Weddings

at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, chosen as the Shenandoah Valley's best gardens site for marriage proposals, is also a beautiful and competitively priced setting for lush garden weddings and private or corporate social events.

Many who begin their life journey together with a proposal of marriage accepted in the arboretum complete their saga and bring their romantic story full circle with an arboretum wedding. The arboretum offers an array of services for events of various group sizes up to two hundred guests. Your wedding ceremony can be in the luxurious landscaped surroundings and serene settings of various garden sites within the arboretum.

Arboretum weddings and private or corporate social events have the assurance of professional and competitively priced catering and bar tending services and ballroom facilities available through JMU Catering and Events. Fine catering for your event is just a phone call away, (540) 568-6637 weekdays during business hours.

Whether a bridal party or corporate event planner requires a tented ceremony, or wants blue skies, a facility for a rehearsal dinner or small indoor reception, or even a seated outdoor full service garden reception, arboretum staff will assist each party find the best suited arrangements for their special and unique social occasion. For a printable copy of the arboretum wedding brochure, open this link: Arboretum Wedding Brochure

EJC Arboretum's

Weddings at the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum -- Photo by Cat Thrasher Professional Photography, www.catthrasher.com

Weddings Gallery

WEDDING PACKAGE $1,995

A package of all services totaling $2,705 in value, including everything necessary for a complete wedding event, is available by advance reservation. The wedding package includes grounds use and site set up and tear down for up to 200 seated guests. The Pavilion is included for two hours on the day of the event as a staging facility for the groom and groomsmen. Ceremony site electrical connections are included. Use of a 29' x 29' tent, and up to two 10' x 10' tents, including tent set up and tear down, are included in the package. The Frances Plecker Education Center reserved use is included for up to two separate use time blocks of four hours each use. The building can be used the evening prior to a wedding ceremony for example, for a small catered rehearsal dinner or reception with foods and beverages ordered through JMU Catering at the reserved party’s discretion. And the building can be used again, for example, on the day of the event as a dressing area for a bride and her maids, or as a facility for a small indoor post-ceremony reception, again with foods and beverages ordered through JMU Catering at the reserved party’s discretion. A white wrought iron wedding arbor is also included in the package. There is no Photography Use Fee for wedding portrait sessions for booked arboretum weddings with a paid deposit.

At reserving wedding party's option to not order the Wedding Package, or for private or corporate social events, event accouterments and services may be reserved and billed:

ITEMIZED FEES FOR WEDDINGS AND PRIVATE OR CORPORATE EVENTS

Grounds Use Fee, 51 to 200 guests

$850 (large lawn only)
Grounds Use Fee, 1-50 guests

$650 (small lawn only)
Pavilion Wedding, includes set up of 24 chairs and removing picnic tables
$350 Without setup, picnic tables left on deck

$425
Chair rent, per chair (200 max)

$1 / $200
Tables rent, per table
(5, 5' round max, 16, 6' rectangular max)

$5 / $80
29 x 29' Tent

$500
10 x 10' Tent, per tent (2 available)

$125
Frances Plecker Ed Center,
Private Receptions and Corporate use, 4 hours

$500
Frances Plecker Ed Center, Ceremony date,
4 hours, weddings with paid Use Fee

$175
Pavilion General Use, each 2 hours

$50
Iron Wedding Arbor

$50

Wedding and private or corporate social events exceeding fifty people may rent the grounds for a use fee of $850. Weddings with smaller guest group sizes not exceeding 50 people may use the small lawn area nearest to the pond bridge that is available for a use fee of $650. The Grounds Use Fee reserves a designated area in the arboretum for four hours. Additional time may be arranged by special request at an additional $125 hourly cost. Itemized service fees for tents, building use, chairs and tables, the arbor, etc., are in addition to the grounds use fee. For the most intimate of weddings with a group size not exceeding 24, a Pavilion wedding is available for $425, a fee that includes theater style chair set-up for 24, and relocation of picnic tables.

It is recommended that securing a facility be a top priority when planning for an arboretum wedding or private or corporate social event. To learn of date availability, visit this calendar, found on the site's navigation menu. To tentatively hold an available date, download the Reservation Form using the link below, complete, sign, and return by hand delivery, fax, or email attachment. Once a completed and signed copy is received in the arboretum office, the requested date is tentatively held for 10 calendar days pending receipt of deposit. A completed and signed Liability Release form is due with deposit before the expiration of the ten day hold to guarantee the date reservation. Reservation Form and Liability Release

Parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis for both day visitors and event visitors. Parking lots available are at the two gated entries to the arboretum including in the north lot, 18 spaces with 2 handicapped-designated spaces, and in the lot nearest to the education center, seven spaces, with 2 handicapped-designated spaces. When date of use is not in semester session, 40 spaces are available at the EJC North Lot R-5 without a permit, at the top of the arboretum on University Boulevard. Also available are Convocation Center lots F and G without a permit for non semester session, and late afternoon and evening and weekend event parking. Parking availability is shown on the 'Directions' link in satellite or map view on the bottom of this web page. For a printable digital copy of a driving map that can be sent with event invitations, open this link: Driving Directions, and Parking Map

The 29' x 29' tent can be erected over a ceremony seating area, or set up to accommodate standing receptions of 150, or seated receptions of 50-100 depending on table style, round or rectangular. The two 10 x 10' tents can be used as cover for musicians, as a service area for buffet or beverages, stage cover, or any appropriate event use.

Wedding tents setup on the lawns of the Arboretum.

Receptions at the Frances Plecker Education Center can accommodate 40 in seated dining style, 50 in theater seating, 80 indoors standing only, and 100 in indoors/outdoors standing receptions. We recommend larger receptions be held at an offsite facility such as the JMU Festival Ballroom, with reservation information available by calling (540) 568-1716, or a nearby country club or restaurant.

A back up inclement weather plan is recommended to be in place for the date of the event, for all arboretum events, and must be planned and implemented by the reserved user. Back up facilities may be churches, restaurants, or country club facilities, or facilities scheduled to be used as a reception site, determined at reserved user's sole discretion.

Wedding tables set in the Frances Plecker Building.

A fee of 20% is withheld in the event of cancellation. Cancellation is permitted for severe weather related cause like heavy rains forecast, high probability predicted rain, or thunderstorms, until 48 hours from your reserved date and time. (A low-probability, light-sprinkle weather forecast is not considered a severe weather forecast for the purpose of 48 hour cancellation refund.) The arboretum recommends watching the NOAA ten-day forecasts, which can be accessed from the link at the bottom of this website page. Arboretum staff will work with reserved event planners who wish our staff advice for weather cancellations. For non-weather related cancellations, a written notice to cancel that is received by US Mail to EJC Arboretum, 780 University Blvd., Harrisonburg, VA 22807, or email to: Gail Turnbull, turnbugl@jmu.edu, received in the arboretum office at least 90 days in advance of a reserved date allows the arboretum to rebook the cancellation date. Without 90 days written notice for non-weather related cause, there is no refund.

JMU Duke Dog Duke Dog is available for weddings by request. Click the following link for the request form and pricing information.