Leu Gardens

kbowes85

Any reviews?? Tell me everything you ladies know!!

liz1379

Pros: Great price for a venue, On site staff that does tons of weddings, Beautiful locations especially for a garden themed wedding, Has tons of old florida charm, central location close to downtown and winter park, Back up ceremony location in case of rain.

Cons: Very restrictive with policy, Only lets you rent reception space for 4 hours with no exceptions, Have been known to cut off bar and DJ 30mins before event ends just to make sure people get out on time, Does multiple events per day especially on saturdays, Books to the day one year in advance so can be hard to get.

Overall I think Leu gardens is one of the nicest places in Orlando for the money but make sure you realize there is no negotiation with them. If you don't book someone else will so it makes them not have to be flexible. I would go look and read over their policy and rules and ask questions and see if it works for you.

kbowes85

Okay, thanks for the insight. Is that where you're getting married??

liz1379

No, They were one of the first places I looked but I ended up going with different places. I'm having my Ceremony at the Mennello Museum and the Reception at the Fl Federation of Garden clubs. The federation is a nice place but very small, I can only have about 90 people with the bar and buffet outside. The mennello museum is a beautiful place but i'm only renting grass, no facilities. We are having a small, garden themed wedding so it works for me. I've worked many events at Leu gardens and most other major venues. I personally think central florida is lacking in non hotel wedding venues, I had a really hard time picking a place. Good Luck!

PocketOSunshine

I am getting married at Leu Gardens in October 2011, but only having the ceremony there in the rose garden. I did not want to do the reception there because of all the bad reviews I've seen about how strict they are with the time frame. 

eso16208

I got married there in November. See reviews in Bio. I would do it again. 

kbowes85

Eso, how were they with the time frame? Also, do the lights dim in the reception hall or did you have lighting companys? Did you cover the big floral curtain??

eso16208

Sorry about the delay, I dont frequent the boards as often as before the wedding. 

They are very strict about the time, I was married in the morning and had no issues with the time frames. Arrived at 9 to get dressed, ceremony started at 10:30. (guests didnt know that they had to walk to the gardens. Tell them you want them there 30 minutes before you plan to start- we had to start half an hour late because only half the guests had arrived) Photos til noon and everyone was gone by 3. There was no sense of rushing or being "kicked out"

Since the reception was during the day, we kept the lights on, so I dont know about the dimming. 

There was no big floral curtain- not sure if they took it down or if its new. I never saw it.