Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum — Attraction in Austin

Edit to respond to owner reply: a member of Umlauf staff told me that Kaitlyn had been fired. We know that setup and breakdown are not included and if we had been given the proper information had been provided by y’all, we would’ve hired more people. You shouldn’t be surprised to see this from me since you know good and well you’ve done nothing to resolve these issues. This all stems from your failure to communicate and fulfill the assurances that your staff provided us.

I’ve worked in hospitality for 15 years- including weddings- and I rarely write negative reviews. But I feel obligated to warn others considering the Umlauf for their wedding about the experience we had at Umlauf Sculpture Garden.

We chose Umlauf for its natural beauty and reasonable price. Our initial point of contact, Kaitlyn, was warm and accommodating, especially with our Monday wedding when the venue is closed to the public. Based on her assurances, we booked. Unfortunately, she was fired without notice and replaced by Kristen, who had just started and openly admitted she had no experience with weddings.

During our walkthrough, Kristen was friendly and optimistic, confirming we could arrive early to set up, use venue tools, and leave packed items overnight. Mid-meeting, her manager Katie interrupted to curtly ask us to take the conversation outside because our normal-volume talking was “too loud.” That would set the tone for the rest of our dealings with her.

The day before the wedding, we arrived to begin setup and were met with confusion and hostility. Katie questioned why we were there, nitpicked about which part of the catering kitchen counter we could use (despite prior approval), and even chastised my wife for saying she would “throw away” boxes instead of “recycle” them. She also informed us we could not arrive until after 2 PM on the day of the wedding due to a yard sale they were hosting that morning- completely contradicting what we had been told and leaving us with very little time to execute our setup before our 4 PM guest arrival.

Wedding day was chaos. My mother-in-law and our day-of coordinator were denied access to ladders, tools, and even a step stool. I arrived at 1:30 PM- already dressed for the ceremony- and asked to change into work clothes. Kristen refused to unlock the dressing room without charging us, claiming Katie was “on a tear.” That kind of tension on a wedding day is inexcusable. We weren’t allowed to begin setting up tables and chairs until 1:52 PM- just over an hour before guests arrived. As a result, we couldn’t finish florals or décor, wasting hundreds on unused arrangements.

Despite the stress, we kept our composure. Kristen left early, and only Colleen remained. She was kind but visibly overwhelmed, and policies kept shifting throughout the evening. At one point, she said we couldn’t leave anything behind—despite earlier confirmation we could pick items up the next day.

Later, our photographer pointed out that the ceremony space- where Kristen told us to hold the dance party- was dangerously dark. We had to scramble mid-reception to move the speakers, lights, and bar setup back to the upper level. Finally, as we were trying to leave for the after-party, Colleen stopped me- the groom- to ask if we had enough people to break down the event to avoid extra charges. At that point, I was done.

They even guilted us for paying by credit card, saying it would “cost them.” But the entire experience made it clear this was about squeezing money, not hosting weddings. For a venue that markets itself to couples, there was no urgency to help, no accountability, and a complete lack of professionalism from leadership.

At the end of the day, this wasn’t about flowers or lighting- it was about trust. And Umlauf broke that. The setting is stunning, but this team was ill-equipped to handle a wedding. If the management and staff were to change, maybe Umlauf could live up to its potential, but based on our experience, I cannot...

I recently discovered this little gem on their last free admission wknd of the summer. I can't believe I have lived in Austin for 5yrs and never made it out here!

First, let me say, that this place is definitely a place meant and designed for quiet introspection and appreciation of the sculptures, thoughtfully placed and integrated into the landscape and grounds. The water feature at the entrance is especially pleasant and you can walk via a pathway to the top of it and sit and just get lost in thoughts and nature...in the middle of what is essentially downtown Austin!

The sculptures are fantastic and span the spectrum from renaissance to contemporary to grotesque to macabre to religious to exquisite to simplistic...which is just fantastic! You can find one or two or ten and peruse the form, flow, and context, which I love!

The visitor center, which also doubles as an exhibition gallery, was great! The "Shiva and Eve" exhibit they had with various interpretation of the female form was fantastic!

My only qualm was, and in all fairness this may have been due to it being a "free" wknd, that there were 3 separate parents with very young/small children running around screaming and even touching and CLIMBING on the sculptures in the garden. This made it very unpleasant to enjoy the ambiance and environment this place was designed for and I could not believe the complete disregard and lack of respect the parents had for others and these art sculptures. Even if there hadn't been prominently posted signed to NOT touch or climb the sculptures, it is common sense that is NEVER OK! I was honestly appalled that anyone, let alone Austinites, would behave this way! I even told the docents in the visitor center and they just kind of shrugged and said "there isn't a lot we can do". What a sad commentary on Society and its lack of conscience and courtesy!

Umlauf is a wonderful, peaceful abode where you can appreciate art and nature as one...it is not a playground or free babysitter for parents to bring their unruly offspring! There is the Thinkery in Mueller or, better yet, the grounds of Zilker, for just that!

Please be respectful of this place and those that are trying to enjoy it next...

The Umlauf was the first wedding vendor my now-husband and I booked for our 80-person November 2023 wedding, and our day was as gorgeous as we knew it would be with such a venue. Although we were worried about rain on the day-of, it ended up just being a gorgeous light overcast that made all the greens and golds of the trees so lush and beautiful—which in turn gave us the most beautiful wedding photos. We hosted both our ceremony and reception in the space, and the gardens are so versatile that it never felt crowded, only fun and intimate.

We absolutely loved the flexibility of this venue and being able to bring in our own team of selected vendors (with approval) to make our day as tailored to our wants as possible. The team at the Umlauf were always so quick to answer questions and provide information as we planned, and you can tell how much the staff loves sharing the beauty of the space with people. We worked with 2 different venue managers during our planning process, but the transition was seamless and never caused us any issues.

We did book 2 tents for the wedding because the rain chances were so all-over-the-place, so that is one aspect you have to consider when planning an outdoor wedding. Another thing to remember is that they are a museum, so if your wedding is on a day they’re open, you won’t have access to the venue until 4 pm. We got married on Monday (their Closed day) and were able to pay for a couple of extra hours to get in early, which did help with the time crunch.

I would highly recommend the Umlauf as a wedding venue for brides wanting a garden-themed, art-filled wedding.

Photographer: @stephanierogersphotography (Stephanie Rogers...