Arocarria – Tagaytay Garden Wedding Venue Review

Even before I got engaged, Arocarria (my wedding venue) kept showing up on my Facebook and Instagram feeds. And I just found it so incredibly beautiful.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/arocarria/

And when my now husband finally popped the question, I already knew where I wanted to get married. However, multiple people really questioned my decision to get married in Tagaytay (both sides wanted a Manila hotel wedding for convenience). And while I was open to the idea, I decided to ocular Arocarria just to keep my options open. Alas, when I oculared… I really felt that THIS IS IT moment. So in the end, I stuck with my Tagaytay garden wedding decision and am so glad I went with Arocarria for it.

Having said that, couple of thoughts here:

• If you’re having an out-of-town wedding, just know what this entails. In my case, I had to arrange the logistics for relatives who were flying in for the wedding. This meant finding and booking hotels, vans, etc for them. An added layer of coordination that you wouldn’t have needed if your wedding was in Manila
• A lot of the wedding suppliers people will refer to you will be Manila-based suppliers, because obviously most people get married here. However, if you get a Manila-based supplier, be ready to pay out-of-town fees, which does add up! As such, while my major suppliers were all Manila-based, my minor suppliers were from Tagaytay already. There are also Tagaytay wedding fairs that you can attend to acquaint yourself with these suppliers (or have your coordinator refer some as well!)

Now would I have changed my wedding venue if I could do it all over again? Nope. I really wanted a garden wedding! And I really loved Arocarria.

Having said that, if I would advise other people, I’d say just do a Manila hotel wedding to avoid the hassle and added cost.

Couple of things I really want to highlight:

• It’s a BEAUTIFUL venue. Every single spot is instagrammable – I love all the colors and all the ambient lights. My wedding theme was Bright & Happy – and Arocarria DELIVERED. I also looove the garden (which is where I got married). Beautiful pine trees and SO peaceful. Dude, even their bathroom is beautiful (super super important for me)

• Enzo (the owner) is very hands-on and is continually working to improve the venue for future weddings. When we booked Arocarria, the acoustics of the place was still a bit iffy, there was no waterfall on the lower garden, and you’d need to add trusses even if you just wanted to place fairy lights. All this was added within the ~10 months between us booking and our actual wedding – all because Enzo really takes into account bride/groom feedback. On the day of our wedding, Enzo was also present and super encouraging. I felt at ease knowing he was on top of things

I do want to point out some stuff that I was NOT aware of when I first booked though, which I think is really important for other brides to consider:

• Arocarria initially stated they could accommodate up to 400 pax. This is true if you were doing a corporate event (buffet style, no program), but not true for a wedding actually… We managed to fit 300 pax in the end, but we had to give up ceiling styling (because we couldn’t fit trusses anymore) and a big stage (because again, no more space)
• Bridal Room 1 is BEAUTIFUL and BIG. Bridal Room 2, not so much. I suggest requesting for Bridal Room 1 if you have the option. For me, I ended up with Bridal Room 2 (as Room 1 was already booked prior), but I ended up getting Bridal Room 1 on-the-day, which is where my entourage and ninangs got made up. Note: This entailed an additional fee.
• Parking is a bit tight – but we did manage to fit 300 pax (I assume around ~90 cars?), with barangay tanods helping with streetside parking
• The road to Arocarria is quite narrow and rather dark – and they’re not by the highway. In fact, they aren’t in Tagaytay anymore, but they’re actually in Alfonso, Cavite (bordering Tagaytay though, really near Antonio’s). Not a dealbreaker for me, but maybe just a note for guests to consider.

Note: Arocarria does NOT have rooms for guests. They only offer two bridal rooms for rent. I ended up booking Hotel Casiana (a ~15-25 mins drive) from Arocarria for my relatives. I would definitely recommend this hotel – fairly new, lots of rooms (quite spacious too), with nice amenities.

Peso Power (Booked January 2023): Php 2XX,000 (for 8 hours use of the entire venue – garden + ballroom) + other add-ons (you have to pay additional if you want to use other areas – e.g. additional room)