Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Reviews

When we started the planning process we knew we wanted an outdoor wedding and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens immediately caught our eyes. The gardens themselves are gorgeous, and there are numerous options for a ceremony space. We chose to have ours in the Bamboo Garden and we couldn't have been happier. The weather in April was perfect. There are also two options for an indoor reception area. While only one is included in the base rental price, you can opt to rent the second for an additional fee. We rented both and used one to get ready in. They also have a golf cart you can rent, which was super helpful when we were going around with our photographers.
The event coordinator, Mischella, was super helpful and very prompt in her email responses. She made sure that the tables and chairs that were included in the rental were set up exactly as we wanted them to be. She also made sure we had several options for a backup ceremony space just incase of inclement weather. They are also very flexible on which vendors you use, but I would recommend asking for their preferred vendor list. These vendors, most of which we used, are excellent and all of them offer some sort of discount. Overall, I highly recommend them.

I loved having our wedding at Kanapaha! There were several options for outdoor ceremony locations, and plenty of room in the main building for the reception. Our guests loved exploring the grounds before the ceremony, and kept commenting on how beautiful it was. The only minor issue we had was the reception rooms got a little warm after hours, but phone calls were made and it was quickly fixed. I would highly suggest this venue for anyone looking for a beautiful setting at a reasonable price!

We just got married at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in November and they were wonderful to work with. Adam (the former event manager) was responsive to my million emails about different date availability. He took us on a nice tour around the gardens to find the perfect spot. When he left, Michelle checked in to make sure we turned in our layouts on time.

As far as location goes, it was beautiful and amazing. We really wanted to be out in nature for our ceremony and this offered the best option in Gainesville. We didn't even need flowers on the rows of chairs at our site. We chose the wedding oak. The weather in November was perfect. We had the reception inside in the room with all the windows. We loved having the kitchen for our cocktail hour and people were able to hang on the porch. Overall, I would highly recommend Kanapaha Botanical Gardens!

Very lenient on your choice in vendors and you can do a lot with decor very little restrictions on what you an do:) beautiful setting, very friendly staff! Outdoor chairs for ceremony are nice but I would recommend renting your own indoor chairs;) I loved having my wedding here!!

After looking at a few venues for our wedding, we decided on Kanapaha. We already loved this place and can't imagine having had our wedding anywhere else. The staff were easy to talk with and get things set up for us. Hurricane Irma blew through a week and a half before our wedding. I was nervous about how things would look but they worked tirelessly to get the gardens back to as normal as possible and did an amazing job with the set up we had requested. The employee who stayed through the night until we were done was very kind and helpful (especially when the AC turned off for a little while!)

We had a late afternoon outdoor ceremony on the Balanoff lawn and it was beautiful and not too hot, despite being early June. Kanapaha is a great option if you're looking for an outdoor venue and their summer house also has a couple of nice rooms for an indoor reception or ceremony. The porch makes a great cocktail hour space, and your guests can walk around the gardens during that time as well.

The staff will set up your chairs and tables for your ceremony, which is especially easy if you have a caterer who has worked with Kanapaha Botanical Gardens before. There is also a lot of parking for guests, in case you plan on having a large number of people in attendance.

There is a lot of space at the gardens, so I definitely recommend visiting them and making an appointment with one of their gardeners, who can offer some guidance about the space. You have the option of renting a golf cart for your event if you choose to use one of the spaces farther away from the summer house (though there are some beautiful spaces near the main entrance).

While the gardens remain open to the public during rentals, no one disturbed us during our ceremony or reception and we felt that the gardens offered an intimate and beautiful space for our small ceremony.

Kanapaha is a beautiful venue. The staff was extremely helpful and our guests raved about how pretty and peaceful it was.
My one regret was not taking more time to walk the gardens.

I love kanapaha! It was absolutely beautiful. Given, we didn't get our deposit back but that was our fault. We kinda ruined the golf cart. However, the event coordinators were more than helpful and the staff was great! Is recommend it to anyone who wants an outdoor wedding.

Absolutely beautiful site for the ceremony and reception. The wedding oak is a perfect location for a ceremony and the garden allowed us to use their chairs for the ceremony. Staff and coordinators were very helpful and flexible. They made sure everything was ready for the tent providers and caterers. The setting is beautifully maintained and the ceremony felt very private. Highly recommend this site!

Kanapaha is a beautiful place for a wedding. They also provide all the tables and chairs for the reception and ceremony, and set them up according to your instruction. I was very pleased and everyone said how pretty it was. It was a bit pricey, but we decided to go with them anyway because it's such a unique venue.

Kanapaha is a fantastic place to get married! The options given for rental sites are very reasonable. What my fiance and I did was get a deal for the indoor/outdoor rental - only $1084 for 5 hours and unlimited use of the conference room, half of the spring house backporch, the pavilion just outside of the spring house and the huge old oak tree next to the pavilion. The staff at Kanapaha (Tammy Teckler, mainly) is very helpful in getting you set up for the ceremony by setting up all the required tables and chairs and some of the rules that come on their FAQ aren't set in stone, so they can be very flexible with you. My wedding was absolutely breathtaking in the gardens - the best day of my life and I thank the staff at Kanapaha for providing such an amazing venue! An AMAZING and beautiful place to get married - HIGHLY recommended :) Wonderful, just wonderful!

Time of day is very important for the Gainesville Summer! We chose October and it was still VERY hot.

Amazing location for a Wedding or reception! made for some Great photos!

I recently had my wedding here overall terrific venue However the wedding associate changed 3 times while planning my wedding which was frustrating they were friendly and helped me with my multiple questions they also set all chairs up exactly how I wanted etc. However we rented a golfcart from them they gave me a contract explaining how to use the golfcart but never had me sign it then during the wedding night apparently someone wrecked the golfcart make sure you take pics of the golf cart and facility when you are done using or you may not get your $400 deposit back like I didnt. No one called emailed or told me that the golfcart was damaged the garden just took it to get repairs and when I called to get my deposit back told me I wont be getting it back since the golf cart was wrecked and my caterers ( OMIS Kitchen didnt clean properly) When I asked to see the golfcart they explained it was already fixed very frustrating since its now a week after my wedding where the proof that this did not happen afterward? also they threw away my paper lanterns that they had agreed to leave up for the grand event to pick up the next day so those were distroyed When my husband spoke to the wedding associate at the garden ( April) She explained she "didnt want to waste anymore time on the issue " Crazinesss I would tell you to maybe find another venue or take pictures!!!!

This vendor was very helpful and accommodating, they supplied me with any information I needed and were very nice!