Harry P. Leu Gardens

THe venue and the gardens are stunning, we had the opportunity to look round a few days before the wedding day. On the day itself it was raining, as a UK bride I was used to it, but really wasn't looking forward to getting the dress wet. On arrival I was told that we could have the ceremony inside, which turned out to be just as beautiful as having it outside. The staff were friendly and helpful.

I hafd my ceremony at the rose garden and it was beautiful. It was a hot day but well worth it. The reception was in the Orchid room. I felt the reception was too short. I would have liked it to be longer.

When I saw the Leu Gardens I knew our wedding would take place there. The ceremony in the Rose garden was hot but beautiful. The reception was perfect. They say they can fit 180 in the camelia room but I think that'd be a pretty tight squeeze. Same for the Rose garden. We had about 100 guests so we definitely did not have that problem. The only thing I wish could be different would be time... I would have loved for my reception to be longer. 4 hours goes by far too quickly. It also would have been nice to start my ceremony a bit later since it was so hot. Other than that it was perfect. I can't imagine a better place for my wedding to have taken place. It's also a great value. I am from Georgia and had my wedding in Orlando because most of our families were going to have to travel anyway. We wanted to have the wedding someplace where there was plenty for everyone to do. I checked on some locations in Georgia, such as botanical gardens and the Leu gardens were hands down the least expensive and equally if not more beautiful. If you want your wedding there start planning early. They book up fast. Especially if you want a Saturday evening spot. We ended up having ours on a Sunday. Good luck.

They are very strict with any rule that they have. But they are there for a reason and with the proper wedding planner who knows the venue you can navigate smoothy.

We had our wedding reception here and it was absolutely gorgeous. Only problem we had was with meeting the coordinator of the Gardens. It was a bit difficult since they rarely meet after 4:30pm. Other than that, the room was amazing and we loved the outside areas:)

Beautufil location to have a wedding!

Leu Gardens is beautiful and it was superbly so on our wedding day. The staff is super friendly and they were very accomodating. I understand why people reserve this location a year in advance!! The pictures came out beautifully and the guest enjoyed the scenery.

We held our ceremony here, but not our reception (which we held at my parent's home). For the price compared to other areas around town that host outdoor weddings, we felt this was reasonable. Especially since they provide chairs here, which other outdoor venues did not. Leu Gardens also gives you a choice of 4 wedding spots within the park, provides a Bride's and a Groom's separate dressing room, gives you a separate rehearsal day, and to top it all off the bride and groom get a year's membership to the Gardens. We also brought in our own musicians, which they accommodated nicely. Overall was a great experience!

Leu Gardens is one of the most beautiful places to have your wedding. Personally, I wanted rose garden theme. In having our wedding there, we did not have to do much for decor as the grounds (Rose Garden in particular) is surrounded with tons of beautiful roses. As many of our guests were coming from out of state, we did not want them to drive all over the place and risk the chance of getting lost. Being able to have both ceremony and reception in one location was also important. Our elderly guests were given a ride to the area where the ceremony took place which was really nice. Leu Gardens does have a number of restrictions, but it was worth it in the end. All in all, the staff was pretty nice for the most part.

My wedding on May, 09, 2010 went off without a hitch in part because the staff at the Leu Gardens was fantastic! They were professional and informative and answered all of my questions each time I called. On the day of they aided some of our elderly guests in getting to the wedding site and followed our set up requests to the letter. I would highly recommend Leu Gardens as a place to have both your ceremony and reception. The Gardens are beautiful and we didn't end up spending a lot of money on ceremony decoration simply because it was already beautiful!!!

Leu Gardens is beautiful, but they aren't easy to work with. They have very strict rules regarding timing and it's not easy to set up when you have just an hour or so. It also rained on our wedding day and we didn't get to take photos in the garden and unfortunately we didn't get any money back even though we didn't get to have our ceremony outside.

we had a perfect wedding hereit was so beautifulthe only restriction is the timethey are very limited and restricted on your time

Harry P. Leu Gardens are beautiful. I had a gorgeous wedding simply because the scenery is gorgeous. The disadvantages are that it's so expensive and that you have such limited time in the gardens (especially if you have a 4pm wedding).

I had my ceremony at Leu Gardens. It is a BEAUTIFUL location but their staff was awful. First, our rental time was 3-5. at 4:45 we were taking pictures and told to "get out" because they had to lock up. When we tried to take a few more pictures because we still had 15 minutes according to the contract they were very rude and threatening to turn on the sprinklers. At the front as my guests were leaving, a few stopped to use the restroom and the staff at the welcoming house told them to hurry up because they wanted to go home. I couldn't believe how rude these people were on my wedding day! I emailed the woman in charge of the wedding department she didn't email back as much as an apology!

Hello All, let me say that Harry P. Leu Gardens is truly a great place to have your wedding. If you are into simplicity and a natural environment, you have found the spot.

Although I was the groom, having a large experience in planning large scale conference events for companies such as Gaylord Hotels and Wyndham Hotels I have a lot of experience in working with vendors and the contractual in's and outs and details that are never really talked about and most often can become the "thorns" during up to and during the wedding ceremony.

The small weddings/intimate weddings package is what my wife and I selected for the $250.00 fee. Which was great, the additional insurance was not needed and we found that the place was beautiful as they really do take care of the garden areas. Listed below are our reccomendations for planning and some of our hiccups that we avoided prior to the wedding date, in hopes to dodge all trouble before, during and after the wedding.

Location: Overall Happry P. Leu Gardens is a great place, the environment is well maintained.

Wedding Location at Harry P. Leu Gardens: The best location for the small/initmate weddings would be the Courtyard Gazebo, it is one of the biggest Gazebo's, Large Pathways to the Gazebo an the closest for all guests.

Conference Staff: The website refers you to Debbie S, but you will never hear from her as Nancy H. is the person that always responds to all correspondence, onsite meetings and phone conversation. She is quite pleasant but always know what you are talking about with her as sometimes things can slip through the cracks.

Contract Signing: Easy, always note that the outdoor space for weddings always should have a back up. The default back up is the Rose Room, which is OK, noting too great. We personally did not care for the space so we placed in the contact for the Lantern Room (The Pre-Function Space) in the Main Garden House would be the backup should nothing book over the time of the wedding and a backup would be deemed necessary in the event of rain or horrid florida weather. The website states that small/intimate weddings can use changing rooms if available. Should you book and they are available be sure you have it in writing for the availability at the moment and to continually check because it may not be available a month down the road due to a larger event and per the contract, they do not need to provide a changing room for the bride and groom. Having something that states that they were currently available and slated for you earlier helps you keep the room or helps you get some type of changing space should a larger wedding book. It happened to us, it was open and we had it in writing from them, 1 month before the wedding, the room was not available, we showed that e-mail and they made it happen. It was fast but they made it happen.

Selecting Dates of the Wedding: My wife and I selected October. Before selection we referenced a few weather almanacs and such to get the history on rain and such. We were right on our history (by luck or by chance)

Visit Often: Take advantage, once you sign a contact with Leu Gardens you can come and visit and check out your wedding space, look at how the flowers and foliage grow and bloom so you have an idea of the space.

Using a Third Party Planner: Of course, should you not be a wedding or event planner a third party wedding planner/coordinator is always reccomended. On your day you don't want to worry about the arrangements and just ENJOY the moment. Its very hard to do that when the bride is getting dressed but then also ensuring that everyone is at their place. Should you be worried about the third party planner overcharing you since they would hopefully take care of the venue on your behalf (venue such as Leu Gardens, you will be able to know if they overcharged you as Harry P. Leu Gardens is owned by the City of Orlando and the rental rates are clearly stated on the website, so if you wedding planner charged you $350.00 for the wedding site at Harry P. Leu Gardens and the current price directly is $250.00 then your wedding coord/planner may be cheating you unless you already know of their markup that they add or they may reference the difference as a Business Fee/Booking Fee.

There is a myth that should you do a smaller wedding that it gets easy, it does with the overall arrangements but your DETAILS will be analyzed by you and your guests even more as the thought is that, this is simple and small, how can you mess up the timing of the processional. Trust me, many things can still go wrong so be on top of your game and have people help you. As a professional event planner for such as long time with large resorts in the Orlando area, I can only attest to the disasters and successes I have seen in events.

Overall, Harry P. Leu Gardens is truly a great place to have your wedding ceremony for a small/initmate wedding. Think twice about the summer months as the florida heat and rain can be a killer. My reccomendation is that Fall and Winter are good for wedding dates.

Leu Gardens is a great venue. They will turn off the fountain in the rose garden so guests can actually hear the ceremony, and they have rooms on site for you to get ready. You only get the time scheduled, 2 hours for ceremony and 4 for reception, because they book back-to-back, but it was perfect for our morning wedding.

Leu Gardens is a beautiful garden, with a lot of choices for wedding ceremony sites. Also makes for really nice pictures.

The location was wonderful and everything that we were looking for. The room was just the right size and had the feel that we were looking for! We could not have been happier with the reception location.

The botanical gardens are BEAUTIFUL and it was a fantastic location to be married. The staff was not overly friendly nor overly helpful. I was told I could not book my site more than 365 days in advance. I called the day I wanted to be married a year in advance and 2 hours before the gardens opened and left a message trying to claim my day. I also called as soon as they opened and was told that my day had already been assigned to someone else. I selected another day and was able to book. So don't set your heart on a day because you might not get it. The rooms we were given to get ready the day of are TINY. If you book here, do not plan on doing anything in those rooms. There was a 2-seater couch and one arm chair for 8 people. The men's section was smaller than the women's. and the A/C did not feel like it was working at all. Although I have some complaints, the scenery was totally worth it. My wedding pictures are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I needed almost no extra decorations (ie floral arraingments, aisle runner etc) because the setting did all the work. And also do not pick this location in June. haha it was SO hot! we gave each guest a fan and it still was not enough.

Leu Garden's was the perfect place for my wedding, they were very accommodating. On there website it states rehearsal is only Mon- Thurs. I explained to them we could not have our rehearsal on the says and they allowed us to come in on St. at no cost to us. Everything was done perfectly.

My husband and I fell in love with the gardens years before we decided to get married there. The ceremony and reception were fantastic, although are are only allowed 4 hours for the party. Beware if you want to use the Rose Garden as they cut back the flowers after Valentine's Day.

I loved the location. The site was so beautiful all on it's own. No decorations needed. It was so private, I felt it I was in my own little garden getting married. The staff answered all my questions and was very nice on the day of our wedding.

If you are looking for a beautiful ceremony and reception area you should pick Harry Leu Gardens. We were so pleased with the service and the way they handled our wedding. They were very helpful til the minute we left the site.. I would tell anyone to use there services inside and out.

They are feisty here and have STRICT rules. There garden houses for getting ready aren't all that glam and the vendors have to walk a LONG way to get to the various locations but it is a beautiful and unique venue. I can't imagine having it any other way and they were very kind to transport my grandmother and father for both the rehearsal (unscheduled) and wedding days. They also have a great plan B in case of rain which is always great considering how volatile Glorida weather can be.

Leu Gardens is a beautiful location to have your wedding. We were supposed to have ours in the rose garden, but due to inclement weather, we had to have it inside (it will still very nice). The only drawback is LG is very inflexible with rules, so be prepared to follow their rules to a T! It was a great place to have the wedding, and I have no regrets-- I only wish we would have had it in the rose garden!Oh yeah, you HAVE to book with them one year in advance- no sooner, possibly later IF they still have your date open.

Ceremony: We wanted a site that was beautiful and organic, a place that was close to nature. We're spiritual people, but not necessarily religious people, so it didn't make sense for us to be wed inside a church. We choose the gardens because they are really beautiful. I knew an outdoor wedding, if done well, could be really classy. Before we set up an appointment, we went to the gardens as guests, paid our fee, and then looked around. When we were sure about the number of guests, and more or less the date, we book an appointment with the event coordinator. There's a fee for the site, plus insurance for the number of guests you have, which includes the staff that you might have on site with you. I think one limitation we faced was the amount of time we could spend in the garden. We have almost three hours, which needed to include getting ready, the ceremony, and the pictures. We were lucky and our photographer was incredible and got us posing for pictures right away.

Reception: We choose the Camellia room because it was the perfect size for our guests. We also wanted to have our ceremony and reception in the same place, because we didn't want our guests to be driving all over the state. The room is beautiful, especially when they get it all decorated. I had requested the chair coverings and the linens so that the room look elegant. We had an afternoon reception, so it was nice that our guests were able to walk to the Camellia room and enjoy some appetizers while we took pictures. Getting the room we wanted and the garden time required us to change our dates around, which was fine. I would recommend going there without a fixed date in mind so that you can have the wedding you want without compromising on style or comfort.

I knew that I wanted both our Ceremony and Reception to take place at one location, and we both agreed on Leu Gardens. It is so beautiful there, but you definitely want to consider the month you are getting married if you are looking into Leu Gardens. We kept our anniversary date for our wedding date (August), so it was definitely HOT for our Ceremony. Thank goodness it lasted only 20 minutes long. The grounds are so beautiful, and I was happy that there are lots of beautiful areas there to have photos taken. They have a lot of STRICT rules there, so make sure you read and understand them all!

We selected Leu Gardens as the site for our wedding, not only because we love going there together just to walk through the gardens, but it is very close to where we live. Our first date was on August 9, 2005, so we decided to have our wedding on August 9, 2008. We were skeptical at first because it was going to be during summer, but we decided to go ahead. Yes, it was hot, but the site is very beautiful, and we know that our guests loved it as well.

I only had my reception there, but the location is beautiful. Usually the location is booked solid for at least a year, however, I called on a whim, expecting to be told there was no opening. However, there had been a cancellation and I took it! This was the one location that I absolutely wanted.My one complaint is that during our walk through I had requested that the big picture window be open for the night. However, when I arrived, it was closed. I was then rudely told that unless I had specifically requested it to be open, that there were not going to open it. I told the woman that I had, and she gave me attitude. However, during our entrance, I noticed that the window had been opened.

A beautiful place to get married if you like the garden setting. They were very helpful, but strict on a few policies. All in all they worked well with us as well as our vendors. I would recommend them, but not during the summer when it rains..HA HA. It was still beautiful.

Right away I knew that I wanted to go here. I had only been there one other time, with my own mother while she was visiting, and we both agreed that it would be a beautiful and elegant place to hold a wedding. Everything about the place, with the right extra details, would and did look elegant. I think this is also a very popular site, so we made sure they we booked it right away, and then based on the date we set around the other details of our wedding. They are very specific about their rules and regulations, and the time of how long an event can last. I enjoyed working with them because they were interested in making my wedding day special, but also in preserving the beauty of the garden. It was a small and tasteful wedding, everything went perfect.

The location was gorgeous! I loved getting married there, and the photos were awesome! Some things about them tho, you do not always get someone directly when you call, I always had to leave a message. They rush everything, 2 hours for cermony and 4 hours for the reception. So make sure you have your ducks in a row, there is not time for diddly dodding!

Despite all of their rules, it is a beautiful location! We loved the fact that we could have our ceremony and reception at the same place. As we got closer to the wedding day, the staff got nicer and nicer. Seriously, they were amazing. It was such a nice change! The staff on our wedding day was just great! We got so many compliments on the site!

Leu Gardens is beautiful! We loved that we could have an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception at the same place. The price is reasonable and the staff was easy to work with prior to the wedding. They were responsive when I called with questions or concerns. Leu Gardens has a lot of rules and wedding and reception times are set and cannot be changed. That is why I rated them low for flexibility. However, they did allow me to get into the bridal room early, which was really nice. The staff on the day of the wedding were great. You do need to have a DOC though - their staff is there to set up chairs and help transport guests who needed assistance in a golf cart, but not much more. Our guests loved Leu Gardens.

We had our ceremony in the Rose Garden. It truly felt magical. We didn't order any flowers to decorate, because the natural surroundings were more beautiful than anyone could have designed. Our reception was in the Camelia Room. Very elegant.

Everyone that attended our wedding raved about the gardens. It is one of the most gorgeous botanical gardens I have ever seen. It will make any wedding day fabulous. They have different locations around the gardens to choose from, also based on the size and amount of guests attending. They have a contingency plan in case of rain. They meet with you and tell you exactly how everything will be the day of. You are allowed to have a rehearsal there. The plus of booking is you get free entrance for the year leading up to your wedding. I never once had to pay and neither did my bridal party. You do have to book a year in advance. They are strict on time constraints so plan accordingly if you don't want to be surprised when at 2:45 they expect you to get out, so that clean-up can be completed by 4:00. They have two weddings a day at the gardens and do not allow you to throw petals, which didn't bother me.

In my opinion, Leu Gardens offers the most beautiful out door ceremonies in Orlando. Furthermore, you can't beat the price. For a mid size to larger wedding (approx. 25-180 people), it only cost around $1500 for both the ceremony and reception. Before my wedding, people had warned me that working with the staff was a nightmare, but I found the exact opposite to be true. They were very pleasant and responsive to my requests. That being said, the gardens has a ton of strict rules on how they conduct weddings, including how and when they can be booked, the length and timing of ceremonies and receptions, what vendors can be used, and how their facilities can be decorated. If you are willing to work within these guidelines, the staff at Leu Gardens will make sure you have a very pleasant, beautiful experience. However, I would not recommend them for brides who are looking to customize their wedding with various large special requests (confetti send offs, fireworks, etc.)

It is a beautiful place. They only allow you exactly 4hrs which stinks.

We loved having our reception at Leu Gardens. Although August was uber hot and humid, the flowers were blooming and the pictures turned out gorgeous.

Even though our wedding was in July, we both had our hearts set on our ceremony and reception taking place at Leu Gardens (we practically live down the road!) No complaints (aside from the heat!) They provided us with ice and coolers, and even set them up with the bottled water we purchased for our guests to drink during the ceremony. They had everything set-up how we asked, and there were no issues that arose! Leu Gardens is such a beautiful location for your wedding!

Leu Gardens was the picture perfect place for our wedding. We were married in July at 10am in the Rose Garden. It was extremely hot, and guests were exhausted (we were allowed to have bottled water for our guests). The pictures look amazing, thanks to the beautiful scenery. We looked for our venue for over two years and when we found the Rose Garden at Leu, we knew it was the place for us.

Beautiful location, very helpful staff. Highly recommond

Superior location if you want an outdoor event. I was so pleased with the location and with Florida Wedding Packages for handling everything for me. I would highly recommend them both. The whole process from the ceremony through the recption was truly as I had hoped it would be and at a location that depicts Florida's true beauty.

It was amazing there. We had the small out door ceremony max 25 people. I wish they would have allowed more people @ the small outdoor ceremony site though. We ended up having to include the ourselves(bride/groom),photographer, my 9 month old son, plus person that married us in the '25' people count.The reception we had 50 people in the Orchid room. Really wish they could have all been @ the ceremony but the only other option would have been the large $750 out door ceremony compared to the $175 small. There should be some other option in the middle of that.

Our wedding was in the formal rose garden in October of 2006. The site was beautiful and breathtaking; our event could not have been better for photos. The site was a great value for the money if you do the wedding and reception on site. It would have been nice to have someone arrange photo spots from the site, we spend some time looking for the best ones. They do have a policy of when receptions must end, no ifs ands or buts about it! I was pleased with the overall event.

Very beautiful!

My husband and I just loved the gardens. There were several different locations to choose for the ceremony. We exchanged our vows under the trellis, just across from the rose garden. The price of rental was extremely decent. We had a small wedding party, but I believe a larger ceremony (30+) costs more. The only problem we had was the leaf blower in the other garden; it was a little loud during our ceremony. In case of rain or bad weather, they reserve a room indoors for you to continue with your ceremony. Also, you cannot throw rice in the gardens, but there are alternative things to use, such as organic "hearts" that we found in Michael's Craft store. Flexibility wasn't too bad; first come, first serve, just like most rental places. Smaller weddings have a stricter time period to choose from. All in all, after reviewing our wedding pictures, it was worth it.

Absolutely beautiful location for a wedding and reception. Be aware of their strict rules on how long you can be in the garden after the ceremony and about the noise levels. Overall a great experience and the only real problem was the wind. Paths were cleaned and golf cart transportation was provided for my older guests that couldn't walk all the way in. Bride and Groom's rooms were good sized and attached to the bathrooms. Very happy with everything a bit pricey but still great.

Beautiful location, and the reception area at the Leu House was great. We loved the bride and groom cottages. The main downside was that Leu Gardens was extremely inflexible about catering - they had a list of 5 approved caterers, one of whom was Subway (seriously!), which did not leave many options.

Great site for weddings. Our quartet plays here frequently but watch our for summer time it is hot.

If your looking for Orlando's premier wedding location, Look no further. For your dream outdoor wedding Leu Garden's is the perfect place.

The staff is incredible to work with and your guest will be amazed by the beauty of this incredible place.