Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix, Inc Reviews

They are the most polite, responsive, flexible team I have met. They know how to make things magical. They are willing to work with you and are as excited about the big day as you are.

The Garden is an absolute beautiful place and speak for it self & is very reasonably priced. The event manager is very nice and was always available to speak to me or answer any questions.

The Japanese Friendship Garden was the perfect place for our wedding ceremony. Our guests raved about the beauty of the venue, which boasted gorgeous lakes, waterfalls, blossoming trees and flowers and adorable families of ducks paddling about throughout the ceremony. Many of our friends from around Phoenix noted how excited they were to find this lovely garden tucked away on 3rd ave, which they never before had known existed! Sarah and Nate at the garden were exceptional to work with-- professional, accommodating, and extremely helpful in deciding on our ceremony layout and getting chairs and the sound system set up and taken down. Thanks, Japanese Friendship Garden, for helping to make our wedding day so special!

This place was amazing! A little bit pricey but worth it! I held my wedding ceremony here. I chose this place because it was picture perfect! I didn't want to have to travel to another place for pictures. All of the pictures were taken there. It has a waterfall, a pond with Koi fish and ducks. The flowers are trees were blooming. My pictures came out perfect! The most awsome thing is that not a lot of weddings have been held there...so as guests arrived they were awed by it's beauty. None of my guests had been there before. Everyone was able to take picures and enjoyed the garden. The staff was very friendly and very professional. They made my wedding perfect. They set up beautiful white chairs along with a beautiful runway. I recommend this place for anyone that wants a unique, peaceful, lovely and relaxing ceremony. I wouldnt change it for the world. I suggest you check it out!!!!

This venue had a special meaning to my husband and I because we met on an military base in Japan while we were in high school. As soon as I realized this was an option, I knew I had to see it. We started planning our wedding early so our family all over the country would be able to plan. I got in touch with the even coordinator and we set up a time to walk through with her. The staff at the garden is unbelievably friendly and the Garden itself is gorgeous. We booked our date the following week. We only had the ceremony at this site, and it was everything a bride could dream of!

Such a beautiful location. My photos turned out so wonderful!

It is a little pricey, but the beauty of this place for a Spring time wedding is unmatched. There will be no need to purchase flowers because it truly is a beautiful garden. It was my ceremony site only.

They have a staff that is very responsive and they have hosted so many weddings that it is easy for them. They do not offer anything else except for the gardent and you will need to find your own sound equiptment to make sure that the sound and music is as beautiful as the surroundings. I was very happy that I made the decision to have an outside wedding in this garden. It was simply gorgeous.

The Garden was perfect for our small ceremony. It was gorgeous at that time of year (March in Arizona) and it fit with a family tradition in-the-making (my parents were married in a Japanese garden in Hawai'i). The women I worked with - Diana and her assistant (?), Gratia - were responsive to all my questions and let me visit the garden as often as I needed to so I could walk around and plan things in my head. I would recommend this for a bride with her heart set on a small, garden wedding (they have a site for up to 75 seats and another for up to 150).

Things to keep in mind if you're looking to book: They are a public garden, and therefore have some restrictions on what you can do there. For example: Weddings can only be held in off-hours (They're open 9-3pm, closed Mondays - check the site for more details). You can't hang things on trees or otherwise disturb the fauna. Free-standing stuff is fine. You also have free use of the Tea House for getting ready, but you have to do your hair and makeup in the bathroom or off-site. These restrictions are a little tighter than some other places you might find (like a hotel, etc.) but we were able to work around them pretty easily.

We had an incredible experience getting married at the Japanese Friendship Garden for a great price. The photos turned out beautiful and visitors were very respectful of the fact that a ceremony was taking place. The only thing that was not ideal was that a member of the staff stayed with us during our 20 person intimate ceremony. Other than that is really felt like a dream. No decor needed since the location is so beautiful!! The only thing we brought was rose petals to place in a circle around the ceremony. Would 100% recommend this venue.

It was a breathtaking! A few minor wrinkles, but overall I would definitely recommend. Beautiful, spiritual, and and a very reasonable price.

December in Arizona - no rain, 70 degrees, and a beautiful calm garden. We just had the simple chairs and beauty of the garden, no extra decorations (they only allow real decorations). It was a small wedding and they did allow me to use a small cd player to play music.

I was able to organize almost everything online or over the phone (no fax), which was a lifesaver especially planning a wedding on such short notice. I did end up working with a few different staff members - not sure if one person books, then someone else takes over and finalizes.

The day of they were very flexible and shifted our chair set up out of the sun. I was promised the tea house to get ready and when I arrived I was directed to the public restroom (which the public did come in) as they were having a tea ceremony (which I was not informed about). Also, the woman who was my site coordinator (I thought would stay and then coordinate or let us know when we should start walking - but I assumed - that was never promised) was no where to be found. She left an assistant to help (when I asked her - where the coordinator was and who tells us to walk), the response was, "I'm sorry, she didn't tell me anything, I just set up the chairs."

Luckily, I had my brother in law and the officiant via cell phone "directing" wedding traffic, so the wedding was great. Just thought it would be nice to give other brides the heads up to plan ahead to have someone coordinate you or ask the garden staff ahead of time it they do that. I just assumed I was paying for a site coordinator and they would coordinate.

It's my own fault for not thinking to ask about it ahead of time.
Still give them the thumbs up - gorgeous site, nice people!

I also second the comment of arranging for photo time - the time flew by!

We had our ceremony here and I think overall everything went really well. This place is absolutely beautiful and although they do have some strict rules, they are entirely reasonable. We did run into some early problems with them including a scheduling conflict and a change of staff with their wedding coordinator but ultimately everything worked out for the better. For the price, this place is absolutely worth it. Would recommend.

We just held our wedding at the Japanese Friendship Garden this past Saturday, 11/08/14. The price was right, the grounds were beautiful and we lucked out on a cloudless day. I would have given this venue 5 stars, except for a few qualms. First, I was told the week I signed the contract that they were going to be booking a concert the same evening as my wedding -- I was essentially told I had to be okay with this or choose another venue. It turned out fine, the set-up for the concert not invading my ceremony site, but I was put off by the way this was handled. Secondly, the coordinator I was assigned the day of didn't seem to know much about handling a wedding; several guests were put off by her demeanor and my brother was forced to pick flower petals off the ground in his suit because she was so adamant about nothing being left behind. This would not have been as much of a problem if she had been a little nicer about it -- it was all in her attitude and the way she addressed my guests.

All told, the wedding went through without much of a hitch and we were able to get some lovely pictures.

The Japanese Friendship Garden is a very beautiful place for a wedding ceremony. All of our guests loved it. The only downfall is the very short window for renting the facility and they’re pretty strict on enforcing their rules and policies. 2 hours is the minimum rental time and then it’s extra from there. Between setting up, having the ceremony and then trying to take pictures afterwards, it was very quick. We didn’t get to spend much time in the garden getting all of the photos we wanted. I would recommend planning ahead to pay for an additional hour just for renting the facility and possibly an additional hour for the photography shoot. There’s also absolutely no poking holes in the ground, no stakes to hold down the trellis, no ribbon sticks to line the aisle. Just minor things but something to note. Overall however, I would recommend having your wedding here- it is a beautiful site and fairly affordable (especially since we did ours on a Sunday).

Very beautiful garden. Lots of rules to follow in order to have events here.