{"id":183730,"date":"2026-05-04T19:56:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T19:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/183730\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T19:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T19:56:07","slug":"pittsburgh-families-can-have-all-kinds-of-unforgettable-parties-in-an-unforgettable-place-museumlab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/183730\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh families can have all kinds of unforgettable parties in an unforgettable place: MuseumLab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madison Michalko hadn\u2019t planned to have her wedding inside a children\u2019s museum. \u201cBut we just knew the moment we walked in that it was perfect,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unique,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt historical, but it felt modern, and it felt rustic. It was everything we were trying to find in one and they had just done such a beautiful job restoring the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Children\u2019s Museum of Pittsburgh, which is home to Museum Lab, already had a long history of hosting fantastic children\u2019s birthday parties. Madison and her then-fianc\u00e9 realized: It was also an amazing place for other kinds of family celebrations.<\/p>\n

The experience of hosting a wedding at the museum was wonderful, she says, and it has inspired the couple to return to Museum Lab for their baby shower and now for their baby\u2019s first birthday.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re planning a family birthday party, a baby shower, wedding or something else, you might be looking for ways to make the celebration feel extra-special. What kinds of experiences could make the day truly memorable? And how will you keep kids busy so that the grownups can really enjoy your party?<\/p>\n

The Children\u2019s Museum has the answers.<\/p>\n

CREATIVE EXPERTS PLAN CREATIVE PARTIES<\/p>\n

In a place that\u2019s all about innovation and creative thinking, even the parties have that spirit. Madison found that the planning team at the Children\u2019s Museum was eager to help make the day as unique and special as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a pandemic wedding. We were supposed to get married in 2020, but we postponed a full year. So we had a lot of time to just really make it our own. It was very DIY,\u201d she says. The couple wanted to make sure the day captured both their personalities and \u201cthat whenever we looked back on it,\u201d everyone would say \u201cthat was just so them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>Photos courtesy of Madison Michalko.<\/p>\n

The team at the Children\u2019s Museum was completely on board. They embraced the couple\u2019s decorating ideas and were open to doing things creatively.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of us saying, \u2018Hey, is this OK? And they were like, \u2018I don\u2019t see why not!\u2019 Or \u2018Hey, can we string up lights on this thing?\u2019 And they were like, \u2018Yeah, as long as it\u2019s safe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Although some aspects of their wedding were traditional, \u201cwe did our ceremony in the round on the first floor,\u201d Madison says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in a complete circle around that tile, with the mosaic in the middle. It was just so powerful, that feeling of literally being surrounded by your loved ones. I think that was the best part. We met in the middle to an upbeat song, and it was just really magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy of Madison Michalko.<\/p>\n

MORE PARTIES, MORE JOY<\/p>\n

The magical memories were still echoing as Madison\u2019s extended family thought about where to celebrate the impending birth of the couple\u2019s first child.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy amazing sister planned our baby shower, and it was a surprise to us. We didn\u2019t know the theme or the location or anything like that, until we got the invitation,\u201d Madison says. \u201cShe wanted to have this full-circle moment. She knew how much the Museum Lab meant to us and how beautiful and fun the space is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The joyful theme: Camp Michalko. Guests were dressed to go camping, a tent was set up in the middle of the room and there were plenty of s\u2019mores for everyone.<\/p>\n

Madison\u2019s face lights up when she describes the day: \u201cIt was just curated to perfection. It was so sweet and so \u2014 again \u2014 so us. It was really casual, and I wanted it to be not just about me. It was about my husband and I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy of Madison Michalko.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the best part: The baby shower was in the Learning Lab space, where there was plenty for everyone to do \u2014 including, of course, the kids.<\/p>\n

Little ones could run around and explore a range of activities, including \u201cthis really cool interactive exhibit,\u201d Madison says.<\/p>\n

A bonus: Guests of a party at the Children\u2019s Museum of Pittsburgh or Museum Lab get free admission to both spaces for the entire day.<\/p>\n

The baby shower was wonderfully memorable and for Madison and her family, the memories won\u2019t end there. This month, her daughter turns one year old. Guess where her first birthday party will be happening?<\/p>\n

\u201cI reached out and Museum Lab was available, and it was actually the same person who helped my sister plan our baby shower,\u201d Madison says. \u201cI love the idea \u2014 it kind of tickles me \u2014 that that will bring us all together again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Madison Michalko hadn\u2019t planned to have her wedding inside a children\u2019s museum. \u201cBut we just knew the moment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[24174,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-183730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-childrens-museum-of-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}