Los Angeles River Center and Gardens

The venue is beautiful and just a charm for anyone to enjoy. The garden is well maintained and the lighting (in the evening) allowed to capture the perfect wedding reception. It's very spacious, which allows for many guests. Book early because the good dates will be long gone nearly a year ion advance, even though its quite expensive for just booking the venue itself. The only thing included in the rental fees is practically the entire site, 150 chairs and 4 long tables. Also, you can only select from an approved provided list (of the site), so make sure you meet every approved vendor before selecting. The site Coordinator is very helpful, but its best to communicate by email as she's busy.

We had our wedding here in May and LOVED the venue. It is SO gorgeous and huge. I loved that we were able to have our ceremony in one courtyard and our reception in the other. One drawback is that there isn't much flexibility with decor that touches any of the venue (ie: can't hang any lanterns from trees, etc). Also it is a lot more stressful that you have to rent EVERYTHING from tables to forks since the venue doesn't provide any of it. Luckily they work with planners who regularly plan weddings there so they know what to do. Also you can only use vendors off of their list for caterers so it limiits what choices you have. Otherwise it was a fantastic venue and everyone thought it was gorgeous!

My husband and I had the most beautiful wedding at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. If you'd like a memorable wedding with a beautiful setting and a space to fully entertain your guests, we highly recommend this venue. It's a secret garden in the heart of Los Angeles with gorgeous fountains, tiles, arches, gates, and greenery. Working with the venue coordinator, Zenia, was fun and easy. The venue price was very affordable and they provided a list of vendors we were very very happy with.

This place was amazing if you are looking for a Hacienda Style venue. Not only is this location spacious, you have the venue all to yourself for the day of your event. We have so many great photos and video memories of this location. It was the perfect backdrop to bring our dream of a fiesta style wedding with it's beautiful fountains,hacienda style buildings and beautiful landscaping. Thank you for allowing us to have our amazing wedding. This location is truly a hidden gem in Los Angeles. Also, I want to thank Zenia, you were amazing and very informative. Thank you for referring us to our wonderful event planner Luz Pencyla.

If you want a garden wedding in Los Angeles without spending your life savings, this is the place to go. The River Center is incredibly beautiful and has all that you need for an outdoor event - including somewhere to go if the weather doesn't cooperate without needing to rent tents! Keep in mind - this is a government run historical site. So, you have to bring in everything and you can be limited in certain areas - like you can't staple anything to the walls or put bubbles in the main water fountain. But, if you want a wonderful, intimate setting- you should check this place out.

Super Exciting! The neighborhood of which this venue is located in is somewhat interesting to say the least. However, once you enter the main gate, you are taken away to a breathtaking sanctuary.
The parking is so easy & convenient for guests. The bridal suite is nice. Overall, the whole property gives off a romantic feeling.

The River Center was amazing. There is a constant breeze, even during the middle of August and it was truly magical at night. The staff was awesome and very helpful. If you are looking for an outdoor venue, this place is great! No hidden costs and very reasonably priced (includes insurance, parking, bathrooms, some tables, etc).

The only thing I would suggest, is given the hard economic times we are all experiencing, in one way or the other, it would be helpful if the cost, or some portions of it, could be applied to a credit card. I would understand your reluctnance, given most people are losing their credit cards because of the way banks are working now.

The LA River Center and Gardens is an amazing venue... for an outdoor ceremony and reception, it was exactly what I had envisioned. The price is more affordable in comparison to other outdoor venues and the staff was flexible to work with. We received a great tour before we booked the venue and received a lot of tips and ideas on how to set up for the day of the wedding. It was awesome to have the entire location for our event only for the entire day. The venue is absolutely gorgeous.

Beautiful grounds. Reasonable fee. Some tight restrictions, but understandable since they need to preserve the grounds for the future. Great space for our afternoon ceremony, dusk cocktails, and evening reception. Beautiful at each turn and looks like a different space in each light. Our contact Zenia was a pleasure to work with.

Beautiful grounds. Reasonable fee. Some tight restrictions, but understandable since they need to preserve the grounds for the future. Great space for our afternoon ceremony, dusk cocktails, and evening reception. Beautiful at each turn and looks like a different space in each light. Our contact Zenia was a pleasure to work with.
As mentioned, you need to bring in your own rentals, caterer, etc., so while the site fee is reasonable, depending on your tastes it can quickly add up and bringing in your own day of coordinator is pretty much a must to ensure everyone works together smoothly. This venue also have a list of preferred vendors so, while it's not impossible to work with a vendor on this list, there are quite a few vendors who are banned (like the first caterers we were looking to hire). Prepare to be flexible.
We had to call in Feb 08 to book our April 09 wedding. Dates open in early Jan/Feb for calendar year that follows. Off season and Friday/Sunday dates have more availability.

I feel I had it all with this location. What sold me at first was how truly beautiful this hidden gem is. You really have to see it to understand how impressive the setting is. Because everything is so lovely you don't need to spend a dime to "dress the place up" unlike renting a hall. Plus you basically get the use of two huge courtyards, lawn areas, a giant bar, dance area, buffet area, and indoor area with a mezzanine all day! They are very organized, communicative and super helpful! I would recommend this place to anyone looking for an outdoor wedding or other event in a gorgeous setting. There is so much space to be used you can do it all.

Overall, our experience with the LA River Center was exceptional. The place itself is breathtaking, especially at night! The twinkling lights, fireplace, candles and gurgling of the water fountain created an ultra-romantic evening. I can't say enough how beautiful everything looked on our wedding night. There was also plenty of dancing room (for approx 120 guests).

During the planning process, things went pretty smoothly. We booked the place a year and a half in advance (it books quickly!). It was slighty more than what we wanted to pay, given that nothing is included, but the place is gorgeous and it gave us the flexibility to pick the vendors we wanted. There were a few times we had difficulty contacting the Program Coord. It was a bit stressful having to pay with cashier's checks and not being able to get a hold of her to drop off the payment. We were able to see a wedding being set-up (gave us good ideas of what to do and what not to do) and we also went to one of the LARC's evening events. I recommend attending so you could see what the place looks like at night. Highly recommend using a caterer that has worked w/ them before, makes things very easy. We had Truly Yours (phenomenal!). Beside a few kinks in the planning process, we (along w/our guests) truly loved this venue! It made for some fabulous pictures too!

Love this venue! perfect!

The place was great. The people were great.

Although this is one of the most beautiful venues in Los Angeles, the coordinator there Zenia McJimpson
that works for LA River Center and Gardens. Is shocklingly rude, unprofessional and just disgustingly bitter person. She made the entire process of the dealing with this venue difficult. I am not certain what her issue is with women getting married, but in every occassion that I dealt with her she was obnoxious. Yet whenever my fiancee talked to her or dealt with her she was nice to him.

The venue it self is beautiful, the rest of the staff are polite and professional. The ranger that was present the day of the wedding was incrediably nice.

LA River Center and Gardens really needs to consider replacing Zenia with somene who is a little more customer service oriented.

The LARC was the perfect venue for our wedding. The location is gorgeous and requires very little decoration. Our guests raved about the hidden gem in the middle of LA and it truly felt like a private oasis for the night.

We were able to supply our own catering and bartending which saved us a lot of money. Parking is a breeze (nice in LA!) and we had no trouble with noise (our wedding was on a sunday afternoon and we had speakers set up for the ceremony). It got pretty chilly at night, so the fireplace came in very handy. We set up a small lounge in front of it and my aunts huddled around it and were still able to enjoy the festivities.

Zenia the site manager is incredibly helpful and easy to work with.

What a beautiful oasis in the middle of LA! I had both my ceremony and reception here and it was perfect. My guests were blown away at how gorgeous the place was. There is also a lovely fireplace in the big courtyard where my reception was held and it added such a nice touch to my wedding.

There's plenty of parking, a huge bar area with spanish tiles, a bridal dressing room, and golden lights around the trees...everything that I envisioned my wedding venue is right here.

I just want to echo the other reviewers. This is a spectacular location. Not only did our guests rave about the location, but the proceeds go to the LA Park Service! The site has beautiful flora and fountains, so most of the decorating is already done. Exquisitely maintained by a helpful staff. I highly recommend both Zenia and the LARC.

I was a guest at a wedding at The Los Angeles River Center and Gardens a few weeks ago. This really is a beautiful location and is something of a rare oasis in LA.

The reception area, which is a large courtyard with an incredible fountain, has great old-hollywood / spanish villa atmosphere. My only caution... is that the ceremony area, which is outside the courtyard (but with a wall to the exterior) was fairly noisy with traffic during the ceremony! Something to think about. It could have just been the time of day though? (5:30 on a Friday?)

we had both our ceremony & reception outside on the LA River Center Grounds. all our guests had nothing but compliments for the venue and loved not having to drive in traffic to a separate location for the reception. as someone mentioned previously, it IS a lot of work b/c you have to arrange all your own rentals, catering, beverage service, etc . . . but in the end, everything turns out so beautiful that it is worth it. i'm including a link to my wedding slideshow b/c the LARC's own website does not do it justice:

www.mgpweddings.com/bn

i had my wedding in may so i can't really speak from personal experience about having a wedding during rainy season. however, i htink the standard protocol if weather turns to rain is to bring the wedding indoors . . . which is a shame, b/c you pay all this money for the beautiful grounds. if you absolutely have to have your wedding in the spring, i would find another location that is indoors.

The Los Angeles River Center is the most romantic setting for any wedding--we had a May wedding so the weather was perfect, day and night. Our guests were in love with this fairy tale villa, and completely enchanted by its beauty. Zenia is also wonderful and very helpful. I highly recommend this venue if you don't want your wedding in a traditional indoor setting.

We LOVED our venue! We knew from the moment we saw it that it was the place for our dream wedding. The venue doesn't provide anything beyond the actual location (and 150 chairs), so we brought in our caterer, rentals, alcohol, coordinator, etc. It was a lot of work, but well worth it! Zenia, the site manager, was easy to work with and very responsive. TIP: The Los Angeles River Center & Gardens books up really quickly, so you have to book early!

Great outdoor venue with a rustic Spanish feel. Perfect for a late spring, summer, or early fall wedding and or ceremony.

Great place location to get married near downtown LA. For a photographer it is always great to come to the LARCG to shoot a wedding. The lighting is always pleasant and there are tons of beautiful settings to capture. We highly recommended for those looking for a hassle-free, beautiful and central, venue.

Zagal...

Breathtaking venue! No wonder we chose this place to get married back in 2004. We love working at The LA River & Center Gardens the quality of service is exceptional. Zenia makes sure you get the service you deserve when you host an event there. With many options from celebrating your ceremony & reception to hosting a small gathering inside. This is the place for a romantic celebration.

I have worked as a vender at this location and am pleased to endorse.
The location is amazing and no other location compares in Los Angeles. They have an amazing
cobalt blue tile bar that is 20 feet long, "amazing". The important thing is to
have vendors that know the locations policy well and adhere to it. Zena is a great coordinator
and is there to guide you through what can and can not be done.