Will Rogers Gardens — Attraction in Oklahoma City

Gorgeous park with two huge problems, otherwise 5 stars:

1. Homeless people live in the woods of this park.

They leave their trash, sewage, and drug paraphernalia behind. The most recent time I went there there was a crackhead pacing for hours near all of us event goers the Christmas event this weekend. I didn't feel safe as this crackhead kept pacing around the public event and staring at us. I've seen that crackhead homeless guy that lives there at other times in the park--- and don't feel safe. It's sad that homeless and crackheads go to this park and make us feel unsafe when taking a walk.

2. Professional photographers telling people to move.

There are ALWAYS tons of professional photographers taking wedding & sweet 16 party group photos.... they often ask people enjoying the park to get out of the way of their photos.

The park is a hidden gem and a true jewel of OKC.

It's a historic park that was built in the mid-1950s.

The landscaping is truly magnificent for OKC and for a city park in general. Few people know this park exists if they don't live nearby. There's a pond and a lovely variety of plants, flowers, etc. It's truly a work of art.

But the city needs to nip the problem of homeless people living in a city park that "closes" at 11 p.m. and the pro photographers that rudely ask park go-ers to move out of their photos. The photographers dominate the park at least a few times a day. And the homeless leave trash-- and make the pavilions unusable since the park go-ers can't go in the pavillion awnings since the homeless people's stuff (and sometimes even cars) are parked by there with all their bags and belongings all over the tables.

The park has summer and winter hours. Winter hours make the pond / gardens area close at 5 p.m. at which time they lock the gate. Summer hours for the gated area are later in the summer. The other parks of the park stay open until 11 p.m.-- supposedly-- but homeless people live in the woods of Will Rogers Park so city park closing times aren't enforced... except in the gated flowers...

It’s very beautiful, but I highly advise against holding a wedding here. I was a part of a wedding there this weekend and the staff made the entire experience stressful for the couple.

They were told that bubbles were fine but then they weren’t because that was “littering.” They were told ahead of time and the night before when we were setting up that having glasses was fine. Then the next morning another staff member told them that having glass was not ok and they would not get their deposit back.

We had to have people outside the greenhouse to keep park visitors out because they did not post signs that there was a private event, and the greenhouse is closed to the public on weekends for events anyway. People were strolling right in to stand among the wedding decor.

They had their ceremony in front of the fountain, which was the plan from the beginning and was also double checked that it was still ok the night before. While the couple was signing their marriage license, they were approached and told that they weren’t supposed to have the ceremony there because another ceremony was booked at that fountain and it had to be reserved. The only options to reserve were buildings, and reserving the fountain had not been brought up when it had been discussed previously or the night before.

Then, as cleaning up was happening afterwards, staff were coming in seemingly irritated that we were not gone. We had until 11 pm to be cleaned up and out, and it was still well before that time.

Not to mention there was also a baby shower, another wedding, and a couple of other events all taking place at the same time.

So if you plan to have your wedding here, expect to have your plans approved and then be told the day of that half of what you are doing isn’t allowed, even if you’re told it is fine as you are setting up. This caused a lot of unneeded stress to the couple and made it difficult for them to enjoy what is supposed to be one of their...

I just had my wedding at the Will Rogers gardens on a Saturday in November, and wanted to give a few warnings to those who will be also getting married there but may not know the same things I didn’t know until the day of. Since this place is public, it has to remain open during the day. That means anyone can come in and congregate in the “lounge” area and homeless people use the restrooms. Also, we had guests who couldn’t find a parking spot because there were so many people at the park in general. Again with it being public, we had no way to secure our belongings in the rooms we were getting ready in while we were not in there. People may be sitting right in front of the conservatory while you are doing your wedding. Or just walk in before when everything is set up even though you’re paying for it, and it’s closed to the public on the weekends. Outlets outside do not work, so don’t plan on using them. Volunteers put Christmas lights on the bushes and trees RIGHT before we were about to get in the conservatory. They even tried to tell us at 1:30 that we couldn’t go in there until 1, even though it was obviously passed 1. Some staff were very nice, but others not so great. We had to have people getting the random people out of the building, and finally had to ask a worker to put up signs that there was a private event, and it did not stop people. There was another wedding in the conservatory that night, so there was a bride and bridal party getting ready in the bathrooms and walking around the lobby during my reception, with their guest also hanging out in there.

With this being said, it was a beautiful wedding, but I would not do it there if I were to...