Audubon House & Tropical Gardens

I had my wedding at the Audubon house and it was such a beautiful location. We wanted to stay away from the sand but still enjoy the beautiful island ambience. The venue itself was very gorgeous and I would describe it to as romantic, carefree, beautiful secret garden. The drawbacks are definitely that it is weather dependent and that their facilities close at 11 p.m. However, being right off Duval Street, guests can easily keep the party going afterwards!! (that's what we did!)My biggest complaint about the venue (and only reason I gave professionalism a 2.0) is that Lynn, the coordinator, was awful to work with on the day of the wedding. She was like a drill sergeant and would not listen to what I wanted, which became very frustrating. She was really sweet up until the day of the rehearsal, where she became rude and pushy with everyone. She even had the nerve to act like I was being a bridezilla!! I was very displeased with her attitude and recommend that if you book with the Audubon House, use a wedding planner that you can work with instead of her... it would be worth the money!

The venue is absolutely stunning! We were on a very limited budget and found that the Audubon House was perfect for the intimacy factor but also for the overall cost-savings. Our decorating budget was very small so we were looking for a venue that needed very little decorating. The Audubon House it! With all the natural beauty of the gardens and flowers you don't need extra floral and decorations. The venue itself is all you need. We simply had vases with floating candles. The gardens and evening lighting are breath-taking. An added benefit is the fact that your guests can tour the museum house for not extra cost as well as take advantage of the air conditioning if it happens to be a bit steamy outside. Highly recommend it. It was everything I dreamed of for my big day!

I cannot say enough about how stunningly gorgeous this venue is. The back porch of the historic house is perfect for an intimate ceremony, and the garden is just beautiful at night with the uplighting. You really can't get a sense until you are there in person just how gorgeous the lighting is. It is magical. We had 33 people at our wedding, so four tables, and we fit perfectly in the space. I think you could seat a lot more comfortably as well. Our guests had a great time walking around the property and seeing the inside of the house during the reception.There was a little street noise during the ceremony because the Audubon House is near the busiest section of Duval, but the foliage offers plenty of protection from the street as far as strangers seeing into the property. Lynne the event coordinator was very helpful throughout the planning process, and very friendly as well! Thanks Lynne.My only complaint, and it's not really their fault, but the Audubon House cannot be very flexible as far as your ceremony time, or bringing in certain kinds of decoration. Because they are open to the public between 9 and 5, our ceremony could not start until 5 pm. Most of the year this wouldn't be a problem, but with a 6 pm sunset in January, it left us very little time for pictures after the ceremony. Also, bubbles, Christmas lights, sparklers, rice etc are all prohibited because of the historic house and the plants. We used the Hog's Breath room across the street as our backup space, but thankfully didn't need it.

Beautiful setting for a reception and staff was wonderful to work with (definitely have a backup because you cannot have anything inside, but our caterer, Great Events, had several backups lined up for us)! My wedding had 32 people total which allowed for plenty of room for guests to move around and be comfortable, so it is ideal for small weddings. They do a lot of weddings so they know how things work and are very helpful with recommending reputable vendors! Because they are such a popular site, make sure you book as far in advance as possible!

This is a beautiful location...we had our ceremony and cocktail hour there. Make sure you have a back up plan if there is rain!

For Florida/Keys brides looking for an outdoor venue not on the beach, this is a beautiful option. The grounds are well maintained and provide a cozy yet elegant backdrop for a ceremony and reception. The one drawback for the reception is that the space is limited. It only holds about 100 people.

Value was incredible for this small wedding venue. On the day of the event, rain threatened, leaving us few (cooperative) options. Luckily it did not rain and we were able to use the facility. Highly recommend for smaller (<75) weddings.