Fullerton Arboretum

This is a difficult venue to review; mostly because the setting is so absolutely beautiful, but the staff can be stressful to work with. Pro: Unlimited photo locations Con: Be prepared for ants (to be fair, any outdoor venue may have this problem) Pro: Added benefit of the Heritage House (historical) for great photos and a bridal chamber. Con: There were ants inside of Heritage House too. There is really only room for the bride to get ready - very small. If you want this room for more than one hour, there will be extra fees. The AC only cools to about 80 degrees. Not enough hooks to hang gowns on. The water dispenser had some kind of crud in it. The walls are covered with old historical photos and award ribbons - ruining many photo opportunities. Pro: A wedding coordinator is provided as part of the package. Con: You can't select the coordinator. You cannot meet her until your rehearsal. She might not be very nice and may treat your own coordinator in a condescending manner. If you ask her to have the large unsightly trash cans moved, she might tell you to move them yourself. The woman who heads up the staff at the Arboretum, Ginger Ivy, is capable and no nonsense. She has a big job. However, I have one negative thing to say about my interaction with her. A few days before our wedding, we stopped by and noticed that the center of our location, Heritage House, had been decked out in 4th of July banners. When I asked for this to be removed (would you want this in your wedding photos?) she kept me hanging for almost 2 full days with excuses that "The Friends of Heritage House" would have to decide. Then, when she finally agreed to the removal of the red-white-and-blue decor, she said our event staff would have to remove it and rehang it. At this point I didn't argue with her, and she later told me she would have it taken care of. This was unnecessary and added so much stress to our event that I cannot recommend this venue simply because of this one issue.

Beautiful Reception Location!

I wish so very much I could give this 5 stars. It was a five star experience until the until my wedding. My husband and I live in Oregon but got married at the arboretum in Oct on a Sunday. Ginger was EXTREMELY helpful, professional, and responsive before the wedding. They require you to pick a catering company from a short pre-approved list but I was very satisfied with the caterer we chose. Our rehearsal had to be on the Saturday morning before our wedding since they had a wedding booked that night. Our rehearsal coordinator that was assigned to us from the arboretum was not the friendliest but was straight to the point and made sure everyone understood their duties. She made very sure that there was no funny business going on. The day of the wedding, we arrived a little early and had difficulties getting a golf cart to take us to the heritage house where the bridal party was supposed to wait. When we got to the heritage house it felt like it was 103 degrees in the room. Apparently "the A/C just went out and they had no time to fix it." First of all, it was about 88 degrees outside so you can imagine what it was like inside. Their solution? They hooked up two very weak fans. I needed both fans just to keep me from sweating my make-up off! So myself, my 4 bridesmaid, my photographer, my mom, my mother-in-law and the grandmothers were stuffed into a tiny room that was basically a sauna. Sweet. In agreement to out contract, we had to pay for a police officer that would be there the night of our wedding. We had absolutely no problem with that because our contract said they would be outside the gates. WRONG. The police parked right in front of the pathway that led from the arboretum to the pavilion where we hosted the reception. If anyone tried to go walk around the grounds and enjoy the scenery, they rolled down the window and rudely pointed them the other way. This was not explained to us at any point. The whole reason I chose this venue was because the grounds were so pretty and I wanted the guests to enjoy it. Now my biggest problem: A couple of days after the wedding (while we were on our honeymoon) I received an email from Ginger stating that we had violated their policy because they found hard alcohol in the bridal room and in the pavilion. I tried to explain to her that the bridal party had taken a party bus to the venue and each had one miniature shot on the bus. The bus had no trashcan so we had to throw the mini airplane bottles away in the trash outside the arboretum. That was the only hard alcohol we consumed the entire day. As for the other hard liquor she apparently found, my husband and I had to call/text/email each guest to ask if they knew anything about it. When I told Ginger we had no idea where the "bottle" came from she did no listen. Apparently, their expectation was that we sit at our wedding and babysit every guest to make sure no hard liquor was consumed. Ginger would not tell me what the consequences were even after I asked what she wanted from me. She would not answer my emails. And let me remind you, THIS WAS ALL HAPPENING WHILE WE WERE TRYING TO ENJOY OUR HONEYMOON. It got to the point where I had to call the director of the arboretum and threaten to file a complaint with the BBB. I received an email within a couple of hours of calling the director from Ginger stating she spoke with the director, listened to the message and decided to give us our deposit back. No apology or anything.

Beyond beautiful. Our wedding at the Fullerton Arboretum was nothing short of breathtaking. Besides the given beauty of the place, everyone there is wonderful to work with. Ginger works with you on all your questions and needs prior to the day and she is just a wonderful person to speak with and work with. Then the day of we had an incredible hostess who genuinely cared for our guests needs as well as our family & bridal party. She made sure the golf cart was there and ready for any guests who couldn't make the trek to the lake (which was an outstanding place to say "I Do" in front of). This was one of my biggest concerns about the venue but I had nothing to worry about. They took such good care of all of us! I was beyond impressed and happy with my experience and all our guests have commented on the beauty of the surroundings. The reception at the Pavillion area was wonderful! The only downside was that it was dark because they had lighting that was not working. I was not told of this beforehand and it was dark when guests were eating but none of my guests complained about it. The space was huge to accommodate our 280 guests, who later said they felt like they were on vacation. It did feel a bit like an oasis paradise - warm summer night, soft lighting in the trees, gorgeous surroundings! It was just perfect. We were married on a Saturday evening and had both the wedding and the reception there, so cost was a bit higher due to those factors.

Ginger Ivey was great to work with and the whole venue is so beautiful! It's a great price for DIY bride who wants to do their own decorations at reception. The only required vendor is for the rentals but they were great too! The Arbor was the perfect ceremony place for under 130 guests and August was the perfect time of year! I am so happy with the venue.

The Arboretum is a huge garden, they have numerous different gardens (thorn garden, bamboo garden, rose garden etc.) You get the entire thing allowing guests to roam the grounds while we finished pictures. Liz is extremely easy to work with. Our pictures look amazing because of all the different backgrounds!