City venue guide

The 10 best wedding venues in New Orleans

New Orleans weddings spread across four or five neighborhoods rather than concentrating in one. The French Quarter has Latrobe's on Royal, an 1822 bank with a whisper dome over the floor; St. Charles Avenue has the Italianate Elms Mansion; the Roosevelt runs three ballrooms downtown; and in the Marigny, Hotel Peter & Paul puts the ceremony inside a deconsecrated 1860s parish church. Couples after something plainer take the Warehouse District, where The Chicory occupies an 1852 coffee warehouse, or Magazine Street, where Il Mercato fills a 1931 market hall. City Park's Botanical Garden covers the outdoor end and the Mardi Gras float warehouses on the river cover the other extreme.

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-16. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

No. IThe Elms Mansion

No. I

The Elms Mansion

Historic mansionGarden District, St. Charles Avenue350 in the house; up to 800 with the gardens

Watson Van Benthuysen II, a tobacco merchant who also ran a St. Charles streetcar company, put up this Italianate house in 1869, and it has been taking weddings for more than fifty years. The set piece is a 48-foot ballroom lined with jeweled windows, alongside hand-carved marble mantels and gilded sconces; smaller rooms — the Empire Room, the Garden Room, a Louis XVI room — let the evening move in stages rather than sit in one space. Gardens and patios wrap the building, which is how the guest count climbs from 350 indoors to several hundred more once the lawns are in use.

48-foot ballroom on St. Charles Avenue

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No. IILatrobe's on Royal

No. II

Latrobe's on Royal

Historic bank buildingFrench Quarter, Royal Street

Benjamin Henry Latrobe died in New Orleans in 1820, two years before the Louisiana State Bank he had designed was completed at the corner of Royal and Conti. The banking hall survives as the main event room: a shallow dome that carries a whisper across the floor, a run of arches, and the original stonework, with the old vault still standing off to one side. It suits a formal French Quarter evening where guests walk over from their hotel and the building itself does most of the decorating.

Whisper dome inside an 1822 bank

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No. IIIHotel Peter & Paul

No. III

Hotel Peter & Paul

Hotel in a former parishFaubourg MarignyChurch seats about 330; around 200 for a seated dinner

A shuttered Catholic parish — church, rectory, convent and schoolhouse — now runs as a 71-room hotel a few blocks off Frenchmen Street. Ceremonies take the 1860s Gothic Revival church, which keeps its stained glass and altar end and seats roughly 330, with about 200 for a seated dinner once tables go in. Having the rooms on the same block is the practical argument: this is the one couples choose when the wedding is really a three-day weekend.

Ceremony in an 1860s parish church

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No. IVMarigny Opera House

No. IV

Marigny Opera House

Deconsecrated churchFaubourg Marigny, St. Ferdinand Street150 to 200; about 150 for a seated dinner with dancing

Holy Trinity was rebuilt on St. Ferdinand Street in 1853 for the neighborhood's German Catholic congregation, closed in 1997 and was afterwards deconsecrated; since 2011 it has operated as a nonprofit that puts its rental income into work by local dancers and musicians. Inside is a single tall brick room with the pews long gone — high walls, stained glass, nothing fixed to the floor — so the layout gets built from scratch each time. Around 150 guests is the honest number for a seated dinner with a dance floor, and the venue tells couples to book six to eighteen months out.

Bare brick nave, nothing fixed to the floor

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No. VRace + Religious

No. V

Race + Religious

Historic courtyard compoundLower Garden District

Three 1830s buildings stand at the corner of Race and Religious streets — a two-story Creole cottage, a three-story Greek Revival rowhouse and its dependency — bought derelict in 1977 and restored over roughly thirty years. The rental is the entire compound: about 6,500 square feet spanning brick courtyards, gas lamps, working fireplaces, a pool, balconies facing the downtown skyline, and two commercial kitchens. You bring your own caterer, the hours run long, and couples generally stay the night, which makes this the pick for a day meant to feel like a house party.

Whole 1830s compound, your own caterer

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No. VIIl Mercato

No. VI

Il Mercato

Market hallLower Garden District, Magazine StreetUp to 275 for a ceremony; 185 seated, 400 standing

Sam Stone designed this Spanish Colonial market hall in 1931 for the city's public market system, and the arcaded shell lasted long enough to be reworked into an event space in 2014. La Sala, the main room, runs past 3,000 square feet over herringbone floors under Italianate chandeliers, with a small library alongside and a walled courtyard behind it — ivy across the archways, an outdoor fireplace at the far end. Ceremonies seat up to 275, seated dinners cap near 185, and a standing reception using rooms and courtyard together takes 400.

Arcaded 1931 market on Magazine Street

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No. VIIThe Chicory

No. VII

The Chicory

Industrial warehouseWarehouse District, South Peters StreetUp to 400

Put up in 1852 to hold coffee coming off the nearby wharves, this South Peters Street warehouse still shows its heavy beams, brick walls and gas lanterns across roughly 20,000 square feet. The Orleans and Fulton rooms carry the reception, the Parlor handles a smaller ceremony or the cocktail hour, and a rooftop deck sits above it all with the low Warehouse District skyline around it. Catering comes in-house on set packages, which suits couples who would rather not assemble a vendor list from nothing.

1852 coffee warehouse with a rooftop deck

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No. VIIIThe Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel

No. VIII

The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Hotel ballroomCentral Business District, off Canal StreetUp to 550 in the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom

Close to 60,000 square feet of function space sits behind the block-long lobby here, across three ballrooms and some two dozen smaller rooms — enough that ceremony, dinner and after-party can each hold their own space. The Waldorf Astoria Ballroom takes up to 550 beneath brass-trimmed crystal chandeliers with statuary set into the walls, while the Blue Room, 5,452 square feet, keeps the stage from its years as a supper club and seats 230. The obvious choice when the guest list is large and half of it is flying in.

Three ballrooms and a block-long lobby

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No. IXPavilion of the Two Sisters

No. IX

Pavilion of the Two Sisters

Botanical garden pavilionNew Orleans Botanical Garden, City Park400 standing; 350 seated; 275 with a dance floor

City Park's Botanical Garden keeps a glass pavilion built on the lines of a European orangerie — 58 by 86 feet, flagstone underfoot, arched doors glazed floor to ceiling down two sides so the planting stays visible after dark. Two terraces open off the room, and the Zemurray azalea and camellia garden next door seats up to 300 for a ceremony among the Enrique Alferez sculptures. Sitting inside a park, it is also one of the few New Orleans venues where guest parking is not a problem.

Glass orangerie inside the Botanical Garden

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No. XRiver City Venues at Mardi Gras World

No. X

River City Venues at Mardi Gras World

Riverfront event complexPort of New Orleans, Mississippi riverfrontRiver City Ballroom up to 2,880; Float Den up to 4,000

Kern Studios builds most of the city's parade floats in a warehouse complex on the Mississippi beside the convention center, and rents the same buildings out for events. The River City Ballroom gives you around 33,000 square feet under 40-foot ceilings, while the Float Den is 84,000 square feet of finished floats and props, lit and parked — either the most New Orleans reception available or far too much, depending on the couple. A tented plaza faces the water and the Riverview Room looks straight across at the Crescent City Connection.

Reception among the Mardi Gras floats

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Marrying in New Orleans?

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Tell us where you’re marrying in New Orleans, Louisianaand we’ll build the invitation around it — the venue’s own colours, an illustration of the building if you want one, your map and timings already in place. One link for every guest, with live RSVPs.

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Planning a wedding in New Orleans

Orleans Parish issues its own marriage license — $27.50, exact cash or check only — and state law puts 24 hours between issuance and the ceremony, though couples living outside Louisiana can have that waived when a registered Orleans officiant performs the service; the license expires 30 days after issue. A second line parade is a permit matter rather than just a band booking: the Master Event Application and parade supplement go to the city's One Stop Shop roughly six to eight weeks out at around $200, and NOPD requires a minimum of three paid officers to close the streets. Check any date against Mardi Gras, French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest before signing, because those weeks distort hotel rates and make crossing the city slow.

When to marry — October and November are the working months, with daily averages near 80°F in October and 72°F in November, past the mid-August to mid-September peak of hurricane season and clear of the summer heat advisories; April and May work too if you can secure a hotel block around the festivals.
What it costs — Estimates for a 125-guest New Orleans wedding land near $40,000 to $49,000 all in, with venue rental itself commonly quoted between $3,000 and $10,000 and pushing past $15,000 for a French Quarter address on a peak-season Saturday — food and bar, not the room, is what actually moves the total.

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 New Orleans and need directions, and plenty of notice.

Questions

Marrying in New Orleans: your questions.

What does a wedding in New Orleans actually cost?

Around $40,000 to $49,000 is the common estimate for 125 guests, with a wide spread either side. Venue rental on its own usually falls between $3,000 and $10,000, rising past $15,000 for a French Quarter address on a peak-season Saturday, and several venues here fold catering and bar into one fee rather than charging rent separately — which makes headline rental figures hard to compare directly. Local extras add up quickly too: a second line's permit and police escort alone come to roughly $600 before the brass band is paid.

Can a couple from outside the United States legally marry in New Orleans?

Yes. Louisiana imposes no residency or citizenship requirement. You apply in person in Orleans Parish with photo ID and a certified birth certificate bearing a raised seal — a sworn, notarized translation if it is not in English — plus, if you were not born in the US, a passport from your country of birth or a visa with the I-94 attached; a previous marriage means bringing the certified divorce decree or death certificate. The license costs $27.50, expires 30 days after issue, and carries a 24-hour wait that a registered Orleans officiant can waive for out-of-state couples. The ceremony you hold in New Orleans is the legal marriage: unlike Italy or France, there is no separate civil formality to repeat at home, though recognition in your own country normally requires a certified copy from Louisiana Vital Records plus an apostille from the Louisiana Secretary of State if that country is in the Hague Convention.

Do we need a permit for a second line parade?

Yes, if it uses public streets. The city's Master Event Application and the parade supplement go through the One Stop Shop, ideally six to eight weeks ahead, and the permit currently runs about $200. NOPD then requires a minimum of three paid officers — two leading, one trailing — to close the streets to traffic, starting near $385 for a group of up to 300, with additional officers for larger parties or longer routes. Budget the brass band, the permit and the police escort as three separate lines, and plan a route of a few blocks rather than a march across the Quarter.

How far ahead should we book, and how large can a New Orleans wedding be?

The Marigny Opera House tells couples to expect six to eighteen months, and that holds across the city for October, November, April and May Saturdays — the same dates when hotel inventory is thinnest, so the room block deserves attention as early as the venue does. On size, most of the character venues top out in the low hundreds: Il Mercato seats 185, the Marigny Opera House works at roughly 150 with a dance floor, and Hotel Peter & Paul's church takes about 200 for dinner. For a genuinely large guest list you are looking at the Elms Mansion with its gardens, the Roosevelt's main ballroom at 550, or the warehouses at Mardi Gras World.

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Marrying in New Orleans?

Want an invitation designed for your venue?

Make ours for New Orleans See the designs

The 10 best wedding venues in New Orleans

Researched and last reviewed 2026-08-16. We have no commercial relationship with any venue listed.

Want an invitation designed for your venue?

Planning a wedding in New Orleans

When to marry — October and November are the working months, with daily averages near 80°F in October and 72°F in November, past the mid-August to mid-September peak of hurricane season and clear of the summer heat advisories; April and May work too if you can secure a hotel block around the festivals.

What it costs — Estimates for a 125-guest New Orleans wedding land near $40,000 to $49,000 all in, with venue rental itself commonly quoted between $3,000 and $10,000 and pushing past $15,000 for a French Quarter address on a peak-season Saturday — food and bar, not the room, is what actually moves the total.

Want an invitation designed for your venue?