Phoenix, AZ 85042
(map) Phone: 602-268-5522
Reviews for Secret Garden Event Center




the bridesmaid boquet were beautiful . mines was beautiful also . i just told her what the colors of the wedding were and told her to come up with something.




We had a wonderful experience here! The grounds are absolutely beautiful and it is a perfect setting for an elegant garden wedding. The restored home on the property is gorgeous, too. They have wedding only packages as well as wedding + reception packages. We chose a wedding only package; the pricing depends on the number of guests and is quite reasonable. In addition to other services, it included a rehearsal as well as coordination for the day of the wedding. The coordinator made our day as stress free as possible because she organized all the vendors and directed people where to go and when. We could not have asked for a better venue for our wedding! The website is www.secretgardenevents.com.
GUEST




My daughter's wedding was last weekend, and the Secret Garden helped to make it a beautiful memorable event. I can't thank Dave & Nancy, the owners, for all the help in making it so great. Both parents (Bride & Grooms) live out of state, which made it difficult for all of us, but they made it easy in every way from planning to the actual wedding day. We had a small wedding, but they treated us just as though we had 300 people. I would recommend this for anyone, no matter what size of wedding you may be having.
GUEST




The secret garden did such an amazing job. My husband and I were taken advantage of by another venue and had our wedding cancelled 3 weeks before the wedding. Of course I was a complete mess after hearing that our wedding that we had been planning for a year might not happen. We called the secret garden and explained our situation and they were so helpful in every way to put this wedding back together. I did not have to worry about a thing. Jessi the event coordinator is a complete professional. If something went wrong during the day of the wedding, I didn’t know about it because she handled everything. The owner Dave Mata would call us back immediately even if it was after hours or their off days. I can’t tell you how heartwarming it was to finally deal with professionals. Everyone was raving about how beautiful the venue was. I would 100% recommend them for your wedding.
GUEST




The Secret Garden and the entire staff were so great to work with!!! Not only is the venue absolutely gorgeous, but everyone was very friendly and helpful. Jessi made sure that every detail was covered, making our wedding absolutely perfect. I wouldn't change a thing as to how the day went. It was completely flawless. In addition, each vendor we worked with said "The Secret Garden is one of our favorite venues to work with." Each one of them loved the staff at the Secret Garden, making it that much more enjoyable to bring all of our details together. Our pictures were perfect due to the beautiful grounds, the venue was awesome, and the service we received was some of the best. I highly recommend the Secret Garden for a wedding. I wish I could relive that day over and over!!!
GUEST




I planned this from out of state and they made it so easy. They ave various packages that meet various price ranges and they have selected vendors to choose from to make the wedding planning SO much easier! They have a wedding cooridinator to book everything and organized everything and she was GREAT. I loved them and without them I would have been a very lost bride!
GUEST




I would highly recommend Secret Garden for your venue. Everyone there is so willing to help in any way they possibly can. We had some family members who tried to make things difficult on our wedding day, but the staff at Secret Garden stepped in and took care of everything and everyone. I was very pleased with all they did.
GUEST




The Secret Garden is a beautiful location for a wedding! The photos on their website don't really do it justice, I think. We received so many compliments on what a lovely outdoor wedding location we had. Before deciding on a ceremony and/or reception location I'd recommend attending one of their weekly open houses. Kirsten, the wedding coordinator at the Secret Garden, is awesome! She responded quickly to all of my emails and phone calls, was thorough in asking questions about our ceremony details and walked everyone through the rehearsal. She was also very flexible in allowing our families and wedding party to arrive early to decorate and stay late for photographs (beyond the time we had contracted for). She always had a very positive attitude and was more than willing to help with anything that might need to be done. Thank you Kirsten and the Secret Garden for making our wedding so memorable!
GUEST




This was the first place we looked when we got engaged and it was the last as well. It was love at first sight when we looked at the Secret Garden and it did not fail us! Kirsten the coordinator is the greatest! I didn't even have to plan my wedding. She did it for me! It was the easiest, least stressful thing ever! Kirsten was always quick to respond with questions and recommendations and I took her judgement which also worked out in our favor. The venue itself is beautiful and we loved that the only people there were our family and friends. No other events take place there while your wedding is happening. The grounds are beautiful and welll kept. We got so many compliments on the venue and everyone was very impressed with how well I "planned" my wedding. I had to tell them all that none of it would have been possible without the help of Kirsten. If you want a wedding that is really catered to you and what you want, go with the Secret Garden!!! You won't be disappointed!
GUEST




The Secret Garden is so beautiful. We had our ceremony there and it was perfect. Jessi was so helpful and made sure that everything was just perfect. The two flights of stairs is so dramatic for the bride. I would definetly recommend the Secret Garden for a ceremony or reception.
GUEST




We loved the venue! Everything was perfect the day of the wedding. Jessi, the event planner at the Secret Garden, made sure everything was as-planned for the wedding day. We had some difficulty getting together and receiving information from the catering company, but this was not entirely his fault as our schedule is very difficult to work around.The only negative thing with the Secret Garden was dealing with their billing department.We had paid an extra amount for an additional hour and did not use the extra hour, now the billing department is trying to say that we arrived early therefore we exceeded our time frame and should not receive the money back. We were told that the time begins at ceremony time and I assure you we did not arrive when they state we did. (They were probably not even there at that time of day!) We are still working this issue as the wedding was only 3 business days ago and have not had time to work through all of the details. Please do not base your decision on this as they have been terrific in all other aspects of the wedding. Just beware that there could be issues regarding billing. I would have rated the Secret garden a 5 all the way around.
GUEST




Our wedding was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G thanks to the Secret garden team! We couldnt have asked for a more beautiful venue. Everyone told us that our wedding was the best and most beautiful they have ever been to. You truly will not be disappointed by having your wedding here!!
GUEST




We were so happy with The Secret Garden. We went to an open house and met Nancy. We explained to her that we loved her venue, but we only had half the amount of people. They really helped us out and made us a great offer. I was working with Jessi up until the end when I was informed that she had taken time off to enjoy married life. We then dealt with another coordinator. She was very nice and flexible with our ideas. It seemed that they would do anything to make us happy.
GUEST




We had our ceremony & reception at The Secret Garden and it was perfect! It is such a private, beautiful and romantic location. From start to finish Jessi (the on-site wedding coordinator) was so helpful. she made sure all my vendors were on teh same page and touched base with each of them the week before to confirm arrival./set up times! All of our guests LOVED the location. I could not have asked for a more PERFECT location. It is a bit pricey but very much worth it.
GUEST




Our wedding was the best day of my life - people continue to tell me how beautiful the wedding was and how great a location we had at The Secret Garden.
GUEST




We loved the venue! Everything was perfect the day of the wedding. Jessi, the event planner at the Secret Garden, made sure everything was as-planned for the wedding day. The only negative thing was dealing with their billing department. They were not on top of things: we stopped getting our monthly statements showing how much we paid, we were charged an extra amount and still have not received the money back, etc. Assuming they get a new head of the billing department, I would have rated the Secret garden a 5 all the way around.
GUEST




Dave and Priya were nothing short of amazing for our June wedding. Dave is so down-to-earth and just a pleasure to be around. They went the extra mile to make sure we got the dream wedding we had always hoped for! They worked hard with us to fulfill every need and were patient with us when we had a snafu with our wedding account. The only frustration is it is often difficult to get ahold of somebody via phone or email because they are so busy. This venue is well worth the cost as it provides a perfect back drop, especially for a garden wedding.
GUEST




We knew the Secret Garden was the venue we wanted when we first saw it. I don't think we even looked at other venues after seeing this place. I loved the beautiful outdoor space and the indoor reception area was perfect. My favorite part of this venue has got to be the grand staircase that I walked down on the big day. It is just beautiful. We worked with Jessi for the majority of our planning then found out that she was leaving the company just months before the wedding. We were told we would have a new planner and was contacted shortly after by Priya. Our understanding all along was that Jessi- then Priya- would be our go-to person on the day of the event. That was a big draw for us to this venue, having someone to coordinate all of the last minute details. We met a few months before the event with Nancy, who turned out to be the person we worked with at the rehearsal and on the day of the event, not Priya. She and another employee Megan assisted one day of but my friends in family ended up doing a lot of the work themselves, working for several hours the day of the event. The wedding was gorgeous, don't get me wrong but for the amount of $ that we paid for the venue, we expected things to be a bit more organized and didn't expect to be doing so much work the day of the event. Megan was a big help to us- i think if it wasn't for her i would have gone mental because Nancy was stressing both me and my family out. I was reminded not once or twice but at least 4 times of what time it was and that we were running behind (15 minutes total) and that i had to hurry. I didn't need that stress.
GUEST




We had out ceremony and reception at the Secret Garden. When we stepped onto the property we knew it was the place! It was so beautiful! Kirsten was wonderful!! She was very good at responding to the emails I sent her. Very close to the wedding we were told that Kirsten was going elsewhere to work and that Jessi was taking over. It was very hard to adjust to the new team we were working with so close to the wedding. There were issues on the wedding day in finding certain items and not being very organized. Overall we had an AMAZING time and we will never forget it, it was the best day ever! A very beautiful place to have a wedding!
GUEST




I booked my wedding over a year in advance. The person we loved ended up moving on and we were left with the property owner's wife (Nancy) as our new wedding coordinator. She is FORGETFUL, DISTANT, AND TOTALLY ANNOYING!!! One example is that she was over an hour late for a 3 month planning meeting and admitted she had forgot about us (even though I had confirmed it the day before!). Dealing with Nancy for months literally made me (the bride) INSANE. Priya was Nancy's assistant and she tried to help where she could and she definitely made the days leading up to the wedding easier but Nancy had already done the damage. If you want to book SG I would say go for it but try to deal with Priya as much as possible. Be prepared to do EVERYTHING yourself and KEEP REALLY REALLY GOOD records when dealing with SG because THEY WILL FORGET WHAT YOU HAD AGREED ON. As for the day of the wedding...it for the most part went off without a hitch except for the fountain not being on and all the twinkle lights WHICH I SPECIFICALLY TOLD THEM I WANTED THEM ON!!! Nancy came to me at the end of the night and asked when I wanted to leave...I told her the time we had agreed on and had been talking about for months then walked away. She gave me a confused look and I totally blew her off.
GUEST




I am getting married next year and we went to check out this facility. The grounds were not maintained and the service was inadequate. They were unable to answer our questions and questioned if were going to be able to afford the facility. Basically, it was a horrible experience and not worth our time. The pictures online don' t look like the venue in person. I heard great things about the restaurant, but I could only imagine what our wedding day would be like if our initial meeting was a disaster.
Vendor response to review
At the Secret Garden Event Center we pride ourselves on our landscaping and maintenance of our venue. We do maintain the grass over the summer, but the heat during the summer in Arizona tends to hinder our efforts. Therefore, we focus on revitalizing the grass in September by completely over-seeding it (normally twice) so that it is lush and green come our busy Fall, Winter, and Spring wedding seasons. Unfortunately, the excessive heat temperatures this past summer has interfered even more with our seeding process.The pictures on our website are taken during Fall, Winter, and Spring, when our weddings take place. We do take the time to mention to our potential clients that the grounds do not reflect what they would look like in the Fall. Many times we go in-depth on the explanation on our seeding/landscaping process.We have over 25 years experience in the wedding industry; we are confident that we provide excellent service to our Brides (and Grooms of course!) both during the planning process, and on the day of their wedding.I am sorry that you feel that you had an inadequate visit to our venue. Perhaps these are concerns that should have been addressed then, as we would have been happy to explain more about our landscaping procedures.
GUEST




These guys are sooo rude-way to expensive as well.
About Secret Garden Event Center
Nestled at the base of South Mountain, the Secret Garden offers and intimate setting rich in history for outdoor ceremonies and indoor receptions. The 1929 Historic Home features a bridal suite with an adjoining balcony and clubroom for the groom. The Wedding Garden, lush landscaping, fountains and ponds offer a timeless photographic setting. Outside vendors are welcome, and we offer several different Packages to suit your needs. Please join us for our Open House Wednesday evenings from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M to visit our beautiful property.
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