Desert Botanical Garden

ut, gorgeous!

ing go to a great cause for conservation, the setting is beautiful and the coordinators are accommodating, flexible, and so on top of it that it’s not even funny!!! On my wedding day, during a particularly dry “rainy” season in Phoenix, I got an email from Patrick at 8am that there were potential for thunderstorms during our ceremony but not to worry, he had a backup plan! All of this before I even thought to check the weather. When I arrived to the venue (which has big open spaces for the bridal parties to get ready—separately, and beautiful areas for a first look), Patrick immediately showed me his backup plan and it was already set up, just in case! Thankfully he did that because while the rain disappeared, a sandstorm rolled in!!! We had the best wedding ever and beautiful photos— make sure you ask their advice on which photographers to use! They also have a variety of venues to fit most budgets. I honestly can’t recommend them enough. Our day was absolutely perfect!

anson is one of the event coordinators there and he will have your back from start to finish! I went to him with many questions and concerns and he was always very responsive and ready to help. The team at DBG helped me to make our wedding day so special. The only negative I have is arranging the bar. You have to use the Garden to supply your drinks and the person in charge of this (not Patrick) can be very difficult to communicate with. However, when I had those issues Patrick helped me get it resolved. Overall, it was a WONDERFUL experience and I am so thankful to the Desert Botanical Garden.

f it and many took advantage of exploring the Garden at large. I could not think of a better venue to have held our wedding at.

fun, and go by smoothly. Our wedding was absolutely stunning at the garden. I recommend 10/10.

ality was prepared for, including last-minute reception heaters for a cooler-than-expected March evening. We had a lovely experience and celebration! Thank you, Patrick and DBG.

ughters dream garden wedding. Thank you again!

ssistance. You will not be sorry booking with the Desert Botanical Garden.

you can also see Camelback Mountain from the venue. Also, my guests were able to nip out for a little bit and enjoy the light show that the garden has going on right now. Katelyn and Patrick are both the wedding event coordinators for the DGB and they are both lovely people to work with. They were super friendly and accommodating! I had a lot of people come up to me and say that it was the best wedding that they have ever been to!

telyn and Patrick were there at the venue to make it all run seamlessly. Our ceremony was held in the amphitheater and reception at Binns Wildflower Pavilion. Atlasta catered the event, Stevie D and Xray Vision was the wonderful band, our beautiful flowers by Fred's Flowers, Mary Sandy @marysandyphotog captured our joy in the photos. If you get a chance to get married at #DBG you won't regret it, it is worth it!

aphers dream come true with lighting at sunset that will proudly be displayed in your photos for years to come. The fact that our out of town guests got to come to such a beautiful location and fully experience what Arizona has to offer was a complete joy. Both the bride and groom got a room to themselves for their bridal party to sit in prior to the ceremony which made it easy to store things and gather oneself before such a monumental moment. Guests of the garden were more than polite getting out of the way for photos etc. Love and support was felt every step of the way the day of. I can also share that the price for everything we got was TOTALLY worth it and well in line with our budget. They do have options for every budget which is refreshing compared to other venues in and around this area. A must add to your list of locations to check out as you consider where to say your "I do's".

eception.

ght a path to the bathroom which was a great idea. The venue is beautiful and was perfect for our southwestern wedding. I would recommend to anyone.

e magical than I ever imagined! Thank you DBG for your hospitality and stunning sourroundings!

nue I wanted. I was put in touch with Amber who was fantastic at helping mediate the deposit for the Venue we wanted. Patrick and Katelyn then became our point of contact and I am so thankful for these two! They were very responsive and super helpful through the entire process. We ended up having to move the Reception to another area of the Garden due to an exhibit. At first, I was a little upset. The day before the Wedding, rain was in the forecast so we decided to have both the Ceremony and reception at Binns Wildflower Pav. Everything became a blessing in disguise. The day of the wedding it was raining so bad due to Hurricane Sergio. I am extremely thankful that we had the Pavilion since it was covered! The entire path to the Pavilion was flooded. Patrick really made sure we were well taken care of. He and his team went above and beyond, they got sand bags and sand to help soak up the water. The rain decided to stop a couple of hours prior to the wedding start. By that time the path was damp. I really appreciate all the help and the way everyone handled everything! If I could give DBG more than 5 stars, I would!! Thank you Patrick, you made my wedding amazing!

ord rainfall on our wedding day, but Katelyn and venue staff worked with our vendors and day of coordinator to seamlessly cope with the rain.

t the Webster Center venue which consists of the amazing Ullman Terrace, the courtyard and the patio. We would not have had it any other way. The terrace will leave you and your guests in awe of the gorgeous natural setting (and the butte backdrop!!), or at least it did for us and ours. Makes for amazing photos to look back on because I promise, the day comes and goes before you know it. Equally important to location, is the people who are going to help you run the show. We cannot express how amazing Katelyn was to work with. Her and Patrick were so prompt at getting back to my crazy emails, scheduling all of our tours and walkthroughs and making themselves available to ensure we were all on the same page and comfortable. Katelyn was our official day of venue coordinator and we couldn’t have done it without her. Seriously. Her and her team are the ones that made sure everyone got down the aisle, and effortlessly, and this is huge because we had a young flower girl and two young ring bearers. She made sure my dress was fluffed and sent me down like part of the family. I later found out that our table linens were delivered late (not their fault) and she took the initiative to get with my husbands mother to see how the table decor was to be arranged and her and her team set the tables for us so our family would be free to do photos. Lifesaver. She communicated professionally and diligently with our other vendors to make it happen and for that, we are so grateful. Marianne is the beverage director and she too was a pleasure to work with too customize our bar package to our budget and taste. It was a big day and we only had one shot to do it right, and it turned out better than right- it was a dream come true. Thank you DBG and everyone who helped, we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

nt, the coordination by the Gardens was stellar and we really loved the way the evening shaped up! Much love to DBG for making our day so special and one of a kind!

Jennifer for making our special day one to remember

r response time (always less than 24 hrs) and attention to detail was second to none. From the beginning they walked us through the entire process, checking in periodically to make sure we were doing ok and on track with all of our vendors. As the big day got closer they checked in more frequently and made both of us feel very relaxed. The rehearsal was a breeze and the wedding day went on without a hitch! There was no way it would have been as smooth as it was without these two rockstars! And again, the gorgeous location, the garden in full bloom, made for an amazing day and a great place to start our next great adventure!

. Every picture is perfect. The Desert Botanical Garden was such a special venue, that my brother is now planning his wedding there.

lace to get married if you don’t have wedding planners simply because they work with lists of vendors and so you need to go through the vendors and everyone to get wedding necessities like tables, chairs, etc.! Luckily they have wonderful vendors they work with and our wedding planners were familiar with them! Would get married there again if I could!

y were also responsive with emails and communicating with us. We had our own day-of planner, but knowing that DBG also had people on their end being involved with the planning made everything seem to go more smoothly. We loved our venue & will go back often to visit and relive the memories.

to work with, communicated clearly and often, and made sure that I was comfortable throughout the entire process. The only thing that was somewhat challenging was working with Marianne (bar service coordinator). She was not very responsive (short responses to questions asked, forgetting to add agreed upon items to the contract in a timely manner, etc.). Everything ended up working out in the end though, as emails were eventually responded to/contract was updated accurately, and the day-of was absolutely perfect!

never left us in the dark. We didn’t have just one person to go to; they gave us a team. I would definitely recommend the desert botanical garden to anyone looking for a beautiful, practical and memorable experience for their event!

ke-it all was fabulous. Nicole was incredible to work with. She was there for me every step of the way and was always happy to answer all of my questions. I can't imagine my wedding day being any more perfect than what it was at the Desert Botanical Garden! I wish I could relive this day over and over again!

e effectively on our own. Thank goodness our other vendors rolled up their sleeves and filled in where DBG dropped the ball. The day of wedding we also learned how awful it is that the Dorrance Center has no internet access, wifi or cabled, because our DJ was very limited without internet, and the social media aspect of our event was DOA. The following email we had to send to DBG 12 days prior to the wedding probably best illustrates the support problems we had (edited for length and privacy): Hi Nicole, It’s really unfortunate that I have had to send so many communications to you with such forceful language as is in the subject line of this email. Since signing the contract with you for (our) wedding, every single inquiry we have had for DBG, without exception, has required us to leave multiple voice mails, emails and then even some strongly worded voice and emails. Yet again, here we are only 12 days before the wedding when one would think we would at least be on DBG’s radar, and still cannot reach any event people at DBG. I am very concerned about DBG’s ability to deliver on our contract. Thankfully, DBG is the only vendor for this wedding with which we’ve had difficulty. You are currently in Breach of Contract. Our contract requires that we hold a walkthrough no later than 2 weeks prior to the event. That deadline was last (weekend) (We) have been leaving phone messages and sending emails to you and the DBG event staff (for a week)... DBG has not responded to any of those messages or emails... The impact to us of the delayed walkthrough is that ... we are at risk of giving up our hair and make-up people because we do not know if we can coordinate their schedules ...dependent on whether we can use (your) dressing room(s)...Since day one DBG has verbally stated that there is a possibility of more dressing room availability if it is not otherwise booked. I would even consider paying an additional fee for more dressing room availability, but we haven’t even been able to get ahold of anyone at DBG to discuss that possibility. When DBG did not respond to our voice and emails, we were counting on the walkthrough to help get as much information as possible so we can resolve this issue, which was a minor issue but is becoming urgent because of the passing calendar. .. Were there some folks at DBG that delighted us? Absolutely! Unfortunately, those bright spots were eclipsed by the great swathes of time where all we could hear were figurative crickets chirping.

ners did not go well either- on multiple occasions, I was told one thing, but then later on would be told something else. From the beginning, I was told I had my venue on a certain date, only to find out that they had signed my date and venue to someone else, and that I had to pick a different time/venue. It only got worse from there. Beautiful venue, though.

ces for the tables) because of how naturally gorgeous it is. We worked with Nicole McCall and she was friendly, responsive, and flexible to meet with us during the limited window we were in town (we planned our wedding from across the country). We also worked with Marianne Donnan to coordinator the bar service. She was a little harder to get a hold of, but in the end she did a great job following up on every detail of our bar package and it all turned out just the way we hoped. We also were very impressed with the professionalism and courteousness of the bartenders at our reception. Overall, the we loved the venue, the staff and celebrating our wedding at the Desert Botanical Garden.

dding day. It is truly a stunning venue. My guests enjoyed it. Meanwhile, the garden does absolutely nothing to help you, and the downfalls of having your wedding here are detailed below. They do not provide chairs, tables, or assistance. My mother-in-law made a photo booth and the garden would not allow her to show up before 12:00pm on my wedding day to set up. Although I asked why 3 times in email and once over the phone, an explanation wa snot provided. They kept telling me 5:00pm receptions usually have set up begin at 3:00pm but my ceremony at my church started at 3:00pm so there was no way that would work. They did allow us to come earlier but not by much. I scheduled pictures at the garden at 1:00pm along with my bridesmaids, groomsmen, and family members. I had some guests help decorate because the "wedding coordinators" do not help decorate at all and she suggested that as a solution. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law made the photo booth and had a vision that she could not explain to someone else. I believe she showed up at 11:00am as we were told there was not an event the day before and she was unable to set it up, get ready, and be in our photos. Hence, I do not have professional photos with my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law who also helped set up; this upset me as we had people come from different states and countries and we couldn't get an actual group photo because the garden was not willing to allow my family to come earlier to set up a photo booth and a few other decorations. Nicole told us we can set up around 5:00pm the night before my wedding but we had the rehearsal dinner and she told me on that same day. Hence, it was impossible to be done. Nicole also forgot that we set up a final walk through two weeks before. She sent me a generic email telling me to do so although I had done it months before. She said they updated their system and it erased everything. This frightened me as she may have scheduled someone else after I already got all of my 7 vendors to come on that day at that time. Additionally, there were three other weddings on my wedding day and the coordinator and her intern worked all 3 weddings. She looked exhausted for the 10 seconds I saw her on my wedding day. My vendors also complained because they had questions about lighting and setting up the projector and they couldn't find the coordinator and her intern. Another big downfall is with the beverage folks. They have a policy that you cannot bring any outside beverages. The alcohol makes sense because of the liquor license but I tried to negotiate for non-alcoholic beverages because they wanted to charge me $1000 for a champagne/sparkling cider toast for my 250 guests. That is ludicrous and the lady who manages it is extremely unpleasant to work with. I wish I read a similar complained on a review on weddingwire.com before I signed the contract to have our wedding here as I spent over $3500 on beverages and that didn't last past the cocktail hour. While I enjoyed my wedding, I remember more bad from this venue than good unfortunately. I recommend it to people who have a strong affinity for the desert like me and my husband do. Be prepared to shell out a pretty penny for it.

I was never informed that the days and times listed in the wedding pamphlet would be different during the week of my wedding, so we ended up having to do the rehearsal the day of the wedding. If I had been informed in advance, I could have scheduled my days off work around it, asked out of town family to come in sooner, etc. I felt as though I was left to my own devices throughout the process, and only received any sort of communication when I was the one who initiated it. The garden was beautiful, but based on my experience with the customer service aspect of it, I would not recommend an event at the garden to anyone who did not have sentimental reasons for choosing the garden as their wedding venue.

d a new one arrived. I was never notified and only found out after having trouble contacting the old coordinator. I also had some issues with the beverage consultant. But on the day of everything was perfect and the setting made everything else worth it.

hoenix. You cannot ask for better weather. Seriously. The Pratt Ramada sits at the base of a mountain on one side and at the top of a valley overlooking the city on the other side. The views were breathtaking. We added DBG's luminarias to our setting to add a little warm shimmer to the atmosphere. We also opted to book their beverage service and offered our guests prickly pear margaritas during the ceremony. Like I said, nontraditional. Amber, Nicole, and Marianne were incredibly helpful in the planning and setup of our event. This is one of my favorite spots in Phoenix. You will not regret choosing DBG for your event, especially if you want an outdoor/natural element to your wedding. Your guests will definitely be wowed!

answered all my questions. It was a small wedding with a tight budget, so the on-site coordination was perfect. I cannot wait to see my photos and cherish the DBG views forever!

owers, etc) in such a beautiful setting. It was very much the case. Even the indoor reception hall is beautifully constructed and needs minimal decoration to give a high quality look. During the planning process, Amber was our main point of contact. We cannot say enough good things about her. She is an expert on what works and what doesn't and is very quick to respond to emails which helps a ton, especially in the weeks leading up to the event. She also has a ton of good recommendations on other vendors such as photographers and DJs. The day of went as well as we could have hoped. If there were any issues that came up, they were undetectable! I believe this is due to Amber's skills in coordinating multiple vendors and being thorough in the rehearsal. Overall, we would highly recommend this venue to others. We felt the cost was well worth it!

ere. Everything was perfect - from the wedding coordinator (Amber Hahn) to our bartender to our caterer. I am beyond impressed. There was not a single thing that went wrong - I felt confident in all our vendors and they were phenomenal at making us feel special. I highly recommend the Steel Herb Garden if your wedding size is under 75. It was a little hidden jem in the Garden. Perfect for a small evening, outdoor wedding. I can not emphasize enough how fantastic our event coordinator, Amber Hahn, was. She had everything under control and did a great job at making sure we had everything we needed. 5 star service all the way around. Well done DBG!

point person for the ceremony as far as timing and even helped out when our minister accidentally forgot some important parts and we had to do it all over again! (Which just added to the charm!) As part of our process, we did a site visit, a walk through, a rehearsal and of course, the main event! We all felt very comfortable with how the day would go and appreciated all of the practice rounds and visits! The ceremony space at the Webster Center is breathtaking! The few photos we have received completely capture the Sonaran Desert beauty and we are just so pleased with the million options we had! The staff, including the beverage manager, Marianne Donnan, and her team were wonderful and easy to work with! Two thumbs up! We also absolutely loved that we could have our ceremony, cocktail hour, plus dinner and dancing in one general area! It made the evening flow so smoothly! Also, the space was extremely accomodating for our guests who required accomodations or wheelchairs. There is nearby parking, bathrooms on one level and ramps as needed. The Chihuly exhibit just added to the magic of the night and I just can't say it enough! This place was amazing and we could not be happier! Thank you Amber, Marianne and all the staff and crew at the Desert Botanical Garden!

through email. She was quick to respond and always professional. Our guests truly love the gardens and couldn’t stop commenting on how beautiful our wedding was. We couldn’t have picked a better location. The day of our wedding, a storm came through. Luckily no rain, but Amber came to the bridal room with several umbrellas just in case as we walked to the ceremony; she ensured our ceremony was set up just as we discussed. She went above and beyond our expectations. We send many thanks to everyone at the gardens who helped make our day extremely special and memorable.

wedding was. We had our first dance as the sun set around us... The butte all lit up with cactus once night fell... It made for an absolutely magical night. The venue and also Amber Hahn, the coordinator for the venue, ALL get 5 stars from me. The bad part of this review is for the beverage manager Marianne. If you don't know, DBG has a liquor license and therefore you HAVE to buy all the alcohol from them via their beverage manager who happens to have been the absolute worst part of my entire wedding planning process. And to say that this woman was the WORST part of 14 months worth of stressing about planning a wedding from long distance (we live in NYC, but got married in AZ) is really, really saying something. She was unresponsive, unhelpful, insulting, and lied to us. Lied. To make matters worse, the alcohol prices are unreasonably expensive. For example, we decided to have a 12-pack of Pacifico beer in the guys room as they got ready and have 12 bottles of water in the bridal room. Do you want to know how much that cost?? I'll bet you do! It cost $86 dollars! American! Not in Yen or Pesos or Rubles...American! Do you know how much that costs in the real world? About $15-20, at most. Not to mention the fact that you're charged based on consumption, which is fine. However, it's not fine when you decide to have Captain Morgan and Coke as a drink, you're told shots are not allowed and then you get pictures back seeing people taking shots at the bar! Does that make your bar bill sky rocket and make more money for DBG?? Absolutely. It just felt like they were completely nickel-and-diming us and Marianne was just a nasty person to work with. And now here's the million dollar question. Would I get married at DBG again, knowing all this? Unfortunately, I would. It's a spectacularly beautiful venue that will leave your guests in awe and make for the most magical day. But beware the bar manager!!!!!

was a larger space and private for my celebration and guests. There were several other wedding in the Garden on the same day, but we never knew it. Many of my guests commented that it was the most beautiful, peaceful, and fun wedding they have ever been too!

cool. It is a great place if you have out of town guests because they are able to walk around. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect venue and people to work with! Highly recommended.

arden, which was the perfect size for our 30+ guests. Our contact at the garden, Amber Hahn, was always helpful and prompt in her responses to my questions -- she really made it easy for me as I planned my wedding from the other side of the country! They were able to provide us with portable heaters, which our guests enjoyed, and luminarias, which made the garden look magical. We purchased our drinks from the garden as well, and were able to choose from an extensive list. I highly recommend the prickly pear margaritas -- they were a hit with our guests! We were even allowed to customize our beer selections, and our bartender was friendly and professional. The garden was open to our guests the entire day of our evening wedding, giving our guests the chance to enjoy the whole garden. Amber is wonderful at what she does, and her experience and calm demeanor really put my mind at ease throughout the rehearsal and wedding day -- you're in great hands with her! The Desert Botanical Garden was the perfect place for our wedding, and I couldn't recommend it more highly!

ediately.

number of our guests remarked how lovely the site was and how they've never seen anything quite like it. A truly memorable location that far exceeded our expectations which will provide such amazing memories for many years to come. Thanks for everything!

aff was super helpful through the entire process.

stic backdrops for ceremony and pictures. Your guests will love it!

rganized. She was quick with responses to emails and phone calls during the planning process as well which was really helpful!

incredible surrounding. They cannot stop talking about this and how it was the most beautiful venue they have ever experienced. The staff and event coordinator were just top notch and very professional. They were incredibly organized and helpful. It was way beyond my expectations. Just Amazing all around!!!!!!

ould highly recommend this venue!

ue to becoming frustrated with a lack of communication from the wedding planner for our originally scheduled October destination wedding. There isn't any "lighting" at the Ramada so we opted for the luminaria for our sunset wedding. DBG set up the luminaria for us. It was perfect and sooooo romantic, there wasn't a dry eye to be seen! The staff at DBG was so accomodating, and the out of town guests were thrilled to see all of the cacti with their stunning blooming flowers, hummingbirds and the desert's wildest, most beautiful plants and trees. Everything was perfect!

arden so switch was great. it was intimate for our 45 people wedding, and off the beaten path, you could see the papago mountains in the distance and the stars that hang from the ceiling are awesome-we did have to pay $300 to cover the hole in the roof(i would have thought that would be included!)

bles. There are so many great photo opportunities throughout the garden also to have the best wedding pictures. You do have to use one of their preferred caterers and only the garden can provide your beverage service, but we were extremely happy with everything! I wouldn't change a thing!

have been there many times. My out of town guests got an amazing impression of the desert and even some of its creatures. When we used them, our guests had an all day pass. Don't be afraid of the outdoors! It's Arizona for Pete's sake! They have so many adorable little areas to choose from and it is completely private. We had to choose from a small list of caterers that they allowed, but we were highly impressed with our choice. They really know their stuff and you really can't compare them to anyone. You get a lot for the value and the service is amazing. Our coordinator there, Amber Hahn, was friendly and professional. They really made our day perfect... like a dream!

d seat 125 but I think it could seat a lot more as the crowd looked scarce at our wedding. They did a great job, ranging from arranging everything to the day of the wedding. I don't really have any complaints. Main thing is that if you are walking down the trails get ready to get your dress very dirty. I wish I would have bustled it or had a carpet down.

only pays for the space. There was nothing else included so we had to rent everything from table and chairs to silverware and glasses from our caterer. It was also chilly the night of our wedding and we had to rent heaters from the gardens at $80/piece (rougly). Some of the heaters were not working as they should so we were reimbursed after the fact which was good service on their part. Debbie, the event coordinator was very easy to work with and was also very helpful the day ofour rehearsal. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience and would book there again PS - Because of the beautiful scenery (and our talented photographer - Justine Miller) our pictures turned out amazing!

the staff was; all of our vendors were well taken care of, and the garden was, as always, stunning!