The North Carolina Arboretum

The NC Arboretum is a beautiful venue. We had an extremely simple ceremony only package with an add on of a toast on July 8, 2022. We signed our contract a full year and one month prior to our date. We had no outside decorations/florals. Our vendors consisted of a photographer, string duet and coordinator/officiant. We had a roughly 40 person guest count at our micro-wedding. All that to say, our wedding ceremony was very very simple. Jessie Coates (Events Supervisor) and Elaina Busch (Event Coordinator) are incompetent and incredibly difficult to communicate and work with. As other reviewers have mentioned, I would reach out with questions as I planned our big day and not receive a response. The contract states we should expect to wait three business days for a response from them but they often exceeded that substantially or I would just never hear back and would have to follow up over and over. They added to the stress of wedding planning by being unreliable. At one point they sent me a contract that had my name and another groom (not my fiance). Another time I saw that instead of "ceremony only package" "essential elopement" was listed. We wanted to know the rain plan the week of our wedding and kept having to follow up for a response - I saw in the contract that it should have been sent to us by them 30 days prior to the event. We followed up over and over to pay the charge for the add on toast and finally received it the day before our wedding. I thought perhaps they were busy with other couples who had more immediate needs. But the week of our wedding they treated us the same way. Their attention to detail was very much lacking. The latest issue we have had is that they have lied to us about the return of our security deposit. On Aug 10, Jessie sent us an email stating "The finance department confirmed the check was sent when Elaina reached out last week. You should have it by the end of the week!". This was false as confirmed by Elaina over the phone today, Aug 24, after we called and emailed multiple times as we assumed it had gotten lost in the mail. The $1,500 check had not been sent as Jessie claimed it had been. I have many more examples and email documentation of the extreme lack of attention to detail and customer service. If your wedding is more complex I would not recommend holding it here as our very simple ceremony was a struggle due to the event staff. The Arboretum should consider bringing on new staff who are better equipped to help couples plan their wedding day. Out of all our wonderful vendors these two stood out in a bad way. It is sad that such a gorgeous venue is being represented to the public by Jessie and Elaina.

Our wedding day in early June was perfect. Our ceremony took place in the Heritage Garden, with cocktail hour in the Blue Ridge Court, and dinner/dancing on the Events Lawn. All areas beautiful and well-maintained. My wife and I have been members of the NC Arboretum for years, and had planned to host our wedding there even before we were engaged. We were so happy to share a place we love with so many people we love on a day we'll never forget. The Arboretum team is both friendly and professional. Perfect all-around for what we wanted. A party...in a garden...casually elegant.

The North Carolina Arboretum is an absolutely gorgeous venue! We had our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception outside at three different adjacent sites within the gardens and it provided such a convenient way to change up the scenery with only a few steps for guests to take between events. The size of the space was absolutely perfect for our ~130 guests and we spent very little on additional decor since the space is already so breathtaking. We truly could not have asked for a more picturesque evening! We were able to include our dog within our ceremony which was very important to us, and we LOVE that we can return to our exact ceremony spot for years to come each time we pass through Asheville since it's a public garden space! We knew from reading other reviews that the folks working the event side of the arboretum are VERY busy and we did experience slower response times here than with our other vendors, but regardless we still always received a thorough response to our questions and were communicated with very politely and respectfully throughout the whole process. Arboretum event staff were also wonderful on the day of in getting everything set up and taken down smoothly! Also, while we were fortunate to have great weather on our wedding day which allowed all our events to remain outdoors, I'll add that a great perk to the arboretum is that their indoor rain plan is still a very pretty space with lots of natural light and high ceilings. Overall, we were so pleased with our experience here. We absolutely LOVED our wedding day and are convinced we picked the most beautiful spot in Asheville :)

I cannot say enough how pleased I was with the Arboretum's wedding team, particularly Jessie who was our coordinator. They were organized, professional, and eager to make sure everything was exactly how I wanted it (which was crucial because I did not have a wedding planner and had no idea what I was doing.) The heritage garden and events lawn were the perfect size for our ~75 guests and everyone talked about how amazing our wedding was.

My husband and I worked with Elaina - who was great! - to coordinate our intimate ceremony at the NC Arboretum. We got the elopement package which made everything super simple - flowers, cake, officiant, and photographer were all included. We got married in the Heritage Garden which was the perfect spot for a Spring elopement. The Arboretum is also pet friendly which allowed us to have our dog there which was so special! We highly recommend this located for a wedding ceremony or reception.

The NC Arboretum was our first and only pick for wedding reception location and it did not disappoint. Working with the staff for over a year to plan led to the wedding of our dreams. The entire process was professional, inclusive, safe, and fun. Our guests enjoyed the outdoor Events lawn as much as we did. I was particularly impressed with the staff the day of who were attentive, professional, and engaging with our guests.

As a wedding planner, I love getting to work at The NC Arboretum. The gardens are a truly stunning backdrop for any wedding. Additionally, the Arboretum team is so amazing! Jessie and team are always so attentive to their clients and vendors leading up to the wedding and incredibly professional and accommodating on the wedding day. We always look forward to the opportunity to work at The NC Arboretum!!

Let me start by saying the Heritage Garden was the most beautiful spot for our recent wedding ceremony; however, working with the staff at the North Carolina Aboretum was a terrible experience throughout the planning process leading up to our wedding day. The person we worked with was very non-responsive via email, and when we went to her supervisor to request quicker responses, they thought there was nothing wrong with taking 5 business days to respond to a simple email regarding our wedding (I am told by other wedding vendors that 24-48 hours is industry standard for clients). Additionally, the information we were given when we signed the contract provided a list of things that could be rented for our ceremony, but when we asked to rent a microphone for our ceremony, we were told they couldn't provide this despite telling us they could via their literature. When we expressed our concern about this, they told us it "wasn't a big deal," which is not really what you want to hear as a bride the week before your wedding. Our wedding day itself was great and the venue itself is absolutely beautiful; however, it came at the cost of a lot of stress and dissatisfaction in the lead up to the day.

The NC Arboretum is a gorgeous venue for a ceremony and/or reception. We choose May 1st because we knew all the plants would be greened up, and the flowers blooming. We were not disappointed. The grounds are well kept. Another perk of this venue is the amount of location options for a ceremony. There are at least four outdoor locations, with the option for a cocktail hour and reception within a very short walking distance. They also have indoor locations if it rains. The staff are helpful and great over email. I had a difficult time reaching them via telephone for whatever reason, but I prefer email anyway. They can provide a day-of coordinator, at a cost, which is convenient. We absolutely loved the look of this venue, and would choose it again.

We loved having our ceremony and reception at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. We had hoped so much to have our ceremony and reception outside, but when summer thunderstorms threatened, we moved everything inside only to have the sun come out and not a drop of rain fall! Oh well. The inside of the Baker Center was beautiful too, and we had a great day. Working with the Arboretum was pretty easy, though the coordinator at the Arboretum moved to a new position two weeks before our wedding--that said, Jessie stepped in to work with our wedding planner to make sure everything went smoothly the day of. I reckon I'd caution or just tell other couples to recognize this is a government facility and its primary purpose is educational, and therefore, there are some caveats: you have a very short time to set up, only certain vendors are permitted, no liquor and other specifications about what types alcohol, etc, a few "extra" costs that other venues do not have or require. I think it just made things a little more complicated for us, and I was so thankful we had a planner to take care of some of those details. But wow, is it a beautiful space!

There is no doubt about it--the Arboretum is a gorgeous place to get married. But, it does come with a lot of drawbacks. Being a government-run facility, there are a lot of annoying policies that have to be followed. Namely, they are very strict with alcohol laws. No liquor is allowed, all alcohol must be purchased through them (which is of course expensive), only one drink may be served to a person at a time, etc. At the end of the night, there were also two heavily armed cops standing behind the bar. Second, their prices are higher than most of the local venues, and they charge for every little thing (they told us it would be $500 to turn on the cafe lights on the lawn during cocktail hour). Third, though their "green initiative" is a nice idea and may be exactly what some people are looking for, it is quite limiting. They don't allow any plastic to be used (i.e., disposable cups/silverware/dishes), and you can't have sparklers or throw rice/confetti/any of the typical "exit" stuff. In the end, I would still recommend it because it was beautiful (even in the rain), but definitely read all of the fine print before booking.

Working with The North Carolina Arboretum for our wedding ceremony was amazing! The venue is beyond gorgeous and they are very used to hosting weddings and other formal events. They had tons of options for us and were very responsive to all our questions. We worked with Kate at the Arboretum who was amazing! She made sure both our rehearsal dinner and ceremony went flawlessly! She was always there when we needed help in the planning process and had great advice! We would recommend Kate and the Arboretum to anyone looking to have a stress-free wedding!

We were looking for a reasonably affordable venue in Asheville where we could have an outdoor ceremony (with a great rain plan, because Asheville) and an indoor reception at the same spot. As soon as we saw the Arboretum we knew we had found our venue! The location itself is SO fantastic. There are several different locations on the property, both indoor and out. We had our ceremony and cocktail hour outdoors in the gardens -- they are BEAUTIFUL and everything was more gorgeous than I had ever imagined. It feels secluded but it's easy for guests to travel to (and park!), and some of our guests really enjoyed arriving early to explore. Our reception was inside the Baker Center -- we loved those high ceilings, the fireplace, and huge windows. The major caveat with this venue is that it is a public space, and its primary purpose is the educational programs and services it provides -- it is NOT a full-service venue that only does events, like many other venues in the area. For that reason, there are a lot of rules and restrictions: you only have a short amount of time to set up, only certain vendors are allowed, no liquor, etc. The upside of this is that we loved the fact that they focus on environmentally friendly processes and vendors, and we also loved that our wedding was supporting all of the other programs and services that the Arboretum provides. But the events team does not work full-time, and when we had some last-minute issues with our rain plan, we ended up having to go to the venue in person to find someone to help. It all worked out, but caused some unnecessary stress. All in all, I would absolutely hold our wedding there again. Just be sure to read through the rules and restrictions carefully, and realize that you will be dealing with a public venue whose first priority is not events. For us, that was worth it for the location and gorgeous scenery. It felt like a true Asheville wedding.

I cannot express how wonderful of an experience we had with the North Carolina Arboretum. From the beginning, we worked with Kate, who was unbelievably quick and helpful in responding to all of our emails. We had our reception dinner inside the Baker Exhibition Center, then moved upstairs and outside for cake and dancing. Everyone was absolutely blown away when they went outside, thanks in large part to the gorgeous setting made possible by the cafe lighting.

The Arboretum was gorgeous, and everything I wanted. The only negative we had was the lady who communicated with us all the way through decided to leave and find another job about 1 month before our wedding. It was difficult switching over to other person. Some communication had been lost, and almost caused a bride meltdown.

We used the Heritage Garden for our wedding ceremony and we could not have picked a better location (or day!) to say our vows. It was everything I ever dreamed of. And my groom got the fireplace that he wanted! Lisa was wonderful to work with and after searching for weeks, we knew we had found the one as we walked into the gardens.

I would highly recommend using the North Carolina Arboretum as a location for your wedding ceremony and reception. The arboretum is absolutely gorgeous and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Lisa is the wedding coordinator and made sure that everything went off without a hitch. We were married at Johnson Pond and had our reception in the Baker Building- it worked great for our wedding size of 150 guests. The NC arboretum is a certified green wedding location and is very eco-friendly. Plus, the money you spend goes towards supporting the arboretum and keeping it open as a public green space.