Norfolk Botanical Garden Reviews

The best place to get married. When I say I’m so happy that we picked the garden to get married. We picked the butterfly garden and it was beautiful. The staff were very helpful, friendly and compassionate. They made sure everything was right and perfect. The staff go over and beyond to make sure that your special days go as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend.

We contracted Norfolk Botanical Garden for our wedding venue (Cherry Blossom Package). All of the wedding staff were extremely accommodating and helpful. They provided chairs for the ceremony in the Perennial Garden as well as tables and chairs for the dinner in the Rotunda at no additional cost. I highly recommend the Norfolk Botanical Garden for your event!

Wedding on July 13th, 2024 at Norfolk Botanical Garden

My husband and I have been longtime members of the Garden, so when it was time for us to choose a venue there wasn’t a doubt in our mind where we would want to get married. I emailed the weddings department and within minutes I had a response answering all my questions and to schedule a venue tour. We were greeted by the lovely Giada and she gave us a wonderful tour of our options of where the ceremony could take place, as well as more to know about the English Lavender package we chose! Lena was so helpful and kind during our final detail appointment, even giving us a special ride on the golf cart to the ceremony site and we were so appreciative! Wedding day, the moment I stepped out of the car I was greeted by Chloe on a golf, she was so prepared and had me hidden in the trees within minutes!! All of the ladies I spoke with were absolutely incredible in every single email, and even more so the day of. I am so happy we chose NBG, now we can go back to visit our ceremony site whenever we would like. Thank you SO much to Lena, Chloe and Giada and any of you special ladies I didn’t mention by name.

Our wedding at the Norfolk Botanical Garden was an absolute dream come true and it's all thanks to this breathtaking venue at the Butterfly Garden and Baker Hall. This is where my then fiancé and now husband proposed. Proposal happened during a Christmas Light display at NBG. We decided we had to have our wedding there. We were captivated by the natural beauty that surrounded us. And our guests were able to visit the butterfly house.

The Norfolk Botanical Garden served as the perfect backdrop for our special day. The meticulously manicured gardens, vibrant blooms created a picturesque setting that felt like something out of a fairy tale. Our guests were in awe of the atmosphere, and we were constantly showered with compliments about the venue.

What truly sets this venue apart, though, is the impeccable service and attention to detail. The staff at the Norfolk Botanical Garden went above and beyond to make sure our wedding day went off without a hitch. They were accommodating, responsive, and incredibly helpful throughout the planning process, ensuring that every aspect of our celebration was flawless.

The versatility of this venue is also worth noting. They offer a variety of stunning locations within the garden to suit your style and guest list.

Our wedding day at the Norfolk Botanical Garden was a day filled with beauty, love, and cherished memories. If you're looking for a venue that combines natural splendor with exceptional service, I wholeheartedly recommend this hidden gem. Our hearts are forever grateful to the Norfolk Botanical Garden for making our wedding day truly remarkable.

Our wedding day was a beautiful experience at Baker’s Overlook in NBG. The package included the opportunity to take photos within many areas of the garden and our wedding host for the day ensured everything went smoothly.

Getting married in March I figured there wasn't going to be a lot of flowers. Boy was I wrong! Every where you go you'll find something beautiful to see. The coordinator was wonderful and fun! They treat you like family and they prepared for everything! They made my day so simple and I can't thank them enough!

If you are looking for the best place to host your event in Norfolk, you found it! I am a professional DJ and I work a few wedding events here every year and already have some lined up for next year. Before this year is over, I wanted to take the time and share with all review readers how grateful I am for the opportunity to be able to collaborate with such a great venue and the talented team that makes magic happen every time I am there. You have plenty of options for an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception. They communicate well with vendors, everything is always clean and looks amazing, and the layout options are awesome. They surely go above and beyond for their clients to have the best time ever. Go see for yourself, book your event here!

Chris “DJ Karizma” August | DJ Karizma Entertainment LLC | www.karizma.bz

NBG was absolutely amazing, all the guests loved the venue! Clean and eco friendly!

Our wedding was on May 8th. Beautiful weather, clear skies, everything was bloomed, it was PERFECT!!! So many compliments on the venue itself. I highly recommend NBG for anyone’s wedding!!!!

My wedding was 9/26/20 NBG was excellent. I really had a good wedding and reception.

Absolutely amazing. The staff is great, quick responses, answers every question, no matter how many, and a pleasure to work with.

We planned our wedding from out of town, with the help of our son. Jessica had a meeting with our son and drove him around the Gardens. Between the both of them, the wedding was arranged before we even made it to Norfolk to visit the Gardens. Jessica took us to the Baker Overlook, to confirm that was where we wanted to get married. Contract terms and payment and visiting the site was all extremely easy, due to Jessica’s experience. Jessica was extremely organized and covered all aspects of the ceremony, including seating, what would happen in the event of rain, and transportation of us and all guests to and from the Baker Overlook. She was happy to be a significant part of our day. We could not have chosen a better site to get married. We recommend Norfolk Botanical Gardens for anyone wishing to have a memorable wedding in a beautiful setting.

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens is such a beautiful place, and our wedding was absolutely breathtaking. The staff is so incredibly friendly--I have a ginormous email chain with them of me asking questions every other day, and they were incredibly sweet and fast in response every single time! I had so many compliments on how beautiful our ceremony and reception were, and really I hardly had any decoration at all. The beautiful grounds themselves needed no decoration, really--we just added some small decor to make it our own. Admittedly being restricted to work with some of their required vendors worried me in the beginning, but all of these vendors were so amazing and helped make our wedding day so smooth and memorable! We love being able to go back to the Gardens and remember our special day, I can't begin to recommend them enough!

We had a small wedding part of the "English Lavender" collection. All I can say Jasmine was amazing! I feel as Jasmine could have stepped on as MOH (we did not have attendants) she was just that comfortable to work with. We only had the pleasure of working with Jasmine, and I do not know all of the typical requests they get but she definitely went above and beyond... Fixing my dress, making sure I was happy and got what I wanted.
The venue goes without saying was gorgeous!

The vendor was amazing and helped us out with any problem that we had to face. The venue coordinator was amazing and made sure everything went smoothly during our ceremony, picture sessions, and reception. Would highly recommend this venue.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens was the most perfect wedding venue we could have imagined. They responded quickly when we contacted them for a tour, and were able to see us that coming weekend. We were taken on a golf cart ride through the gardens to see the different ceremony spots available in the package we were interested in. After we booked, we were given a year’s membership to the gardens, which we definitely took advantage of! This place is beyond gorgeous! The weeks leading up to the event, the garden staff was so helpful in ironing out the final details and answering any questions I could think of. On the day of our wedding, we were provided a classroom each for the bride and groom to get ready in. These rooms were very spacious and had a mirror and clothes rack so we could finish getting ready. With rain in the forecast, we had to make a rain call by 4pm, and when we decided we still wanted to be outside, they made sure there were mats put down on the aisle so I wouldn’t have to walk through mud. After the ceremony, Lena was super helpful in following us around with our photographer on the golf cart to make sure we had a ride back to cocktail hour when we were ready. The week after the event, when we went to open our cards, we saw there was even a congratulations card from the garden staff, which was such a sweet thing to do. Everyone commented on how beautiful everything was. If you are looking for a gorgeous garden wedding, NBG is definitely the perfect venue!

On the day of our tour it was raining off and on AND we got stuck in traffic and we were running late. They were so friendly and accommodating. The facilities themselves are beautiful. They answered every question we could think of while we were there and never took more than a few hours to respond to emailed questions after that. They have been fantastic so far!

We went with the elopement package because we had a small budget and a short guest list. We chose Bakers Outlook for the ceremony. Ashley and Lena were FANTASTIC! They were so helpful and kind even as we incountered a few hiccups. I would recommend Norfolk Botanical Gardens to anyone! They went out of their way to help us create the perfect day. I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

I initially met with Ashley in March, and we got married 11/2/19!!! I had my DREAM wedding! We got married at the Butterfly Garden and my goodness...Lena and Chris were AMAZING on wedding day to make sure everything was perfect!!! Thank you!!! - Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence

Liz was such a pleasure to work with and despite the misty rain, our wedding was GORGEOUS. We held our ceremony at the Butterfly garden gazebo, our cocktail hour at the Perennial fountain garden and our reception at the Baker Hall Terrace and it was all so beautiful. The staff took the extra step of making sure the ceremony site was not soggy for us to walk through (as best as they could) and took special care of my father who is mostly wheelchair bound, to ensure he did not struggle with getting where he needed to be. The staff worked well with the other vendors to determine if a last minute change was needed due to the weather, but it held out and our guests had an amazing time. I would definitely recommend booking early, especially if you want a fall wedding.

We had a great experience with the Botanical Gardens. From our first tour, until the end of the wedding night, they were very friendly, professional, responsive and helpful. We could not have imagined a more beautiful location to get married and the day was amazing! Liz, was perfect, from everything the day of, to golf carting us around to the first look, ceremony and couples portraits. This is a great place to get married!

My husband and I planned (for almost a year) a beach wedding with a tent lawn reception. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and 3 days before our wedding we had to find a new venue. Needless to say, I was SHOCKED that 3 days before the Botanical Gardens Rose Garden Hall was still available. Everything was absolutely stunning. The vendors, caterer, alcohol and rentals were easily transitioned to the site. A flexibility that every bride needs. The rain held off all morning, and we were able to get married outside in the gardens. But just after the first kiss during the ceremony, it really started coming down. The NBG staff quickly passed out umbrellas to all of the guests and once we were married, they swiftly scurried our guests into the trams to head back to the gazebo for cocktail hour. Everything about this wedding, from the change of location, to the timing of the rain, was just perfect. Liz Le, our staff coordinator went above and beyond to make sure all our needs were met and that the impossible was made possible. I don't recommend that anyone plan a wedding in 3 days (trust me, you don't need the stress), but I ABSOLUTELY recommend you host your wedding here. It will not disappoint.

The Norfolk Botanical Garden could not have been a better venue for our wedding. From the first day, the employees were flexible, responsive, helpful, professional, and a valuable asset to planning our special day. We were unable to take a venue tour due to living out of town, and staff, especially Liz, went above and beyond to send us all the information we could need, as well as answered all of our many questions. Over the year since we booked our wedding, Liz continued to be an incredible resource, helping us as we planned. When the wedding weekend came, the staff could not have been more accommodating. We are so thankful for their flexibility. Our wedding was supposed to be outdoors in the Renaissance Court, but it was raining terribly on our wedding day. The Botanical Garden offered us another indoor space and was so flexible in setting up the rain plan the day of the event. They did a great job making our day magical and cozy even though we weren't able to have the ceremony outside. Thank you NBG!

Norfolk Botanical Gardens was awesome! The venue was gorgeous. The staff were very friendly, professional, courteous, and efficient. Liz Lee and the events team were helpful, prompt with communicating, and encouraging: They did an amazing job keeping me organized and supported throughout the entire planning process. I was married in the Japanese garden, and had my reception at the Marigold and Honey Cafe. My guests all raved about how great the location, staff, and food were. I can't say enough great things about my wedding experience.

We got married at the gazebo next to the lake in the Butterfly Garden and we held our reception outdoors on the Baker Hall Terrace. They were extremely accommodating and made sure that our wedding was spectacular. If you're considering NBG, book them and book them early!! The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and they provide not only the location but tables, chairs, trams for guests, and security staff to help with the big day. Not to mention, their wedding coordinators are absolutely amazing! We primarily worked with Liz, who was wonderful about helping us with all of the details leading up to the wedding and then Ashley helped get everyone where they needed to be on our wedding day. They were both so helpful and made sure that everything went so smoothly! I would highly recommend going with the Norfolk Botanical Garden. We made the best choice by booking this venue and all of our guests raved at how beautiful it was. Thank you so much for making our day so special!!

Norfolk Botanical Gardens was everything we could have dreamed of and more for our wedding! Liz was great; she was responsive to emails and very helpful with the millions of little questions we had. We chose the Butterfly Garden for our ceremony, Baker Hall Terrace for cocktail hour and Baker Hall for our reception. Everything was laid our exactly as we set up. Liz was there the day of and drove us around, made sure we had everything we needed and suggested some amazing locations for our photos, pointing out the places that were in bloom that weekend! If we were to do it all over again, we'd still pick Liz at NBG!

Liz, a wedding coordinator with the garden is wonderful. We had our reception in Baker Hall. While it looks small during visiting hours, it works very well as a reception space. If I had to do the day over, I would pick the Botanical gardens again.

My husband and I had our wedding at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens on October 8th. They were fantastic! They just got an entire new team for weddings, and we worked with Liz. Liz was wonderful! Before the wedding she was always available via email for any questions or concerns I had (I'm sure she would have been available via phone as well, I just don't like talking on the phone much). There were several times when I wanted to stop in to take a measurement of something for decorations or try to figure out layouts for the reception and ceremony or come show our parents/bridal party the venue, and as long as there wasn't another event happening at the time, Liz would let us come in. She was very flexible and understanding with us! One day when we came to try to figure out the layout for the ceremony, there were two men at our site setting up chairs for a ceremony later that day. They were WONDERFUL! They let us move the chairs around to figure out how we wanted them and they gave us some GREAT advice on setups!

On the actual wedding day, Liz drove us in the golf cart to the ceremony site and back to the reception site after our pictures. She even spread and straightened my dress for me right before I walked down the aisle!! Our wedding coordinator (who we brought in separate from the gardens) was not the best. She was somewhat rude and really stressed us out rather than help us, but Liz was there and totally calmed everyone down and she helped out a LOT! The Gardens themselves were as beautiful as anyone could hope for for their wedding. The one downside to our wedding was the coordinator we brought in, but Liz and the other staff we had completely made up for that. They went above and beyond what I expected and they helped to make our wedding truly memorable! I would recommend them to anyone and everyone!

Loved our wedding! The girls were so helpful with the planning process. Highly Recommend this venue to anyone looking for a picture perfect wedding

We had our wedding ceremony and reception at Baker Hall and it was absolutely beautiful. We worked with Liz who was very attentive and professional throughout our planning process. We were unable to have our rehearsal at the venue due to inclement weather causing the entrance to the garden to flood and Liz was quick to relay this information so we could plan accordingly. Liz played a vital part in our wedding going smoothly despite the weather. We were very pleased with the venue and how it was presented to our guests.

Excellent Staff! So friendly and helpful. Absolutely great things to say about everyone there. Beautiful venue! Would do it all over again!

I can't express how wonderful the Norfolk Botanical Garden is for a wedding! It's absolutely gorgeous and the wedding department is wonderful to work with. Liz Le made sure we had everything we needed before the big day and was always an email or call away if I had a question. We were so glad we picked this location for our wedding because of the beauty in itself we felt as if we didn't have to decorate a lot for it would seem to over done if we did.

Norfolk Botanical Garden was perfect for us. There are many different sites to pick from, all of them beautiful and varying in size. The Bristow Butterfly Gardens was smaller and more secluded, which was just what we wanted. All of the staff we encountered was friendly, and the wedding coordinators were fabulous.

Amanda Hupp and Kristina Avera coordinated with me and were eager to help and answer all of my questions. The entire ceremony ran smoothly. There was a small miscommunication about transportation that was very easily and quickly resolved.

My wedding in the Renaissance court turned out absolutely wonderful and Amanda the wedding event coordinator was awesome working with us to help plan things and very responsive.

My wedding was absolutely beautiful at this venue! We had it in the Rose Garden in March. It was gorgeous!

Norfolk Botanical Garden was wonderful to work with! They were so easy to set meetings up with, and were always organized and professional during all communication and scheduled meetings. They would even meet with us if we happened to be at the Garden and had a question. Amanda Hupp, our wedding coordinator, was extremely prompt during all communication, and was a pleasure to work with. The day of our wedding we didn't worry about anything, because we knew all the details would be taken care of. I recommend their services to anyone planning an event and looking for a quality, professional vendor!

BOOK EARLY GIRLS!!!! NBG's is a hot spot for outdoor weddings in Hampton Roads. We lucked out with the Renaissance Court two weeks before our wedding (due to unforeseen issues) and everything was meant to be! ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!! We could not have asked for anything more!

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. If you are planning an wedding be sure to ask for Amanda in wedding. She will see you through from beginning to end and make your day amazing!

My husband and I wanted to have an outdoor garden ceremony and at first had ruled out the Norfolk Botanical Garden due to pricing. After some research, I stumbled upon a private ceremony option that wasn't well advertised. When I called and asked about it, we learned that a private ceremony included a 2-hr window to have your ceremony ANYWHERE in the gardens with up to 30 guests and unlimited bridal party participants. (They even provide you with the chairs for the guests.) We decided to pay a bit extra for the garden's private tram option to pick up and drop off guests. I HIGHLY recommend that if you're planning on being in the gardens and away from the visitor center since it's easy to get lost.

I think there are two "catches" with this option. One is that there is no staff present for your ceremony. We didn't see that as a problem but some brides might. The second, which was a bit of an issues for us, is that there's only 30 guests allowed. Our invite list was 110 people so we had to decide if we were ok shortening the ceremony invite list or if we wanted to go elsewhere. We decided to only invite immediate family, bridal party spouses/kids, and close friends to the ceremony. Everyone else was only invited to the reception. In hindsight, I absolutely have no regrets. Having our amazing pictures and memories to last a lifetime is worth so much more to me than if we would've gone elsewhere just to include some extended family I'll probably only see again when my cousins get married.
Lastly, I've heard that this option has since been nixxed from the gardens bridal packages, but I hope for future couples they consider bringing this back. If not, I definitely encourage brides to always ask about this option at other venues. You may be delightfully surprised like we were :)

Our wedding day at Norfolk botanical gardens was truly amazing thanks to Primo Events and the amazing vendors. Planning a wedding is very time consuming and my fiance' and I work long hours and have conflicting work schedules so trying to meet with the vendors together was next to impossible. I decided to look on the Knot wedding site and found Virginia weddings by Primo events and noticed they could bring the vendors to our ceremony and reception site. We chose a wedding package that included a caterer, coordinator, dj,, photographer, and florist. Our wedding was handled by Ron who worked with us from the beginning to the end. I couldn't have a wedding without these wonderful people. Thank you sooo much.

A beautiful location to celebrate your wedding. We had ours in the Rose Garden. Visit the location and it will sell itself. Very pretty gardens!

The venue was, of course, beautiful. Because they are open to the public, they are slightly inflexible with set up times and such. That ends up not being a problem though because they are incredibly professional and any vendor they would suggest is used to the time constraints and is more than capable of operating within them.

We had our wedding reception in Baker Hall and were married on Baker Hall Terrace- we could not have been more pleased! Carlyn was absolutely great to work with and always responded quickly and was available for ANY question I had. Using Baker Hall, we did have some limitations since it is used as the Visitor's Center during the day (but we knew this upon signing up for the space!) but as long as you plan accordingly the room can be flipped fairly quickly. The space was gorgeous and we had no complaints with Norfolk Botanical Gardens or their staff. They even let you leave cars there overnight as long as you notify staff which cars will be there in case you have any guests who might need a cab after the reception. It was a great value for us and we would recommend it to anyone!

The botanical gardens is an amazing location for a wedding. The butterfly garden was beautiful even in late fall. Carlyn was great to work with during our planning and really helped pull everything together. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

The location was beautiful and the staff was very friendly.

We were in the Garden Cafe, which is a funky space. We were to be married on the terrace, but had reserved the Rotunda for the ceremony in case of rain. We did use the Rotunda because it was so hot, and boy, are we glad we did. The NBG staff was helpful at all stages of the wedding and for set up and break down. Their costs were reasonable compared to other venues, plus we receive a years membership! The restrictions on what type of bands we could have seemed reasonable to us. And of course, the grounds themselves are beautiful.

They were excellent both in helping us plan, providing information, layouts and service, on call if we needed them for anything, and completely flexible where we wanted any changes.

I LOVED working with Abby and Carlyn at the Norfolk Botanical Garden! They were amazing every step of the way! Abby had to do a lot of improvisation on my wedding day because there was flash flooding so we obviously couldn't get married in the garden as planned, but she worked everything out quickly and was able to arrange a speedy set-up change. We had a fantastic wedding in spite of the weather, and many of our guests said that they really loved our venue. We used Baker Hall (the visitor center) for both our ceremony and reception, and it was beautiful!

I did all of my contracts from a distance and the staff at NBG was great about being flexible. Due to their odd hours, email was always best to reach them, but it was so easy and convenient.

Beautiful venue and very helpful scheduling the event. They have chairs and tables available to rent and the rose garden hall is beautiful looking out into the gardens.

We think the Botanical Gardens is a GREAT place to have your reception. We had ours in Baker Hall and it was really beautiful. We hung paper lanterns like you see in some of their pictures and had Bloom the Art of Flowers provide some arrangements that really made it stand out. They were really great to work with and very professional. On top of that you get a free membership to the gardens and all kinds of other perks by having an event here!

WOW!!! I had such a beautiful and amazing experience. The garden was absolutely gorgeous. I did my 20 year vow renewal ceremony there. It was like a dream. Everyone worked together to make sure everything went off without a hitch. The event planner was absolutely great. She was very sweet and patient and very easy to work with. Even when we went over our rental time, she was still very patient with us. I would do it all again if i could do it there. I will never forget this experience.

Beatiful venue. Stuff provided everything we requested.

The staff at the botanical gardens was so helpful through everything! The location was beautiful even though we had to use the rain site facility. I would absolutely recommend reserving the rain site in case something were to happen. It was beautiful!

Great place to have an outdoor wedding. You guests would have acres of gardens to stroll through and enjoy the outdoors. Don't forget to stop by the eagle's nest in the park. There is also an observation telescope there. Also, you can take your guests on a boat tour.

OMG This was they best venue ever. It was beautiful. I didn't have to decorate because the scenery was so beautiful. My guest loved it and so did my husband and I. I love the bridal suite and how much they are willing to help. Liz is really amazing. If you can, ask for her. Everything there was great. I didn't like that I had to get the caterers on their list at first because of course that brings the cost up a lot, but once I was over that I was very happy. It actually turned out great because Gourmet Gang was great. Anything you need they can guide you. Pick themmmmmmm!!!

Kristina Avera and everyone in the wedding planning department were professional, knowledgeable, available, and most helpful in planning our daughter's wedding. They promptly answered all emails and phone calls and even were available when we dropped in with questions as we visited the Garden. From our first meeting with them over nine months ago and throughout the planning and completion of the wedding, Kristina and her staff guided us through the process. We chose not to hire a wedding planner partly because of their guidance and assistance. We felt comfortable that all would be taken care of in a timely manner.
Thank you to Kristina and her staff for making our daughter's wedding day one to remember. We highly recommend Norfolk Botanical Garden as a beautiful venue for your wedding.

The botanical gardens is a beautiful place for a wedding. We did have a mishap with getting the rain room double booked, but Amanda helped us get everything figured out- I'm glad we chose to get marred here!

Gardens is that we were asked to leave promptly after our ceremony time was finished. Regardless of the pictures that we wanted to take or the guests that we were trying to speak to. Unfortunate, but it is business after all.The location was beautiful even though we had to use the rain site facility. I would absolutely recommend reserving the rain site in case something were to happen. It was beautiful!

I am a newly engaged future bride, and Botanical Gardens was one of my first choices to look at. I am still currently looking, but Botanical Gardens gave me a great tour with what I was interested in. I was helped and all my questions were answered. They were kind and patient and had all answers ready and prepared. Botanical Gardens is a beautiful places and I would gladly take this as one of my options.

My wife and I only looked at one venue in Norfolk, and we knew this was the spot for us. We liked that they had a range of packages and locations, so each wedding is a little different, and their pricing is exactly the same every day of the year. The 1-year membership that comes with each wedding package was a nice perk, as was their list of exclusive and preferred vendors that helped us narrow down local vendors.

It was such a beautiful venue, and we had such an amazing time. Although they do have a few simple rules, the NBG is definitely willing to work with you. Lena was our venue coordinator and she was extremely efficient, helpful, and sweet. It was a wonderful place for a wonderful day. Thanks NBG!

Norfolk Botanical Garden was the absolute perfect venue for our wedding day and we were so pleased with how well everything came together to make our day spectacular. Liz and her team were very responsive and helpful throughout the planning process and did not disappoint the day of. Although there are some restrictions due to it being a public venue (such as timelines, decor choices), we never felt the impact of these restrictions and did not feel limited in putting together a beautiful ceremony and reception. We were married in the Butterfly Garden followed by cocktail hour and reception at Baker Hall...both offered beautiful backdrops for the day. Comparing to other similar venues, I also felt like it was an excellent value. It makes a very impressive wedding venue and all our guests are still raving about it. I highly recommend this venue and the wonderful team that accompanies it!

We had our wedding at Norfolk Botanical Gardens on Oct. 1 and we could not have picked a more beautiful and perfect place to get married. They have several different wedding packages to choose from with a great range of prices. Our package included the ceremony at the Butterfly Garden (which overlooks the lake) and reception at Baker Hall/Baker Hall Terrace. We choose to have our reception outside on the terrace which made for a magical night under the stars. The NBG staff we worked with (Liz and Ashley) were very helpful and responsive both during the planning process and on the day of. Due to the popularity of the Gardens it was sometimes a challenge to get meetings scheduled but the staff worked hard to try to work with everyone's schedule. All of the wedding sites are beautiful and would suits sorts of wedding styles (we went more rustic/bohemian but there are some gorgeous formal wedding sites as well).

Some tips: while they do provide a "Venue Coordinator" we still needed a day of coordinator (whether it is a professional or just a really on the ball friend) to make sure the day goes smoothly and all your vendors know the plan. There will probably be multiple weddings occurring on the same day which might bother some. We rarely encountered the other wedding parties or guests but it does necessitate making sure it is clear to your guests where they need to be (either with the invitation, wedding website, signage, ushers, or all of the above). They offer a golf cart for the bride to get to the ceremony but you can also use it after for exploring the garden to get pictures (that way no matter what time of year you can track down some beautiful flowers and scenery).

We could not have asked for a better venue for our ceremony & reception! The Lantern Asia exhibit made it a truly unique experience for us and our guests. The wedding coordinators were super helpful since day one.

Very helpful and responsive. We were also able to add two extra hours to our rental time at a very reasonable price.

Botanical gardens is a beautiful place and the staff there are great. They are sincerly interested in making your day special and exactly what you want. They offered suggestions on vendors to use (when asked) - but they do require you use one of their "preferred caterers".

I had a weekday wedding, and it was very affordable for a beautiful venue!! I highly recommend the rose garden.

We were married in Rose Garden Hall. Originally, the ceremony was supposed to be outside in the Rose Garden, but it rained cats and dogs that day! If the old saying that rain on your wedding day is good luck is true, then we'll have bucketloads of good luck! Despite the nasty weather, the ceremony was exceptionally beautiful. The gardens could still be enjoyed through the floor to ceiling windows. The hall is very nice and with some special thought and decorations it can be transformed into a magical place! My husband was particularily found of the checkerboard floor. We had planned our layout for the room to keep the center open in case of bad weather, so our guests were able to sit at their table while the wedding party came down through the center. This made for a very smooth transition from ceremony to reception. Our buffet was set up in the lobby, allowing us more space in the hall. The wedding staff at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens is very quick to respond to any and all questions. They are very friendly and great to work with. The venue itself has a bunch of rules, just like any other wedding venue, so just make sure to read these ahead of time to ensure that they don't conflict with your vision. Also, if you can be flexible with your wedding date, you can get a great deal by choosing a less popular day or time of the year. Added bonus....a year long membership to the gardens accompanies your rental, and at least for my husband and I, the memories of the many days we spent walking through the gardens is priceless! There are really so many beautiful spots to enjoy there!

Had our wedding there on May 28, 2011 at 4pm. The garden was perfect and staff was friendly. Being the groom i was there about 45 mins prior so I was able to see that the garden had sent over a staff member to help our coorinator with the little things and stayed for the entire wedding. They were very flexibility when it came to letting up go over the time to take pictures. The only bad thing was that since we went over 20 to 30 mins to take pictures they keep the $150 refunded deposit but I didn't mind just as long as we was able to get the pics. All in all it was great, I highly recommend.

Great venue

The lady who toured us around was awesome. We had only an hour appointment, so it's expected that you know more about what you want before you start your tour around the park. We'll definitely be booking our venue here.

The package deals they have are so great and the venue is beautiful.

This was a childhood fairy-tale come true.The venue was gorgeous. Abby was professional and kind. It was a perfect fit for us.

Working with Norfolk Botanical Gardens made my reception go by very smoothly. When first contacting them, they were very responsive and were quick to give me available dates and a contract. There is an initial deposit of $500 that was eventually returned to me, but the price of the venue varied depending on both location and time of year. Since my wedding was in November and had a guest count of 200 people, we used Rose Garden Hall. It was the perfect size, but because of the number of people, we had to put our buffet table and cocktail bars outside. They were very easy to work with, but a few things to point out:
1) they utilized a list of preferred vendors (although we were very happy with ours)
2) the room and chairs are rather plain, so it helped to have lighting and chair covers to spice everything up
3) there was a list of "DO NOTS" associated with the venue such as balloons, etc., so make sure you're aware of those if there's something you ABSOLUTELY want to do
The staff was always willing to help, and the gardens outside made a GORGEOUS backdrop for our photos. They do a great job and are there for you every step of the way!

The Botanical Gardens are absolutely beautiful and all of our guests were very impressed by our ceremony site (The Renaissance Court). There are several gardens where you can get married, but this one feels like you're in another world. The people there were very nice and met with us on several occasions during the planning process and were willing to answer any and all questions we had. The Rose Garden Hall was the perfect place for our reception and has gorgeous gazebos behind it, perfect for cocktail hour.

I loved the gardens! They have several wonderful gardens to have ceremonies in. We ended up doing our ceremony and reception in the Garden Cafe because of rain. It all turned out beautifully! We could not have asked for a better place to have our wedding.

We had an outdoor wedding reception at the "Renaissance court" in June. Many many guests told me it was the most beautiful wedding venue they had ever seen and I must say I agree! The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and LUCKILY if you book the court there is the option to reserve the backup of bakers hall as well, in the case of inclement weather. Liz and team were so helpful in letting us navigate all the different logistics involved -- tables, tent rentals, trollies, power, getting a Porto-potty onto the grounds of the gardens, etc. I couldn't have imagined our big day anywhere else and I'm so happy with the way it all turned out, thanks to the beautiful grounds keepers/gardeners and Liz!

During the process, we had great communications with the coordinators at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Carlin and Abby, you were wonderful. Thank you for all that you did to make this day special. The only one negative I have to say is the day of the event, not one staff member from the gardens introduced themselves to me. (Mother of the Bride) I asked several times to find out who the "lead" was and no one ever came to me. Creative Catering was wonderful making sure everything was done to my satisfaction. Your partnership with Creative Catering is great! The venue was beautiful! I would have rated this overall a 5.0 but we did have a few issues at the end of the reception...I prefer not to go into detail because it would be unfair to Carlin and Abby who were wonderful during the whole process.

Norfolk Botanical Garden is on the pricey side, but wow, have you seen the grounds?! It is so beautiful. My ceremony looked amazing with nothing but some chairs, a few rented columns, and a couple of ferns. I always wanted to have an outside cermony and the NBG made that possible. The Garden Cafe was the perfect place to have an outdoor reception and Paul is the best. If you have the money, the Norfolk Botanical Garden is the definitely the place to have your wedding!

The woman who deals with the actual booking of the gardens is absolutely amazing, she was very detailed and professional. her staff that is supposed to assist the bride and her party upon arrival was an hour late and was very disorganized. She almost drove me up to the front of the garden instead of dropping me off at the back. I wish the rain site was refundable if you did not use it, but I am glad we had it since It was down pouring the morning of and cleared before the ceremony.

The Norfolk Botanical Garden was very friendly and helpful when it came to our reception. Highly recommended if you are in the market for an outdoor wedding. Price seemed a little high, but was better than many other comparable venues.

I had a beautiful dream wedding at the renaissance court and rose hall! It was worth every minute of planning! The only thing I reviewed less on was the day of cordinator. Thank god I had a wedding planner that was there to fix the gardens mistakes. My planner was left on her own the day of to fix the ceremony chairs & keep all my other vendors on time and all the other details we thought we would have help with. There was also not enough transportation of golf carts to get my guests to the ceremony in time- even though the hurricane messed up where the bigger tram could go I didn't see anything wrong when driving through the gardens. Other than the day of flubs I would recommend- but don't forget your own wedding planner just incase!

The norfolk botanical gardens were the perfect place for my reception. i married in the end of july and their gardens were perfect. we had the whole place to our self for our evening wedding. The coordinator was a great help and meat with us periodically to make sure everything went well for the day. they allowed us to come in for engagement pics and also to show my family the site before the wedding day. They provided us with a coordinator for the evening and she helped everything run smoothly.

We had to schedule the date of the wedding a year in advance because the vendor was on such a high demand. The set up was beautiful. And had plenty of room for our 200+ guests with dancing room as well. Very elegent and accommedation. And the parking was great too!

I loved the Botanical gardens for my reception and for my bridal pictures! My reception was held overlooking a rose garden and had a gazabo looking out over the gardens. It was big enough for all 150 of my guests. there was plenty for space for wine, a picture signing table, presents table, dj and dance floor as well as the buffet line, chocolate fountain, guests tables! It was so beatiful and the staff helped make my day.

Norfolk Botanical Garden was a stunning venue for our April wedding/reception. We had our ceremony in the Renaissance Court, and while it was cold and windy, the setting was so beautiful that we opted to stay outside for our short ceremony. All of my guests raved about how gorgeous the Renaissance Court was. Our reception was in Rose Garden Hall and was a great setting with huge windows overlooking the Rose Garden. It was a little tough scheduling appointments but that was because I live 4 hours away and couldn't come down much during the week. I'm sure it's much easier to get appointments during the week and weekends book up quickly since it's such a popular venue. Their wedding staff was so accommodating and helpful. Liz, Kristina and Rodyan were fantastic and helped things go smoothly.

One of the most beautiful places to have a wedding. Just have to plan far in advance.

Beautiful place, with the reception right there too! The only really bad thing was when they took the flowering vines off of the arbor a week before the wedding and didn't replace them. We had to scramble to get a flowered arch at the cost of our florist.

NBG was a beautiful venue for my daughter's wedding 6/2. The staff was extremely professional and very helpful. The set-up for the ceremony was completed according to instructions and our slightly different version of the ceremony was accommodated without hesitation.

My negative comments about using this venue is that there is no flexibility with regard to using the facility. You have to pay extra to use white chairs instead of brown ones in the gardens and in the hall. If you want to hang anything from the ceiling, you have to provide your own ladder and the time that you get for set up is based upon the time of your ceremony ie. if you want a 5 o'clock wedding, you would only gain access to the facility at 3, even if there is nothing scheduled there prior to your event. If you want longer set-up, you have to take away from the actual usage time for the ceremony and reception. That window is for you to decorate, the catering staff, florist and DJ to set-up. If you want a place for the bride and attendants to get dressed, there is an additional fee for that.

IF your doing a wedding outdoors, I feel they should refund you some money back seeing as you are paying to be outdoors. All in all it is a very pretty place and they staff is really good.

Overall: wonderful
Two problems
1 we had a gardens guest wandering around in our reception but no problems were caused
2 they didn't want us to drop things off for our reception until 445 when we were having a church wedding at 500 but our caterer bailed us out.

We were married in the Rose Garden and it was so beautiful. I wish I could relive that moment everyday. The garden is very well taken care of and has so many beautiful locations. Our reception was there as well and it was nice to have it all in the same place. Just can be hard to get in touch with them.

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens was an absolutely beautiful place to have a wedding. It was also very cost effective.

On our wedding day, we received a free upgrade to white chairs (instead of brown, which usually cost at least a $1.00 more per chair for the white ones). Stephanie (the wedding coordinator at the Botanical Gardens) always responded promptly to my e-mails and telephone calls which was a blessing.

Luckily for us, no airplanes took off or landed during our ceremony. :)

The only bad thing I will say about the Botanical Gardens is that we were asked to leave promptly after our ceremony time was finished. Regardless of the pictures that we wanted to take or the guests that we were trying to speak to. Unfortunate, but it is business after all.

They were alright! The Rose Garden hall was beautiful but I couldn't use it the way I wanted because it rained

The NBG was an absolutely gorgeous setting for both my wedding ceremony & reception. People could not stop talking about how pretty everything was! There were lots of options as far as gardens go for the ceremony, and the Rose Garden Hall was a great venue for reception as it allowed for guests to be inside or out overlooking the Rose Garden. I love the black & white floors in the reception hall, too! What I did not like about working with NBG was their inflexibility with EVERYTHING. I understand having policies and sticking to them, but I just never felt like they were really trying to help me make my day special and memorable at all. For example, I wanted to have the tram take our guests around the loop to just see the rest of the gardens (not get out, just look at from the tram) before the reception and they said no. We also asked if they could have an employee to staff their new butterfly "greenhouse" which was right next to my ceremony site, and they said no. They didn't even have a wheelchair available for use for elderly guests, and my garden was a HIKE from the parking lot when we were doing the rehearsal. It just felt like they didn't allow for anything creative or personal to be added to your day...didn't even want to consider it. They also don't set up the tables & chairs for the reception, your caterer (or whomever) has to do that...so you're paying all that money just for the room itself and an events staff person to just be there all night. It was nice to get half off the ceremony site if we booked our reception there. Stephanie was always very quick to respond to my email questions so that was great. Overall it was a beautiful setting but they were a little hard to work with at times. But, I do appreciate having policies and following them and as a business I understand why that's important...it just felt confining at times!! But the wheelchair thing, that is just ridiculous...! :)

My wedding at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens was beautiful, and I'm glad I chose to do it there. Renaissance Court is one of the most beautiful places in Norfolk, and thankfully the rain held off on my wedding day so we didn't have to use the rain site!

I worked with Carlyn until she left, and then Abby, as my wedding coordinators. Both were quick to respond via email, and available when I requested appointments. They were upbeat and friendly, and professional. They knew the drill, and were able to tell me when all my vendors should be there, setting up and so on. It was nice to not have to worry about it.

My chief frustration was that they were not that willing to help with anything outside of the box. I decided to use my extra portrait time to do bridal portraits on the day of the wedding, and they wouldn't let me use a golf cart to get around because I was there before 3. They wouldn't let my florist use a golf cart to get flowers to the ceremony site. It seems like these must be common requests, and I feel like, for the money I paid, I should have pretty much had free rein. I felt like I was working around their preferences, and they were really not all that helpful or accommodating to me when I needed things.

The trams were late, which was scary because it seemed like a thunderstorm was going to burst over us at any moment and I just wanted to get it done so we could do it outside.

However, I would recommend the Botanical Gardens to a friend, and I would absolutely have my wedding there again.

The botanical gardens were absolutely beautiful. We used the Renaissance court for the ceremony in front of the fountain and love how all of our pictures turned out. Everything was so full of blooms and well kept. Not to mention that the gardens had just replaced some of the stone work for the pillars which turned out beautiful. Our reception was in the Azalea tea room since we love the small site with the beautiful patio overlooking the japanese maples. The room was very quaint and had a seperate room for the buffet and cake. The patio literally made everything so wonderful. The breeze was perfect on the patio and our guests felt as though they could mingle both inside and out. If I could redo this day, I would not change my wedding site. The only downside to this location is that the wedding coordinators changed several times in the process of our planning. The contracts were screwed up and policies were changed in the time that we had signed our contract. I am however appreciative that they honored our original contract and everything turned out perfect.

My wedding here was a complete disaster! I feel everyone failed us and took advantage by not providing proper compensation for what we experienced. I am still sad and filled with regret.

First off, I paid $10,000 to have 3 locations (Renaissance Court Package) and only ended up only utilizing 1. They did not offer any compensation back. It stormed the day of my wedding. The garden was not prepared, did not think outside of the box, and gave us no alternative options other than getting married in our reception space in front of our sweetheart table. I expressed numerous times that we did not want to marry in our reception. The hall alone is not worth $10,000. It's outdated and has office tiles as the ceiling. It was not even decorated in the form of a ceremony, which would've taken intentional planning and preparation due to the forecast. The least they could have done was set up a proper ceremony then flipped the space into a reception after or offer us an indoor facility since we paid for the most expensive package! We were not treated as such! With the experience I had at NBG, I could've gotten married at the Gala 417, had a well planned indoor ceremony that flipped to a reception for $5,000 with food included in that price!

2nd, the contractual rain plan was not honored. Their rain plan is not a rain plan at all! Rain still enters into the gazebos, soaking the entire area and those in it! We got every excuse to not use the rain plan including lack of seats. Which shows their lack of preparedness even more by not having enough chairs as a backup in the event of this situation. They were not willing to go down to get the ceremony chairs in the rain. So we were told all of our guests including elders would've had to stand the entire ceremony. That's their back up plan? What about the Chavari chairs that were included in our contract? We rented our on reception chairs so the Chavaris were not being used. Again, they did not think outside of the box.

3rd, inability to adapt. I asked at least 5 times for the temperature to be turned down as it was way too hot in Rose Garden Hall. Plus, they had my guest waiting in a hot hallway with low air circulation for an extended period. This resulted in my aunt fainting (causing me further trauma)! And 3 of my guests leaving.

4th, they did not safeguard our DIY items before the storm. We spent so much time and effort on them all to have them damaged and ruined.

5th, NBG is very money hungry! So are their exclusive vendors. The caterer cost more than the venue itself. The info sheet did not allude to the final price.

6th, despite paying and being under contract with them, they delayed us from scheduling our rehearsal the day before our wedding, just in case there were other potential clients they could secure. More money for them... When we wanted to book the room that would've been for our rehearsal dinner, we were told it wasn't available. With the amount of money we paid, it should have been included or priority at least should've been given to existing clients with upcoming events.

7th, the bridal room is extremely small. The Gala's was huge.

A few of my points has caused me extreme regret and trauma that I will have to seek help from a profession to accept. Biggest mistake was choosing them, I cannot redo it and will forever remember this terrible experience.

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens is an undeniably beautiful place to get married. My husband and I chose the Renaissance Court, which overlooks a fountain and some lovely statuary. As our photos attest, the area was serene and beautiful, the perfect setting for our day.

However, the service provided by NBG was lax and unresponsive. I had to call several times to correct my billing, as the office incorrectly processed my payment. I also had to correct the time set up for the wedding although I had previously filled out all the correct forms.

The value for the amount of money is also debatable; NBG charges a hefty sum just for an hour rental, and then tacks on additional fees for even simple items like white chairs! Far more expensive is transportation (it's a long walk to the Renaissance Court), and a rain-site deposit. The rain site, by the way, is the less than stunning rotunda.

Most distressing was the insistence of the staff that they were unable to provide a private room for me to change in. They offered the public restroom as the best bet. I ended up changing in the outside public restroom in an outbuilding. Honestly, I paid almost a thousand dollars for one hour of time at the garden, and they can't let me use a spare office to zip up my gown? It's egregious. If I had to do it again, I'd go with a far more wedding-friendly venue.