Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum

The Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum sits on 44 acres in East Knoxville that were home to the Howell family nurseries for nearly 220 years. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the grounds preserve 16 historic structures, two miles of stone walls and walking trails, a level one arboretum, and 18 display gardens of local, ornamental, and exotic flora — a landscape shaped by the Howells, who introduced pink dogwoods to the region and installed the iconic stonework still found throughout the property. For weddings and private events, the Garden offers a range of indoor and outdoor spaces set among this historic scenery. The Dogwood Center, an American Architecture Award-winning building with floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooks the Dogwood Trail and Rita Johnson Garden and is the Garden's most sought-after reception space. The century-old Carriage House offers a more intimate, rustic setting with an attached flagstone patio and vine-covered pergola. Outdoors, couples can exchange vows at the Stone Terraces, the ivy-draped Stone Greenhouse, the Martha Ashe Garden, or LeConte Meadow, a 16,000-square-foot lawn with views of the Great Smoky Mountains suited to open-air ceremonies and tented receptions. Open to the public from dawn to dusk every day of the year, the Garden is a nonprofit dedicated to horticultural preservation and community connection in East Tennessee.