The Gardens of Castle Rock Reviews

THE GARDENS AT CASTLE ROCK - This wedding venue was perfect for our BIG day. Glen (the owner) and Chris (amazing wedding planner), I didn't had much time to plan for my wedding with Chris and Day of coordinator all things are perfectly planned. We are so happy how amazing the venue looked and how beautifully everything was set up. If I had to pick one thing that really makes the venue stand out, its the Lath House. Not only Lath house , it has many other places to take lots of pictures. We fell in love with the Venue. On the day of the wedding, Chris was amazing, she made sure everything is in place. Everything was taken care of, set up, and coordinated accordingly to enjoy the beautiful day. October 29th, 2022 was indeed the best day of our lives and THE GARDENS AT CASTLE ROCK helped us make that happen.

Most importantly, The Gardens was SO beautiful! We didn't need to do any decorating because it decorated itself. The Gardens was so easy to work with throughout the entire process and provided quality day-of staff that really cared about making sure our wedding was the best it could be for us. I would highly recommend The Gardens to anybody and everybody for any event!

I wouldn't change a thing about the venue, everything was beautiful and each site is thought out. The staff is amazing, from touring the first day to planning and walk throughs throughout to day of, everyone was so helpful, communicative, understanding, knowledgable and professional. I can't say enough about The Gardens and the staff. Helped make our day more perfect than we could have ever imagined.

I cannot say enough positive things about the Gardens. Every interaction with each staff member was fantastic. I felt everything was straight forward, no hidden costs or pressures. They gave us not only options but also support in making our wedding 'our own' & unique to us as a couple. They offered valuable suggestions and our wedding day could not have gone any better. It was perfect. With their flawless and timely communication, quality and great staff- I cannot recommend them enough. Also, if you love nature and being outside - this is a must see!!

The Gardens of Castle Rock made our wedding day everything we hope it would be and more. They were amazing to work with and the owners and staff were so friendly and helpful. We had to reschedule due to COVID and The Gardens of Castle Rock made that process so easy. They quickly and competently answered all of our questions and worked with us as we picked a new date. Throughout the planning process they were quickly available to answer questions and help us as we planned our day. We fell in love with The Gardens of Castle Rock and the flexibility on creating our day to be what we wanted it to be. We were able to bring in our own food and drinks, choose our own vendors and had the entire venue to ourselves all day. The grounds are stunning and we had so many compliments on our wedding day - our family and friends LOVED The Gardens of Castle Rock.

Beautiful venue and excellent to work with! We decided to have a small wedding during COVID and ended up planning the whole thing in 4 weeks. Kris and Glenn were very accommodating and it was an amazing event for us! Awesome place for pictures as well!

We are so happy with our wedding at the Gardens of Castle Rock! I knew as we were walking to the car after the tour that this would be the place where we'd become husband and wife. We booked in November 2019 and it really worked out we already had an outdoor venue for 2020. As we restarted planning our wedding after it looked like we'd be able to have an outdoor wedding with under 250 people, Glenn and Kris were amazing to work with, very responsive and transparent. While we of course had to make some adjustments due to COVID, it finally felt like we were back in control of the wedding.
During and after the wedding we got a ton of compliments on the venue and some of our friends are even looking at having their wedding at the Gardens. Everyone said it was beautiful and that they liked there was "separate" spaces (ie so some people could get away from the music/to talk). A lot of the structures on the properly Glenn built himself and they are so beautiful! (See the bar area or bridal suite!) The Gardens also has a ton of beautiful places to have as a backdrop for pictures.
While the venue itself is absolutely gorgeous and very little décor is needed because of that, the best part about the Gardens is you can bring in your own alcohol and cater. Anyone who's been looking at other vendors minimums for food and alcohol can see how much money this can save you! (Literally thousands for us)
The only downside I can think of is your reception has to end at 11, which I believe is a county or city rule and out of their control.

The Gardens Of Castle Rock is a phenomenal wedding venue. They were an essential part of our miracle wedding - Planned at record speed between the time we first toured and met with them and the wedding day, about two weeks later #covidwedding

Through that unusual time of planning, Kris & Glen were consistently helpful, easy-going, supportive, accommodating, and on top of things. Through their gorgeous site and the assistance they gave us, we truly had a beautiful wedding. Glen's skillful & artistic craftsmanship that has gone into much of the buildings and wooden structures gave it a unique, personal, and beautiful flair.

We believe any couple would be fortunate to get married at The Gardens. We're so grateful they're a part of our story.

The Gardens of Castle Rock was the perfect venue for our wedding. We had to reschedule our wedding multiple times due to covid and they were so helpful during that process. We didn't nail anything down until two weeks before our wedding (because of covid) and yet they somehow managed to pull it all together for us in such a short period of time. The grounds were absolutely beautiful with great spots for pictures. We are so grateful that we found the Gardens of Castle Rock.

Easily the best choice in venues we could have made. The staff were so wonderful to work with. We wanted a very simplistic and laid back wedding and were able to do just that at The Gardens. The grounds are absolutely stunning and need very little decor to give it that magical feel. Loved that they had no restrictions on vendors, as we were able to supply our own alcohol, have outdoor games and choose any caterer for a nacho bar and tacos. Highly recommend!

I can’t say enough great things about the Gardens of Castle Rock! It is a spectacular venue for all couple’s and their visions for their wedding day. They have various wedding sites where couples can utilize the space and make it their own. Beautiful landscapes, wooden handmade details, a gorgeous stone fireplace, a unique bar overhang, and the newest bridal cottage space are just a few of the many things that make this venue amazing! On top of that, the staff are wonderful, so accommodating, patient, and personable. Definitely take the time to do a walk-thru with Glenn and see how special this place really is! Highly recommend!!

Glenn and his team and GCR really made our vision of our day come together. Glenn and his staff not only will help with setting up your tables and chairs, but will help with other small details. They even had some suggestions to help with decor and other items I wanted to incorporate, but didn't know where to put them. We HIGHLY suggest a wedding panner to help with your special day. Our wedding coordinator, Dana Allison(Keyed up events), really took the time to get to know us months before the wedding, which helped even more. There would have been NO time for my groom and I to help with set up that morning. You are the only ones on site - they do not hold any other events that day. We used pretty much the whole place! Our ceremony was timeless in the woods. They set up pew benches for our 175 guests. Then we moved to the cocktail hour near the bar where we had an acoustic guitarist playing. The venue allowed us to have a food truck as our caterer. But you can really choose any vendor you want for dinner/food service. We utilized the grape leaf covered "lath house" as our dining area. You will need to provide linens for the 60" and 30" round tables. They have 8' long cedar tables that do not need linens. Our photo booth set up on the lawn. The dance party was under the large tent (that stays there all year). Jason with JPS entertainment, who helped with our music during the ceremony, dinner, dance, and not to mention the speakers he brought to put out sound for the Illumination fire troupe! We had an epic fire performance on the grand promenade with a special guest appearance from me - the bride - with my light up LED hula hoops! Last song has got to be done by 11:00. and by 12:00 you and all your decor needs to be out of there. No cars can be left overnight. You will also have to hire an on site Sheriff to be there if you are serving alcohol. The Sheriff was pretty cool, and kept to himself. Charnel Timms photography.

Glenn and the team at GCR made my wife and I's day perfect this past June. The venue speaks for itself and doesn't need much decorating. All of our guests (and us) loved that we could hold both ceremony and reception at the same venue, and still have the room to spread out, with 300 guests in attendance. From planning to cleanup, the staff were there with us the whole way.

We had the opportunity with GCR to utilize 5-6 different ceremony/reception combinations, as well as use our own catering and bar service. Glenn's knowledge and vision in weddings is a great asset, and this is not a site that nickels-and-dimes you for everything. Additionally, the location allows easy access from 3 different cities' hotels....all in all there are a lot of stressful factors you can make less stressful with using this venue.

If you're looking for a Minnesota outside venue, that is NOT a barn, but has the elegance of an event center, this is well worth a visit.

Thank you Glenn, Michelle, Ann, Chris, and Deb!!!

The Gardens of Castle Rock did a great job with our wedding. The space is absolutely stunning, and it was so great to have the reception and the ceremony in the same place. The space lends itself to a whole slew of ideas - we had lawn games set out and had Vesuvio's Woodfire Pizza come in. It was a beautiful place and we had a great day!!

I knew I wanted my wedding to be held at the Gardens of Castle Rock before I was even engaged; I went on to hire them the day after our engagement!

The Gardens had everything I was looking for in a venue: ability to bring in the caterer of our choosing, an outdoor ceremony location (they have four different ones you can choose from!), a tented reception, a big lawn for playing games, and a fireplace and patio for guests to mingle around. Literally perfect!

Even the smallest things make a difference: the tent is over pavers, not grass. Food can be set up in the main building to keep everything temperature controlled. Plus, they have a late night pizza oven!

Not to mention, the Gardens are absolutely GORGEOUS. Glenn, Michelle and their team have put so much work into making the space wonderful. They go out of their way to make your day perfect, whether it's directing parking or setting up tables, they're always there to help and answer your questions!

On the evening of our wedding, I remember standing there with my new husband thinking about how perfect everything is. It wouldn't have been the same at any other venue. I hired them right away for a reason!

Thank you so much to the GOCR team who helped us have the best day ever. We loved the Gardens of Castle Rock since the first day we toured and fell in love with it more each time we visited. It was the only venue that we could find that ticked all of our boxes. Affordable, not too far from the cities, only one event per day, beautiful outside ceremony spaces to choose from, large area for lawn games, the ability to pick our own vendors (VonHanson's, Encore Events, MN school of bartending, Midwest Sound, Mark Fierst Photography, FilmStoke) large covered space for dinner, great dance floor, late night woodfire pizza, and shuttle service to nearby hotels. The gardens are pristine and we made sure to utilize all of the grounds and amenities during our wedding day. The ladies got ready in the brand new bridal suite while having mimosas (Bre Perez MUA), we did first look in the woods, ceremony at the promenade, pictures in the lath house, games on out lawn, appetizers and drinks on the patio, photobooth dinner and dancing under the tent! They really allowed us to create our own unique event. Not only is the space perfect but Glenn, Michelle, and Deb are wonderful human beings. They are so personable, accommodating and caring. They really took the time to get to know us and we are very glad to now call them friends. Along with our wedding planner (Lindsay @ Opulent Events), they made sure that our day was perfect- and it was!

Photos below from Mark Fierst Photography

The Garden’s were the perfect wedding venue for us. We wanted an outdoor venue that was not a barn. The Gardens had beautiful ceremony locations, great patio and lawn space, and the tent worked wonderfully for the reception. It was also so nice to be able to choose our own catering company. We would highly recommend!

Wedding coordinator was very helpful and accommodating. Although when she left the owner and his wife could not have been more disgruntled to have anyone on their property. The wife was very short and snide with everyone, ex: when someone was placing some babies breath on a table she stomped over and said "I better not see any of that in the trash! that must go in compost!" making several onlooking wedding guest uncomfortable. And at the end of the night when 2 people walk through the building to make sure nothing was left behind she yelled, " there's nothing in here, you can go!"

The owner decided it was appropriate to make a scene before the wedding ceremony when he did not find acceptable the plan previously discussed between the DJ and coordinator for the officiant to hand off a microphone to a singer. He yelled at 2 teenage girls, " this isn't how we do things!"

Venue was not clean from the night before when we arrived for set up. We had to have a spot of vomit cleaned up from the dance floor and fish a pack of cigarettes out of the pond.