Cox Arboretum

I must first start off with Cox is beautiful! From the first moment I saw it, I knew there was nowhere else I would want to get married. I wanted a small wedding and private reception and their fifth third room was just what I wanted. The electric in the garden was well worth the extra money because having sound was a plus and the gates kept it private because Cox will still be open to the public for your event. You can do as little decoration as you want because even if you did nothing the place would still be gorgeous.
Now for the bad news.. The wedding coordinator is a bear and the largest head ache of my wedding FORSURE! She is short and rude but always straight to the point-NO! She did bend on a couple things and I was shocked and I almost fell off my chair! They will give you 1 hour prior to your ceremony to set up and 2 hours prior to your reception to set up. This means you have to hire someone to do everything and there is no flexibility on this. Read your contract in and out because there is ALOT in there and things you wouldn't even think of could be an issue. You will pay thousands of dollars and the customer service you will receive is better at McDonalds. But I also found come the day of our wedding coordinator was nowhere to be found and it was all for the best. I was told multiple times it was a “non-profit” organization yet profit was always the topic of conversation. I felt since I was paying them thousands of dollars if no one was using the reception room and it was closed to the public we should be able to get in there to set up early because we had a lot of detail and display stuff. I was more than welcome to get the room early if I’d like, at a $300 an hour price tag! Most venues give you the night before or at least the morning of to set up- Cox is NOT a DIY bride option. Some of my wedding stuff got left out because there just wasn’t enough set up time. Luckily we were able to sneak in a little early-had this not happened we would of SOL.
My wedding was gorgeous and perfect- I was blessed with an amazing summer day and I will treasure the memories forever. Cox was a part of that experience.

this place is beautiful but they did not have a place for the groom to get ready in they had to get changed in the main bathroom and hall way... the onsite coordinator was rood and mean and poorly dressed they told us the way the chairs would be set up the night before at the rehearsal and then when we got there for the wedding they were turned a different way and there was a change in the contract due to another event that was happening prior to our wedding so we did not start on time so they ended up cutting our reception time short instead of replacing the time we had to wait to the end

We had the entire education center rented for the wedding & reception dinner. Unfortunately it rained that day and many outdoor weddings were scheduled outside so while our caterer was trying to set up for the ceremony as well as the reception other bridal parties were coming inside to take their pictures. I realize that the building does not officially close to the public until 5:00 PM but our photographer finally had to ask a Cox employee to place a sign outside noting the building was closed for a private event. This was after 5:00 PM when people were still wandering in to use the restrooms, etc. Two busloads of high schooler's were also dropped off for pictures for Homecoming. Once the building was "closed" except for our guests, all went well.

Cox Arboretum is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We held both our ceremony and reception at Cox and while it was costly, it was a perfect location! We had a hard time getting answers from our contact and sometimes it was like pulling teeth tryin to make arrangements with her. There is also the downfall that you can only choose from three caterers. However, we ending up having a GREAT experience with the caterer we chose. THe facility was clean, easy to find for guests, and just perfect for our wedding!

Dealing with their wedding/event lady was a bit of a hassle. There were tons of rules in the contract, but It didn't affect our day. I asked for a golf cart for the elderly and they actually gave everyone a ride up to the pavilion that wanted a ride. So I have to applaud them for that. Overall I would say it was enjoyable and beautiful to have a wedding at Cox.

We wanted to get married in a church, but we found that this was rather complicated. In the end we got married in a park because we both like nature, and even though we are spiritual people, we aren’t really religious people. There was a process to renting the park, and there were forms to fill out and we could only have the area for three hours. We also had to make sure that we didn’t make a mess. There was lots of details, and we needed more help from friends and family to make sure people at the park could hear us and be comfortable, but it was worth it.