Sarah P. Duke Gardens

We had both our ceremony and reception at the garden. Things could not have been more gorgeous! The Gardens even included a large golf cart to take me and my bridesmaids around to the other side of the White Garden so we wouldn't have to walk through the garden to get to our 'starting' spot for the procession. The staff were wonderful to work with and answered all our questions. We could not be more pleased with our choice!

My husband and I were married October 12, 2013 at Sarah P. Duke Gardens and Doris Duke Center. We had our ceremony in the amp-theater behind the Doris Duke Center and our reception in the Doris Duke Center. It was the perfect location for an outdoor wedding and indoor reception. The garden was beautiful and well taken care of. I would definitely recommend this venue for a wedding or any other special event. Marcia, the coordinator at Doris Duke Center, is so nice and so easy to work with.

The area was beautiful also we were lucky that I wasn't raining. This is outside only ceremony sites. The day of my wedding there was nobody to instruct anything the women Marcia who was dealing with my planning at duke gardens wasn't even there. You also have to take the risk of somebody who rude and unplugging the outlet to the stero and having you music cut off in the middle of your ceremony. Which happend to me.i could of killed somebody. Also your not allowed to have your flower girls through any flowers. No guests can blow bubbles or through rice. And there wasn't even anywhere for us to put our guest book and pen. It sucked. :(

We chose the gardens one, because we are both Duke alumni, and two, because they are absolutely beautiful! No need for flowers just show up!

We had our wedding at the beautiful Duke Gardens in June 2013. Our wedding was on a Friday evening (on Fridays you are guaranteed to be the only wedding in the gardens) in the Angle Amphitheater behind the Doris Duke Center. Our reception was inside the Doris Duke Center. The breathtakingly beautiful surroundings coupled with the convenience of the reception only steps away makes it a fantastic place for a wedding.

We had our wedding in May at Duke Gardens primarily because it's dog friendly and we had 3 dogs in our wedding. It was a beautiful setting and luckily we missed a big storm, but there is no rain backup plan so be ready with umbrellas if it rains! It's quite expensive but we received lots of compliments on the venue.

Anyone who has been to the Duke Gardens knows how truly beautiful they are. What they may not always appreciate is how wonderful the Doris Duke Center is. The space is absolutely fantastic; the wood is beautiful, the lighting wonderful, and the layout of the space just right for a small to medium reception (around 150 people). We managed to secure both the Duke Chapel and the Duke Gardens for our September 22nd wedding and the weather and spaces could not have been more perfect. Securing both was rather difficult as there is no coordination between the Chapel and the Gardens and communication with the Gardens can be a bit of a struggle at times, but in the end everything turned out beautifully. If you can reserve the space you will not regret it!

The Gardens were absolutely beautiful, HOWEVER it rained so we did not get to use the gardens. I was dissappointed, but they were very nice about it and working with us.

Regardless of the breathtaking surroundings, the manner in which we were treated by the venue's event staff on our wedding night was completely unacceptable. When booking Duke Gardens and the Doris Duke Center we were told that the original contract for receptions held there was only for 3 hours. At the time we were unsure how long we wanted the reception to be for, and we were told that if we wanted to add an additional hour we could go ahead and sign the contract that day and to just let them know later about adding an hour and it would not be a problem at all. So, this is what we did. We told the event staff that we wanted to add another hour for a reception of 4 hours and booked all the vendors for 4 hours as well. At our reception, an event staff member I had not met before told us to get out after only 3 hours. He was exceptionally rude. He told us that he had to get out or pay a fine for the extra hour. Since it was our plan to pay for the extra hour anyway we told him that was fine. He then changed his mind and said he just had to get out now. We had to rush last dances, leave wedding cake uneaten on tables, skip wedding favors, and hurry through the sendoff. To top it off the Doris Duke Center is refusing to reimburse us for this enormous inconvenience of 1. getting kicked out of our own wedding, and 2. paying all other vendors for 4 hours of service. NO VENUE is worth what this place charges to be treated as poorly as they treated my family, myself, and my wedding planner.

My fiance and I wanted to get married at Duke University since that is where we met. We wanted a less formal ceremony, so we chose the Sarah P. Duke Gardens (specifically the Pergola in the Terrace Gardens)...beautiful, especially with all of the flowers in bloom! It was the perfect space for our ceremony. Note that the gardens will only allow 50 chairs for that specific location. If you have more guests in attendance, I would recommend the Amphitheater. A few of things to note: (1) Saturdays fill up fast (up to a year in advance), so call the Special Events Coordinator to hold your reservation. (2) If your are planning an outdoor wedding in Durham, note that there are usually heavy thunderstorms during the last week of June. (3) If you do choose to get married in the summertime, try to hold your ceremony in the morning hours. It is not as hot (we chose to have a ceremony at 10:30a in the early June).

Totally worth the $$!! The staff was great to work with..they got back to me asap on any and all questions I had. Even though it was a heat index of 115 degrees on our wedding day...it was amazing and beautiful..loved loved it and so did all of our guests! Made for beautiful pictures!

The site speaks for itself. We had our ceremony at the FIsh Pond and it was just amazing. There was power for our musician and plenty of shade to wait in HOT summer afternoon. I do suggest you do a rehearsal onsite, no matter how casual your wedding. The day before our wedding there was bright yellow rope around some grass behind the pond....directly in line of ALL pictures to come. Thankfully the garden staff were still onsite and they kindly removed it and all was perfect. Even if you aren't a Dukie...it is hands-down a wonderful outdoor wedding location!