Cody Sent on 01/01/2023

5 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful location, outstanding service!

I’m am beyond impressed with this venue! The grounds are absolutely beautiful, the staff was genuine and attentive during both ceremony and reception and the food was amazing. The wedding suite is stunning and the ambiance of a million twinkling lights against mature landscape is a sight to see. Truly a venue that captures Tucson’s artistic desert charm with elevated service the whole way through!

Angela R. Sent on 12/11/2022

5 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful Garden Wedding!

There simply isn’t a more beautiful wedding location in Tucson! There are many ceremony and reception locations within the gardens and all of them are gorgeous. Our reception cocktail hour and dinner was superb! The staff was responsive and professional and the cost was very reasonable. We couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out!!!

Julia Sent on 11/03/2022

5 out of 5 rating

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Amazing venue with helpful staff

Tohono Chul is a lovely venue with a community-oriented mission. They are an oasis of Sonoran Desert in the middle of urban Tucson, so you get a feel for the local culture and nature. The staff were extremely helpful and supportive, and really helped everything go smoothly on the wedding day. Guests were very complimentary of the food and ceremony+reception spaces!

Hunter H. Sent on 05/17/2022

5 out of 5 rating

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My perfect Tucson wedding venue

The venue is perfect and has an indoor and outdoor option which we utilized. We had the ceremony in the Spanish Colonial garden and reception in the garden pavilion and cocktail hour in the area in between. It was perfect. Guests got to experience Tucson's natural beauty but still have a beautiful indoor area for dancing and to cool off from the heat. We had approximately 70 guests and this venue was perfect for that amount but I know Tohono Chul has several other venue options. I can't have imagined getting married anywhere else.

+15 photos

Tohono Chul's reply:

Thank you so much, Hunter! It was a pleasure to host your beautiful day and lovely family. The photos are beautiful and we truly appreciate the feedback!

Rita Sent on 03/31/2022

5 out of 5 rating

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Stunning venue + amazing team!

We loved everything about our experience with Tohono Chul! From the start, the team was helpful and responsive to all of our questions. The catering team is great too and food is delicious (love chef Nick and Kelly)! It was a positive and easy experience planning our wedding over the course of the year. The day-of wedding was right out of a dream! The Performance garden glistened and was perfect for our group of about 120 guests. The Spanish Colonial Garden was a dreamy ceremony space and felt magical being under the big mesquite trees. The grounds of Tohono Chul are stunning and unique- our out of town guests just loved strolling through them to get to our wedding space. We heard that this was the best wedding people have ever been too! Mackenzie, Lucie, Helena, Greg and Team were awesome to work with. They were open to all of our ideas and executed them with ease. Highly recommended for a magical tucson wedding! (Below photos taken by Andy Shepard Photography)

+4 photos

Logan Sent on 04/02/2022

5 out of 5 rating

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Best Night Ever, thanks to TC Staff

We could not have asked for a more perfect night, thanks entirely to the staff at Tohono Chul. Helena, Lucie, Nick, Kelly, and all the servers are an incredible group and even a month later us and our guests still talk about what a perfect wedding night we had. Chef Nick and Kelly helped us create hands down the best meal we have eaten (every single guest came up to rave about the food.. we were so, so happy. I am still dreaming of our fried avocado tacos and the pepper jack au gratin potatoes) and the night could not have gone more smoothly thanks to Helena and Lucie. Not everyone can say they had every single thing go right on their wedding day, and I am so grateful to Helena and everyone else. From the planning stages to the night of, we cannot recommend this venue enough. Wish we could do it again! Tohono Chul is a beautiful venue on its own, but we feel so lucky to have been able to work with this team; they made the night go above and beyond. Photos by Andy Shepard or my own.

+7 photos

Tohono Chul's reply:

Logan,
These kind words mean the world to us! Working with both of you was such a pleasure during the planning and the night of! Dream clients:) Congrats again and we wish you the very best!!

Sara A. Sent on 11/28/2021

5 out of 5 rating

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November Wedding

I cannot say enough good things about the venue and the staff at TC. We originally planned our wedding for 2020, but had to reschedule for 2021. TC was very flexible and the transition to the new wedding planner, Helena, was seamless. She made the entire experience so stress free. She made such an effort to really understand us and what we wanted. We didn’t even realize how much we needed her until the process began- she was incredible. She asked all the right questions, advocated for us, and kept us on track. The day of she was a total rockstar. The ceremony space was beyond beautiful; everything went so perfectly. She was by my side the day of escorting myself and my bridesmaids around to where we needed to go. She was so helpful and calming. It’s all a blur but Helena handing me a drink and making sure I ate some food stands definitely stands out. I always felt like she had my back. We are so happy with how everything turned out, thank you!!

Tohono Chul's reply:

Thank you so much for the praise, truly makes what I do so fulfilling to have happy clients like you! It was such a pleasure working with both of you! Y'all are such a beautiful couple and I am so happy to have been part of your special day :)
Congrats again and many many wishes of a lifetime full of love! Call me if you find yourself planning a baby shower;)
Love,
Helena Riggins
Tohono Chul

Jessica Sent on 09/12/2017

5 out of 5 rating

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Our wedding was truly magical. While the venue was easy to work with the caters were amazing! Samantha (who we worked with) went above and beyond in making sure our night turned out the best that it possibly could have. The food was incredible and the transformation of the venue space between ceremony and reception turned out great. We couldn't be happier.

Tohono Chul's reply:

Thank you for choosing Tohono Chul and the Garden Bistro to host your beautiful wedding. It was truly our pleasure to work with you and your husband. We wish you many years of happiness.

Warm Regards,
Samantha Faust & Staff

Garrett R. Sent on 11/21/2021

4.8 out of 5 rating

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Happy Newlyweds!

We chose Tohono Chul as our venue in December 2019 for a fall 2020 wedding. When the pandemic forced us to change our initial date, they were very flexible and helpful allowing us to secure a new date.

We met our new coordinator, Helena, this summer, and were instantly impressed. She is kind and has a lot of experience. She continually emphasized that our wedding day should be low stress, and she delivered on her promise to ensure a seamless event. She and the rest of the staff at the garden were attentive and helpful the entire day. We even got to eat a full meal - who else gets to say that about their wedding day?

As they staff are all still relatively new, they still have some growing pains to work out - all in all, our wedding day was fun and beautiful. The venue was gorgeous at night with all the lights on the flora. We would recommend Tohono Chul as a venue with an elegant vibe that is quintessentially Tucson.

Tohono Chul's reply:

Garrett & Miranda,
Y'all were such a pleasure to work with. Thank you so much for the kind words and your patience during covid and building our team! I hope you both have beautiful memories of your special day and our gardens for years to come :)
Love, Helena Riggins
Events Manager
Tohono Chul

Julie Sent on 09/21/2008

4.8 out of 5 rating

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It was slightly difficult communicating and scheduling appointments, since I was living 2000 miles away. However, they did a great job setting up the venue, allowed us a lot of flexability, and even found a wheelchair at the last minute for a guest who needed it.

Maddy Sent on 09/28/2016

4.6 out of 5 rating

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4.5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful location. Took awhile to get in contact with the food and beverage coordinator but once we did she was very nice and helpful.

Tohono Chul's reply:

We are really excited about having your wedding in our Performance Garden Garden Bistro on November 11, 2016. Please feel free to contact me if you need anything.
Carolyn M. Gallo, Event Sales Coordinator

Kelli C. Sent on 01/27/2022

4.4 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful Venue

Tohono Chul provided a gorgeous backdrop for our small wedding. The wedding/ party planning staff were amazing and just fantastic to work with!!

Tohono Chul's reply:

Thank you so much, Kelli! It was such a pleasure to work with you & Matthew. It was such a gorgeous ceremony! Congrats :)

Joanna Sent on 11/07/2009

4.4 out of 5 rating

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We worked primarily with Jeannine at the Park. We loved the setting - it was very beautiful. She didn't do much, other than put up a sign where she said she would. They let us have access to the site for the rehearsal the day before and for decorating several hours ahead of time. She tended to not have a lot of ideas, and they had some rules that limited what we could do (no water cooler, no throwing of things after the pronouncement). But we were able to have the ceremony we wanted, in a spectacular setting.

Just a quick word to the wise - it was pretty hot in mid-October (high of 98), and two of our guests fainted during the ceremony. Water might have been nice...

Riannon Sent on 03/30/2009

3.5 out of 5 rating

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Tohono Chul Park is gorgeous, and we loved having our wedding there. However, they became a little difficult to work with once we had paid them. During out initial meeting, we were pleased with their flexibility and their service. But as time went by, and the big day got closer, they began to change some of their initial promises, which made it very difficult to plan out details. For one, we were not allowed to use the electricity, which meant that our dj was useless, and we had to resort to a boombox. But, overall, the facility was beautiful.

Erin C. Sent on 11/11/2021

2.6 out of 5 rating

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It was. Okay, I guess

When I first decided to go with this venue the coordinator at the time never responded to any of my emails. Halfway through the process they hired a new coordinator. She was, fine, I guess. Atleast she got back to me. But, she made me worry needlessly about issues which turned out not to be issues. And honestly when it came to the day, she didn't pull through. She didn't deliver the corsage to my MIL, she didn't tell my mother about the cake cutting so she missed it, there were so many of these issues.
The catering was again, fine. The meats were good, the veggies were under cooked. My champagne flute kept disappearing (from the bridal table) and at the end of the night there were no more real glasses (which you rent on individually) and no water. I would have loved water the last hour of the night.
I didn't even know we had a tea and coffee table.
I also recommend better lighting. No one could see what they were getting from the buffet.
The day was still nice bc of the people we invited. I'm just sad with the money we paid that it was a little underwhelming when it came to the actual service.

J Sent on 07/26/2012

1.7 out of 5 rating

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I had a beautiful wedding at Tohono Chul Park despite the massive mistakes made by the park in the process. My fiancé and I wanted to have our wedding outdoors and it was important to us to support an organization we felt was doing good work in the community. In the end this was the right place for us, but I wish we knew what we were getting into before hand. Hopefully, if you decide to have your wedding here, you will be better prepared.

Leading up to the wedding-- The rental coordinator was difficult to get a hold of, and did little other than confirm payments we made. In a letter we received a few weeks before the wedding she stated "as you know, we will have new caterers" for the wedding. We had no idea, and no one had been in touch with us, three weeks out. After a week of leaving voicemail and sending emails we finally reached the new caterer. They were amazing and picked up all the slack. They assured us the catering would go off without a hitch and it did. Additionally, the caterer informed us the two interior spaces (the Tea Room) would be under construction during our wedding! I'm not sure if this was a major oversight on the part of the park, or if they were trying to pull the wool over our eyes. We had 100 people at the wedding and needed that extra space, if only for people to escape the July heat. After some panicked phone calls and a visit to the park by our parents, they agreed to postpone construction. During all of this the rental coordinator was out on vacation and of no help whatsoever.

And finally- 30 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony, we had no chairs. The rental coordinator assured us the staff would set up the Performance Garden as part of our agreement. There was no one on hand to help (no one even knew there was a wedding going on!). Fortunately one of our musicians, who had done work for the park in the past, knew where the chairs were kept. He made some phone calls and got permission to break in to the storage room. Our parents and the musicians set up 100 chairs minutes before guests arrived. This set in motion a couple of other mistakes (not worth getting into here) and our wedding got off to a rocky start. The best part of all this was that the director of the park later called us and informed us that we needn't "worry about putting the chairs back" after the ceremony. Really?? How generous.

After the ceremony, everything went according to plan since the catering staff was in charge of the reception. I definitely needed a Prickly pear margarita after all of that!

Long story short- you can have a beautiful wedding here if you are willing to put in the extra effort to make sure park staff will actually follow through. I would highly recommend HIRING A COORDINATOR to stay on top of every detail-- get confirmation on everything multiple times. I did not have the time to do so, and as a result some significant mistakes were made.

Allie Sent on 01/25/2017

1.1 out of 5 rating

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They certainly put you through the wringer.

I was set on having a garden wedding and once I visited Tohono Chul, I knew it was the place I wanted to get married. However, two weeks before the wedding, our experience with them made me wish my husband and I had just run away and got eloped. The staff is miserable to deal with.

Setting up a tour was easy. They were nice, informative and happy to show us the grounds. During that initial tour, they told us that if we got the package where we rented the entire park, we would be the only wedding that day and thus our families and friends could come in and start setting up as early as 11 a.m. if we wanted. I was so thrilled to hear that because a lot of places did not have the flexibility. However, two weeks before the wedding, they told he that we couldn't start setting up until 3 because they booked another wedding the same afternoon. I was stunned. They blatantly lied to our faces and really put my family, friends and DJ in a tight spot to get everything set up in time.

As I mentioned, they were east to get a hold of at first, but once you give them a check, that's the last you'll hear from them. I think I spent hours listening to a ringing phone, being passed around, and placed on hold. They are impossible to get ahold of. So much so, we couldn't even get in touch with the catering people to schedule a food tasting. Once we scheduled the date, we never heard from her again about it. She would not return phone calls. She would not return emails. So we showed up to a food tasting having no idea what we were tasting because she couldn't bother returning our message so we could tell her what we wanted. And then she got snotty because we showed up with members of the wedding party that wanted to take part in the tasting, and snarked that they might not have enough for everyone. Well, if she had called us back..

One of the worst customer service experiences of my life. You have been warned.

Tohono Chul's reply:

Thank you for your feedback. Transparency is very important to us. To mitigate the potential for misunderstandings we delineate the difference between the service charge and tax in the contract to make sure the clients is aware of the distinction and approves prior to signing the contract. We never want anyone to feel confused by the contract and are happy to address any concerns prior to commitment.

Rentals that include food and beverage do receive a scheduled tasting, working in conjunction, and in advance with Tohono Chul staff. The tasting items are prepared in advance by the culinary team as the items are not available on the regular bistro menu, which can make it difficult to accommodate unanticipated additional guests that arrive at the tasting. We are happy to accommodate the additional guests, because the more the merrier, we just require 48 hours’ notice.

Customer service is the upmost importance to us. We try to always return calls, emails, and let our clients know that any questions they may have, we will answer them as soon as possible. We host a myriad of events throughout the day in the gardens, but restrict the private events to one per evening. Daytime weddings held in the Demonstration Gardens, not in the Performance Garden, are only available for parties with 25 guests or less and are not closed to the public like an evening rental.

We are also available to meet with any wedding party vendors that need to see the event space to better accommodate their load-in and event execution. Early access for decoration set-up is available in coordination with our staff and guidelines, as well as the understanding that the client provides all necessary supplies. As the gardens are open to the public until 5 p.m., it is not recommended to have equipment or decorations set up that can impede the experience for other visitors. That would also include sound checks, leaving the items unattended, or decoration collection post-event.

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