The Ruth Bancroft Garden Reviews

Tawny and the events team at The Ruth Bancroft Garden made our wedding planning and special day a total joy! On top of just being incredible humans, they were supportive, highly responsive, and detail-oriented throughout the process. RBG was the first and only wedding venue we looked at — it’s just that good. Our buyout gave us the flexibility to use the entire garden and events space to create our ‘Palm Springs Meets Northern California’ wedding vibes. From our fall sunset ceremony in the garden to our EDM-inspired reception and dance party in their new and modern event hall, we couldn’t have asked for a better venue. Highly recommend RBG if you’re looking to host a a once-in-a-lifetime event. Thanks, Tawny and team!

Our wedding at Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery was nothing short of a dream come true. From the moment we set foot on the property, we knew we had found a perfect place to celebrate our special day.

The natural beauty of the venue took our breath away. The wildly beautiful and well- manicured gardens, the elegant modern architecture for our reception and the scenic views provided the ideal backdrop for our ceremony.

Tawny Bourque, Mary Maxwell and staff at Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery went above and beyond to make our day flawless. From the initial planning staging to the big day itself, they were incredibly attentive, professional, and accommodating. They listened to our every request and made sure every detail was executed to perfection.

One of the standout features of the Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery was the flexibility it offered. Whether we wanted an intimate indoor ceremony or an outdoor celebration under the stars, the venue could accommodate our every wish. And the attention to detail in setting up our chosen space was remarkable.

We also appreciated the convenient amenities Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery offered, from the upstairs space to use to get ready to the beautiful cocktail hour area. Everything was designed with the comfort and enjoyment of our guests in mind.

Our wedding day was filled with love, laughter, and cherished memories, and we owe a significant part of that to Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery. It's not just a place; its a magical setting where dreams are brought to life. We will forever be grateful for the incredible team that made our day so special.

If you're searching for a wedding venue that combines natural beauty, exceptional service and a touch of enchantment, look no further than Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery. Our hearts are full of gratitude for the unforgettable experience they provided us on our most special day.

Annie + Tochi

We LOVED having our wedding at the Ruth Bancroft Garden! The venue is beautiful, and was such a cool place for guests to explore during the event. There are amazing cacti and desert plants everywhere, and it made for really lovely photos as well. We loved the indoor/outdoor vibe (we had our ceremony outdoors, and there are lots of spots to pick from; our dinner was inside which was great as it got a little cooler at night). The garden itself is just so stunning, so we didn't have to have a lot of florals or decor, since it was naturally beautiful.

Also have to give a huge shout out to the venue team at Ruth Bancroft—every step of the way they were so responsive, helping us plan the layout of our dinner and answering every question we had. And during the event, they were also amazing. Tawny and her team were SO organized and set everything up for us without a hitch, including setting up all the table and chair rentals, and moving all the chairs to the reception area from the ceremony area. They were also so helpful in cleaning up—my partner and I were still seeing the last few guests out while the venue team and our coordinator cleaned and packed up everything for us!

Would 1000% recommend the Ruth Bancroft Garden for anyone planning their wedding!

Ruth Bancroft was everything we could ask for! The gardens are absolutely stunning and meticulously maintained, and we loved hosting our wedding at a venue that serves a greater role for the community.

Tawny and the other staff were so easy to work with - very responsive, helpful, and accommodating. They provided great suggestions for the event organization, and helped with set up and breakdown on the day-of.

The venue policies are very reasonable - we were able to provide our own alcohol and they are very accommodating with vendors.

The garden itself is absolutely stunning (which is great if you're trying to do minimal florals/decor) and gives you flexibility to host different aspects of the wedding in different areas of the garden. Our guests loved getting to walk around the gardens during cocktail hour and see all the sculptures on display.

Absolutely would recommend!

Thanks to Heather Rose Garden who canceled us for burst pipe, we found this amazing venue! I fell in love with it immediately when I walked — the big variety of succulents, the color and the otherworldly shapes of them.

Had a little rough time with the previous event manager until Tawny took over! Tawny is such a sweetheart. Sweet, patient, professional and thoughtful! She cares! If the venue itself is 95 out of 100, Tawny had definitely made it 101/100.

I originally booked my wedding venue with Heather Farm, which canceled on me due to a water pipe problem. And I’m so glad I found Ruth Bancroft Garden, because it’s just a much better choice (much more modern reception hall and much bigger garden with an Arizona feel to it). If you are based in the Bay Area and want a garden themed wedding, this is THE place! I had a small wedding with 36 guests and I couldn’t be happier on my wedding - everyone is so helpful and every detail is exactly how I want it to be. Twany and Julia are a dream to work with - I love love love how easy, professional and caring they are. RBG is the PERFECT wedding venue 💜

Ruth Bancroft Garden was our savior venue after our original venue cancelled on us two months before our date. Since they were so experienced working with our coordinator (TLC Events) it was an incredibly seamless transition to move our day plan and vendors over. Our only tough point was coordinating pictures/timeline since the earliest they could possibly allow guests arriving was 4 and sunset was at 5 (mid November date), but they let us begin pictures at around 230/3 so we were able to get enough sunlit pictures. Because the garden is so beautiful and the patio area is already lit with cute bistro lights, we didn’t have to bring too many outdoor decor/lighting, but did have to rent heaters since it was chilly and everyone wanted to hangout near the bar outside. Our group was around 70 people so dining and dancing fit inside the great room, bar outside in the patio, buffet out near the courtyard.

It was love at first sight when I went to Ruth Bancroft. The garden is beautiful and unique, with wonderful scenery and natural beauty that it needs little decor. I could have the California boho wedding of my dreams without trekking to the mountains or desert! I loved that the garden allows you freedom to choose your vendors unlike a winery or typical event space. I worked with their preferred caterer and day of coordinator who was a dream, and would highly recommend booking Elisa’s Catering and Brandy to work your event if you book at the garden. They have a wonderful understanding and partnership with the RBG staff that put me at ease and made me feel so supported as I did the bulk of my wedding planning on my own!

I also want to add that I had to reschedule my wedding (2 days before it was supposed to happen!!!) due to Covid and Tawny and Julia could not have been kinder or more supportive or amazing while myself and my fiancé were going through a difficult time. I am so grateful that I could have my wedding at RBG and cannot express how much I appreciate them.

If you are looking for a venue, this one is a show stopper, but the amazing staff will be the real cherry on top!

What is there to say? The Ruth Bancroft was such an outstanding wedding venue. I was hesitant because we had a larger wedding and I knew that the garden would be open to the public until a specific time, but Tawny and Julia worked with my wedding planner, Jenni Grubba, and all of our vendors to make sure everything was set up and they had access to whatever they needed. It was absolutely STUNNING and having both the indoor and outdoor space meant that people could warm up inside during the chillier portion of the evening. We received so many comments on how perfect and stunning the garden was If we had do it all again we would still choose the RBG.

Getting married at the Ruth Bancroft Garden was a dream come true!! Not only is the setting itself absolutely gorgeous, but the staff was incredible! They were always responsive to our questions and very supportive with our requests. Every meeting with them felt productive, and when it came to the actual wedding day everything came together and unfolded just as we had hoped it would!! We can't thank the staff enough for all their help and encouragement. It was the most incredible day and we are so grateful to everyone at the Ruth Brancroft Garden for all their amazing work!

The events team - Tawny and Julia - are incredibly easy to work with. They are responsive, requirements are clear, and they're very good at making themselves available to the client. We had a lot of loose strings on the day of the wedding, but the RBG staff handled it beautifully. They were really fun to work with, too! I would definitely work with them again if the situation presented itself.

We will forever hold a special place in our heart for the Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery for our outdoor wedding in May of 2022! The space was perfect for our 120 guests and the events team led by Julia was just wonderful to work with. I'd highly recommend this to any couple looking for a beautiful, versatile outdoor space for their special day.

We decided on the garden for several reasons (among them, an outdoor space for mitigating COVID risk): Ruth Bancroft is simply stunning -- full of photogenic greenery and winding paths that make for a magical setting and great photo ops. The venue also allowed us to use different areas around the garden of our choosing to hold our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. The venue team's staff of high school interns were speedy and courteous in "flipping" the spaces at different times of the night! The garden also has an indoor space that allowed us to create an indoor hangout for guests that wanted to be inside (not to mention bathrooms, a room for the wedding party to get ready or changed, and professional kitchen for caterers.) Another bonus for us too: this venue allowed us to bring our own liquor!

The venue team offered us a package starting at 1pm for a 5pm wedding and a hard stop at 10pm (music off by 9:45pm). The early time cut off is partially due to the fact that the garden is set in a residential area and we heard that neighbors sometimes complain about the noise during the party. We were a little nervous about this issue, but in the end it wasn't a problem for us: we just made sure our DJ knew the expectations and we had a great dance party until our party bus came at 10pm and took our guests to the after party.

Our wedding coordinator, Reyna Hess, was very familiar with the venue (she's on the recommended venue list I think) and, together with Julia, they helped us ensure a super smooth planning process and day-of coordination across multiple vendors. All in all, we are so glad we went with the decision to get married at the Ruth Bancroft Garden!

The Ruth Bancroft Garden staff were so helpful! I loved the venue and we have some truly memorable photos and experiences from this night. Thank you!

This place is a dream! Gorgeous and serene. My husband and I are beyond thrilled that we were able to have our wedding at Ruth Bancroft Garden. Lucy Kim, the event manager is so helpful. She helped to make our day seamless and perfect!

We would absolutely recommend this place for an unforgettable experience. Thank you Ruth Bancroft Garden!

A great place to visit but a horrible venue. I strongly recommend looking for a wedding venue anywhere but here. The Ruth Bancroft Garden venue is stunning but you will running into numerous frustrations and issues with their staff.

When my wife and I originally chose this place for our wedding we were working with the event manager, Tawny, who was an absolute gem. Unfortunately we ended up being passed through two others, Mary and Fiona. We didn’t realize it until later on, but this was a sign of the disorganization of the venue management.

Our experience with Fiona was abysmal. She was inattentive, disorganized, unaccountable and disrespectful. This lead to a ton of frustration and heartache to my wife. Do not be mislead. She is the House Manager, not an events manager or coordinator like the previous person. It’s clear that Fiona does not have the experience or aptitude to be handling such important events and I would not wish for any other couple to have to deal with what we went through.

With our contract we were allowed to get up to five event staff. Much to our concern and dismay, the “event staff” consisted of only teenagers. And our concern was well placed. We are now missing some of our personal items and we have had vendors reach out stating that their items and furniture was damaged/broken. None of this was communicated to us by Fiona, we had to reach out. It took forever to get responses on this. When we did get in contact, Fiona did everything to not take accountability. She consistently tried to blame things on our coordinator.

It truly feels like any cooperation went out the window as soon as they were inconvenienced. The biggest case of this was with our bouquets. Prior to the big day, we had clarified that it was okay for us to leave our things to pick up the next day. At no point were we told that there was nothing we couldn’t leave. Yet despite this our bouquets, that we painstakingly put together by ourselves, had been given away or tossed in the trash. I personally had gathered and put together those bouquets in a bin. The bin had then been taken down and put together with OUR things. It should have never been touched.

Fiona insisted that she had gotten permission from our coordinator to throw them away, which is a complete lie. Our coordinator was well aware that we wanted our bouquets back.

Both Fiona and the executive director Rodger were unwilling to work with us in our attempts to recover our flowers and the broaches attached to them. At one point we couldn’t get a response from the venue until our coordinator was forced to take on the blame. It is unacceptable that it took almost a week to get this resolved, especially when Fiona herself had my wife’s bouquet.

Fiona and Rodger tried to minimize my wife’s pain and sadness over their faults, to the point my wife was in tears. Any person willing to try and inflict emotional manipulation on someone else, does not have your best interest at heart. They will not treat you with the respect and care that you deserve on your special day.

As someone who has had to deal with this new management, I absolutely cannot recommend this place unless there is a serious change and overhaul of the staff from the top down.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a BEAUTIFUL venue but do NOT be deceived by previous reviews. Since we booked our wedding there way back in 2023 for May 2025, they hired a new executive director who seems to have absolutely no desire to accommodate weddings but is fine throwing other events, and the previously raved-about events team (Tawny and Mary) left. The ONLY reason our wedding went smoothly there is because our planner/coordinator (Hudson Ave Events) has done so many events in the past there and we hired other vendors familiar with the venue. The current staff does not have the knowledge nor experience with event planning and certainly not wedding planning. They are extremely uncommunicative and made changes to venue policies without ever contacting us directly, only our planner. One of my "favorite" kicks in the stomach was when they told us we could no longer have our dinner in the Eucalyptus Grove because there is no permanent lighting there and there is hazard for people stepping on the plants. Weeks after telling us that, we went there for another walkthrough to pivot and what did we see but bunches of young children volunteers in amongst the plants setting up lights for their holiday display show. As beautiful and unique as the setting is, I just don't think I can rightly recommend this venue to couples anymore.

The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a breathtaking venue — but what lies behind the beauty is a deeply disorganized, unprofessional, and unaccountable team. Our wedding day was beautiful only because of the people we hired — not because of the venue staff, who were negligent, evasive, and in many cases, careless with our personal belongings and emotions.


We spent two years planning our wedding and were assigned three different venue coordinators during that time due to staff turnover. By the time our day arrived, we were working with Fiona, whose official title is House Manager — not Event Coordinator. That detail is crucial: she has no professional event background, and it showed in every misstep.


Fiona failed to stay organized from the start. She attended our final walkthrough, yet emailed us weeks later asking when it would take place. She asked redundant questions repeatedly — not to clarify, but because she failed to retain or document important information. This gave us no confidence that our wedding day would be handled with care.


And it wasn’t.


On the day of our wedding:

• Venue staff showed up 20 minutes late, which delayed setup.

• We were promised five event assistants, but told the week of the wedding we’d only have three. Our coordinator had to argue to get four, still short of the contracted number.

• The assistants were inexperienced teenagers. One vendor gave clear instructions that were ignored, and items were damaged as a result.
• Fiona was aware of the damage but said nothing until confronted later.

After the reception, the venue unexpectedly told our coordinator she had to leave at 11 p.m., despite her previously stated and documented plan to stay until midnight to supervise breakdown. Fiona’s last-minute decision led directly to what became the most hurtful part of our experience.

Once our coordinator was forced to leave:
• Our bridal bouquets were taken home by venue staff without permission and thrown out.
• These were custom, sentimental, expensive — the most emotionally important items from our day.
• We were ignored when we followed up — only told the next day that they had another event that weekend.
• What could have been resolved with a 30-minute phone call dragged out for four days.

Then it got worse: the venue blamed our coordinator, claiming she had given them permission to discard or take our bouquets. She had done no such thing. They did not contact us directly, and only responded after she stepped in. In order to get us our items back, our coordinator took the blame, calling it “a miscommunication on her part” — even though it wasn’t — just to get the venue to cooperate. She threw herself on the sword because the venue refused to own their actions.

This gaslighting was devastating. The few bouquets we did recover were wilted and clearly never placed in water. The rest were never returned. We were told it was “standard practice” to throw them out or keep them — as though packing them with the rest of our belongings wasn’t even considered. The idea of taking or discarding someone’s wedding bouquet without permission is deeply inappropriate and, frankly, disgusting.

And that wasn’t the only damage done after our coordinator left:
• Our personal items were tossed carelessly into bins — some broken, some missing.
• A vendor reached out days later to say her couch had been broken. It had clearly been dragged across the floor, snapping one of the legs.
• When we asked Fiona about it, she admitted to seeing it happen, said it looked “wobbly,” but didn’t tell us because she assumed it was already broken.

This pattern — of avoiding accountability, deflecting blame, and minimizing damage — ran through every part of our interaction with this venue. They didn’t just mishandle our wedding — they mishandled our trust.

The most telling part of all this? Look at the older reviews. Everyone praises Tawny, the former event lead. Tawny clearly held this department together. Without her, the wedding operation at Ruth Bancroft Garden has fallen apart. Had she been present for our day, we firmly believe none of this would have happened.

Yes, the garden is stunning. But that beauty is not worth the emotional damage, stress, and disrespect we endured. The damage done — to our belongings, to our vendors, and to our hearts — was completely avoidable. What should have been a joyful, sacred experience turned into a nightmare because of the venue’s negligence and lack of care.

We do not recommend Ruth Bancroft Garden until they completely overhaul their event staff, leadership, communication, and client care. If your wedding matters to you — don’t risk it here.