My Daughter’s Botanical Garden Wedding
Conservatory Indoor garden wedding
When the April blizzard hit that day, an indoor venue was a good thing! The tropical plants and the unique atmosphere of this Conservatory wedding made us all forget the stormy weather outdoors. We were in the perfect garden.
Well, no weddings are completely perfect, but my daughtercareful planning did make her wedding one of the most perfect ones I have ever attended. I played a small part, which makes me happy, but it was largely her exquisite taste and her choices that led to a delightful wedding for her, her husband, her family, and her guests.
I’d love to tell you about it and include some reasons why a conservatory wedding ceremony was such a wonderful experience for all of us.
Follow me into Franklin Park Conservatory for the full dream wedding story, and how it unfolded…
The Ceremony
The Ceremony
A Wedding Inside The Franklin Park Conservatory
Wedding in the Franklin Park Conservatory
…Amongst the art and the botanical plantings
If you would like to plan to have Franklin Park Conservatory as the venue for you wedding, what might you expect?
My daughter chose to hold the wedding ceremony at the Conservatory, while having her reception at another location. If she had held the reception at the Conservatory the requirements, at the time, were to use their catering, which is a fine choice for some, but we had a family friend who is a professional and wanted his talents to create the reception dinner.
There are a wide array of choices for wedding ceremonies and receptions at the Franklin Park Conservatory. Besides the Palm House where my daughter’s ceremony was held there are other areas such as “The Bride’s Garden”, “The Zen Terrace”, to cater to the needs of your particular plans.
To make a reservation for your wedding or for an appointment to visit the Conservatory, contact the Special Events Office at 614.645.1800
A bridal show is held in January.
A Beautiful Floral Design Ring
A design that matches the love of 
flowers woven into the solid white gold of this beautiful ring.
Benefits of a Conservatory Venue
One of the very nice things about having a wedding in a botanic garden is the fact that the guests may wander around the conservatory exhibits afterward, and while wedding photographs are being taken. The areas for getting the wedding party ready were clean and worked well, even for a large size of attendants.
A wedding in a botanical garden has to be one of my favorite experiences, ever.
I thought it was elegant and had all the feel of a garden wedding with none of the weather risks (inside, of course- we had a freak April blizzard outside).
Table Decor for your Theme
We made our own floral and candle table decor for my daughter’s wedding. Hand constructed paper lantern shades for votive candles, safely snuggled in glass holders. Smaller glass votive holders placed randomly on the tables. Rose petals were strewn around each centerpiece.
It was a very romantic and lovely effect overall. However, it was quite labor intensive. The paper lanterns were made months ahead.
I gathered together various floral materials and arranged it in foam forms covered with moss.
Flowers and Decorations – mock-up of the planned table decorations
To ensure a good result, I made mock-ups of the centerpieces a month ahead. The photo below shows it on a placemat on my dining room table
Pre-wedding mock-up of the centerpiece arrangements
The Actual Wedding Guest Tables
The Actual Wedding Guest Tables
The above photo is the actual wedding table as it looked during the reception. When creating your own, look for Botanical Garden themed votive holders for your tables. Lovely votive holders will light up the tables and are simply elegant. Fern designs or mercury glass would be perfect for a garden theme, or a nature look. However, any that match your color scheme will bring that certain “something”.
Other Weddings In The Franklin Park Conservatory
Garden Themed Wedding Stationary
wedding stationary
Wedding Invitations
For A Conservatory Wedding
My daughter made her own invitations, using red paper, handmade paper, thin red satin ribbons and her calligraphy. You may not want to complicate your plans with that much effort, instead use the artistry of the creations from Zazzle.
Aren’t these pretty?
Conservatory Garden Decorations
Candles in Trays
Large sized decorative trays can hold a floral design with candles are a pretty and eye-catching display. They will show up against the greenery and can be used to accent the ceremony area. Use between two and four decorated trays at a minimum.
When there are valuable plants, the conservatory may have rules against bringing in your own floral material. In that case, glass flowers, or such things with florist moss may be substituted; be sure to check with the wedding coordinator of your venue.
If real candles are not allowed, there are marvelous LED candles that are safe and look like the real thing.
Yards Of Gauze Netting
I bought yards of flowing gauzy material to match my daughter’s accent color and bridesmaids dresses, it was used to create a canopy as a focal point where the vows would take place.
That was all the decorating necessary for the ceremony, besides the flowers for the wedding party itself.
For The Guest Tables
Individual dish gardens with moss, some river rocks, and sprigs of flowers were centered with candles in lanterns for table centerpieces. The groom had painstakingly made the lanterns from handmade paper (purchased), and balsa wood framework.
Purchased lanterns could work for those who don’t feel “crafty”.
Glass votive holders safely contained the candle flame. The floors were strewn with rose petals from the flower girls, and the tables lighted dusted with petals, too.
I found an idea from a nieces wedding that would work well in a conservatory setting.Three simple calla lilies in clear glass vases for each table. A few sprays of bear grass to give grace It is a a simple as that, but created a showy table centerpiece.
The Brides Table
I made special floral arrangements for the Brides table which included optic light butterflies within a low arrangement of flowers in flowerbox-like containers. I used dressy looking red metallic ones, but rustic wooden types could work just as well, or golden bronze…depending on the theme of the wedding. The fiber optics give a little fantasy light to the atmosphere.
We held the reception in a different venue, while desiring to keep the conservatory feel to the space. In order to accomplish this, I had purchased large sized orchid plants and arranged them together on a table, with two large garden flower planters filled with big sprays of flowering branches and store-bought florist flowers.
Set up on inexpensive plaster pedestals, they gave lots of floral impact to the room. The planters were duct taped to the pedestals for stability, and then the tape was covered with Spanish moss. the planters were the lightweight resin which were filled with balls of chicken wire to hold the arranged flowers.
If the reception is held within a conservatory setting, it is probably unnecessary to have the extra flowers arrangements, the table centerpieces should be enough.
Potted Orchids for Conservatory Effect
Orchids at Franklin Park Conservatory
In our case, we were not able to have the reception at the conservatory, but wanted to carry out a similar effect.
I purchased large orchid plants and created groupings near the wedding party table. The plus side of this is that the orchid plants can go home with you!
Add your florals to the card table
Particularly, be sure to add touches of your Conservatory Garden Wedding theme, in this case florals, in places that are often left undecorated. The guest book area or wedding guest good wishes bowl. Be creative.
Considerations for a Conservatory Wedding – The pros and cons of a wedding inside a conservatory
- Pro: the many plants and foliage surrounding the event means less money needed to budget for flowers.
- Con: in warmer months the temperature can feel less comfortable inside the greenhouse conditions of a Conservatory.
- Pro: guests will enjoy walking around and seeing interesting things.
- Con: your wedding might be booked back to back with another and you are hurried out by the staff. (this happened to us)
The wedding venue
A Conservatory Garden Wedding Any Time of Year
A conservatory harmonizes with many wedding themes, we had an Asian theme. It would work equally well with any culture, a garden themed wedding, modern, vintage Victorian, even Safari themed.
Rrwarr! It has the ambiance of being outdoors without the worry of fickle weather dampening the plans. We even had an April blizzard that day, so you can imagine what that might have done to any plans involving the outdoors. After all is said and done, the wedding in the conservatory is one that I think I will remember as the most beautiful I ever attended. In truth, not just because it was my daughter’s happy day (although I’m sure that has a little something to do with it).
Conservatory Wedding Elsewhere
© 2011 Ilona Erwin
