San Antonio Botanical Garden

San Antonio Botanical Garden sits on 39 acres just minutes from downtown San Antonio, on land gifted to the city in 1899 by George W. Brackenridge and formerly home to the Brackenridge Waterworks. The Garden opened to the public in 1980 and has since grown into a home for more than 1,000 plant species, including the Kumamoto En, an authentic Japanese garden designed by the Emperor's gardener and gifted from San Antonio's sister city in 1989. For private events, the Garden offers several distinct settings, from the Amphitheater, a historic converted water reservoir framed by wisteria and crossvine columns, to the Greehey Lawn, an open-air space beneath mature live oak trees that can seat up to 720 guests banquet-style. The Lucile Halsell Conservatory, designed with architect Emilio Ambasz, surrounds an interior courtyard and water garden and seats 250 or more for weddings and receptions. The Betty Kelso Center, a LEED Gold-certified event space with walls of windows overlooking the Greehey Lawn and its fountain, rounds out the Garden's rental spaces with room for up to 300 guests.