Red Butte Garden is one of Salt Lake City’s most beautiful and immersive wedding venues. Set on the city’s east bench, it checks all the boxes for nature lovers. Layered gardens that feel lush and abundant—check. Seasonal blooms for reliable eye candy—check.
Most couples pair a Fragrance Garden ceremony with a reception next door in the Orangerie, which puts flowers everywhere outside and a glass room to move into if the weather turns. What the garden looks like depends entirely on the month you book, so the date is the first real decision here.
Red Butte Garden Wedding Quick Facts
Location — Red Butte Garden sits at 300 Wakara Way on Salt Lake City’s east bench, about 10 minutes from downtown.
Capacity — The Orangerie seats 150 for a ceremony or dinner and opens to 300 for a flowing reception, the Fragrance Garden holds up to 150 for an outdoor ceremony, and the Rose House and Rose Garden Wedding Lawn each run from 80 to 100 depending on the format.
Cost — Red Butte Garden publishes its rental rates, which run from $1,500 for an off-season weekday morning in the Orangerie up to $5,000 for a Saturday evening at the height of the season.
Season — The Orangerie books year-round, an outdoor ceremony in the Fragrance Garden is only offered April through September, and the Rose House and Rose Garden are open May through September and closed the rest of the year.
Catering — Red Butte Garden requires you to book one of ten approved caterers and doesn’t accept outside catering, and alcohol is served open-bar through whichever caterer you choose.
Lodging — There’s no lodging at Red Butte Garden. It has pointed couples toward the University Marriott, the University Guest House, a Hilton and SpringHill Suites nearby.
Coordinator — Your rental includes staff to work the event, and Red Butte Garden has told couples a day-of coordinator is available while also recommending you bring your own planner. Confirm what that staff support covers before you decide whether to hire separately.
Accessibility — The main garden paths, Visitor Center, Sprout House, Rose House, Orangerie and Amphitheatre are wheelchair and stroller accessible, the steeper Four Seasons and Waysides paths and the unpaved Natural Area trails are harder going, and four loaner wheelchairs are available first come, first served at no cost.
Pets — Only service animals are allowed inside Red Butte Garden, in accordance with Utah law and the ADA.
Weddings per day — Red Butte Garden has told couples it can host as many as four weddings in a single day. Ask how that affects your ceremony time and your photo schedule before you build a timeline around it.
Red Butte Garden Wedding Info
Red Butte Garden runs weddings out of a handful of spaces, and which one you book decides your season, your guest count and your price all at once.
Ceremony Sites at Red Butte Garden
Most couples marry outdoors in the Fragrance Garden, a stretch of winding sandstone pathways under wisteria arbors that seats up to 150 and comes included with an Orangerie rental between April and September.
Rose House renters get the equivalent option on the Rose Garden Wedding Lawn, which holds up to 80 and is only available May through September, matching the Rose House’s own season.
Both outdoor ceremonies are weather permitting, and Red Butte Garden doesn’t publish what the fallback looks like if the weather doesn’t hold. For a Fragrance Garden wedding the Orangerie next door is the obvious backup, but confirm that directly rather than assuming it.
There’s a third ceremony site, the Sara J. McCarthy and Family Rose Garden, with no published capacity or rate. Ask about it if it interests you.
Reception Spaces at Red Butte Garden
The Richard K. Hemingway Orangerie is the year-round reception room: a conservatory with floor-to-ceiling windows, tropical plantings and two adjacent patios, seating 150 for a formal dinner and opening to 300 for a flowing reception.
Red Butte Garden also rents the Eccles Terrace for corporate and private events. It isn’t part of the wedding lineup on the venue’s own site and carries no published wedding rate, so don’t count on it for a ceremony or reception without asking.
Getting Ready, Lodging & Guest Logistics
There’s no lodging on site. Red Butte Garden is a day-use botanical garden rather than a resort, so everyone drives up for the day.
The Rose House includes private dressing rooms for getting ready on site. Nothing comparable is published for the Orangerie, so ask directly if you need a space there.
Red Butte Garden has told couples it can host as many as four weddings in a single day, which is worth raising when you’re setting your ceremony time.
Catering & Vendors at Red Butte Garden
Catering is exclusive to a list of ten approved companies and Red Butte Garden doesn’t take requests for anyone outside it. Alcohol is allowed, but only served open-bar through your chosen caterer.
Vendors have had two hours before the rental block to load in and an hour afterward to clear out. Confirm the current window with the venue, because it isn’t published.
Photography anywhere else in the Garden, outside your rental block, needs its own permit booked in advance, and walk-ins aren’t accommodated. That matters if you’re planning portraits beyond your ceremony and reception windows.
Whether that permit applies on a day you’ve already rented a space isn’t spelled out anywhere. The rental pages and the photography policy never reference each other, so ask before you budget for it.
Drones are banned across the property because of the University of Utah Hospital helicopter pad next door.
Red Butte Garden Wedding Cost
Red Butte Garden publishes its full rental rate card. The Orangerie is cheapest from January through March and in November, running $1,500 for a Monday-through-Thursday morning up to $2,500 for a weekend evening. From April through October, and in December, the same room runs $2,000 for a weekday morning up to $5,000 for a Saturday evening.
Rentals run in fixed blocks. The Orangerie books 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and the Rose House 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Catering is exclusive to ten approved companies and Red Butte Garden publishes no food pricing of its own, so your caterer’s quote is effectively the second half of the budget.
There’s no published deposit amount, no published cancellation policy, and no statement of whether the rates already include tax and a service charge. Get all three in writing before you book.
A separate $100 photography permit applies to portraits taken outside your rental window.
A Photographer’s Take on Red Butte Garden
I love shooting here. As a photographer, and just as somebody who lives in Salt Lake City, Red Butte Garden is one of the best places in the city, bar none.
Knowing the garden that closely means I know what photographs well in April and what photographs well in September, and those are not the same places.
We move between sets in a golf cart, so portraits that would take an afternoon on foot take a few minutes. There are that many good backdrops that close together. The ceremony sites and the reception spaces hold up on their own, but the rest of the property is what you’re actually buying.
One piece of advice. Don’t spend a lot of money on florals here. You’ll be standing in the middle of more flowers than any florist is going to bring you. Put that part of the budget somewhere else and enjoy being in this place.
Real Weddings at Red Butte Garden
See this Indian wedding at Red Butte Garden
See Paul and Diane’s Red Butte Garden wedding
See Mel and Drew’s Red Butte Garden wedding
Red Butte Garden Wedding FAQ
How much does a wedding at Red Butte Garden cost?
The rate card is public. The Orangerie runs $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the season and the time of day, and the Rose House and Rose Garden run $2,800 to $5,000 in their May through September season. Catering is a separate bill on top of that.
How many guests can Red Butte Garden hold?
It depends on the space. The Orangerie seats 150 and takes 300 for a flowing reception. The Fragrance Garden holds 150 for a ceremony. The Rose House and Rose Garden Wedding Lawn each land somewhere between 80 and 100.
Can you bring a dog to a Red Butte Garden wedding?
No. Only service animals are allowed on the grounds, in accordance with Utah law and the ADA. If your dog is part of the day, plan that portrait somewhere else.
Is Red Butte Garden ADA accessible?
Yes, for the spaces a wedding actually uses. The main paths, Visitor Center, Rose House, Orangerie and Amphitheatre are wheelchair and stroller accessible, and four loaner wheelchairs are kept on hand. The steeper paths and the unpaved Natural Area trails are harder going.
Does Red Butte Garden have an in-house wedding coordinator, or do you need your own planner?
Staff to work your event come with the rental, and Red Butte Garden has told couples a day-of coordinator is available while also recommending you bring your own planner. Those are two different jobs, so pin down what’s covered before you hire.
What are the best photo spots at Red Butte Garden?
Less one spot than the whole property. Austen works between sets by golf cart, covering several backdrops in the time it takes to walk to one, and picks them around whatever is actually in bloom that week.
Red Butte Garden Contact Info
Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
801-585-9563
rentals@redbutte.utah.edu
redbuttegarden.org/weddings-receptions
Details verified against Red Butte Garden’s published rental rates and policies on August 7, 2026. We’re actively inquiring with Red Butte Garden for up-to-date information. Venues change terms between seasons, so confirm current details with the venue before you plan around them.
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