Horticultural Hall

and our venue was supposed to be entirely outside. Thankfully we were able to book Horticultural Hall the DAY before our wedding and wow, we were blown away. The venue is so charming and the courtyard area is absolutely stunning. It was perfect to have both the indoor and outdoor space! Such a gem of a wedding venue.

ations of local vendors to check out. One of the aspects that we loved about the Horticultural Hall is that we could bring in any vendor of our choosing. Beth provides a list of several places that she has worked with before and gave brief summaries of each to help us decide on who to use. Beth also helped us out when we needed to make last minute changes. Our bartender unexpectedly cancelled on us the week before the wedding. After sending her a quick email, Beth came through with a list of several people that were licensed and available to fill in. Since we had our wedding on a Friday, Beth gave us the keys on Thursday night after the rehearsal so we could set up the tables/chairs ahead of time. The hall itself is beautiful and requires minimal decorations. We had our ceremony in the courtyard in front of the gorgeous gardens and fountain. For the cocktail hour we had lawn games (giant jenga, bag toss, etc...) set up in the West Loggia and courtyard for our guests while the bridal party make a short trip to Bigfoot Beach State Park to take pictures. At the end of the night, Beth stopped by to check in and wish us well. Overall this venue was easy to work with and provided a beautiful place for our wedding. I highly recommend Horticultural Hall to anyone looking for a Lake Geneva wedding.

bring in everything else yourself and do all the set-up and take down. It was a little stressful to have all the options in the world by getting things a la carte. I also wish we could have used real candles. The bridal suite was nice to have all our stuff in too.

coordinator. The space is affordable and you are supporting a historical building. Beth is lovely and a pleasure to work with! We would have an event here again in a heartbeat.

where we knew the guests wouldn't be scattered around and wandering off, that we could all be close together whether we were eating, visiting the bar or bathroom, dancing, or enjoying the fresh air. Beth was so sweet, wonderful, and accommodating. She allowed us to visit the venue on a few separate occasions before the wedding-which was very helpful for taking measurements, figuring out setup, etc. We were able to come in early to decorate which was incredibly convenient. Bottom line, if you don't mind putting in the work yourself (or hiring an outside coordinator, enlisting family and friends) this beautiful, conveniently located gem of a venue is the best place I could have asked for my big day!

ut of town, and was more than happy to accommodate my schedule with hers when I was in town for a short time and wanted to see the hall. It's so nice to be able to choose your own caterer, bar service, etc. We brought in our own desserts and were able to store them in the kitchen area. I would highly recommend it!

on in the hall and there were more than enough chairs and space for our 120 guests. Horticultural Hall is definitely a secret gem in the middle of Lake Geneva.

olutely breath-taking. Guests loved that it was all at one location and we were able to make use of the entire building. The Hall's director is very friendly and accommodating. I personally loved the option to bring in our own food and drinks, and the money to book the venue goes back into the building to make it better. Highly recommend it.

ensive, especially considering the location is in Lake Geneva, the "destination wedding" city of Wisconsin. Since the hall is ran by a not for profit society it is very affordable. Most of the money you spend goes into maintaining the historic building and not in anyone's pockets. You can also save money by having your ceremony and reception all in the same location. The garden is beautiful and the hall has so much character you hardly need any additional decoration. There's wood floors, exposed beams and these beautiful chandeliars. Be careful though, I did get stung by a bee while taking pictures in the garden before the wedding! Also you can choose your own catering which is a big plus. And the final perk is the hall is only a block off from the main street that has all the little shops and boutiques. So during the time between the ceremony and the reception our guests were able to go window shopping or bar hopping, many went down to the lake and took pictures. However there are some pesky rules. You cannot have any flames, since it's such an old building the fire department has put the kabosh on that. Also since it was built during prohibition era, the original rules of alcohol use is still in effect. You can serve alcohol, but you cannot sell it. So be prepared to pay for an open bar, or just buy a keg. The most frustrating part was figuring out parking. There are metered parking spots in front of the building, but that gets expensive. Since we were married in August we were able to use a school's parking lot that was one block away for parking for our guests. However, on the day of the wedding, there was a marathon going on in the city so the school parking lot was already full from that. So our guests had difficulties finding parking spots that were nearby. Overall the garden was stunning, my 100+ guests fit very comfortably in this location, and the staff were eager to help in any way we needed. If you wish for an outdoor wedding, you will be blessed to marry at this location.

The courtyard is just beautiful for the ceremony and it is so nice to bring in any outside catering and alcohol, definitely a money saver! Also, all the staff at the hall is so friendly and they are very responsive to emails and phone calls and will answer all of your questions! Highly recommend them and still getting so many compliments on the venue especially!!

ors, the roses were still blooming and the beds were extremely well kept. The hall does a great job keeping up the building. The stone deck was fixed, the bathrooms upgraded with stone, and extra outdoor lights were added. The people who volunteer for the hall are great to work with and were very helpful with lettings us in to view it prior to the wedding and they answered all of our questions in a timely fashion. I strongly recommend this place to any couple who is looking for a place with natural beauty and a sense of character. You won't need a lot of decorations as the hall has a beauty all it's own.

yard at its center. We couldn't have asked for a better place to get married and entertain our guests.