Previously, on The Venue: The bride and groom to be found out that stuck-up golf resorts are better left to stuck-up rich people, but botanical gardens may be the key to their wedding. The only catch now is finding an affordable garden that works with the hours of the day that allow guests to wear more than bathing suits without drowning in sweat.

I have to tell you, for all my rambling of what am *I* going to do with planning The Wedding, it really has been helpful to get the groom-to-be involved. I have to give credit where it is due. The truth is that once I went off the deep-end during December with trying to reason out our budget with what we want, Christian stepped up and focused his efforts on finding us a venue. He almost found the perfect one with Pinecrest Gardens, but with further research he came across the one I have fallen in love with: The Fruit and Spice Park.

With something like 39 acres these days, it boasts an impressive variety of fruit and spice flora and so much space that I won’t even know what to do with it all. We got a tour of most of the grounds and while some plants were not even near blooming, these were the ones that would be blossoming during the summer — hopefully making the ambience that much more magical.

The herb garden was under a lot of work when we showed up. Mostly greens and browns, but the park manager described what plants were expected to bloom there by the summer. Normally, I would be skeptical about venue managers who try to sell you the place based on what it will look like months later after some work, but with after visiting Cornell’s herb garden during different seasons, I can trust that plants do really work that way. All gorgeous and fragrant during one season and all dead-looking and sad during another. I do believe this will work out once July rolls around.

We also viewed different open spaces that have been used for ceremonies in the past. They have this cute little mound that, hypothetically, could be really romantic as the location for the altar or whatever it’s called where the bride and groom meet. Christian disagrees though, since it would make it strange to have the guests cramped around it. It would likely be more fitting for a DJ or band as it has been used before I think.

This walkway leading to the circular area is probably the most likely place we would use for the ceremony or reception. It just has such a nice shape that makes it ideal for a crowd to enjoy a meal together and dance and all that jazz.

These were one of the many plants we saw that day. This one was in full bloom, as apparently it only blooms in December. I was happy to catch it in full bloom since it is so hidden in the back of the park that it is unlikely our guests would have seen it on the day of wedding anyway.  It’s an achiote tree with red pods, as opposed to the ones with the green pods. The seeds in these pods are used in Latin America as a coloring. I got so excited to see it because I was always so intrigued by achiote when my mom uses it coloring tortillas and other foods. 

I don’t remember the name of this tree, but I do remember that it originates from Africa. The tour guide told us how people believe it’s good luck for the bride and groom to hug these trees before (or when) they get married. It’s a symbol of longevity, if I remember correctly, since the trees can live for a long long time. In any case, the tour guide was such a nice lady and was so happy to hear of our wedding that took us to this tree almost immediately, made us hug it and took the picture for us.

So yes, all this and much more is available for the price range of about $4000 to $5000 when we start talking about what hours we would like to book and how big our party will be. Sadly, we have yet to reserve since we’re trying to negotiate some other details into the reservation and we are low on the funds currently. But this is it. This is my dream venue miraculously taking shape. Any questions?