San Diego Botanic Garden Reviews
Reviews
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Jessica Sent on 07/28/2025
A Dream Wedding at the San Diego Botanical Garden
As a wedding photographer, I’ve been lucky enough to photograph love stories in some truly beautiful places—but the San Diego Botanic Garden is on another level.
Tucked away in Encinitas, this venue feels like a hidden gem. With lush tropical greenery, vibrant blooms around every corner, and the peaceful sound of birds and fountains in the background, it’s a dream setting for couples who want to feel surrounded by nature on their wedding day.
There are so many unique backdrops throughout the garden: winding pathways lined with succulents, open lawns perfect for ceremonies, and intimate spots that feel like your own private jungle. Every part of the day, from getting ready to sunset portraits, photographs so beautifully here—it’s hard to take a bad photo when the light filters through palms and eucalyptus trees.
What stood out the most to me was how peaceful and private it felt. You’re not in the middle of the city. You’re somewhere special—somewhere that feels timeless and romantic.
If you’re considering a garden wedding that blends elegance with natural beauty, I can’t recommend the San Diego Botanic Garden enough. It’s a truly magical place to say “I do."
Photos by: @jessicacassandrophotography -
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Maggie Sent on 10/05/2020Picturesque venue - great experience!
We had a great experience with the beautiful SDBG. We are from out of town and had dreamed of getting married here. It is BEAUTIFUL, and there are endless photo opportunities throughout the garden. Lita was so wonderful to work with. She was flexible and helpful knowing we were not local, worked well with my local mom and our planner, was very professional and followed local safety protocols with COVID 19. When we needed to move our location of the ceremony within the garden to accommodate our party size while maintaining social distancing, they were so understanding and helpful. Such a great value for the service and visuals. We did not realize that the garden was closing at a specific time so we were a little rushed while taking pictures but I feel like that was more because of COVID and a misunderstanding on our part, so I would just recommend you clarify when you need to be out of the garden completely, not just your rented space of the garden! This was a very small hiccup, and had an otherwise perfect day. -
Kelly Sent on 07/30/2019
Beautiful venue, great experience!
We loved having our wedding at the San Diego Botanic Gardens! It was such a beautiful venue - we hardly needed any decorations because of the beautiful greenery. We also were very impressed with Lita Dantes. She was very quick to reply to emails, always friendly, and always answered my abundant questions! She was also flexible with ideas and plans, even though there were certain rules/guidelines we had to stay within. We also appreciated that we were allowed to visit the gardens several times before the rehearsal to visualize where everything would go, meet with our photographer, and do a walk through. During the actual wedding day, the SDBG staff was excellent at setting up chairs/tables for our use. It was a huge help that we were able to use their tables & chairs! -
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Rachelle Sent on 10/06/2010The Walled Garden was a perfect location for our ceremony. We only added rose petals to the asile way and orchids to the arch and it looked beautiful! -
Kirah Sent on 11/04/2019
Beautiful Garden Wedding
The SDBG is absolutely gorgeous, and was the perfect venue for our wedding. We wanted an outdoor venue for the ceremony and reception, and the ability to hire vendors of our choosing, and the garden met all of our needs. We had a lot of people travelling from out of town and the venue was a hit with people from all over the country, and visitors loved being able to stay in Encinitas for the weekend. Lita, the venue coordinator was very helpful and responsive to all of our questions. The only negative was that there are strict sound ordinances in Encinitas so all music needs to end at 10pm, so no late night festivities. We are excited to be able to continue to enjoy our wedding venue as garden guests in the future! -
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Michelle Sent on 08/05/2019
Lovely venue
This was my fiancées pick for our wedding and it ended up being perfect. We got married in July, which I don’t recommend because it was hot during the day, but at nighttime it does cool off.
They had rules that they have to abide by per the city so if you’re looking for a late wedding, they cannot accommodate that.
The walled garden is so intimate and the gazebo lawn is perfect for that romantic outdoorsy feel.
Lita is also great. She answered any and every question I have.
I wish they had was air conditioning in the room you would wait before walking out. There isn’t a bridal suite for the girls/guys to get ready so that’s another bummer. -
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Liz Sent on 02/02/2010We got married in the walled garden here. Beautiful & private, perfect for our wedding. We could even see the ocean from where we stood, which was a big plus for us because we love the ocean but didn't want a beach wedding. Everything was set up perfectly and the event manager, Carla, was very responsive and easy to work with. Highly recommended and no problems. We did not need any floral ceremony decor because the site itself was pretty enough with out it! The only decor we had was paper cones filled with rose petals hanging from the chairs. -
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User907155 Sent on 08/20/2012The responses from my guests after the wedding, was that it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever been to. The gardens are so beautiful on their own, even if you didn't have flowers at your tables, it would still be gorgeous. The responsiveness from their onsite coordinator was touch and go. I ended up finding out later that the woman we had been working with was leaving the company and my wedding was right in the middle of their transition. So this may be improved now. At the time however, it took quite a long time for any sort of email or call response.
After looking into dozens of other venues before deciding on the gardens, this location was definitely the most affordable for what you are getting. Though it isn't a typical all-inclusive venue, the price reflects that. If you are looking for a simple, relaxing, low budget wedding day, this is a very good option. Plus they allow you to provide your own alcohol. -
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Malcolm Sent on 07/14/2010It was beautiful, got a bit chilly at night. But the photos taken here look amazing. The bamboo garden and waterfall area make for amazing bride and groom photos. -
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Michelle Sent on 09/30/2009Quail Botanical Gardens was the ideal backdrop for our ceremony AND reception. We visited the site in winter, and the gardens were a bit sparse, but by summer they were gorgeous! We had the ceremony in the walled garden and the reception in the gazebo lawn with cocktails in the mexican topiary garden. The lawn was a little slanted, so we had to make some layout accommodations. In all, they provided a stress-free experience, especially since my coordinator Alison (of The Abbey Catering & Events) worked it all out with Carla (of Quail). The only thing is that Carla usually took a bit of time getting back to us since she was working part-time during the winter months. In all, a good service experience. -
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Natalie Sent on 01/31/2022Beautiful wedding!
I grew up going to the San Diego Botanic gardens for school field trips and girls scout’s outings. I came back to gardens when searching for a new wedding venue (pandemic bride here!) and my husband fell in love with the beauty and uniqueness the garden’s has to offer. There are quite a bit of hills but overall the venue location is stunning. I was disappointed that we were not told that the walled garden had been cut down. We still had a beautiful (and sunny!) ceremony but would have appreciated knowing that the space had been changed. Make sure you confirm your wedding date with them-they messed up our date and we had to re-plan the weekend and find some new vendors. Other than that, we truly loved having our wedding here and received many compliments from our guests.
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