Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden Reviews

My husband and I chose the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden as our final venue for our wedding ceremony after looking at least 5 other venues. The Japanese garden is so beautiful and serene complete with ducks and koi fish; all of my guests complimented how gorgeous it is and thought that we paid a fortune for booking this venue when really the pricing is very reasonable. Janette is the director of the garden and her staff were super helpful on the day of our wedding and did an excellent job with calming my nerves down and coordinating the event as well as working well with my vendors. Even though it rained on the day of my wedding, our wedding pictures were so beautiful and I love how it captured the beauty of the garden. I highly recommend every future couple who loves nature and scenery to get married here.

The staff we dealt with at the Earl Burns Japanese Garden were both super friendly and professional. If we ever had any questions they were answered very quickly.

As we live in Ireland it made it quite hard for us to organise and plan our day however they made our day so much easier and pain free.

For any couples looking for a venue which can cater for both large and small weddings (ours being 15 people total) with a very unique feel, the Earl Burns Japanese Garden is a perfect fit.

Words cannot describe how wonderful our wedding turned out at the the Japanese Gardens. Everything came out fabulous! The Japanese Gardens is a beautiful venue, with its lush landscaping, pretty waterfall, spectacular koi pond - a fairytale place for a wedding. And the staff at the JG is stellar too - everyone was so nice, professional and helpful. Whenever I had a question, they were quick to respond, always got back to my emails right away. On the day of our wedding, I didn't have to worry about a thing - they took care of everything, and it was so well gone. All of our guests were so impressed with the JG, everyone has told us how beautiful our wedding was. For everything that was included in our wedding, the JG is definitely worth 10 times the value. Thank you to everyone at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Gardens - you made my wedding perfect.

I am so glad we chose to have our wedding reception here! It was so peaceful, and beautiful, and tranquil, and basically everything that we hoped for our reception. The staff were wonderful, professional and accomodating. Highly recommend this venue, as did many of our other vendors (catering, etc)!!

This was the only choice I ever would consider for our reception.They worked so hard to make sure our wedding day was better than we could have imagined.There is an amazing outdoor area for the ceremony. They did an amazing job making sure that anything and everything we could need was taken care.

This place is BEAUTIFUL. No questions about it. Everyone loved the place and once there everything is peaceful. The staff was very nice and explained everything. The only thing that I was not too thrilled with was the fact that the garden is schedule back to back. My vendors only had 30 minutes to set up. When I got there there was another wedding going on and after my wedding there was another wedding schedule so we had to hurry out of the garden as fast as possible

The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is an excellent venue. It is beautiful, intimate yet grand, and well managed. What’s more, it is good value for money, especially for the location. Some of our guests said it was the most beautiful wedding that they had attended. Our wedding was in late October and the weather was perfect.

We created a lot of our own wedding decorations ourselves and the garden carefully followed our instructions to set everything up. The coordinator on the day, Amber, was attentive, helpful and calm. Jeanette, the director, was great and the staff who helped Amber were also well organized.

Not only did the staff set everything up well, but they also took down and packed away everything efficiently at the end. This removed a lot of stress from us. Break down was handled amazingly well, with the staff being sensitive enough to leave our hanging lanterns on at a small area where a few remaining guests had gathered to chat before leaving. This was a nice touch and very thoughtful of them.

One thing to note is that the volume of the speaker system was a bit low so some people couldn’t hear all the speeches and ceremony through the microphone. You might want to ask them to turn it up a little.

We would definitely recommend this venue to others and we are very glad to have chosen the EBMJG for our wedding. Just note that there is only one bathroom, plus one porta potty as well. If you plan to have a lot of guests, we would recommend sourcing an additional bathroom / trailer.

We had our wedding here, and this place by far was one of the nicest place I've ever seen. If you live around here, pick this place. I love it so much, and prices are good.

Pro's-
The venue is beautiful & made for awesome pictures!
The staff is super helpful.
Price is reasonable- there aren't many excess fees.
You're walking on the other side of the koi pond so if you're shy/nervous in front of people, you feel less pressure! (This could also be a con, I suppose.)
They put out umbrellas to help shield the sun.

Con's-
As a previous poster said, back to back weddings make you feel rushed.
My officiant's microphone was not correctly positioned so it was hard to hear us.

This was the most beautiful location to have a wedding. The gardens not only were meticulous, but the staff was very friendly and helpful. I had a huge list of items I wanted placed for my event, and the Gardesn took care of everything perfectly. I didn't have a single worry and everyone talked about how lovely and memorable my wedding was.

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is a very pretty place to have a wedding there. It is outdoor only so you are kind of at the mercy of the weather. But it is California, so not much problems there. Its wedding hour is pretty restrictive because of public hour. Initially I was going to have my rehearsal on Friday 4/13/12, but we had thunderstorm. My coordinator Judith was nice enough to postpone it to Saturday. (My wedding was on Sunday). Overall the coordinator is very professional and friendly. We kept changed the order of the procession and she did not have any problems with it. She is very patient. We were late for almost 1 and half hour for our first meeting due to the terrible LA traffic. Judith waited for us and when we met she still had a big smile on her face. Thanks, Judith. The garden is not large enough to hold a wedding with more than 230 guests though. But if you have a small wedding, then this is a perfect place. When I interviewed many photographers, every photogapher says it is a very pretty place.

Beautiful venue that allows for pond side ceremony and dinning out under the stars. A magical venue that accommodated all of my handmade decorations. One stop shopping for catering and wedding planner. It's student run, but I couldn't tell per the level of professionalism that I received. I couldn't have been more happy. My only complaint was I wish the gardens were available for a longer period of time. They have strict closing times and I wish the fun could have continued for a few more hours.

The instructions say I'm supposed to provide comments and feedback for future brides, but I'm a groom. Sorry ladies, this ones from a guys point of view.

Grooms and brides, you can't bring your own kegs (which I understand why, but it still sucks) and they don't allow hard alcohol. Your choice in caterers is also very limited with only 2 different caterers and are both a little pricey...but I will admit worth the money. Other than that, the upfront consultations were more of a timeline breakdown and you go over what you're going to do at your wedding (you better have ideas upfront). We were given an hour with out "consultant" who really didn't offer many suggestions, but with the help of our DJ we were able to muddle through the details.

However, our coordinator for the rehearsal dinner and wedding day was AWESOME! She made sure everyone was on cue and on time. Also, the venue is absolutely breath taking (yes, this is still the groom talking), I was completely blown away by how beautiful everything looked and our wedding day coordinator was on it!

I would have loved to give them 5 stars on everything, but the initial consultations didn't really help us any and honestly at one of them I walked away more confused than focused. Also, their lack of flexibility does hurt them a bit because I couldn't have my Biergarten and aside from there list of approved vendors for catering, you don't really get to choose. The beauty of the location, the responsiveness of the staff, and the quality of staff make up for it. We had an awesome wedding and all of our guests were blown away.

An amazing place to get married. It was beautiful and I couldn't have asked for a better venue. The only downside was that you had to use the catering, Choura. The food was only okay but if you're not too concerned than I recommend the Japanese Gardens. Amazing.

First I want to start off by saying the Garden is absolutely breath taking. It was exactly what we were looking for. The coordinators are amazing and go above and beyond. When we booked the wedding we defaulted to Elizabeth (the director (she is no longer the director)) a lot she was amazing and really helpful. We had Lily as our day of coordinator I can't begin to explain how amazing she was. Lily really went above and beyond. I didn't feel like a client to her, I felt like we were friends and had been for years. All of the Staff was amazing!

There was a mishap where bamboo broke and one of the staff was hit in the head. this was before the ceremony, while we were taking photos. They fixed it right away no big deal. The part that bothered me was that the staff member wasn't taken to the er right away. He said he was ok but a head injury isn't something to fool around with.

My only issue was with Jeanette who is the current director. Some of my wedding party told me a few things after the wedding that didn't sit well with me. The first is that she scolded a member of my wedding party during the rehearsal telling him he better not wear sunglasses the day of the wedding, first off he was wearing his glasses not sun glasses but not only that its not her place to say that. She also kept confusing everyone during the rehearsal so much so that on the day of the wedding the boys didn't know what to do. We had paid for our Officiant to be at the rehearsal so I had felt that Jeanette should have taken a back seat. She contradicted everything our Officiant said. I had been told way before the wedding or rehearsal that I could have one car parked by the back entrance of the garden, At the rehearsal Jeanette told me no. I was also told that Jeanette wasn't allowing the caterer to setup in a timely fashion that would have allowed us to move things along faster, as we were ahead of schedule.

With all that said the wedding was beautiful. It was a dream. If you get married at the garden make sure you get Lily she rocks!

I loved the garden. I recently had my ceremony here and it was perfect, everything was so beautiful and all my guests were amazed. Aside from the occasional low flying plane, at which time the staff was able to turn up the speaker volume so nothing was disrupted, it was a prefect venue. I will say I was a bit disappointed with the staff, I think it's a lot of college students working and some of them are not very responsive or professional. I had multiple appointments to drop off my deposit at their offices and when I would get there everyone would be gone. Luckily my "day of" coordinator was great. She kept us on schedule, in a nice way, and was very professional. I would highly recommend this venue for a ceremony.

My ceremony was beautiful there. We even had a dove ceremony as they inquired and suggested different visual elements to place in our ceremony. Everyone enjoyed it very much as it's an intimate place. Only thing is the guests are seated across the pond so they don't see a close up view of you however, they get a wonderful view of the entire ceremony and profile of the party versus the back of the bride and groom.

You have to take a trip and visit it....and if you love gardens and nature, and a quite intimate area away from the world, ...this is a great place.

I had my wedding here in September 2014. Earl Burns Miller is probably the most beautiful setting to have a wedding in all of California. If you want amazing wedding pictures, this garden is unmatched by others. The garden looks so serene with the beautiful bridge, waterfall, pond, koi fish, etc. It truly is a hidden gem. I really just have to re-emphasize that your pics will turn out amazing!

Now for the downsides, the the guests sit far back so they will have trouble seeing and hearing the actual ceremony. That was something I knew, but still thought the beauty of the garden was worth that one downside. The garden is also next to an airport so it gets pretty loud when the plane flies back maybe every 20-30 minutes. Luckily no planes flew during our ceremony, but its a risk you will have to take. Also if you hire a band, you will need to bring your own speaker equipment or else their music will not be heard at all.

Other than that, I have no regrets over picking the garden for my ceremony. We looked at every garden within a 30 mile radius from our house and Earl Burns was by far the most breathtaking. Other gardens do not hold a candle to this beauty.

We booked the venue a year in advance, not because we had to, but because we loved it. It was beautiful and a little unconventional. They offer someone to help coordinate the event for you, but some times you're working with the full-time professional coordinator, other times a student employee. I was very concerned by the lack of communication as the even approached. In fact we showed up on the day of our consultation (both sets of parents in tow) and they rushed us through because they double booked!

So come three days before the ceremony, we were assigned to a student coordinator (Diane I believe), and she was WONDERFUL. Very detail oriented, and really put my fears to rest. The whole event went off without a hitch and was perfect. It was the best wedding I've ever been to (even though I am biased). We did not opt to have a dance floor as it would have been small and awkward, but rather our reception turned out like an elegant and magical dinner party. I would hight recommend this place, and you really can't get a better deal for the money! I also recommend buying the extra time for photos-- otherwise it will be very rushed!

The staff was wonderful. They really made my special day a beautiful one.

The venue is at CSULB and it is beautiful. The student workers changed many times over the year and a half that I dealt with the garden, between booking and actual wedding day. Yet, everything still went off without a hitch. I strongly suggest using this venue and using their preferred vendors.

great venue for wedding and reception.

This natural venue is absolutely gorgeous! The seating arrangements are non-traditional and provided an excellent view to our nuptials. Guests are arranged around a koi fish pound!! Bridal parties are lined on across a beautiful bridge. The staff was efficient and reliable. I would NOT recommend them for anyone else to use...only becasue I want this memory all to myself ;) Just kidding...they're exceptional. Please tell your freinds!

This venue was gorgeous!! We got so many compliments on the venue choice. The service had me scared though because the coordinators that day are students and the responses were were getting regarding rehearsals confirmations and day of details were not accurate. Everything worked out at the end and the pictures turned out beautiful!

It was indeed a BEAUTIFUL location and I am so happy I had my wedding there. The problem is it is run mainly by students, and the students change with the semester of school. We had problems with people getting back to us, and losing our rehearsal time.

Also, our coordinator that we were eventually assigned, seemed a bit uninterested and rushed (especially at the rehearsal).

Overall, for the price I felt a little let down by the service.

I LOVED THE GARDEN!BUT STAFF ON THE DAY OF MY WEDDING WASNT VERY ATTENTATIVE EXCEPT FOR OUR COORDINATOR...BUT OVERALL THE PLACE WAS BEAUTIFUL PERFECT FOR A WEDDING CEREMONY!

I absolutely love the japanese garden. It is like a hide away. It makes for a very peaceful and romantic wedding venue. Everyone will love it. I was told by several people that this was the best wedding they have ever attended. My advice to any bride-to-be that is considering this venue is to get a personal wedding planner that will be on top of every detail prior to the wedding and on the wedding day itself. Don't rely on just yourself and the coordinator they provide you with. When e-mailing them, sometimes it would take them a week for them to respond back, and I had to email them again for that reply. I regret not being a little more pushy with my assigned venue coordinator, because she didn't make sure she had the most updated guest list, even as I tried to hand her my new list. In consequence, one of our guests was told he should not be at the reception, and he had to go home. Also, my friend, who served as my personal coordinator, found it very frustrating to work with the staff on the wedding day. They weren't listening to her. Also, on our rehearsal, we had asked that the music be loud for our singer, but they forgot and our singer found it difficult to hear the track. Overall, the place is worth it, but get a professional to make sure the venue's staff meets your needs.

I had both my wedding ceremony and reception at the gardens.

I have to say that I absolutely loved every part of my wedding day from the ceremony to the reception to all the beautiful pictures we got back from our photographers, but all of that credit for it being such a wonderful time goes to my husband, my guests, my bridal party, and a few amazing vendors that we hired (photo+ video, caterers, DJ, and outside coordinators)

Unfortunately I cannot sing the praises of the venue in the same way because I felt that it was absolutely lacking in good service and communication which caused a lot of added stress and negative feelings leading up to the wedding day. To any bride that considers booking this place, I have to warn you that hiring your own professional outside coordinator is an absolute MUST so you don’t go through the same grief I did throughout the planning process.

I started my search for the perfect outdoor wedding venue about a year before my wedding, and stumbled upon beautiful pictures of the garden, and when I went in for my first consultation I met with the most wonderful coordinator, Elizabeth. She was awesome and listened to all of my concerns and wrote down all of my preferences that we would revisit later on as the date approached. One of my biggest concerns was that the gardens only have one working bathroom. Elizabeth assured me that the gardens are going through a lot of changes and one of the biggest things they want to do is build another restroom to accommodate guests in near future. She also that if for any reason the additional restrooms are not built, previous brides have rented big VIP trailer restrooms with flushable toilets and working sinks and mirrors so that dressed up guests can feel comfortable using them. This was my biggest reservation about booking the place, but once she gave those promises, I was immediately sold and booked with them.

A few months pass and I haven’t heard anything from the gardens so I decide to contact them since Elizabeth wasn’t returning any of my texts. I then call the garden to ask if I could speak to her and they inform me that she no longer worked there. It seemed that immediately everything we discussed at my initial consultation was forgotten as I was given a new coordinator to work with who I needed to go over everything with again. This is when I learned that the coordinators used by the gardens are students at the school and some of them don’t return after they graduate. I then realized I might not even have the same coordinator again in a few months so I decided to hire my own since this was already stressful having to start over with someone else.

Some of the students I worked with in the a few months after I booked (when I found out Elizabeth left) seemed to be very accommodating. They said there would be no issues moving my ceremony time from 6pm to 5pm and extending the reception to 11. They also confirmed that the VIP restrooms were still okay to rent a few weeks before.

This is when all the problems started....

Leading up to the wedding, the gardens only contacted me when it was time to make a payment. A few of the students I was working with earlier on no longer worked there at this point and the newer students I spoke to on the phone were either very rude or acted very indifferent about me trying to get information.

I already sent my invitations out saying that the wedding would start at 5pm, and when I called I was told that 5pm would no longer be a possible start time since the garden is open to the public until 4! I was furious and told them to look back in the emails to see that someone had already moved me up and I already sent the invitations out after they changed the start time. Luckily they were able to fix this a few days later, but it was stress that could have been avoided if they had better communication with each other and with their client.

The only other consultation I had before the big day was a phone call with their director who asked me a couple questions about my bridal party. She tried to convince me that my wedding “didn’t need to be that long and purchasing an extra hour wasn’t necessary”... she also said that renting the VIP trailers was no longer a possibility and we would need to go with portapottys.......... she seemed annoyed I kept asking about additional restrooms and said she didn’t know why I “needed so many other restrooms because one restroom should be enough for the amount of guests you have”...... I had about 115 guests.....

I still pushed for the extra hour and I am SO GLAD I DID because the reception felt like it went by so fast. Some of my female guests were understandably unwilling to use the portapottys so there was always a long line for the one working restroom they had.

In the end it really seemed like everyone just hated working here and my ceremony and reception only ran smoothly because of the amazing outside coordinators I was working with who kept me updated on a very detailed timeline we worked together to make leading up to the wedding.

It really seemed like the people working for the venue didn’t care about what would make you happy as the bride/groom/paying customer. It was difficult to work with some of them and they wanted to push a lot of things on me that I didn’t agree with and took a lot of things away that I thought were agreed upon earlier. I would even overhear some of the students talk about how poorly managed a place it was and I overheard that the reason they were trying to get me not to purchase another hour was because they didn’t want to pay the student-staff to continue working.

A few of my guests also told me that the director (who was also at the wedding) was very rude and seemed to have very poor people skills. I forgot my veil in my hotel room and my mom and mother in law went back to get it for me and said the garden staff made it difficult for them to get back in and were being very rude.

The gardens are really beautiful and hopefully one day management can get it together to make it a more pleasant experience for its customers but they have a long way to go before they become a primo wedding location and not just a beautiful school garden.

It still stands that if I were to do everything over again I would have chosen a more professional venue with a more professional staff.