Floral Hall Vandusen Gardens
Floral Hall VanDusen Gardens is another popular venue in Vancouver. VanDusen Gardens itself is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike and the Floral Hall venue is conveniently located on the grounds. As an aside VanDusen Gardens offers wedding ceremonies conducted by the lake which are also very popular among those getting married in the spring, summer or fall. Power is available at this wedding ceremony venue so you can either bring your own boombox or have DJ set up a small PA system. As well, there is another popular wedding venue there located in the Bistro restaurant.
Although floral Hall has no air conditioning making it warm in the summer, a spring or fall event works very well for this venue. As a DJ in Vancouver, I always bring a tabletop fan which helps a lot in the summer when a venue is not air-conditioned. You might want to consider bringing some fans if your wedding is in the summertime as well.
The Hall is a good size and about 100 guests comfortably. With about 80 guests there is room for the head table, guest tables and a dance floor without having to move anything around. It also has a small in-ceiling PA system for your speeches but you may want to test it out to see if it meets your requirements. The MC opted to use my wireless mic as it was cleaner and had a better dynamic range through my system than the wired mic that came with the hall rental.
The Hall also has a drop-down projection screen for any videos or slideshows. I believe they also rent a projector if you need it.
The venue area, including the grounds, is non-smoking. Smokers actually have to walk up to the sidewalk on the street to smoke. This may be a little inconvenient for some of the guests but it is workable.
On the other hand, the lawn area adjacent to the floral Hall is a great area for the kids to play before and during the reception. You could even bring a few lawn chairs and enjoy the evening sun. There is a garden area on the backside of the hall and although I never ventured out there, it does look very inviting through the Windows.
The front entrance to the hall does have stairs but around the side area of the hall, the patio area is flat so that any mobility challenged guests would find this way into the hall more convenient. Your Vancouver DJ will load equipment in this way as well.
The venue was also large enough to do some fun things. For example, when I was there, the fun bride and groom had the guests hula hoop to get the married couple to kiss. The longer the guest kept the hoop up, the longer the bride and groom would remain kissing. Everyone found this to be a lot of entertaining fun.
There’s lots of parking in the parking lot or on the street. However, in the summer and around Christmas time, VanDusen Gardens is super busy as tourists and locals alike visit this popular spot. At these times, the parking lot can get quite full and parking can become a problem. I believe all cars must be out of the parking lot at a certain time and cannot be left overnight but you should check on this.
The VanDusen gardens are a nice venue within Vancouver and so is quite easy for your guests to travel to. With the gardens at the same location, there is lots of beautiful scenery for your guests to take in and so it definitely is worth considering when planning your event. I give this venue 4 out of 5 stars.
Continue reading about my experience at the nearby Starlight Casino.