Seattle Garden Wedding at UW Center for Urban Horticulture

A Garden venue in the city

The Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, Washington is located just about a mile away from the University of Washington. The Center started in the 80s and provides public access to 16-acres of absolutely beautiful land. You can tell just how much care has gone into the grounds the moment you arrive. There’s even an outdoor lab for UW research. The dance floor is in a room with walls of glass — like a greenhouse. This allows for beautiful light to come in and the ability to watch the sky fade into black as you dance your heart out with your people. It’s so magical. In the courtyard, there’s a garden are so many gorgeous flowers. There’s also a trail that takes you to the water. Just imagine meeting your your partner at the University of Washington and getting married just a few minutes from campus. Or you love Seattle summers — this is the perfect venue for you.

Let’s talk more about the garden

As a Washington wedding photographer who is obsessed with flowers, I think about the garden at the Center of Urban Horticulture every day. As you arrive, guests walk through the garden to enter. This immediately sets the scene for the beauty of the day. This venue has the perfect blend of modern-city elements and perfectly manicured foliage. The rose-covered arbor is so dreamy and whimsical — making it a no brainer spot for Alyssa & Nate to have their first look & read their private vows. Weddings are once-in-a-lifetime and they’re so beautiful no matter the location, but having a venue with elements like this rose arch really symbolize just how special this moment is. Not everyday do you get to wear beautiful attire & feel like you’re the stars of a fairytale. Selecting a venue that highlights your story and also emphasizes the magnitude of your wedding day makes your wedding photos have a little extra magic. The feeling is different.

What else leads to beautiful photos

Of course, no matter how beautiful your wedding venue is, what really creates beautiful photos is your ability to be fully present with your partner on your wedding day. As I mentioned above, your wedding is once-in-a-lifetime. Alyssa & Nate really valued photos that felt natural, nothing forced, and not redoing anything to stage a photo. They wanted real moments. They had time in their schedule for breathing room. For joy. For silliness and hugs with their people.

One of my favorite moments was when we were transitioning from cocktail hour to cake cutting, their guests started clinking their glasses (which means they want the couple to kiss) and Alyssa and Nate started laughing. The lighting was perfect with the glass of the greenhouse behind them, and we went into cake cutting with big smiles on their faces. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone smile quite as big as Alyssa.

We had two photographers so extra moments could be captured & this meant having two sets of eyes watching for candids and for joy to happen. The couple opted for no detail or getting ready photos so we could be there to capture send-off, which was silver tinsel and so classy. This was also one of the funnest dancefloors I’ve ever photographed. We were there from 2-10pm!

All vendors are linked at the bottom of this blog. We truly had the dream team!