Welcome to The Venue Series! We love helping couples find the best fitting venue for their ideal budget via our standalone Venue Hunt Consultation or Venue Hunt add-on for wedding planning packages. As PNW Planners, we've planned and designed in hundreds of Oregon and Washington venues, and we're sharing some of our favorites and why we love them. All photos featured are from weddings we've coordinated, planned, and/or designed.
You're not alone if you want to get married in the beautiful outdoor landscapes of Washington. Sometimes it can be hard to choose between what kind of landscape (garden vs forest vs meadow vs mountain), because Washington really has it all! What we love about the garden wedding venues around Seattle is that they're also forest venues, or farm venues, winery venues, etc.
We plan to cover many different venues we've worked at and loved in Washington as part of our Venue Series, we've had many request for the best garden wedding venues near Seattle. Here are some of the garden venues we've had the pleasure of working at within ~45 minutes of Seattle, Washington, and why we think you'll love them.
Photographers: Mariana Tey Photography (1-4) & Elizabeth Lauren Photography (5-8)
Why We Love Thornewood Castle:
If you’ve been dreaming of a fairytale wedding, this venue will make all your dreams come true - it’s the only castle on the west coast, and one of the few in the United States. It’s rich with history, and it’s just an hour drive outside of Seattle.
We love this venue because it completely sets the tone for your wedding - you can have a minimal design, and you will still feel like you’re in a real-life fairytale inside the garden walls and in the ornate interior. Not to mention, you also get a lake view if you opt for an outside reception. We mean it when we say there are no areas you'd want to hide or cover - every aspect of the property is beautifully designed.
Insider Tips:
While the grounds are beautiful, they come with a few restrictions. Due to the neighborhood noise ordinance, there isn’t amplified music allowed outside other than for ceremonies (with permission). This means you may opt for a string or other acoustic musician, have your reception inside, or have your DJ or coordinator angle the inside speakers out toward an open window for your outside reception (you’ll get light dinner music).
The venue rental time frame is also shorter than others, which means you’ll need to budget for adding extra hours or work with a coordinator to ensure your timeline leaves time for the important moments. It can feel EXTRA short if you don’t use the time wisely! Just ask us how we’ve crafted our timelines for the handful of weddings we’ve worked at Thornwood Castle.
Photographer: Chris Klas Photo
Why We Love Twin Willow Garden:
Twin Willow Gardens is perfect if you can’t decide between a garden wedding venue and a woodsy, forest wedding venue. We love that this venue has designated areas for each part of your wedding, and the paths in between each are beautiful and part of the experience.
They’ve developed the ceremony area in an old growth cedar forest with a sturdy wooden arbor and bark chips so you don’t have to worry about mudding up your dress. Then for reception, the venue provides a draped tent to keep guests either dry or cool, depending on your wedding month, with a garden surrounding the area.
The owners have included thoughtful touches all around the property, like included bistro lights, a catering area with commercial refrigerators and prep areas (trust us, this makes all the difference for your catering team!), tiki torches, coverings for the DJ, and so many more amenities. This venue has thought of it all, and you don’t need to source much other than items in your tablescape, or if you’re looking to upgrade from white folding chairs.
Insider Tips:
Since this venue is so amazing, it is BOOKED OUT for 2024 - but there are still plenty of dates for 2025! Twin Willow Gardens requires a professional wedding coordinator, which we’re happy to be one of your considerations for, and we are booking for 2025 as well. Lastly, keep in mind that the ceremony bark chips are not conducive to long, trailing veils. We recommend either to opt for a shorter veil, or have designated veil holders (a great role for kids 5 and up) for your long or cathedral length veil.
Photographers: Bare Bones Photography
Why We Love Dunn Garden:
Dunn Gardens is the type of venue if you like the beautiful organic look of native gardens, rather than perfectly manicured gardens. Other than the natural beauty of the garden, we love this venue because it allows for delivery of items the day before your event, and pick up the day after!
Many venues restrict setup and clean up to the same day of your event, but you’ll have the luxury of not being rushed for set up. This is especially helpful, as you’ll likely need rentals and restrooms delivered for your wedding since the venue does not include tables and chairs.
Insider Tips:
Since this venue is a Puget Sound Public Park, it does not come with amenities like a covered area, tables or chairs, and other essentials. We’ve worked with CORT and helped couples rent all the necessary items for a functional and beautiful wedding - included a tented wedding! Also note that Dunn Gardens has an earlier noise ordinance of 9pm, but you can start as earlier or plan on moving to a nearby afterparty location to get your fix of late-night dancing and drinks since - the garden is just 10 minutes or less away from local hotspots.
Photographer: Nick Hanyok
Why We Love Wisteria Gardens:
If you love the romantic and whimsical look of gardens, Wisteria Gardens has a property that you’ll love. The real highlight is the 50 foot trellis of magical wisteria. But other features you may love are the spacious barn and silo for your reception and cocktail hour. This venue is great if you plan on having a large guest count, with a capacity of 150-200 guests inside the event barn.
You’ll be able to bring in whatever style you like, but they do have a full inventory of decor if you’re wanting to bring in a rustic or eclectic look. If you want to bring in another style, we believe you can transform any space and would be happy to help coordinate your rentals, or even choose from the venue's inventory. You can also choose whatever caterer you like, and the venue comes with a full kitchen prep area.
Insider Tips:
This venue only allows beer, wine, and champagne, so if you’re dead set on signature cocktails, you may have to look elsewhere. However, there are so many other perks to this venue. This venue’s space allows for an indoor or outdoor reception, and the barn is heated for weddings in colder months.
Photographers: Lloyd Photo and Film
Why We Love UWCUH:
While the name is long (we’ll call it UWCUH for short) there is SO much to love about this venue, which is a part of University of Washington’s Botanic Gardens. We helped plan, design and coordinate one of our favorite summer designs here for Bridgette and Lawrence’s wedding, but have had the pleasure of being here a handful of times.
While the venue allows for flexibility in how and where you onsite have your wedding, we love long family style receptions under the canopy of trees in the Goodfellow Grove - there's nothing like it! We’ve had most couples opt for an al fresco reception, but the atrium-like space at the Merrill Commons offers a perfect place for dancing. It has floors made for dancing.
Insider Tips:
If you’re planning on using multiple event spaces at the UWCUH, you’ll definitely want to make sure you rely on your wedding planner and catering staff to make sure you have everything you need at each space. That means potentially two bar set ups, a few water stations, an area designated for catering kitchen and prep, as well as any comforts for your guests.
Photographer: Courtney Jess Photograph
Why We Love Fox Hollow Farm:
Love the estate look? Fox Hollow Farm is perfect for a garden-meets-countryside-estate wedding. Fox Hollow Farm offers both wooded hills, garden lawns, and a rustic barn. This venue is owned by the venue collective Landmark Event Co. and Herban Feast, which means that you can guarantee you have the basics included in your venue rental: an expert catering team, simple places settings, and chairs and tables galore.
The catering team actually grows many of their own vegetables at Fox Hollow Farms for a real farm-to-table experience, with very little distance between the farm and your table.
Insider Tips:
Landmark Event Co. venues always provide good amenities and allow a 10 hour venue rental timeframe, but be aware that 3-4 hours of that timeframe have to be allotted to set up, and 1 hour of that time frame allotted to clean up. Based on our experience, this is fairly standard, and 3 hours set up time and 1 hour of clean up is what we also recommend, but we’re happy to show you how the timeline will pan out!
Landmark Event Co. also has many in-house services, from catering, to florists, to entertainment, and this venue does require that you either hire their in-house services or a pre-approved vendor for most vendor categories. This will guarantee a smooth event, since all your vendors will be familiar with the space, but will limit your options. Our team at Your Perfect Bridesmaid is already an approved planner!
Photographer: Levi Hriczo (1-3) & Sarah Jane Photography (4-7)
Why We Love Black Diamond Garden:
POV: you host your wedding in a stunning greenhouse and garden! This venue is gorgeous from spring with all the new blooms, to summer with the lush gardens and warm weather, to fall with a garden full of vibrant colors. This venue is great for the plant lovers who want to be surrounded by greenery and flowers, and a bit further away from the city.
We love the atmosphere here, with expansive property guests get to enjoy, with meadows, forests, ponds and even farm animals. Black Diamond Garden includes uncommon perks you didn’t even think to ask for (as well as the basics):
A 12 hour rental period on all weekend dates, including Sundays
10 foot wooden farm tables
Use of the venue for a 2-hour engagement shoot
Use of the fire pit (fire season dependent), and they even provide the firewood
Insider Tips:
This venue has a lot to offer, but one thing it does not have is a certified kitchen that allows cooking onsite. It does have a full prep station, so you may have to plan on hiring a local caterer or work with a coordinator or caterer to get the proper warming equipment rented and delivered onsite. This venue is about 45 minutes from Seattle and 30 minutes from the SeaTac area, so it’s still manageable for locals to make the trip, but out of town guests will need to coordinate transportation and accommodations.
Want to know that you've found the best venue?
We love helping couples find the best fitting venue for their ideal budget via our standalone Venue Hunt Consultation or Venue Hunt add-on for wedding planning packages. As PNW Planners, we've planned and designed in hundreds of Oregon and Washington venues, and we're sharing some of our favorites and why we love them. All photos featured are from weddings Your Perfect Bridesmaid has coordinated, planned, and/or designed. View more of our Venue Series Blogs below: