Hakone Estate and Gardens

A great place to have a very intimate wedding. Very accommodating

I searched high and low from San Diego all the way to Sacramento for my wedding location. I live in Los Angeles and had a plethora of beautiful choices for my ceremony, but when I came across Hakone Gardens, I KNEW it would be THE PLACE for my ceremony. Kyongmi, the event coordinator at the Gardens was more than helpful. She was extremely knowledgable, warm, thoughtful, and made me actually feel like a "real person" and not just another bride. She took the time to chat with me about my family, our cultural values, and the things we'd be incorporating into my wedding ceremony that reflected my heritage and my fiance's heritage. She answered every single email from me (and there were a LOT) promptly and efficiently. The Gardens themselves were absolutely breathtaking! I visited Hakone Gardens in the springtime when everything was in full bloom, and I was worried it wouldn't be as beautiful in the winter (when my ceremony took place). I was completely blown away by all the colors of the foliage. Even though there weren't any flower blossoms, the colors of the fall leaves were absolutely amazing!!!!!! I HIGHLY recommend Hakone Gardens! All my guests absolutely LOVED it!

The garden is beautiful and peaceful. All natural beauty. We fell in love as soon as we saw it. We had heard of Hakone but never visited until it was recommended to us for our wedding. We now plan on returning again and again.

We are so glad that we decided to have our ceremony at Hakone Gardens. It is a beautiful natural setting (just what we were looking for), and the staff and wedding coordinator (Kyongmi Ader) are so kind and professional. Leading up to the wedding, Kyongmi was extremely responsive to e-mails and helpful in answering questions and providing suggestions; the Gardens also accommodated our slightly larger guest list (200, which ultimately turned out to be 170), which exceeded the normal 150 guest maximum, and the timeframe in which we needed to arrive at the Gardens to get ready and take pictures. On the day of the event, the staff was totally accommodating and helpful. We were very pleased with the bridal changing room facilities which were, blissfully, air conditioned (especially appreciated in light of the 97 degree heat). Our close relatives and family ended up crashing the room to cool down before the ceremony got started :) Our only wish was that there could have been another air conditioned room for people to hang out in so that the wedding party could have stayed separate from the rest of the guests - otherwise, we were completely satisfied and would recommend the venue without reservation.

Note: We did not use the facilities for our reception, and we did need to pay the full ceremony + reception price (pretty expensive) because it was a high-season Saturday...but ultimately, it was totally worth it.

This is such a great venue, and reasonably priced. It's tucked away in Saratoga. The grounds are so gorgeous.
The staff was also incredible and helpful, and friendly. I definitely recommend this place to anyone getting married. Small intimate weddings are best, like 100+ guests.

Hakone Gardens is a beautiful Japanese garden set in the hills above Saratoga, and it's really stunning. The attention to detail is amazing, I guess that's why Memoirs of a Geisha was partly filmed there. The service and staff are first rate, and I highly recommend it for your ceremony.

Nice park. Felt a little misled, so when you book your venue, make sure everything is clear. I was told that I got the whole park to myself, but as the day came near, other visitors were welcomed to the park. On the day of, guest were looking at the tea house, there was no control who could or could not go through. My guest had to tell the visitors that there was a wedding going on.

We just got married here this last August and had our dream wedding!
It is a bit pricey but worth every penny. I really recommend paying for
the extra hour for the reception. The garden is so tranquil and an amazing
back drop for pictures! Your guests will agree it is a special and unique place
for an outdoor wedding...

We used vendors from the preferred list. The Events of Excellece for catering
and KI Photography. Both exceeded our expectations, such a pleasure to work
with! Happy planning :)

This would be a great spot for a wedding. I say this with authority since it was my number one choice of the 11 venues I visited. However, my boyfriend wasn't as enamored with it as me, so I withdrew it from the running

The Good
The gardens are simply beautiful. They would provide a breathtaking and magical backdrop for a wedding.

Talk about a great theme! You could hang paper lanterns from the trees over the reception area, have your bridesmaids dress in kimonos. incorporate cherry blossom motifs into the invitations, and line the aisle with Japanese parasols.

The Bad
This was one of the most expensive venues we looked at. The upside is that if you spend over $2500 (and you will) you get a tax deduction on the rest.

The Cultural Center only holds 40 people for a reception, so the reception would basically be held outside at night. Although I was assured that it wouldn't be cold in the summer months I had my doubts and was planning to rent some outdoor restaurant heaters. The dance floor would be inside the Cultural Center and the reception would be outside so there would be this weird separation of activities.

Still I think it would be hard to have a more memorable wedding than one here.

It's a beautiful place that is very very popular for a small (or on the small side) intimate garden wedding. My first choice date (a Saturday in June) was booked more than 14 months ahead. April is a popular wedding month because the wisteria, irises and cherry blossoms are in bloom.

Lots of restrictions and rules to follow. If you go off their recommended caterer list, you have to pay extra. For decorating, you can't tape or nail, so your best bet is hanging. We used wire and paper clips to hang up colored lanterns of various shapes and sizes. The staff is unbelievably helpful and will go above and beyond for you. Tables and white chairs are included in the rental price.

The guests really loved the wedding. They liked how they could walk around and explore the garden during "down time" so they weren't bored. The little kids could run around without being distracting, at a hotel you can't really have kids doing that. One guest commented that our wedding was very "zen," calming and relaxing.

I give it four stars because it's a beautiful place, easy to get to. I took off one star because it's expensive to rent, has very restrictive rules and restrictive time. For an evening wedding, guests can be there only from 5-9pm.

I attended a wedding this past weekend at Hakone Gardens and the Japanese garden was wonderful! What a great place to get married and you don't have to walk far to get amazing scenary for photos! They had the ceremony at 5 pm which is after the park closed to the public so we had the whole place to ourselves! Dinner was also served outdoors and the weather couldn't have been nicer!

I recommend to checkout this venue to any upcoming bride!

Very beautiful and intimate Japanese garden surrounded by redwods and overlooking the Bay Area. The movie Memoirs of a Geisha filmed part of it there. Because its a non-profit foundation open to the public, the times available for ceremony there are limited. Part of the fee can qualify for a tax deduction due to contribution to charity.

Stunning Location!