New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill — Attraction in Boylston

When I was browsing venues, the Botanic Garden stood out to me because it as truly so beautiful and unique. The grounds are stunning, and I loved that each part of the wedding (ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception) would be in a different location. What I WASNT notified of however, was that the plants moved from inside the greenhouse to outside in the spring would be covered in a very noticeable white netting. I did not even know this was a thing when booking my date (5/26/24) back in February 2023. I found this out at my rehearsal, the day before my wedding, and was devastated. These plants are covered in white netting in both of the available outdoor ceremony spaces, as well as the cocktail hour space. At rehearsal, when myself and other members of the wedding party made note of the white netting, I was under the assumption that these would be removed for the wedding. When I reached out to my wedding coordinator, she explained they would not be removed, as they are "to help the plants adjust to their new home". When I asked if they could be removed for an hour and a half for my 6pm ceremony and cocktail hour, she told me no, they would not be removing them. When we asked if there could be alternatives (ways to hide them, move the plants, etc), no true alternative was given (you can see the remay in the Secret Garden ceremony space too). You can imagine how I was feeling the night before my wedding being thrown this absolute curve ball. When I confronted my wedding coordinator that this was not in my contract, she told me the previous coordinator (who has just left in March) was very good at explaining this to couples, and attached an email sent March 2024, which explained the "remay" (the white netting). I went through every email, and re-reviewed my contract, and again, there was no mention of the remay until March 2024, when I couldn't have possibly changed my date or venue. I want to warn any future brides here of my experience, so that they do not feel deceived and let down of not being notified of this very large thing. I feel like it is false advertisement by the venue, as they do not advertise a SINGLE photo with the remay (as it completely changes the look of the venue and does not look natural) and no bride would want to get married on the premise with it. When you book a Botanic Garden, you are spending the money for a beautiful, natural, backdrop for your wedding. At the end of the day, the Botanic Garden is a beautiful venue to get married at, however review your contract carefully, inquire about the remay, and carefully consider the wedding coordinator situation.

A small edit now that I have received more media from my day... the remay can be seen from each of the 3 ceremony locations, including the...

My visit to New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill was truly magical! October 12-14, 2024 was Fairy Fest, so there was a sprinkling of magic in the air! 💝 The weather was a perfect 70°, with bright sunshine & a slight breeze. This was my first solo adventure here, so I was able to explore more of the beautiful grounds this time. I discovered the Wildlife Pond, the Temple of Peace & several interesting statues that I'd missed before. There were lots of adorable fairies fluttering around & the gleeful sounds of giggling children filled the air whenever a new fairy house came into view. There was a small fairy related craft fair in one of the rooms & their wares were wonderful & reasonably priced. The gift shop is always stocked with a wide array of garden related items, including jewelry, books, greeting cards, toys, honey & maple syrup & lots more! Before heading out, I stopped in at the Farmer and the Fork café. Enjoying my lobster bisque & raspberry lemonade outside on the patio was a delicious ending for my perfect day.

From the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill website: "Experience the wonder of plants at a botanic garden in the heart of New England. We are a nonprofit organization open to the public year-round for garden viewing, trail walking, educational programs, exhibitions, and more. Our garden includes conservatories, formal and naturalistic gardens, a Garden Shop, café, and expansive views of the Wachusett Reservoir. We care for an irreplaceable collection of plants and place sustainability and environmental stewardship at the forefront of our work. Here, wandering is always welcome, and no two visits will ever...

I am extremely disappointed with this establishment and am requesting to speak to a general manager of the establishment immediately. My son woke up extremely sick today and we are supposed to go to the light shows tonight. We called to see if we could pay an additional fee to get the show to be rescheduled to my next day off, as it’d be extremely irresponsible to bring our sick son out in 25 degree weather tonight for the show. I was told there was absolutely nothing they could do about the situation because the tickets “are locked as of 5pm the night before.” They can’t even refund the $80 we spent on the tickets, which is absolute crazy. Instead, their suggestion was to either gift the tickets to friends so they could go, or donate it to the establishment so we could get a write off on our taxes. Even after speaking to the manager, she agreed that there was absolutely nothing that they could do. We’ve gone to this show every year for the last 5 years since our daughter was born, but will never go again due to this experience. Such a shame. If you have small children who may be sick around this time of the year, I’d suggest purchasing tickets elsewhere in the event that your child is sick past 5pm the night before your scheduled show. I will be making sure that all of my friends and family purchase tickets elsewhere.

UPDATE: We emailed the CEO in regards to this matter and they didn’t respond. Don’t waste...