We recently had a wedding rehearsal dinner and welcome party at the SLO Botanical Garden. To echo the sentiments of another reviewer on here, the location and the event itself turned out to be wonderful, but working with the staff at the gardens was never straightforward. We were unclear about requirements for booking security, paying for an extra event space for parking, etc. until very close to our event, which added some unnecessary stress to our planning process. They also were completely unclear about their own requirements for alcohol permits at their location which led to me needing to visit the SLO Alcoholic Beverage Control office myself to get some clarity.

It would be very helpful for the garden to just include the booking of their required security, parking, and alcohol permits (if required) into their event booking price/process.

During the few months of planning for this event, the garden had gone through multiple different event coordinators, and finally brought on Tracy, who was extremely helpful, and seemed to be making a real effort to improve the process of booking events at the garden. She seemed to have real experience with planning large events. If she stays on with the garden, I have no doubt this would be a great and easy place to hold an event in the future. The gardens and event space are really beautiful.

We are SLO locals. When we decided to get married, we wanted to choose a unique venue that contributes positively to our community. We liked the idea of supporting a nonprofit and incorporating natural beauty into our wedding. The wedding (May 2022) turned out fabulously and everyone had a great time. The facilities were clean and tidy. The kitchen was well equipped for our caterers. The outdoor areas and gardens were beautiful and useful for our purposes.

While the day itself was wonderful, there were many disappointments along the way

There was turnover in the Events staff, and there did not seem to be communication between the outgoing and incoming events person. There were many miscommunications and omissions of information, some of which were not sorted out until days before the wedding.

We feel that SLO BG should be responsible for reserving parking and security, and incorporate the cost into the price of the venue. We were not told in advance about the need to reserve picnic areas to ensure parking for our guests or about the proper procedure for paying our guests’ entrance fees to the park. Since SLO BG only deals with 1 security company and they were difficult to communicate with, this should be their responsibility as well.

Most wedding require a rehearsal, usually the day before the event. SLO BG staff seemed surprised by our need for a rehearsal, and required us to pay an additional fee. We believe that a rehearsal should be a standard part of booking a wedding venue.

SLO BG does not allow any of their furniture to be used outside, so we rented all furniture from a local company. SLO BG had rigid rules about times that furniture could be dropped off and picked up. We were forced to chose a more expensive rental vendor because of the restrictions put in place by SLO BG.

SLO BG and the parks department do not allow any cars to be left in the parking lot overnight. This concerned us as it presented a safety risk. While we hoped none of our guests would become too intoxicated, occasionally the unexpected happens. To not allow cars to be parked overnight is to encourage wedding guests to drive home intoxicated.

A few weeks prior to our wedding, SLO BG began doing major site work near our ceremony location. The event coordinator at SLO BG was unaware that the work was happening, and was unable to guarantee that it would be done prior to our event. Luckily it was completed in time, but it would have significantly disrupted our wedding and been a danger to our guests had it not been completed.

While all of the previous issues were stressful but manageable, the most egregious error they made was to call us during our rehearsal dinner to complain about how the furniture had been stored at the venue overnight. This was an unprofessional and unnecessary phone call and its only purpose seemed to be to hassle us the night before the wedding.

And finally, we would have appreciated a Thank You after the wedding— perhaps a note enclosed with our returned security deposit. We did not hear from SLO BG at all. No one contacted us to see how our event went. Had staff shown an interest in correcting their mistakes, we would likely be writing a much more positive review. Unfortunately, communication from SLO BG was and continues to be poor. We would love to recommend this unique, charming venue, however SLO BG has continually fallen short. While our wedding ended up being beautiful, it was in spite of SLO BG staff, not because of them.