Powell Gardens, Kansas City's Botanical Garden — Attraction in Odessa

If you’re reading reviews on Powell Gardens, I question whether you have had a proper visit because the property truly speaks for itself. Powell Gardens is one of those spots where you fall in love with the place. When my husband & I toured the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel, I felt chills just walking the path TO the chapel - let alone being inside the chapel itself. Once guests saw the property and chapel themselves, there wasn’t a single question as to why we decided to get married 40 minutes outside of downtown Kansas City. To me, the drive is always worth it. The staff is kind & as knowledgeable as they are passionate about the gardens.

We had only our wedding ceremony at Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel & our wedding reception in downtown KC - out of a concern for guests drinking as well as proximity to more hotels.

Due to limited October availability, we landed on a Friday evening. Powell allowed us access to the study (getting ready building) from 2-6pm and the chapel from 4-6pm. We decided to have our ceremony at 4:30pm, giving us 30 minutes for sound check and guest arrival. We did not do any additional decor because (1) we didn’t want to deal with the set-up and clean-up and (2) the chapel doesn’t need it!

The chapel fits 90 guests comfortably, and 110 with chairs set-up in the back. We were very nervous about the amount of guests who would show up and, therefore, did not invite all of our reception guests out to Powell for the ceremony. On the day-of, the chapel felt full but no one was left standing outside.

We had a handful of ushers (friends) place reserve signs on the front pews, hand payment to the musicians, assist people from the bus and their cars to the chapel, direct them to the restrooms and hand out programs. One challenge we had was when guests arrived, they saw the restroom sign for the study and infiltrated our (private) getting ready suite. We suggest having an usher (friend) stationed near the study at least 40 minutes prior to the ceremony start time to direct guests to the restroom at the rear of the chapel if needed. Unfortunately, due to the drive out to Powell, guests will likely need to use the restroom upon arrival.

As ethereal as the chapel is, we highly recommend hiring live music to really elevate your ceremony. We hired a string duo, Forte Quartet, who set-up and played in the rear corner of the chapel. The sound of both the musicians and officiant was incredible, crystal clear, no guests' complaints.

We hired a Showtime Transportation limo for the wedding party and an executive bus for guests who traveled (and didn’t have a car). The bus went from the hotel to Powell to our downtown reception venue. After the reception, guests were on their own and it worked out fine.

All in all, Powell Gardens is well worth it and truly made our wedding day the most magical day...

We visited Paul Garden on September 21, 2025. We were a bit disappointed, but still glad that we visited.

We are fortunate that the Missouri Botanical Gardens. (MBG) is in our hometown in St. Louis. MBG Is recognized as one of the finest botanical gardens in the U. S. & gets recognized on many list of the finest botanical gardens worldwide. We are garden members and enjoy visiting gardens wherever we travel. When we visit other gardens it reinforces how Beautiful and well kept MBG is.

Powell is a sizable garden & has some very Interesting structures on site. Unfortunately this past Sunday, the Missouri Barn, Miller Hammond Chapel study, and the Marjorie Paul Allen Chapel were all closed to visitors. The visitor center, which is an 18,000 square-foot building was open, but the only staff members were at a kiosk in the main entry hall. There was not even a Staff member in the gift shop.

The grounds in the gardens need of more care which we suspect may be a result of inadequate funding for the garden. There was not a single area that appeared to be as Thoroughly well kept. Most areas appeared to need some Love and care.

The location of Powell Gardens is an hour outside of downtown Kansas City. Given the distance away from the majority of points of interest, One would think that the management would want to put its best face forward, on every beautiful weekend day from spring through fall. Doing this seems even more important on the weekend of The Plaza Art Fair, a once yearly event that is attended by 250k people, many like us who came from out of town.

Currently, Powell Is hosting Jurassic Garden. There are animatronics and even a vehicle from Jurassic Park movies Inc. into most areas and many displays. This Is likely to draw families and children to the garden.

We would encourage anyone considering visiting Powell Gardens To call ahead and make certain that you will get to see and enjoy what interest you.

Would we return or recommend going Powell? Yes, if you’re in the area and you enjoy Botanical gardens. This garden needs to be supported in order To have the funding needed to improve its care and facilities. There is a great deal here that could be...

Ever since we first lay eyes on the Glass Chapel, we knew that was where we wanted to have our Handfasting. Because of pricing, we ended up picking a Monday. This honestly worked out extremely in our favor as the park would be closed to the public. Reading reviews that timelines were strict, and usage of areas was limited because of park guests- we think that having our ceremony on a closed day allowed us a LOT more freedom and flexibility for arrival, set up, and venue usage. We did have to use the back entrance to the gardens (guests included) but that was a small price to pay for having what amounted to full private use of the park! We worked with Destiny who was prompt at responding, extremely helpful, and went above and beyond to make our day go smoothly. The study was huge and plenty of space for 10- even 15 people to get ready at at once. There isn't a lot of photos of the inside so we didn't quite know what to expect until we got there the day of. While their list of caterers is a bit limited, it WAS nice to have vendors who were already used to the spaces and rules- and I feel that contributed to how well everything went. The Glass Chapel and Fountain Gardens were cleaned and pristine when we came to use them (and we did our best to leave them that way upon our exit!). Powell Gardens provided audio equipment and a microphone that we weren't expecting at the reception that was a huge help. Everyone could hear our mini D&D one shot so clearly! Additionally, their bartender on staff (Shelley) that we used for our cash bar was super pleasant and a joy to have. We even saw a bald eagle fly over head at the reception at the Fountain Garden- which was beautiful in bloom! Side Note: If you are wondering whether to hire the golf cart- DO IT. We got so many different areas to photograph in during our photo hour and no sore feet or dirty train! All in all, we had a truly magical day. We will certainly be back to the park as guests, reliving memories of this day for...