Bartram's Garden Reviews

Kelly, Chris, and the rest of the Jamie Hollander team at Bartram’s Garden were amazing! Kelly was responsive to all of our questions and requests leading up to the big day. Chris provided thoughtful gestures to us throughout the whole day such as bringing us passed appetizers and carting us at the end of the night to our limo. The whole team was reliable and professional - many thanks!

We had the most magical day we could hope for at Bartram’s Garden in early June for our wedding of about 160 people! We really wanted to have the wedding outside and found Bartram’s as a beautiful outdoor oasis next to everything in the city. From our first visit in the winter, when all the plants were dormant, we could tell how beautiful it would be. We met with Kelly who walked us through everything and was immediately so warm and informed of any question we had. From there, we worked with Kelly to create our menu with Jamie Hollander Catering & Events, which was unreal! We had eight passed appetizers, from mini cheesesteakes to mini sushi tuna cones and the main meals were unbelievably good. Everyone commented later on how incredible everything tasted and how beautiful the spread was. Before the big day, Kelly and her staff kept close contact with us as well as our vendors and we never felt we had to worry about any miscommunication! On the wedding day, we met with Chris, who handled the whole day making sure everything went smoothly and beautifully and had the best energy! Bartram’s Garden itself was in full June swing with greenery everywhere, lush trees and colorful garden flowers around every corner. There was so much space from the gardens to the tent and the lighting was perfect - simple and dreamy. The bartending staff and everyone on site were friendly, fun and professional. Overall, it was the best choice we could make - the food was delicious, the scenery was gorgeous and relaxed, the staff was attentive as can be, planning was on point and not one guest had any issues. It rocked! 10/10 experience.

My husband and I were just married at Bartram's Garden this past Saturday and we truly couldn't have been happier with our experience. We worked with Kate and Kelly throughout the entire process and they were incredibly professional, knowledgeable, helpful and responsive. Not to mention, we moved out of Philly during our wedding planning and they were so flexible about scheduling the tasting and final venue walkthrough since we had to travel from so far away.

On our wedding day, we did not have to worry about a thing and were able to be present in the moment and celebrate with our friends and family. We were also told many, many times during the wedding and the following day that the food was delicious and that the staff was so welcoming and hospitable - this certainly contributed to how perfect our wedding day turned out to be. Highly recommend this venue!

Thank you, Kate, Kelly, and the entire Bartram's/Jamie Hollander staff for making our wedding a night we will never forget.

We looked at dozens of venues in PA and New England before we settled on Bartram's. In terms of beauty and value, nowhere else could compete. It's also a unique venue. Many of our guests who are long-time Philadelphia residents had never been there -- most likely because of the location. However, don't let that stop you. Everyone was absolutely blown away by our secret garden oasis. Our guests loved exploring the grounds and getting into the history of the place. The team at Jamie Hollander was also so great to work with and really delivered the day of our wedding. The food was plentiful and delicious, I did not stress about timeline or coordination once, and the service was A+. We had multiple guests tell us how great their server was at dinner, which I think is pretty special. They know the space inside and out and can execute weddings flawlessly, which is one of the biggest benefits of going with this venue. We also can't thank our event planner Kelly enough. She really brought every single one of our wishes and dreams to life.

Bartram’s Garden was everything I wanted and more. The property was very well maintained and Kate was incredibly knowledgeable and helpful throughout the planning process. Kelly dealt with our constant changes and checked in with me regularly leading up to the day of. The team was fantastic and we’re always available throughout the day.

Kate Conaway with Jamie Hollander Catering made our wedding at Bartram's Garden incredibly special and beautiful. Because of COVID, we postponed, significantly downsized (250 to 24 guests), moved the reception outdoors, and created a layout that allowed for strict social distancing (each couple or family had their own small table.) Kate and Jamie Hollander were with us at every step. Kate understood my vision and ran with it. The intimate, open air wedding was a dream come true especially in such lush, vibrant surroundings. The food was the best of any wedding I've attended. The staff were amazing and very professional. My husband and I want to give a special shout out to Alfonso and Costello, two of our incredible servers, who treated us like royalty! Not only did this wedding celebrate my love for my husband and our marriage but was also such a beautiful memory in a tough year for all our guests. I think small weddings should stay in style. And you won't regret getting married at the beautiful Bartram's Garden with the help of Kate and the rest of the Jamie Hollander staff. Thank you, all! (Photos by Redfield Photography & florals by Hickory Grove Gardens!)

We booked Bartram's Garden for our wedding during the dead of winter when the new pavilion wasn't even installed yet (we literally booked a blank space on top of a hill). We just knew that the pavilion was going to be amazing and we trusted the Jaime Hollander Catering team that they would produce a space that was beautiful. They did not let us down. Bartram's Garden is a hidden gem in the city....peaceful and lush with both city views and river views....you seriously can't ask for more.

We are so happy that we chose to have our wedding at Bartram's Garden! It is a beautiful outdoor venue with a great barn and plenty of space for a reception rent and areas for guests to hang out. The staff were easy to contact, the prices were fair, and the gardens were gorgeous. Highly recommend if you want a simple but lovely outdoor space and flexibility with decor and vendors.

Bartram's Garden was a fantastic place to get married. I'm surprised it hasn't been reviewed yet on WeddingWire. The rustic, wild beauty with the Philadelphia skyline in the background is magical. I absolutely recommend you work with Diverse Catering/ Ken Correll, who manages 90% of the weddings at Bartram's. He knows how it works and how to use the space well, what to do in rain, who to contact about extra time, etc. Beautiful beautiful spot.

Beautiful location! Andrea was very quick to respond to any questions that I had! The day of the wedding, Bill was a great support! We researched many different venues online, and had our list narrowed down to 3 or 4 in our budget that we were going to visit. We visited Bartram's first, and booked our date on the spot! We fell in love with the buildings, the gardens, the view of the city.
It is a picturesque setting for a wedding, and I am so glad that we picked it for our big day!

Amazing, amazing, amazing - I can't even say more. One of the most special places with a great set up. Just loved it.

This location was so unique and beautiful. We felt great giving our money towards care of the facility and providing the garden to be present for years to come. I would make sure if you want pick of your date to book more than a year in advance.

What a magical setting - incredible greenery, wildflowers and butterflies! Great for families/kids, because there is tons of space for them to run around.

Our wedding at Bartram's Garden in October 2018 was just incredible. For us, it was the perfect place to get married! Despite the sudden cold and it being the only rainy day in an entire week, our wedding was a dream! Kate and Lauryn from Jamie Hollander catering were great to work with and were on the phone with us almost every day to coordinate our Plan B the week of the wedding. And despite not being able to have the ceremony and cocktail hour in the historic garden as planned, the grounds where we took pictures and had the ceremony were just beautiful and covered in vibrant fall colors. The fact that there are so many different options within the garden, as well as some really fantastic Plan B rain options, makes the garden so adaptable but still an outdoor wedding.

The Jamie Hollander staff were also a main reason our wedding went off without a hitch. Kate and Lauryn put together a great ceremony Plan B option that we think we liked even more than our original plan! We went by the garden the evening before the wedding to set up some tables and other decor, but other than that, the staff took care of everything! Kate and Lauryn handled everything - from the rest of the set-up, to the evening's schedule, to break down and packing up. Kate was also an essential adviser throughout the planning process and always gave us great recommendations. Sure, as others have mentioned, sometimes we had to send an extra email or give them a call to make sure our questions were answered in the months before the wedding, but when it was something truly important and especially in the month leading up to the big day, Kate and Lauryn were 100% there for us and incredibly responsive. And Lauryn was a rockstar and handled every unexpected incident (nothing major thankfully!) quickly and without any hassle to us. The rest of the Jamie Hollander staff were so amazing as well, bringing us drinks the whole night, making sure we were set, offering to take guest pictures before we even had to ask, breaking down everything at the end of the night, and generally just being so lovely and gracious. All of our guests commented on how amazing and friendly all of the staff were the entire night.

I was so excited to have our wedding at Bartram's and look forward to visiting as often as we can to relive the memories!

We had an incredibly beautiful and meaningful wedding at Bartram's Gardens over Labor Day weekend. We knew when we arrived this is exactly where we wanted to get married.

We worked directly with Kate from the sole catering vendor, Jamie Hollander Catering. Literally everyone RAVED about the food and these are picky New Yorkers! They were able to accommodate food allergies, vegans, kids meals, everything.

You will not find another venue like this and certainly not at this price point in our hometown of New York. Bartram's is free and open to the public and is home to the Sankofa Farm which is an African diasporic farm. They hire folks from within the community, teach about food justice -- you can feel solid about supporting this really special place.

We are a queer couple (LGBTQ) and the venue and staff was incredibly respectful and affirming, they definitely have experience with queer and gay weddings.

Pros: Basically everything! Absolutely stunning venue, primarily wheelchair accessible, they have a golf cart for older guests who can't walk between spaces, literally feels like a secret garden. They even have a stunning 300 year old barn for a ceremony rain location. Who can beat that? The ceremony site they recommend is under a beautiful old tree, the reception site is tented and comes with fans, lighting, etc. They made it very easy as an out of town couple to make a wedding happen here yet still feel unique to us.

Cons: Nearly nothing. Just be aware if it is very hot you may want to get handheld fans for guests during the ceremony, etc. There is no A/C outside of the barn. At times our contact was difficult to reach but she was very on top of things when we did connect. She had great recommendations and was tremendously accommodating and easy to work with.

It was the most spectacular and magical day of our lives and we would 100% recommend Bartram's to any couples looking for an organic, natural, garden vibe wedding.

We had a beautiful wedding at this venue. More so, the price was extremely affordable and the staff are second to none. I run events for a living and have never worked with venue staff who are so accommodating and easy to work with. I can not say enough good things.

When my husband and I first got engaged, the only thing we knew we wanted for sure was a wedding at Bartram's Garden! Living local to Bartram's for many years, it was the perfect mix of Philly flair and natural beauty!

The gardens and city skyline made for the most incredible backdrop for our photos. Absolutely stunning! Everything was perfectly in bloom for our late May wedding.

The price listed includes all our catering and rentals as well! Everything was included - banquet rounds, catering, servers, high tops for cocktail hour, two bars. We didn't have to worry about a thing!

Working with Kelly was great! She was extremely responsive to what we wanted, and helped us make informed decisions on what has worked well in the past when we weren't sure which route to take. My parents were also pretty antsy the entire process, and she was patient and kind answering their questions over email and during our walkthroughs.

The day of our wedding went amazing, and for the most part so smooth! There was some sort of issue when the food came out - I'm still unclear if there was less staff than we were expecting, or if there was something wrong in the kitchen but the table service was very slow. It took away almost 45 minutes of time that our guests were supposed to be on the dance floor. If I had to do it again, I'd probably just switch to a buffet.

I don't blame the Bartram's staff for this at all, but our marriage license did get accidentally thrown out at the end of the night...it was left in the bridal suite onsite during our reception, which staff came and cleaned before the entire bridal party was cleared out for the night. I do wish they had waited until we were all gone, but understand that staff needs to clean up and get home as well! My best advice - make sure your marriage license is packed into a backpack! :) Thank you, Bartram's for an amazing day!

My fiance and I had planned for a garden wedding and found Bartram's Garden. We had really loved this venue, but have had to change our wedding plans recently for personal reasons.

We're trying to help the venue find a new couple for our date! We have July 3, 2022 - it's a Sunday so you get the Sunday catering discount but it's also a holiday weekend where everyone gets Monday 7/4 off so your guests can treat it like a Saturday and travel the following day. The Independence weekend in Philly for your guests is also a blast with lots of festivities in one of the most historic places in the US. We also have locked in catering pricing before the recent increase and the venue will honor that.

If you want to talk about the venue or the date, email me: amy.wu1112 @ gmail.com (no spaces)!

Other pictures: https://www.phillymag.com/philadelphia-wedding/2020/03/05/bartrams-garden-pink-wedding/

https://www.haleyrichterphoto.com/blog/keisha-steve-bartrams-garden-philadelphia-wedding

We chose Bartram's because of the one site option for ceremony and reception, the beauty of the gardens, and the historic nature. The staff was professional and helped make the day flawless. They even suggested ways to make the event special based on past experience. Heavy thunderstorms had been forecasted and so they helped come up with a plan b; however, it never rained. I believe they are in the process of revising their event guidelines and so I'm not sure it will continue to be a good value. However it is a unique and magical place.

Bartram's Garden is a beautiful venue for any event. We had some issues in the process, like lack of responsiveness and communication and falsified information (was told I would have an area to freshen up and keep my personal effects, which I was then told at the event I could not enter). Nothing major though, and still worthwhile in terms of supporting Philadelphia history and horticulture.

We chose the venue for our wedding after our first venue cancelled 2.5 months before our wedding. We loved the historic value and natural beauty of the gardens and felt it was perfect for a rustic chic wedding. Although it down poured on our wedding day, all our guests loved the gardens and felt it was the most beautiful location! The staff were really quick to help us move the outdoor ceremony indoors. Unfortunately their biggest flaw was miscommunication. Not all members seemed to be on the same page which made setting up the day before and the day of very difficult as various information was given prior to these days. A few of the members were very unprofessional towards my husband and a friend that were helping to set up. These same members were very rude at the end of the night as well which made some things stressful. Overall we had a great wedding and if I were to do it again, I would still hold it at Bartram's.

Bartram’s Garden was a gorgeous venue for our wedding reception. The public garden is beautiful and the Philadelphia skyline view is one-of-a-kind. We were so pleased that guests could wander the garden during our cocktail hour and entertain themselves with lawn games set up around the garden during the reception.

That said, there were a few drawbacks to our experience. First, there was construction at the garden leading up to our wedding and the grounds were somewhat disheveled on our wedding day. There were fences up in front of the visitor’s center and barn – not the view we wanted guests to see upon arrival! We would have been less upset about this if we had been told in advance (especially since we booked the venue over a year before our wedding). We had been informed that there would be construction on the gazebo around that time, but we had no idea that there would be construction on the garden itself. We really wish Bartram’s Garden would have communicated this to us. Further, we had difficulty with drop-offs and set-up for our wedding reception. Bartram’s Garden’s point of contact was difficult to reach and unhelpful when our family tried to drop off décor and other items for our reception. He also stored our items in a hard-to-reach location without informing us or the catering staff, which had volunteered to set up our décor, and despite very detailed instructions that we had written for those items’ use and set-up. When the groom’s father realized that the items were missing and sought out the point of contact during the reception to find those items, it was too late to use anything that had been stored. This may have been alleviated if we had combined all of our drop-offs into a single trip and had a designed day-of coordinator to track down our items, but we wish that we hadn’t had to worry about this. Overall, some aspects of communication were very lacking!

Bartrams is a beautiful site and I loved the setting. They offer more time for the money which was great as my family loves to dance. However, the site was marred by construction scaffolding that was unable to be removed. In addition we had asked to make a donation to the gardens and buy a brick for their courtyard but they were unwilling to have the brick available in time for the wedding. They are extremely inflexible with regards to the sites you are allowed to use for a ceremony and reception.