Leach Botanical Garden

Had our wedding here here in August. Beautiful venue, absolutely perfect for our ~70 guests. Staff was extremely accommodating. Event manager was communicative and very helpful. We had some questions during setup and she was always available to help us out. When groomsmen didn’t have enough space to get ready, she unlocked an extra room for them. Staff helped our guests with parking. Basically it felt like they were doing their best to help us have a wonderful day — which we absolutely did.
We are also very happy with our decision to use the Leach-​approved market lighting and sound system. Don’t be discouraged by the mandated decibel limit — it was plenty loud enough for dancing! Everything came together perfectly.

If all the other actual gardens in the Portland area die up, I’ll come here again. It was really lackluster and not at all the hype previous reviews are gushing about.
I went with some family to grab some photos. However, we were just walking around, not taking photos when the Event Manager rudely approached us and told us we had to leave a CITY PARK. Um, no. She doesn’t know the laws and instead cuts you off to tell you her own. Well, I made a little phone call after speaking with an employee, who had been there for a couple decades, and she said non-​wedding guests complain about her a lot. Most of the other employees don’t even know her because she’s stuck up and rude. They avoid her. You should too. The rep for the City of Portland laughed at the Event Manager’s stupidity and told me she can’t kick people out. It’s not her place.
As for a wedding venue, happy some loved it, but I’d skip it. I considered this place for my wedding a few years ago and am happy I didn’t pick this location. It’s SMALL and parking is terrible. The neighborhood has started launching a lot of complaints due to noise and drunk people being loud at weddings.
As a working photographer, I have never been treated this way before at any location or venue. Ever.
I got my photos, btw, Event Manager.

My fiancé and I have been looking at wedding venues online for a while and Leach kept popping up as a beautiful and affordable option. A good number of couples said that they had managed to secure the gardens as their wedding/​reception site for a good $ 800. You can imagine our surprise when we arrived and found that the price had basically quadrupled due to a package that had been set in place and new rules regarding catering.
We found that the staff were perfectly wonderful and polite and the garden itself was absolutely beautiful but the price makes this venue more affordable for a couple with a $ 15,000 budget. These factors as well as body count (150 max), parking, and the time of year our wedding will be held played into our choice to find another venue.

Beautiful area. I loved the stone cabin and creek. I had planned on having photos (just me and the photographer for one hour) taken here but they charge $ 150 to use the location for photos so I will find another park.

Serene place to go enjoy time in the woods on the water with a country feel. A nice retreat while I am in the city. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and the grounds maintenance is meticulous. Tree vines on the trail create a tripping hazard if your not agile. It’s really a lovely settting.

We had our wedding at Leach and it was absolutely the PERFECT venue! The staff was very helpful in accommodating us. The location is beautiful and created the ideal atmosphere. The only issue is the parking situation, which confused some of our guests. However, one of the staff members leapt into action to help direct people.
Leach has recently relaxed their liquor and noise restrictions, so take any older reviews with a grain of salt. This is an amazing venue for a small-​to-​medium wedding.

I recently worked an event at Leach Botanical Gardens and I have to say it was one of the best experiences I have had at a venue space. Nadia and the staff was very accommodating with any questions and needs we had. Any changes we needed to make coming up to the event were handled professionally and with grace. If you are planning a wedding and need an event space I would highly recommend Leach Gardens.

I went to a wedding here and it is absolutely beautiful. Buildings are neat!!!
The only issue is the parking lot to where you enter the park is difficult/​hazardous to cross at.

As a frequent visitor of Leach Botanical Gardens and the Manor house I can say that this is a hidden gem in our city! The garden is peaceful and quiet. The Manor house is perfect for events, such as small weddings.
The house care taker keeps everything is great condition and you can tell she really cares and is invested in the property.
I wish I had found this place when I was searching for wedding venues. It would have been perfect!
Aside from events, the LBG has something called a ‘Honey Bee Hike’ that I took my toddler to! He had a blast and it was only $ 3!

Looking for a wedding venue I contacted Leach Botanical and was informed by Jessica that they don’t allow anyone other than the wedding party to dance due to the «energy» involved in large group dancing and the neighborhood noise restrictions. I checked with a couple who married there in 2010 and they were allowed to dance since they only had a small wedding of 10 — 15 couples BUT it is NOT allowed in the contract. I post this because I could not find this detail on any other wedding website. The place is beautiful and if you don’t care about dancing then do it here.

Just found the garden while doing a search for things to do in Portland. Figured it wasn’t too far away and felt like a walk. I was kind of expecting more of a formal looking garden as I couldn’t really tell what it was like from their website or the existing pictures here on Unilocal.Was pleasantly surprised at the types of «foresty» trails that wind around amongst the tall coniferous trees. The forest floor in many areas is carpeted in clover on each side of the trail with interpretive signs telling you what all the plants and trees are.
You can leisurely walk the entire garden in probably 30 minutes if you’re walking fast but we probably took about 2 hours as it was our first time there and enjoyed looking for crawfish walking around in the stream that runs through the garden, reading up on the plants, and spending a little time in the manor learning about the history of the couple that made the garden, the current management, and other history.
What a great little gem in the area. We’ll be going back on our yearly visit to the area.

Beautiful place, perfect for a wedding but can be spendy.

The plants have names on them so you can always know the names of the plants. It’s quiet here and not many people will be near you while walking through the garden. People get married here so that goes to tell you that it’s beautiful here and FREE.

The Hoyt Gardens, Japanese Gardens, and International Rose Test Gardens are all far superior. Lots of ferns here, but I recommend Forest Park if you want to see ferns and streams. Nothing too spectacular here to write home about. Big negative for me was the woman who works there. She came and chewed out my fiancé and me for taking pictures of some early spring flowers. She said we were blocking the trail and disturbing the plants for the other guests to see. She came out of nowhere and let us have it for about 5 minutes non-​stop, then disappeared just as fast. Overall, a very negative vibe towards young adults. I am 27 and my fiancé is 26, so it’s not like we are unruly children.

Pretty to look at but It’s really only good for weddings

My husband and I got married at Leach Botanical Garden last October. It was the absolutely perfect venue for our wedding! The three things we were hoping to find were:
1.) the ability to have our wedding ceremony and reception in the same place
2.) the flexibility of hiring our own caterer
3.) a naturally beautiful setting so that we could have a simple yet elegant wedding without the hassle and expense of buying lots of flowers and decorations
Leach Botanical Garden made this all possible! We loved how it offered a stunning outdoor location while still being intimate enough for a private gathering. It was also reassuring to know that somebody was on site in case something went wrong, though we also appreciated that they didn’t interfere with our event at all.
I honestly have only wonderful things to say about our wedding experience at Leach. The staff were wonderful to work with from the first day I contacted them, to giving our deposit back after our wedding. To top it all off, the natural beauty makes it a wonderful location for wedding photos! It will always be a very special place that we will return to.

Leach Garden is like a fairy woodland. It is magical. We held an intimate wedding here a couple of weeks ago and it was heaven. Barbara, our contact at the garden, was extremely helpful. All of our guests kept gushing about how beautiful and perfect the garden was.

i guess i’m about to blow the lid on «portland’s best-​kept botanical secret.»
i’m not really that into the whole botanicals thing but my step-​mom is and had heard about this place so i arranged for us to check it out during my parents’ recent visit.
this place is such a gem! it’s totally serene and peaceful. there are tons of twisting, winding paths and lots of lush greenery to see. best of all, it’s seemingly undiscovered by anyone else. when we were there, i think we saw a total of 5 other people during our whole visit.
i will def be back the next time i feel like i need a nice stroll and a break from the city.

I just got married here, and it was perfect.
Of course, I still haven’t wiped the silly-​ass smile off my face from seeing my bride that night, so I’m probably biased.
In hindsight, even the curmudgeonly old ladies that run the wedding stuff don’t seem so bad. In fact, one of them even smiled after our wedding. I must be contagious.

Twice I wandered the shady woods of Leach Garden, imagining little creatures rustling among the ferns. Twice I sipped champagne by the stately home, bored with the small talk of strangers. Twice I cried during the wedding vows, awed and fearful at the same time.
The similarities end there. One marriage ended before it began, with the new groom rustling among the ferns with some woman in a purple dress. The second marriage is still going strong, with lots of joy and lots of cats.
Leach Botanical Garden has seen many, many weddings in the meantime and it is truly a lovely spot for nuptials. However, you don’t have to tie the knot to enjoy the grounds. They offer tours, classes, and a legendary plant sale.
Get there around 3 on a Saturday afternoon and I promise there’ll be leftover cake — and maybe a few tipsy amorous wedding guests.