Reviews for Royal Botanical Gardens

Reviews

+37 User photos

• Featured

  Kelsey L. Sent on 26/09/2022
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
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    5.0
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    5.0
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    5.0

  A Dream Wedding

  I honestly may run out our space if I write everything but I will try my best to summarize.
  
  There is not one negative thing I could say about the Royal Botanical Gardens! We had our ceremony in the Rose Garden tent and our reception in the Auditorium with 125+ guests.
  
  I knew I wanted my wedding at RBG. So much so, we didn't even look anywhere else. They were amazing from day one to provide us with answers to every question we had, especially during the uncertainty of planning a wedding during the pandemic. Our wedding coordinators were fantastic at addressing any concerns and changes we wanted to make.
  
  We went with the Botanical Package and the food and wine options were top-notch - a real gourmet experience. Our guests loved having a meal selection, especially the vegetarians!
  
  Everything was PERFECT - the décor, the meals, the serving staff, the coordinators (day-of and leading up to), etc. It was a dream come true. Our guests especially loved every aspect and gave so much praise to the beauty of the venue.
  
  If you're still looking for a breathtaking venue that will produce the most gorgeous backgrounds for your wedding photos, this is the place!
  
  Thank you RBG and staff for everlasting memories - truly a dream come true!

  I honestly may run out our space if I write everything but I will try my best to summarize.
  
  There is not one negative thing I could say about the Royal Botanical Gardens! We had our ceremony in the Rose Garden tent and our reception in the Auditorium with 125+ guests.
  
  I knew I wanted my wedding at RBG. So much so, we didn't even look anywhere else. They were amazing from day one to provide us with answers to every question we had, especially during the uncertainty of planning a wedding during the pandemic. Our wedding coordinators were fantastic at addressing any concerns and changes we wanted to make.
  
  We went with the Botanical Package and the food and wine options were top-notch - a real gourmet experience. Our guests loved having a meal selection, especially the vegetarians!
  
  Everything was PERFECT - the décor, the meals, the serving staff, the coordinators (day-of and leading up to), etc. It was a dream come true. Our guests especially loved every aspect and gave so much praise to the beauty of the venue.
  
  If you're still looking for a breathtaking venue that will produce the most gorgeous backgrounds for your wedding photos, this is the place!
  
  Thank you RBG and staff for everlasting memories - truly a dream come true!

  • +3 Photos
• Kourtney M. Sent on 23/10/2023
  4.2 out of 5 rating

  4.2
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    5.0
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  Lovely venue!

  My husband and I fell in love with the venue spaces immediately.
  Couldn’t have imagined our day anywhere else.

  My husband and I fell in love with the venue spaces immediately.
  Couldn’t have imagined our day anywhere else.
• Kate Sent on 04/07/2023
  3.2 out of 5 rating

  3.2
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    4.0
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    3.0
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    2.0

  You do it for the Gardens

  When my husband and I first viewed the RBG we were completely captivated by the gardens. It was an easy yes for us to book our ceremony there. We paid everything up front as payment is due when booking.
  
  From the time we booked to the time of our wedding we still had over a year. In that time the lady we were working with I guess moved on and we only found out about this 3 months prior to the wedding, and that was because I reached out to add more time for our ceremony. Then I was Informed. My partner and I were satisfied with the RBG - we just didn’t like how with the new people we were working with elements previously promised were changed. For example, the RBG only allows a certain number of people to stay and take photos- if you want more than the allocated number it is $11 / person, we were told we had to purchase liability insurance or else the wedding could not take place, and we did not have access to take photos whenever we wanted that day you have to book a timeframe.
  
  Now, the RBG was gracious enough to honour our original contract and keep to what we were told during our booking process. It was just stressful on the time between being told all the new rules and them checking if they could honour what was previously told to us. If you choose them just make sure you keep a record of everything in writing.
  
  Otherwise, we had an absolutely perfect ceremony and everything worked out as it should. We did enjoy our experience overall and time there.

  When my husband and I first viewed the RBG we were completely captivated by the gardens. It was an easy yes for us to book our ceremony there. We paid everything up front as payment is due when booking.
  
  From the time we booked to the time of our wedding we still had over a year. In that time the lady we were working with I guess moved on and we only found out about this 3 months prior to the wedding, and that was because I reached out to add more time for our ceremony. Then I was Informed. My partner and I were satisfied with the RBG - we just didn’t like how with the new people we were working with elements previously promised were changed. For example, the RBG only allows a certain number of people to stay and take photos- if you want more than the allocated number it is $11 / person, we were told we had to purchase liability insurance or else the wedding could not take place, and we did not have access to take photos whenever we wanted that day you have to book a timeframe.
  
  Now, the RBG was gracious enough to honour our original contract and keep to what we were told during our booking process. It was just stressful on the time between being told all the new rules and them checking if they could honour what was previously told to us. If you choose them just make sure you keep a record of everything in writing.
  
  Otherwise, we had an absolutely perfect ceremony and everything worked out as it should. We did enjoy our experience overall and time there.
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• Margaret M. Sent on 24/05/2023
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
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    5.0

  Fabulous venue

  Got married at the Rock Gardens at the RBG - such a beautiful venue for the courtyard wedding and reception

  Got married at the Rock Gardens at the RBG - such a beautiful venue for the courtyard wedding and reception

  • +6 Photos

  Royal Botanical Gardens's reply:

  Hello Margaret and Tosh,
  
  A big congratulations to you both! Thank you for hosting your special moments here with us at RBG. We wish you both endless happiness and hope to see you around the gardens again soon!
  
  Kindest Regards,
  Amanda Horvat & Brookelyn Archer
• Alex B. Sent on 14/10/2022
  2 out of 5 rating

  2.0
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    1.0
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    2.0
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    3.0 out of 5 rating
    3.0

  Very unprofessional, service was below par, food was below par for price

  Well, our wedding "Planner" the individual assigned to us to help plan, was atrocious, we had to keep notes of what we said to her, she would ask us the same questions again and again, nothing was very clear it was VERY stressful, she was a nightmare. I simply wanted to know how big the dancefloor would be at the rock garden with max capacity, this was a NIGHTMARE to figure out, could I fit 10 people? 40? 100? ZERO indication.
  
  Then the day before we get a day-of wedding planner, she was great. No complaints.
  The day we toured, we met with the Wedding Sales MAnager, she was great, this was 1 WEEK before the wedding, when we FINALLY got photos of what the venue would look like.
  
  The food was not good, it was fine at the tasting, was about 60% of what the tasting was. The beef wellington was dry and for having a bunch of foodies, I was embarassed. The appetizers if you could find them, were few and far between, for the price we paid, the fact that half the guests didn't even try some of them was an embarassment.
  
  Then our reception finished early, so we wanted to open the bar, well there goes another FEW GRAND. I mean I would have agreed to close the bar early if I knew they would charge this, my previous wedding earlier in the year with family was a NO-CHARGE open-bar early open at the elora mills. This venue charged $10 per person + $15 a drink. for 30 minutes which was THOUSANDS of dollars, I find this hard to believe considering our average age was like 45 and half of them hardly drink.
  
  Then the table service, MOST of the wine bottles were empty the entire dinner, I had to go and give the bar manager a large tip to get her to replace all the bottles, WHAT AN EMBARASSMENT!!! the groom, had to go and get them to do their job!!
  
  The worst part for me was you want a rye and ginger? Well here is 90% ginger-ale and 10% rye, in a WATER GLASS! not a cocktail glass (which were right there), in a WATER GLASS. No doubles get served.
  The shot glasses were not available 50% of the time because they only had 20!!! so I could not even do shots with all my cousins! SO EMBARASSING!
  You cannot smoke anywhere near the building, so my 90 year old family members had to use their disabiltiy devices to walk 100 meters to smoke! NO SEATING FOR THEM!
  None of the fireplaces outside were on!
  They allowed all the wedding guests to come inside and see the bride and groom BEFORE the WEDDING!
  
  The Lighting! O my god the lighting was terrible, their lights DO NOT DIM, you get full 100% lights for your dinner! they had a massive TV screen BLASTING white light across the whole room! I had to get ANGRY with the manager for her to finally turn it off (she siad only the A/V technician can and he left) WHO WOULD WANT a 20 foot TV screen blasting WHITE LIGHT across all your faces! WHO doesn't have dimmable lights in a $30,000 wedding????
  
  Overall, just very angry with them, very unprofessional and I have a very sour taste in my mouth after spending all this money.
  
  HIRE A PROPER CHEF
  HIRE A PROPER WEDDING PLANNER
  PAY FOR DIMMABLE LIGHTS
  USE COCKTAIL GLASSES FOR COCKTAILS
  MAKE SURE YOUR STAFF SMILE and our PLEASANT!
  HAVE accessible SMOKING area for Disabled people!
  BE CLEAR WITH EXPECATIONS on Seating and Dancefloor size!
  TURN ON OUR OUTDOOR FIREplaces when its 10 degrees out
  DON'T let guests inside before the ceremony!
  HAVE YOUR HEAD OF WEDDING PLANNING reach out for feedback so we can tell you how terrible the whole experience was!

  Well, our wedding "Planner" the individual assigned to us to help plan, was atrocious, we had to keep notes of what we said to her, she would ask us the same questions again and again, nothing was very clear it was VERY stressful, she was a nightmare. I simply wanted to know how big the dancefloor would be at the rock garden with max capacity, this was a NIGHTMARE to figure out, could I fit 10 people? 40? 100? ZERO indication.
  
  Then the day before we get a day-of wedding planner, she was great. No complaints.
  The day we toured, we met with the Wedding Sales MAnager, she was great, this was 1 WEEK before the wedding, when we FINALLY got photos of what the venue would look like.
  
  The food was not good, it was fine at the tasting, was about 60% of what the tasting was. The beef wellington was dry and for having a bunch of foodies, I was embarassed. The appetizers if you could find them, were few and far between, for the price we paid, the fact that half the guests didn't even try some of them was an embarassment.
  
  Then our reception finished early, so we wanted to open the bar, well there goes another FEW GRAND. I mean I would have agreed to close the bar early if I knew they would charge this, my previous wedding earlier in the year with family was a NO-CHARGE open-bar early open at the elora mills. This venue charged $10 per person + $15 a drink. for 30 minutes which was THOUSANDS of dollars, I find this hard to believe considering our average age was like 45 and half of them hardly drink.
  
  Then the table service, MOST of the wine bottles were empty the entire dinner, I had to go and give the bar manager a large tip to get her to replace all the bottles, WHAT AN EMBARASSMENT!!! the groom, had to go and get them to do their job!!
  
  The worst part for me was you want a rye and ginger? Well here is 90% ginger-ale and 10% rye, in a WATER GLASS! not a cocktail glass (which were right there), in a WATER GLASS. No doubles get served.
  The shot glasses were not available 50% of the time because they only had 20!!! so I could not even do shots with all my cousins! SO EMBARASSING!
  You cannot smoke anywhere near the building, so my 90 year old family members had to use their disabiltiy devices to walk 100 meters to smoke! NO SEATING FOR THEM!
  None of the fireplaces outside were on!
  They allowed all the wedding guests to come inside and see the bride and groom BEFORE the WEDDING!
  
  The Lighting! O my god the lighting was terrible, their lights DO NOT DIM, you get full 100% lights for your dinner! they had a massive TV screen BLASTING white light across the whole room! I had to get ANGRY with the manager for her to finally turn it off (she siad only the A/V technician can and he left) WHO WOULD WANT a 20 foot TV screen blasting WHITE LIGHT across all your faces! WHO doesn't have dimmable lights in a $30,000 wedding????
  
  Overall, just very angry with them, very unprofessional and I have a very sour taste in my mouth after spending all this money.
  
  HIRE A PROPER CHEF
  HIRE A PROPER WEDDING PLANNER
  PAY FOR DIMMABLE LIGHTS
  USE COCKTAIL GLASSES FOR COCKTAILS
  MAKE SURE YOUR STAFF SMILE and our PLEASANT!
  HAVE accessible SMOKING area for Disabled people!
  BE CLEAR WITH EXPECATIONS on Seating and Dancefloor size!
  TURN ON OUR OUTDOOR FIREplaces when its 10 degrees out
  DON'T let guests inside before the ceremony!
  HAVE YOUR HEAD OF WEDDING PLANNING reach out for feedback so we can tell you how terrible the whole experience was!
• Samantha-Rose Sent on 26/09/2022
  4.6 out of 5 rating

  4.6
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    4.0
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    4.0 out of 5 rating
    4.0

  Beautiful venue!

  The venue was beautiful! We got a ton of compliments about the food and the staff being great.

  The venue was beautiful! We got a ton of compliments about the food and the staff being great.
• Shannon O. Sent on 08/03/2023
  2.6 out of 5 rating

  2.6
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    3.0 out of 5 rating
    3.0
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    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0
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    3.0 out of 5 rating
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    3.0
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    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0

  Beautiful Rock Garden

  We got married last September at the RBG. We chose the rock garden for our reception. We fell in love with the venue and the gardens immediately and this is why we chose it for our wedding. When it comes to the communication with the planning this venue was not to our satisfaction. We found it extremely difficult to reach anyone by email and phone at times. Prices that were given to us at the time of booking were not always honoured when it came down to picking things like extending the night by an hour along with open bar and the rental of the projector screen. It was double the cost from our room rental to extend the night by 1 hour and the price per drink per person was not worth it. Sadly we had to end the night at midnight because of this.
  Luckily we were grateful they honored our food package that we chose at the time of booking and had in fact been updated after we booked. We wish we tried more of the food we were picking at the taste testing. We didn't get to try the late night food options either as they ran out of time which was unfortunate, so we had to pick blindly. They do not set up anything in this hall example centerpieces or any kind of decor. You will need to hire someone to do that for you. There is also no bridal suite or lockbox which we were disappointed to hear. Regarding the menu for vegans and vegetarians, we had an extremely hard time dealing with this issue. We had 1 vegan guest and 10 vegetarians. They would not accommodate our 1 vegan guest that we had. We either had to pick all vegetarian meals or all vegan meals. It was a nightmare dealing with this issue. Same went for the children's meals. You had to pick the same for everyone. Also they charge a meal for kids of all ages. My nephew who was not even 2 years old at the time was charged for a kids meal which in my opinion kids under 2 should be free. Make sure you tell them the guests who will not be drinking as their price will be lower then people who will be drinking; this was not mentioned to us and I was glad I asked (if you got the package with open bar). This hall does not have dimmable lights which is a disappointment for the first dance and father daughter dance and also throughout dinner. You would think they would have them. Pretty important. It's either all on or all off. Our Wedding cake came out very late at 1130. I had to go into the kitchen to ask them where it was. It's like they forgot. It was just sitting there ready to go out. A lot of the guests were leaving at the time and didn't get a chance to eat it. We also didn't hear the late night station announcement which they were supposed to do. I recommend upgrade to coloured napkins and runners for your cake table and welcome table. They really do make a big difference.
  All in all the venue is beautiful, the grounds are stunning, we were happy with our wedding as our guests were but there were some downfalls like I mentioned above that we were not happy with. On the side note, Anna is wonderful to deal with.

  We got married last September at the RBG. We chose the rock garden for our reception. We fell in love with the venue and the gardens immediately and this is why we chose it for our wedding. When it comes to the communication with the planning this venue was not to our satisfaction. We found it extremely difficult to reach anyone by email and phone at times. Prices that were given to us at the time of booking were not always honoured when it came down to picking things like extending the night by an hour along with open bar and the rental of the projector screen. It was double the cost from our room rental to extend the night by 1 hour and the price per drink per person was not worth it. Sadly we had to end the night at midnight because of this.
  Luckily we were grateful they honored our food package that we chose at the time of booking and had in fact been updated after we booked. We wish we tried more of the food we were picking at the taste testing. We didn't get to try the late night food options either as they ran out of time which was unfortunate, so we had to pick blindly. They do not set up anything in this hall example centerpieces or any kind of decor. You will need to hire someone to do that for you. There is also no bridal suite or lockbox which we were disappointed to hear. Regarding the menu for vegans and vegetarians, we had an extremely hard time dealing with this issue. We had 1 vegan guest and 10 vegetarians. They would not accommodate our 1 vegan guest that we had. We either had to pick all vegetarian meals or all vegan meals. It was a nightmare dealing with this issue. Same went for the children's meals. You had to pick the same for everyone. Also they charge a meal for kids of all ages. My nephew who was not even 2 years old at the time was charged for a kids meal which in my opinion kids under 2 should be free. Make sure you tell them the guests who will not be drinking as their price will be lower then people who will be drinking; this was not mentioned to us and I was glad I asked (if you got the package with open bar). This hall does not have dimmable lights which is a disappointment for the first dance and father daughter dance and also throughout dinner. You would think they would have them. Pretty important. It's either all on or all off. Our Wedding cake came out very late at 1130. I had to go into the kitchen to ask them where it was. It's like they forgot. It was just sitting there ready to go out. A lot of the guests were leaving at the time and didn't get a chance to eat it. We also didn't hear the late night station announcement which they were supposed to do. I recommend upgrade to coloured napkins and runners for your cake table and welcome table. They really do make a big difference.
  All in all the venue is beautiful, the grounds are stunning, we were happy with our wedding as our guests were but there were some downfalls like I mentioned above that we were not happy with. On the side note, Anna is wonderful to deal with.

  • +4 Photos

  Royal Botanical Gardens's reply:

  Hello Shannon,
  
  We appreciate you taking the time to provide a thorough review of your experience at Royal Botanical Gardens and we are very glad to hear that enjoyed the venue.
  
  I will be sure to pass your compliments to Anna. While on the subject of our team I am excited to share that we have new management, new product, and new procedures to provide exceptional experiences. Thank you for your detailed notes, I will be sure to share with our team.
  
  Wishing you and your partner all the best.
  
  Kindest Regards,
  Brookelyn Archer
  Manager, Sales
• Jigisha P. Sent on 20/10/2022
  2.4 out of 5 rating

  2.4
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    4.0
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    1.0 out of 5 rating
    1.0
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    2.0 out of 5 rating
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    3.0 out of 5 rating
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    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0

  Wouldn't recommend to brides-to-be

  We decided to go with RBG when we visited the venue shortly after we were engaged in August 2021. We had 2 ceremonies planned because my partner and I are from different cultural backgrounds. It took them almost 2 months and repeated emails to respond to us with a clear answer as to whether we would be able to have both ceremonies and reception in the Rock Garden. They responded back (2 months later) with a quote of 8k extra if we were to have both in the same space. This should have been the first indication of how things are run with RBG. We ended up choosing to have the ceremonies in the Rose Garden Tent and reception in the Rock Garden.
  From start to finish, RBG was my biggest stressor with wedding planning. Their response times were abysmal, with lack of preparation for meetings on their part. We had been quoted a certain amount for harvest table rentals which they tried to increase by about 50% in the lead up to the wedding. Prior to this we had to repeatedly ask for a final price estimate which I now realize they seem to delay on purpose to hike up prices. I wouldn't personally blame any single person but I would say the event department does seem badly managed.
  
  On the positive side, working with the ceremony coordinator Amanda Horvat was lovely. She is very organized and helped everything move smoothly.
  All in all, our wedding day was wonderful because I hired a wedding coordinator to smooth the processes of the day.
  

  We decided to go with RBG when we visited the venue shortly after we were engaged in August 2021. We had 2 ceremonies planned because my partner and I are from different cultural backgrounds. It took them almost 2 months and repeated emails to respond to us with a clear answer as to whether we would be able to have both ceremonies and reception in the Rock Garden. They responded back (2 months later) with a quote of 8k extra if we were to have both in the same space. This should have been the first indication of how things are run with RBG. We ended up choosing to have the ceremonies in the Rose Garden Tent and reception in the Rock Garden.
  From start to finish, RBG was my biggest stressor with wedding planning. Their response times were abysmal, with lack of preparation for meetings on their part. We had been quoted a certain amount for harvest table rentals which they tried to increase by about 50% in the lead up to the wedding. Prior to this we had to repeatedly ask for a final price estimate which I now realize they seem to delay on purpose to hike up prices. I wouldn't personally blame any single person but I would say the event department does seem badly managed.
  
  On the positive side, working with the ceremony coordinator Amanda Horvat was lovely. She is very organized and helped everything move smoothly.
  All in all, our wedding day was wonderful because I hired a wedding coordinator to smooth the processes of the day.
  
• Sara M. Sent on 04/10/2021
  1 out of 5 rating

  1.0
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  Worst ever.

  Don't even bother reaching out to them. Their facility is gorgeous, but their team is awful and unprofessional. They were still confirming details the morning of my wedding. They treated me as a bother, and frequently left my questions unanswered. It really felt like they had never done a wedding before. One of the employees told my guests that the bar wasn't opening after dinner and the event was over. Honestly, go anywhere but here.

  Don't even bother reaching out to them. Their facility is gorgeous, but their team is awful and unprofessional. They were still confirming details the morning of my wedding. They treated me as a bother, and frequently left my questions unanswered. It really felt like they had never done a wedding before. One of the employees told my guests that the bar wasn't opening after dinner and the event was over. Honestly, go anywhere but here.

  Royal Botanical Gardens's reply:

  I'm sorry to hear that your experience at Royal Botanical Gardens did not match your expectations. We would be happy to have a conversation about your event to better understand your concerns. Looking forward to connecting - Gabe at extension 237.
• Jessica I. Sent on 14/09/2021
  4 out of 5 rating

  4.0
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    4.0 out of 5 rating
    4.0
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    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0
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    5.0 out of 5 rating
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    4.0 out of 5 rating
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    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Great to work with

  They were flexible; helpful and very kind to work with during the pandemic

  They were flexible; helpful and very kind to work with during the pandemic

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