With the vaccine rollout in 2021, weddings (especially outdoor affairs) are back in full force. Per the experts at Brides.com, we are in the midst of a “wedding boom” where venues, vendors, and event planners are in extremely high demand. Venues with outdoor space or botanical gardens where ceremonies can take place safely outside are seeing an exceptional surge in inquiries.
To celebrate the return of weddings, the Breck’s team analyzed 50 of the most populous U.S. cities against a set of criteria related to outdoor garden weddings — access to wedding venues with outdoor gardens, Yelp ratings of garden wedding venues, climate data, precipitation data, and more — to find the best U.S. cities to host a garden wedding. To boot, we’ve compiled a list of ideal wedding flowers to incorporate into flower arrangements, bouquets, and boutonnières, based on bloom time.
We’ve got the full breakdown below! Find out where your city stacks up against the rest.
The Best U.S. Cities for Garden Weddings
The majority of the top 20 cities for garden weddings lie within the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions of the U.S. California and Florida are stand-out states in particular — a whopping six out of the top ten cities for garden weddings are located in California, with three out of the top ten cities located in Florida. This makes sense given that criteria like average climate, precipitation levels, and the length of the growing season are all key ranking factors in our study. Thus, the golden state and the sunshine state reign supreme in our ranking — their weather is impeccable, the most predictable, and well-suited for a wedding outdoors.
Riverside, CA, tops our list as the best U.S. city for garden weddings. This inland city, located 50 miles east of Los Angeles, earned the gold medal due to some impressive stats. The average Yelp star rating across all of Riverside’s garden wedding venues is pristine at 4.55. Riverside boasts 79 garden wedding venues (23.8 per 100K residents) and a comfortable average temperature of 67.2 degrees F (spring through fall). What’s more, average precipitation levels in this city guarantee that you won’t have a rained-out event.
Orlando, FL, is the runner-up in our ranking. Orlando has 51 garden wedding venues (17.7 per 100K residents), average temps at 75.8 degrees F, and 338 days in its growing season, meaning rainfall and climate in the region are conducive for growing plants and flowers practically year-round. Additionally, garden wedding venues in Orlando average 204 reviews per venue on Yelp, indicating that patrons are engaged with Orlando wedding venues online.
Beautiful San Diego, CA, takes the bronze on our list with 70 garden wedding venues, 344 days in its growing season, and practically ideal temperature and precipitation levels. The average Yelp star rating across all of San Diego’s garden wedding venues is extremely healthy at 4.55.
Miami, FL, and Atlanta, GA, earned the fourth and fifth spots in our ranking of best cities for garden weddings. The Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Piedmont Garden Tent are popular wedding venue options for garden lovers in Atlanta. In Miami, the Miami Design District and the Deering Estate are coveted locations for brides and grooms with green thumbs.
Six Ideal Flowers for Fall Garden Weddings
Now you gardening enthusiasts know where to host your garden weddings, but what about which flowers to include in the big day? We’re heading into the fall season, so the Breck’s team compiled our top picks for fall wedding flowers according to bloom time into the chart below. Round out your fall bridal bouquet with dahlias in burgundy, blush, and terracotta hues, or sprinkle chocolate-colored cosmos into your groomsmen’s boutonnières.
That wraps up our study on all things garden weddings! We hope this analysis on locations and flower types is useful if you’re a bride or groom planning your upcoming nuptials. For those outdoor lovers who can’t get enough of a good garden wedding, Breck’s has you covered. Shop our new collection of fall bulbs to transform your own backyard garden into a venue you can be proud of!
Methodology
We considered six ranking factors to determine which U.S. cities are the best for hosting a garden wedding. Each of the six factors was graded on a five-point scale, with a score of five representing the most favorable conditions. We determined each city’s score from the total of its individual factor scores, which were weighted according to their impact on the success of a garden wedding. The sum of these weights is 10, which creates a total possible city score of 50.
The six ranking factors are listed below with their respective weights and source data:
- Average Monthly Temperature in Degrees F (Spring-Fall)
Weight: 3.00
Source: U.S. Climate Data - Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches (Spring-Fall)
Weight: 1.00
Source: U.S. Climate Data - Growing Season (Number of Days)
Weight: 1.50
Source: Farmer’s Almanac - Number of Garden Wedding Venues (Per 100K Residents)
Weight: 2.5
Source: Weddingwire - Average Number of Reviews per Garden Wedding Venue
Weight: 0.50
Source: Yelp - Average Rating of Garden Wedding Venues
Weight: 1.5
Source: Yelp
