus, the chapel holds 75 in antique church pews under a high beamed ceiling, with a wall of glass behind the altar showing nothing but woodland; extra chairs take it to roughly 100. The base package is $2,000 and buys two hours in the chapel for up to 100 people, the officiant, a wedding coordinator, a Graceland tour and a fifteen-minute photography session in front of the mansion; receptions move either to the Presley Motors car museum or across to The Guest House hotel. The obvious caveat is Elvis Week in August, when the whole estate is at capacity.

Vows framed by a wall of woodland glass

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Graceland's Chapel in the Woods

Cedar Hall — wedding venue in Memphis, Tennessee

Photo: evergroveestates.com

No. X

Cedar Hall

Country estateBartlett, north-east of MemphisUp to 250 guests

Cedar Hall's manor house dates to 1846 and sits on ten acres of magnolias and English gardens in Bartlett, out past the north-east edge of the city. Ceremonies usually happen in the formal garden among the crepe myrtles and roses; dinner moves either to the Stables, a barn with a fireplace, or inside the manor, where a spiral staircase and exposed brick do most of the decorating. Four guest rooms upstairs run as a bed and breakfast, so the wedding party can sleep on site instead of driving back into Memphis. Evergrove Estates runs it alongside a sister property, Heartwood Hall, which is worth knowing if your date has already gone.

1846 estate with a fireplace barn

Visit venue site Get an invitation for Cedar Hall

Inviting guests to Memphis?

Text the invitation: no printing, no postage, live RSVPs

Your invitation carries the schedule, the map to your venue, your photos and the RSVP. You text one link from your own phone: nobody needs an app, and nothing goes in the post.

Still choosing a service? See the invitation services we compared side by side, or what a digital invitation with RSVP costs.

Or start from a design

Marrying in Memphis?

Want an invitation built around your venue?

Build it around your venue in the editor: its colours, your map and timings already in place, and a drawn illustration of the venue as an add-on if you want one. One link for every guest, with live RSVPs.

Start yours for Memphis See the designs

Planning a wedding in Memphis

Tennessee licenses come from the Shelby County Clerk and cost $97.50, dropping to $37.50 if both of you finish a four-hour premarital preparation course; both parties have to appear in person with proof of a Social Security number, there is no waiting period, and the license expires after 30 days, so getting it too early is a real risk for couples flying in. Two stretches fill the hotel stock and make rooms expensive: the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, four days at Liberty Park in mid-May (13 to 16 May in 2026), and Elvis Week in mid-August (8 to 16 August in 2026), when Whitehaven and the Graceland-area hotels sell out entirely. West Tennessee also sits in the spring severe-storm belt, so any April or May ceremony planned on a lawn needs a written rain call and a tent or indoor room held on the contract.

When to marry — Late April into May and the stretch from late September through early November are the two workable windows, since Memphis summers sit in the humid 90s Fahrenheit and push everything indoors, while January and February bring the wettest, grayest weeks of the year.
What it costs — The Memphis figures that are published rarely cover the same things twice, which is what makes them hard to line up: Woodruff-Fontaine's Carriage House packages run $4,700 to $5,000 but buy twelve hours with security and cleanup folded in, Graceland's chapel starts at $2,000 for a two-hour slot with an officiant, and Memphis Botanic Garden's rooms include tables, chairs and linens yet publish rates only in a PDF price sheet reissued each year. Hotels break the comparison entirely: the Peabody and Central Station price against food-and-beverage minimums rather than a flat room fee, so ranking venues on the rental line by itself will mislead you.

Once the venue is settled, the next thing most couples deal with is telling everyone. A digital wedding invitation carries the address, a map, your timings and a live RSVP on one link — which matters more than usual when guests are travelling to Memphis and need directions, and plenty of notice.

Questions

Marrying in Memphis: your questions.

What does a wedding venue in Memphis actually cost?

Published rental figures vary widely by venue type. Woodruff-Fontaine lists $4,700 to $5,000 for its Carriage House and garden packages, and Graceland's chapel packages open around $2,000; Memphis Botanic Garden publishes a full rate card each year but only as a downloadable price sheet, so you have to request it. Hotels work differently again: The Peabody and Central Station quote food-and-beverage minimums instead of a flat room fee, so a low headline rental can end up costing more than a higher one. Ask every venue for the all-in figure including catering, staffing, tables and linens before comparing them.

When is the best time of year to get married in Memphis?

Late April to May and late September to early November are the two comfortable stretches. July and August are humid and regularly sit in the 90s Fahrenheit, which forces outdoor plans indoors or into the evening, and mid-winter brings the wettest weeks. Spring is lovely but falls inside West Tennessee's severe-storm season, so any lawn ceremony in April or May needs a tent or an indoor backup written into the contract.

Can a couple from outside Tennessee legally marry in Memphis?

Yes. Tennessee has no residency requirement and no waiting period, so a license issued by the Shelby County Clerk can be used the same day; it costs $97.50, or $37.50 if you complete a four-hour premarital preparation course, and both of you must appear in person with proof of a Social Security number. The license is valid for 30 days and the ceremony must take place inside Tennessee. For couples traveling from abroad, the Tennessee ceremony is the legal marriage — there is no separate civil step in the United States — but plan on ordering a certified copy and having it apostilled by the Tennessee Secretary of State, and check whether your own country requires the marriage to be registered at home.

Which Memphis venues can handle a large guest list, and how far ahead should we book?

For 300 or more seated, the realistic options are the Peabody's Grand Ballroom (1,240 seated), the Cadre Building at around 350 seated and 950 standing, the grounds at the Metal Museum on the Bluff up to 800, and Memphis Botanic Garden up to 600; a full buyout at Old Dominick takes 350-plus. Smaller properties like Graceland's Chapel in the Woods stop at about 100. Popular Saturdays in the spring and autumn windows go 12 to 18 months out, and you should check your date against the mid-May barbecue contest and Elvis Week in mid-August before signing anything, since both make guest accommodation scarce.

Keep looking

More wedding venues near Memphis.

Arkansas Nashville Mississippi Birmingham St. Louis Louisville Atlanta New Orleans

Or browse every venue guide.

Marrying in Memphis?

Want an invitation built around your venue?

Start yours for Memphis See the designs

The 10 best wedding venues in Memphis

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-17. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

Planning a wedding in Memphis

When to marry — Late April into May and the stretch from late September through early November are the two workable windows, since Memphis summers sit in the humid 90s Fahrenheit and push everything indoors, while January and February bring the wettest, grayest weeks of the year.

What it costs — The Memphis figures that are published rarely cover the same things twice, which is what makes them hard to line up: Woodruff-Fontaine's Carriage House packages run $4,700 to $5,000 but buy twelve hours with security and cleanup folded in, Graceland's chapel starts at $2,000 for a two-hour slot with an officiant, and Memphis Botanic Garden's rooms include tables, chairs and linens yet publish rates only in a PDF price sheet reissued each year. Hotels break the comparison entirely: the Peabody and Central Station price against food-and-beverage minimums rather than a flat room fee, so ranking venues on the rental line by itself will mislead you.