Dallas Arboretum

depending on budget and size. You truly need to bring nothing else, though I can't recommend a string quartet enough - the Dallas Asian Strings made it perfection with their music! The Arboretum rental rates include admission and parking for wedding guests. Our POC Elizabeth had vendor suggestions and was very responsive to my questions during the entire planning process. The initial tour and rehearsal are all independent and self-guided, and we were required by contract to hire an outside day-of coordinator. We had two wonderful Arboretum staff members assigned to our garden to help direct our guests in and to keep non-wedding guests from entering during the ceremony. It was, however, a very busy morning at the gardens, and there were a couple of Arboretum guests that still got close to photograph and video the wedding...while I wish there had been a better way to communicate etiquette and restrict that, I view it as a compliment and trust the photographer can edit them out of the professional photos! It should also be noted that for daytime ceremonies there are no changing facilities and wedding parties are required to arrive already dressed in wedding attire. It was a beautiful ceremony and I feel like for the guest experience, ease of planning, and minimal additions needed, that it is actually a very affordable option in Dallas!

d to you. I read this in other reviews and was like whatever I still want to get married here, but it can be so stressful to have a coordinator who doesn’t answer your questions or give you all the info you need. My caterer kept asking me if the venue coordinator had gotten me this or that and all I could say was no they don’t respond to me. I would ask for something multiple times, only to have my husband or the caterer reach out and get a much quicker answer. 2. If you get married at night, it is going to be dark. In all the pictures I saw there were lights strung up, I didn’t realize that I had to pay extra for lights or else my guests would be eating in the dark. That wasn’t a huge deal except that the lights I paid $1500 for (all coordinated through the arboretum) did not show. Nobody mentioned this to us, or apologized. My husband noticed right before we were about to walk down the aisle. He found the person working our event (who he said seemed like she was a teenager and was watching Netflix???) who said oh yeah something happened and they’re not coming to put up the lights. They just weren’t going to say anything to us? My husband asked them to do something about it and they brought out these ugly light pole things that I didn’t want, but I was desperate to not have it be pitch black so we went with it. They honestly didn’t provide much light, and the vibe was seriously different than what I was hoping for. 3. I guess this isn’t so much the fault of the arboretum directly, but another bride showed up to my cocktail hour and was taking pictures in the garden my cocktail hour was in, in full view of my guests. It was very weird to hear that someone else was encroaching on our space. I hadn’t really thought about that happening when they said I would be given full access to the gardens, it didn’t even cross my mind that another bride would have the audacity to show up at my wedding. 4. The amount of time you have to set up is so short, if you are setting up anything yourself you are going to have to be super quick. 5. The rehearsal time being during the day required friends to take off from work, it was an absolute crap chute getting in (all of the entrances were closed off and there was nowhere to park). The coordinator doesn’t show up or anything so you pretty much get in and walk around. Overall, my wedding was beautiful. I just think it was so unnecessarily stressful for the above reasons. Especially if you’re paying over $10,000 to get married there.

accommodations for the outdoor reception. All of this said, things came together really well.

oom! I highly recommend the Arboretum for your wedding! They went above and beyond for us.

ault this time). All of our vendors gasp when they heard we chose the arboretum because they are apparently known for not caring about their brides or weddings. I should have listened. Fast forward to Day of wedding, we had no AC in the room which we were given ONE HOUR to get ready in, had to get dressed outside it was so hot, there wasn’t a golf cart to give us a ride once we arrived at the arboretum as we were told there would be so I had to walk thru the Arboretum with my hair and makeup done and bride robe on sweating just to get to a hot room with no AC. I have no idea where the day of coordinator was during this whole time even though we complained multiple times about AC. Finally, there was a huge hole in the MIDDLE of the aisle covered by grass that I tripped in (every brides worst nightmare) which left a huge bruise on my foot and was unable to wear my wedding shoes shortly after. They knew about this hole as they had arranged the chairs in this area shortly before that. They could have at least told me about it. And turned on the ac. And sent the golf cart. I’ll never ever recommend the Arboretum. It may be beautiful but beware they do NOT care about their brides or weddings. And they give little to zero time to arrive before your wedding so you’re completely rushed.

ere blooming and it was absolutely gorgeous. Our event manager was Isabella, and she was fantastic! She was so kind, helpful, flexible and responsive. Very easy to communicate with. We had a daytime wedding and reception, which is so great for actually being able to see all the beauty of the Arboretum in daylight, but I was a little concerned with onlookers since it was during public open hours. However I barely even noticed, it still felt private. The Camp House is fantastic for a reception. The Dallas Arboretum is flat out the perfect venue.

re flexible to provide final numbers 3 days prior to the event - super helpful for last minute changes. We were allowed to cater the specific restaurant and bring in our own alcohol - what a huge savings. They allowed us to tour as many times as we needed, and added amenities such as the dance floor were affordable. The deposit was refunded promptly. We loved how there was dedicated parking and able to extend the hours at a very nominal cost. Overall - they made our biggest life event so beautiful and easy. THANK YOU!

e restrooms for the patio venue are extremely limited. Bringing in large groups for weddings, there is inevitably lines. Big downside in Texas, it is also NOT air conditioned. Very hot, humid and sticky. Not a deal breaker as it is a public arboretum. 2. Our group arrived with the groom's mother, all dressed in formal ware. It is still open to the public at 4:00 pm at which time you can arrive to unload wedding things you are bringing in. BEWARE: the traffic was extremely slow getting into and out of the venue. We were immediately met at the road by staff on radios and golf carts. The groom's mother was told adamantly "no" you may not unload here and then go park. Therefore,all in formal attire, we lugged in several large items thru the parking lot, thru the arboretum and into the patio venue. Ok, it is open to the public,that I can understand. What I couldn't figure out was why they didn't offer to help her at all. Load it on the golf carts for us, help us carry it? Drop it at the fence line? Anything? No- Not even strike one for us yet. 2. If Savannah is your coordinator - run don't walk - run away. Savannah honey, change jobs. When you tell a co-worker to "watch out for the groom's mother, she has a temper" in front of her family and friends? Seriously? Anyone in attendance that overhears you KNOWS the people you are talking about !!! Are you kidding me? You my dear never saw temper, I assure you, I was standing there the whole time! Strike one. 3. As more than half the guests were already seated for the wedding. The staff still has a ladder in the ceremony space installing the decorations for the ceremony. Really? 4. The ceremony...the minister referred to an event that was supposed occur during the ceremony. Then he had to back track as it had not been set up. Um, wasn't that the coordinator's job? The ceremony continued without. Ok, do plans change? Sure do. Not a deal breaker. Still a beautiful ceremony. 5. Cocktail hour/pictures. The entire congregation stood to walk to the cocktail area, by this time it is dark outside. There are steps and winding paths everywhere. Where was the coordinator/someone/anyone to tell 150 people where to go? No where. No lights, no signage, no directions , no help. Nothing. Guests kept asking where to go, no one was able to help. Most guests just wondered around. Not a good look for a "wedding" venue. 6. Head table for the wedding party. One on the groomsmen was left off the table seating and had no where to be seated for dinner. Savannah apologized and did absolutely NOTHING to accommodate him to be seated for dinner. Get another place setting, get a stinking chair for him? No, she did nothing, completely unacceptable. Strike two. 7. Two guests chairs for the dinner were placed in the grass, 3 feet from any table with their name cards in the seat. Are you kidding me? The lady had to go find staff to figure out why their seats were in the grass not even at a table. Not a good look for a wedding venue. Strike three. 8. The ladies restroom needed attention into the evening. Savannah was verbally informed at which time she simply nodded her head and did absolutely nothing about it. Not a good look for a wedding. Strike four.

ccommodating, friendly, or understanding.

lucky to be able to have our wedding there.

i was our event coordinator)She was always so kind and helpful and although the Arboretum does have some tight rules because it is a public venue, Jaci did everything in her power to help make sure my wedding was everything I could have ever wanted and I cannot express how thankful I am for her!

osine Hall. After weeks of unusual rain and cold temperatures, we got extremely lucky and the sun came out on the morning of our wedding day. The ceremony was at sunset and the view from A Tasteful Place were breathtaking. Many of our guests said it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies they had ever seen and our photos are the proof. Rosine Hall is also a great choice for a reception, especially if you don't want to stress about weather for that part of the night. The space is very flexible and unique. Rachel Leo was our coordinator and we really enjoyed working with her throughout the process. I have to echo some of the other reviews here and say that overall, the Arboretum is not the easiest place to work with - they have a lot of rules and a very tight schedule for vendors to operate within. In our case, we had to deal with some very significant changes to the way our venue would look, things we weren't told about until 6 months after we had booked. A lot of these things aren't controlled by the wedding coordinators, they just have to react and help couples deal with it. Rachel went above and beyond to help us through that and in the end, everything worked out well. If you plan a wedding here, I would highly recommend hiring at least a "day of" coordinator. You pretty much have to bring in outside vendors for everything - catering, florists, lighting, DJ/band, etc and with the Arboretum's strict set up/strike schedule, you need someone to help closely coordinate that. We have absolutely zero regrets about choosing this venue. If you can be flexible and you are in love with the venue itself, it's absolutely worth it!

ception in its newest venue, A Tasteful Place. The only thing I caution is to ensure you pick the date of your event carefully so that you and your guests are comfortable due to weather. Fortunately, the day of our wedding was much cooler than previous summer days and turned out to be warm, but fine.

, informed us of the flow of the ceremony and made sure we stayed on track. We chose Crape Myrtle Allee and had access to a lot of the rest of the gardens for portraits before hand - the photos I've seen have been STUNNING. Can't thank Rachel enough for making our ceremony vision a reality!

ine Hall and it was perfect, the set up, the flow and most of all the amazing view. Thank you for making our day so special and memorable.

give you a rain continency plan, so we could quickly move our ceremony and reception inside of the Camp House if it rained. My only regret is that we couldn’t serve red wine at the historic venue but I also understand that it’s to protect the beautiful venue. Our wedding events manager was Wallace Ann. I cannot say enough amazing things about her. She really took the lead at the wedding and worked hand in hand with our wedding coordinator to ensure everything went perfectly. Wallace Ann is a rock star and you’re lucky if she’s your events manager!

justed their plans to provide us with a beautiful venue for our ceremony that was everything we could have ever wanted. The grounds are gorgeous and the set up could not have looked better for our photos. I would recommend The Arboretum for all Weddings. We are still getting compliments from our guests on the location. Thanks Again!

sonably priced, but it did get expensive when we added the catering, lights, dance floor, etc., but it was a night we will never forget! I would highly recommend the Arboretum for any wedding!

y every second of our wedding . Rachel Leo was so kind and helped through every step . With my last choice of music , she coordinated everyone in timely manner, the evening before, soI walked to my future husband and got there before the music ended, without a rush thrpugh. (We had a whole bridal group, flower Girls, ring bearer and sign bearer walk to one song) Thank you for all ur help.

less knowledge of the venue. Everyone was so accommodating and friendly every time we visited. We had our ceremony at Crepe Myrtle Allee and our reception was at The Degolyer House. We had our cocktail hour in the Sunken Garden and had access to A Woman's Garden and the Rose Garden for pictures and our first look. Our pictures were so dreamy and we got endless compliments on how gorgeous the venue was. I would highly recommend The Dallas Arboretum for any couple looking for an outdoor wedding in Dallas!