Seminars and company events
The Florian Gardens seats more than 500 guests in a ballroom that can be divided into smaller sections, and adds a conference room for 16 to 25 people. The venue is at 2340 Lorch Avenue in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and offers about 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
Corporate meetings, company celebrations and other special events are handled by a dedicated corporate planning and coordination service. Audio and visual systems are included with the rental. The Conference Room seats 16 at a conference table or 25 theater style, with an LCD projector available on request, which suits a board meeting or a breakout group during a larger event. The Willow Suite near the foyer gives speakers and performers a private room with seating, mirrors and its own restroom before they go on. Food and beverage minimums apply and are quoted with the room rental.
Weddings and receptions
The venue presents itself first as a wedding venue and provides full wedding planning and coordination. The Rock Cress Garden, past the patio and fountain, is used for ceremonies. An indoor ceremony option is included with the rental, so a wet or cold day in Wisconsin does not force a last-minute change of plan.
Rooms and capacities
The Ballroom seats 500 or more guests and can be sectioned for a smaller group; the venue's floor plan shows it as three ballrooms. It has a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows over the gardens, a built-in dance floor, a fireplace and a neutral color scheme. The Main Patio opens directly from all ballrooms and suits cocktail receptions, team-building and outdoor dining. The Garden View Terrace has shaded umbrella seating, a fire pit and a pergola with bistro lighting, a good place for an outdoor bar or a small music ensemble. The Rock Cress Garden is the ceremony site. Indoors, the Willow Suite and the Birchwood Suite add private rooms, the latter for in-house events only, and the Conference Room takes up to 25.
Catering
Catering is in-house. All food must be supplied and prepared by the venue, the only exception being dessert from a licensed bakery. The venue also runs an exclusive bar. Rooms usually open one to two hours before the start time, and earlier access can be arranged ahead.
History and setting
The Florian Gardens opened in 2006. Its founder and owner, Dave Burke, came to the project after 36 years with a local building materials company, and the idea came from his daughter's engagement: at the time, no venue in town combined an outdoor wedding garden with indoor rooms large enough for any size of event. That indoor-outdoor layout, with gardens visible from the ballroom, still shapes how events run.
Getting there
The venue is on Lorch Avenue in Eau Claire, in western Wisconsin. Most guests arrive by car, and several hotels nearby can house guests from out of town.
