***Celsius***

nfavazzo

I see on your bio that you had your ceremony at the Japanese Friendship Garden. I am helping my best friend plan her wedding and she would love a venue like that! How was your experience there? Do you think it could accommodate 150-175 people? Also, I noticed you had your reception elsewhere. Does the Japanese Friendship Garden have any sort of reception site there? 

Thank you so much for your help!

1104*Celsius

Yes, I believe that the JFG can accommodate than many, since we were originally expecting 180 people. (They have 125 white chairs for your use, and you just rent the remainder from someone else.) She just may be limited on which ceremony space she can use because of the size of her party, that's all.
 
Our experience was wonderful, and I couldn't recommend it more highly. We worked with Diana (http://japanesefriendshipgarden.org/) and she was great! Be aware, they are closed during the summer months. The Irish Cultural Center is right next door/behind it (Irish & Japanese - quite a combo, I know) but I don't believe it will be large enough to accommodate the number of guests your friend is expecting - it wasn't large enough for us.

However, being in downtown Phoenix, there are some very nice options - hotels, restaurants, museums - all within about 5 minutes of each other. We had our Rehearsal Dinner at Portland's, which was literally around the corner from the Garden, although it's not quite suitable for a dinner/dancing reception for that many people.

Any other questions, I'm happy to help.

nfavazzo

Thank you so much! We're definitely going to go check it out!