San Diego Botanic Gardens

Carla and the entire staff at the Gardens were extremely helpful and responsive. It was the perfect venue for our wedding -- everything I dreamed of. I would highly recommend this venue.

Had our wedding in the walled garden and reception in the gazebo. Everything went off without a hitch. It was a little difficult to get everything coordinated seeing how you had to use one of their approved vendors for everything. All in all it was a wonderful experience. Signed, Happy that it is All done now.

The Walled Garden was a perfect location for our ceremony. We only added rose petals to the asile way and orchids to the arch and it looked beautiful!

amazing and beautiful wedding!!!!

It was beautiful, got a bit chilly at night. But the photos taken here look amazing. The bamboo garden and waterfall area make for amazing bride and groom photos.

We just got married here two weeks ago (5/23) and it was perfect. It got a little chilly at night, but we warned everyone ahead of time that might happen and told them to make sure to bring a jacket. We also let people know the reception was going to be in grass, so they might want to go for wedges or flats instead of heels. Because the gardens are so beautiful, we didn't have to spend money on decorations. We did rent space heaters for the reception, and they were appreciated.The Larabee House worked well for getting ready, but our wedding party was really small - me, him, my best friend and his best friend. We had 130 guests and they fit into the walled garden with no problems. The gardens did turn off the waterfall - or it had dried up - or something, which was a bummer for the pictures, but we'd done most of the family ones on top right behind the walled garden because my grandparents can't walk up and down stairs very well. Parking was super easy and we encouraged everyone to come early and enjoy the gardens so they wouldn't have to worry about squeezing in through the smaller entrance. We got our deposit back by the time we got back from our honeymoon - they even gave us a complimentary year's membership - very cool! The only complaint is that it sometimes took a few days to get back to us if we had a question about something. However, Carla did always get back to us. I am SO glad we got married here. We'd visited several times when we were dating, so it meant a lot on a personal level - but it turned out so beautifully even without that. And the savings on not having to get any extra decorations were very appreciated.

We got married in the walled garden here. Beautiful & private, perfect for our wedding. We could even see the ocean from where we stood, which was a big plus for us because we love the ocean but didn't want a beach wedding. Everything was set up perfectly and the event manager, Carla, was very responsive and easy to work with. Highly recommended and no problems. We did not need any floral ceremony decor because the site itself was pretty enough with out it! The only decor we had was paper cones filled with rose petals hanging from the chairs.

My husband and I recently had our wedding in the Walled Garden at the Quail Botanical Gardens, now called the San Diego Botanic Gardens. The location was beautiful and all of our guests seemed to enjoy the location. The wedding coordinator, Carla, gave us quite a few headaches. She only works Monday, Wednesday and Friday which can make her difficult to get a hold of.When we first met her to discuss wedding dates (we were pretty flexible) she gave us a list of dates that were available. When we had called her to book our ceremony, she was confused as to why we had selected a specific date because it was unavailable, but not because it had booked by someone else. She was extremely defensive and tried to book us on a day with other weddings so it would be convenient for the staff to simply move the chairs to the right location instead of getting them out of storage. If you decide to book your wedding (or event) at the gardens, keep a few things in mind: expect some difficulties when reserving your date. The garden is not responsible for cleaning your ceremony area or chairs. Arrive a day early to pick up some fallen twigs and leaves and to make sure the location is how it should be (our location had decorations from a previous ceremony still up and the doors to the Larabee house was locked. If you use the Larabee house as a dressing room, note that it is not private. There are offices in the back and the workers seemed annoyed that I was there. The floor is extremely filthy and my dress was dirty before the ceremony began. Overall the gardens is a good place to have a wedding. If you have a smaller party, use the Walled Garden. If you have a large party, use the gazebo and have your reception on the adjacent lawn (I saw a ceremony and reception being set up there and it was very beautiful). Try to book as early as possible and after you book, give Carla a call to make sure you are actually on the calendar.

Quail Botanical Gardens was the ideal backdrop for our ceremony AND reception. We visited the site in winter, and the gardens were a bit sparse, but by summer they were gorgeous! We had the ceremony in the walled garden and the reception in the gazebo lawn with cocktails in the mexican topiary garden. The lawn was a little slanted, so we had to make some layout accommodations. In all, they provided a stress-free experience, especially since my coordinator Alison (of The Abbey Catering & Events) worked it all out with Carla (of Quail). The only thing is that Carla usually took a bit of time getting back to us since she was working part-time during the winter months. In all, a good service experience.

We had our ceremony & reception in the evening timeslot of 8/30/09. We booked our date a little less then a year in advance with no problems booking a date we wanted, and Carla the coordinator was pretty timely at getting back to our emails and sending out our contact papers. We where able to do everything through email and mail and never needed to meet with Carla in person. We where able to visit the gardens as much as we wanted free of charge to measure and look at areas for our planning. We where able to use tables and chairs that the garden had free of charge which saved us money from a rental company. They where very flexible with us choosing a caterer and any other vendors we wanted. The day of went fine with no issues from the gardens or the staff, actually we never spoke with anybody except a guy to get the tables drove down to the gazebo lawn so we never even met Carla, even the day of the event. My only complaints: the Larabee house which is the bridal changing room realllllllly needs air conditioning and a makeover/layout update because its not 100% private and it was really really hot in there with only 1 floor fan and trying to get ready in there on a hot summer day was a challenge and it was kinda dirty. And #2 is the price- it is very expensive to not include very much except for the land for use- especially when you have to clean up after yourselves or you don't get your large deposit back. However the gardens are so beautiful and we got a ton of compliments on the location and how beautiful it was.

Our wedding was on April 18, 2009, we held our ceremony and reception at Quail Botanical Gardens. Carla, the site coordinator, was a pleasure to work with before the wedding and was highly professional and very responsive. The location is picture perfect and easily accessible for guests.

We had a great time shooting at the Botanical Gardens, the walled ceremony site was a real pleasure to shoot at and just having the grounds to ourselves was a real treat. Highly recommended. \r\n\r\nYou can see our shoot here:\r\nhttp://www.iangrantphotography.com/photography/wedding-photography-gallery/san-diego-botanical-gardens-wedding.html\r\n\r\n-Ian Grant Photography\r\nwww.distinctphoto.com

The Quail Botanical Gardens was a gorgeous venue! Carla, the wedding site coordinator was so nice, and it was really easy to plan my wedding and there was plenty of time to decorate and clean up before and after the reception. I love the photos I have of my husband and I in the beautiful gardens!

It was an absolutely beautiful location. The staff was pretty hands off but still helpful. We had a wonderful day and everything went off without a hitch.