Frederik Meijer Gardens

o beautiful! I really appreciated the assistance of the in-house event coordinator in answering questions and organizing vendors - she was so responsive and helpful.

. We have been to the garden multiple times before the wedding and were not at all disappointed, the decor and professionalism were top notch.

catering through them and it was fresh and delicious. Our guests liked that they could walk through the greenhouses throughout the reception. 10/10 recommend!

st minute changes. Could not have been more happy. The Food and Beverage manager was great also. Even made geniuine Southern Sweet Tea at the request of the bride. The outdoor wedding in the gardens was beautiful. We got lots of compliments on the food. It was delicious and hot. Every detail was taken care of. I would not hestitate to use Frederik Meijer Gardens

had our ceremony at the waterfall park with approximately 150 (it was a tight fit, but we knew that going in) and had our dinner inside following. Everyone at the Gardens was friendly, helpful, and easy to work with. Jen was our point of contact at the venue, and was even there the day of the ceremony to ensure that everything went smoothly. We were very grateful and highly recommend having your wedding here!

eally made my planning experience and day-of smooth and enjoyable. I highly recommend this location for an outdoor wedding.

received responses to all my questions promptly and with all the details I needed. Liz even sent me photos of the area to help me visualize the space since I could not physically go there and they made some last minute changes for me so that all of my guests could be seated. I highly recommend them!

ne has been raving about how great the food was and how beautiful the gardens were. It really was the perfect day.

hese gaudy green plans in an extremely large pot and we asked if they'd be able to move them for our reception - our second coordinator said of course, not a problem, our third coordinator said they don't allow the plants to be moved out of the room. Obviously communication there is not ideal. The night of our reception the staff was rude to our bridal party and to our guests. We were also told that we'd have certain rooms open up to our guests during our reception - this didn't happen, they gave us one room, that we had to pay extra for, which is not what they originally told us. Beyond disappointed with the staff at Frederik Meijer Gardens, but again, the room was beautiful, but that was because of our designer. We won't be using them for any future events and will only recommend to family and friends for the beauty, but definitely warn them of the service.

ingly budget-friendly WHAT WE DIDN'T LOVE: our event coordinator minor technical difficulties If you're still reading, that means you are looking for specifics, and count on these reviews like I did! We booked the Meijer Gardens because we wanted to showcase a Grand Rapids location to our out-of-state family and friends, and didn't want to get married in a church. We chose an indoor site, but with glass behind us, so there was still tons of scenery and natural light. Our photos were stunning in and outdoors, with PLENTY of locations for us and our bridal party. Even if it had rained or been cold out, we could've used the greenhouses. The bridal room was included in our rental, so it was nice to get ready there and not have to travel with our hair already done, or rent a hotel nearby. You can also rent rooms for your groomsmen as well. The staff sets up the chairs and any tables for you, and we chose to have a connection to the audio system as well, which was pretty simple. We were able to get into our bridal room and the ceremony site on the morning of to decorate and get ready. We had a rehearsal the night before as well, but if someone had booked the room for Friday, our rehearsal would've had to be at another time or in another room. Our event coordinator and her interns really helped us coordinate our large bridal party and time our entrances. They all communicate via radio so I was able to wait downstairs until right before my entrance with my dad. All the communication beforehand was timely, professional, and detail-oriented. You will have to buy a wedding day insurance policy (most venues will require this anyway) and send a copy at least 30 days in advance. Some things that irritated us.... Our event coordinator, while VERY good at her job in a technical sense, was not the most calming person to be around. She was high-strung, unapologetic, and candy-sweet FAKE. Although our ceremony went off without a hitch, me and my girls were so annoyed with her by the end. I felt more stressed when she was around, and kept sending her away. My hair/make-up artist was sent to the wrong room. There were multiple weddings that day, and the front desk staff sent her to the other bride's room. So while I was waiting downstairs, she was set-up, waiting, curling iron hot, in another room on other side of the building. If you don't know where to send someone, find someone who does. And then apologize! When I told my event coordinator what happened, she just said she didn't know. :/ The gardens ARE open to the public (unless you're rich and can rent it all), and strangers WILL take your picture and make comments. If you're shy, you might want to book a weekday evening. I thought we were paid in full over a month in advance, but then I had another charge on my account the week of the wedding, because someone "forgot". The rehearsal was not helpful. The audio wasn't set up so we had to play music out of a laptop, and they couldn't get the doors to work. Overall, we were very happy with our ceremony site, felt it was a good value, and our guests loved being able to tour the gardens (something for them to do between the ceremony and reception!). Our photos are breathtaking and the whole event went smoothly. Just remember not to stress out a bride on her wedding day!

catered by them and it was great. I would highly recommend the butternut squash ravioli.

so great was the people we were able to work with. Amy and the team at FMG were so incredibly helpful from day one to the wedding day. They went above and beyond to help us personalize our reception and helped make our evening absolutely perfect. In the process of planning she offered lots of great suggestions and was helpful in coordinating food, beverages, vendors and the schedule of the day. On the day of she was organized, attentive, relaxed, and fun. We love Amy and are happy to consider her not only our wedding coordinator, but a friend! We also used Taste of the Gardens for our catering and truly, wow. We could not have been happier with the food served at our wedding reception. From helping us personalize our menu, to serving EXACTLY what we were hoping for, their service was bar none. We not only loved the food ourselves, but received many compliments on what was served. The food was fresh, local sourced, and delicious. Unlike some other companies, Taste of the Gardens was straightforward with their pricing and what they would be charging for food, dishes, linens, and service. Overall, we would highly recommend both Frederik Meijer Gardens and Taste of the Gardens to anyone hosting a wedding or other event. We are so happy we made the choice we did. Thanks FMG for helping make our day so wonderful!

. The staff was incredible to work with, from the first tour of the space all the way through our actual reception. I can't think of a single negative thing about FMG - book this space for your wedding!

ommend this venue to anyone considering getting married in the Grand Rapids area.

. Our day went so smoothly, and the staff was so resourceful and flexible when we needed it. Of course, the facilities are absolutely stunning. If you're looking for a beautiful venue with top notch personnel, this is the best place in Grand Rapids.

tors since their schedules were not lined up to allow me to only have one. That caused a lot of confusion and disappointment. Otherwise wonderful place, the guests loved it!

e I had a question, even the smallest detail, she answered emails and phone calls promptly and without increasing our stress level! The night of the event, she helped pull off a fabulous wedding that people are still talking about! Thank you Kelly!

beautiful. It was raining on the day of the wedding and we decided at the last second to not use our back up location and go ahead and get married in the rain. My wedding coordinator (which is included in your cost at FMG) offered multi colored umbrellas to all our guests. It turned out very cute and the rain didn't even bother us! The only negative is they spelled our last name incorrectly in every instance on the day of the wedding. On the digital signage, on the sign on our tram for our guests, on the bridal room (the future Mrs. ---) We were bummed that we missed out on some great photo opportunities with our new last name. FMG was unwilling to change any of the signs. I feel as though the cost of the location is really worth it. We didn't need flowers or any decorations because the setting is so beautiful on its own. And there's so many beautiful photo opportunities. I would highly recommend arriving a couple hours prior to your wedding with the groom and doing photos before the wedding. This way you can get all the best shots at different locations around the gardens and not feel rushed by your guests. We had a golf cart that our photographer and wedding coordinator drove us around in for photos, so we didn't have to walk all over the gardens. This location is probably best suited for an evening wedding, because at 5pm the gardens close to the public. I would recommend doing a ceremony after 5pm if you want it to feel private.

wine bar and everything went great.

e and made our day go smoothly. Would definitely recommend.

with a bride, so it's like having your own "assistant" until the day of the wedding! I love how the gardens also serve as a form of entertainment for our guests too, so glad we chose FMG for our reception!

n audio patch in the Conservatory, so our ceremony music could be played and heard by all. Not much decoration was needed for either location since they were all ready so beautiful! Plus, we were there during the mum display, so we had even more flowers (we didn't even need a florist!). Our contact was Rachelle Lanser and she was absolutely amazing through the whole thing. We had a few small complaints overall, but nothing that big and nothing that would have kept us from having our wedding there. The cost was pretty average for a wedding venue, especially for the beauty of what we got.

ul and went very smoothly. My only suggestion for prospective brides is to think about what time you want your reception to end..they make the music stop at 11:00pm which is a bit early. However, they did allow us to pay extra to add an additional 30-60 mins.

verything was perfect up until three weeks prior to our wedding when it was difficult for me to get in touch with the gal about our bar service there. It took multiple times of me emailing/calling before getting a response. Finally everything was set for our big night! I've never met such rude individuals before in my life- the bartenders were rude and sarcastic to all of our guest and even to myself, THE BRIDE when I tried to find out why they were being so rude to our guests and to see what the problem was. She was short with me and never even gave me a direct response. Again, the venue was beautiful and even our wedding coordinator was great although she wasn't able to be present during our reception- as far as the bartenders go I have not one thing nice to say about them. SO DISRESPECTFUL!!!!!

ations with a small diagram and they replicated it to the T! We were SO delighted with our planner and the space. :)

ng for us. There were a couple things I wished we were told ahead of time (like how long we had for pictures outside). Some things were lost in communication because we had to switch coordinators due to one moving out of state. It also felt a little rushed at times because we only had so much time for everything. Overall a wonderful place to host a wedding or any party.

icey, and they have an approved cater list with only 4 caterers. Definitely recommend having the atrium! Ask for Chap as an event coordinator. She's the best!

staff started clearing everything right away, even if people were still eating their late night snack! Also very expensive of a venue.

y, back-up location (in case of weather), and reception, but the service and assistance they offered was amazing. I knew I had nothing to worry about on my wedding day because they had it taken care of.

e it work. When we went in to meet with the coordinator, I couldn't have been more disappointed. We are younger (22) but they treated us as if we were immature kids. Not the way to treat a couple who is paying for everything. Even the room they offered us was disappointing. It over looked a swamp and you could see homes from the neighborhood! None of the gorgeous flowers. When we asked if we could just come in for pictures the cost was insane and they wouldn't let us rent a small room for the girl to just check hair/makeup/etc. Definitely would NOT Recommend. Spend your money elsewhere and get some quality service.

set up indoors as well. They made every effort to accommodate all needs. They were wonderful.

shuttle people on the tram. It actually turned into a great experience, and the umbrellas made for some great pictures!

s. The grounds shoot great in wedding photos, too.

nsurance policy because it is open to the public and it is in case anything is stolen during your event. It was an extra $80 charge because my home insurance would not cover that. Also the place was beautiful but you are not allowed to have flowers in the conservatory, because of the butterflies, which was fine except that they have volunteers there as you walk in and out of the conservatory but only catch the flowers on the way out not on the way in so we lost most of our bridal party flowers before the reception because they take them and you can not get them back. Money wasted. Now I was told that flowers would not be allowed in the conservatory and the event coordinator told me she had told me several times about this, which she did, but it was not stressed that we would lose them. When I went in the volunteers made sure I had no flowers but why couldn't they have caught the other bridal party people. I was the bride and not with everyone as they walked through the conservatory, I was busy having my pictures done. Not standing guard at the entrance of the conservatory. So be careful of this. They did not suggest a food tasting, we had to ask for it so make sure you do. The food was fabulous! Everyone was very professional and polite.

nd sculptures. The staff was amazing as well. They were so helpful and organized. Everything went so smooth. There wasn't anything I would change. The gardens are so beautiful and there are so many places to be able to get your pictures taken. It is hard to find anything that I would change about the venue and how everything turned out.

Grand Room, with decorations it was very romantic and elegant. There was a limit on decorations but in the end it was beautiful!

a bit more corporate than your average wedding space, it served it's purpose well and allowed our guests the opportunity to tour the gardens. Our coordinator Michelle was so nice and very helpful, it was a pleasure to work with her.

on was that all of our guests were able to tour the gardens the entire night. The only thing I would have changed is that I wish we would have been able to rent the rooms for longer. It was such a quick turn around between the end of the ceremony and the beginning of the reception. Aside from wanting the night to last forever, I think we chose a good location!

s is a museum and large organization--they aren't particularly concerned with their wedding events. I didn't heed the warnings that I had heard...

knowledgable, helpful, and friendly. It was a very comfortable space for our small wedding, but there are also much larger spaces there for larger weddings. The food was delicious and the service was great.;There were a couple other weddings going on the same night in different areas, but all guests had access to the gardens so that could get confusing for the guests as to which wedding party they belong to. Also, the Tropical Conservatory was a great place for pictures, but it was humid so be prepared!