Brighton, New York
91 customer reviews
Kris K.
This place has soul. If you love gardens, mansions, history or wine tasting this is the place to go. Amazing volunteers guide you through the beautiful landscaping and there is a cafe called High Noon to grab some yummy food. The wine cellar has a gorgeous stained glass piece in it and the wines are all Finger Lakes and suit all tastes. Come unwind at a truly relaxing venue. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Rob G.
We hadn't ever been to Sonnenberg  Gardens in the nice weather- just one frigid December night years ago for the Christmas display.  We picked a beautiful day where it wasn't crowded.  Enjoyed all the gardens - esp. the Japanese garden.  The mansion had a ton of history of the owners- the Thompson's- with plenty of antique original artifacts for the historically curious.    Well worth the time and admission for a 1-2 hour stroll back to a peaceful time. More...
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Ursula Keiski
Visit in spring and summer Great place Ursula
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Simon B.
Well worth a visit if you're in the area or passing. Lots of gardens and a huge mansion. They have done an enormous amount of work since renovation started and it's fascinating to see how this continues as a work in progress. Well done to all involved!
Reviewed on Yelp
Shirley Micket
beautiful mansion,love the mothers day tea parties and all the musical programs throughout the year.feels like home
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Tonya Pettit
We helped with a rededication of wedding vows today, and the staff was Awesome! What a wonderful gem to have in the fingerlakes! Thank you to all the staff that we interacted with, and can not wait to visit again :) More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Suzanne McKinley Ray
A great experience!
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Jenny Smith
My favorite place to go. The gardens and mansion are so beautiful!
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S
Sonnenberg is an awesome wedding venue. Our daughter had a storybook wedding reception of her dreams. The pictures are spectacular. We couldn't have made a better choice !! Deb was amazing to work with, so accommodating and understanding. A joy to work with. I always felt great after every interaction or conversation we had. Thank you Deb!!! More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Cassie
Sonnenberg is absolutely beautiful! We could not have asked for a more perfect wedding!
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Jamie
Deb and her crew at sonnenberg were awesome to work with. The grounds and mansion are spectacular! The new tent set up was excellent for cocktail hour and our event. Any request we had, Deb did her best job to make sure they happened. Excellent venue and great staff! More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Eric
We really wanted an outdoor venue and this one was the most beautiful, affordable, and all inclusive with provision for rain and power all taken care of. Our wedding was a success!
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Carla
It was beautiful and I was so happy for the choice that I made on where to have my wedding. The worker do a fantastic job keeping the gardens and the history of the mansion. That was why I picked sonnenberg because of its history and how it looks like it did back then. I truly am happy to see tradition and history preserved so well. There isn't alot of that now a days... More...
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Anthony
Everything for our special day went very well! Deb and her staff worked so well with us and the other vendors who made our special day so spectacular. The new wedding pad was well worth the price and made our guests jaws drop! Highly recommended!!!! More...
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Joanne Lee Eddy - Mack
Absolutely beautiful mansion and gardens, loved it, thank you so much for sharing the beauty..... We will definitely visit again
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Christopher Kook
One of the true treasures of the Finger Lakes!! Anyone with a love of plants and/or gardens will simply love this wonderful place!!
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Lisa Commentucci Lowden
Stunning gardens, great and helpful staff.....loved the Arts at the Garden series!
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Kimberly Holcomb
Enjoyed lunch from CNB and a beautiful day to walk around the gardens. One of our favorite places to visit. My boys really enjoy the Japanese garden and the turtles. My favorite is the rock garden!
Reviewed on Facebook
Jenn McNamara
This is a lovely treasure in Canandaigua that was purchased by the state but is maintained by fundraising efforts by the staff. I think that is important to note. These efforts are made by people who love this site on a small budget. This said, they do an amazing job. Reading throughout the reviews I was somewhat surprised to see complaints about weeding not being up to par. Weeds, as we all know, are quite pervasive and can take up an entire budget on their own. What these people have managed to do throughout entry fees and donations is quite extraordinary. The tasting room is a nice touch. My docent in the mansion was so passionate about the property- it is exactly what you want when you visit a historic site. I highly suggest this. If there are weeds when you visit - accept that this is nature, the very kind staff will get to them when they can. More...
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Glenn Miller
This a great garden that is being saved by a wonderful group of individuals trying to preserve something special. Well worth the trip to see as a garden or as a place for the history buff.
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Brenda Salisbury Prinzi
We attended the moonlight stroll concert series last night! Had a wonderful time listening to steel drum music and touring the lighted gardens!
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David Smith
Absolutely beautiful peaceful place to just wander.
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Elaine Wells
Beautiful! We sat on the porch overlooking the gardens and enjoyed our "sister" time.
Reviewed on Facebook
Erika Carle
We spent the fourth of July here picnicking on the lawn. The gardens are gorgeous, the house is lovely and you can tour through it at your own pace a shock outta Jerry for those of us with toddlers that couldn't manage a real tour. The porch ib the mansion is amazing with cozy seating for guests. We can't wait to come back. More...
Reviewed on Facebook
Jessica Kunker
Amazing place! I go at least 3 times a year. Love the history and beautiful mansion and gardens!
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Ronnie Webb
A glorious, expansive place to meander and explore. Not sure which area is best to focus on as each of them have their own personal appeal. I loved the house, the Italian garden, the Japanese garden and the rock garden...but there are so many nooks and crannies to investigate - one could spend a lengthy afternoon prancing amongst the foliage. The High Noon cafe near the greenhouses was a delightful end to the adventure. Highly recommended to anyone who loves green places and old homesteads. More...
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Jennifer Nuwer
This is one of my favorite places to visit!! The grounds are absolutely beautiful! The grounds people are very informative and very friendly! ! Plan on going back in a couple weeks. More...
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Charlotte Roberts
Such a great place for photographers to experience nature and also do some great photo sessions.
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Allison
We had my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the Carriage House, and it was wonderful. Everyone had a terrific time, the venue was the perfect size, and they coordinated perfectly with the caterer and DJ. They put in a dance floor at my request, and while there was a wedding starting outside during our party we felt just as cared-for as the larger wedding. A lovely venue at a reasonable price! More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Rhonda Greene
My husband and I went nicer a year ago in the Fall and it was beautiful
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Trina Thompson
really pretty, we went with friends and enjoyed the trip, was worth the drive.
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Jill Hinton
Gorgeous gardens (the sunken rock garden is my favorite) and historical house which has a little view of Canandaigua lake. Great for a family day trip. The moonlit walks are casual and fun. More...
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Eugenia
This was the most elegant wedding reception I have ever been to and it was our reception for our daughter! Everything was perfection. The funniest comment we heard was how cozy it was. This great big house was cozy. There is such warmth to the rooms, that it feels very welcoming. I felt Mary Thompson was there to make sure everything went well, and it did. More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Shreya
We had a great experience with Sonnenberg. The staff was helpful from start to finish. It was tricky working on the tent set up with the other vendors. Deb helped alleviate some of the complexities by helping us coordinate them. They were very accommodating especially with our specifications for a Hindu ceremony. More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Deborah
This is a beautiful location for a wedding and very accommodating to our ideas. Easy to work with and it was a pleasure having our wedding there.
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Gail
Keep in touch with Deborah and everything will go well and you'll have the best scenery as a backdrop.. also the Reverend and photographer that were recommended were terrific!
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Kaytlyn
Everyone was fantastic to work with at Sonnenberg. They completely made me feel like I did not have to worry about a thing for my ceremony, because they had everything worked out already. The gardens are always flawless, and my guests enjoyed the opportunity to walk the entire grounds after my ceremony. I would highly recommand the venue to everyone. More...
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Bethany Frank
I got engaged yesterday at Sonnenberg in the Italian Garden and it could not have been more perfect location!!! Thank you Sonnenberg so much for giving my fiance and I a perfect day!
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Heather
The team at Sonnenberg did an amazing job making sure our wedding was perfect! Deb is AMAZING at what she does and we couldn't be happier. We have nothing bad to say about our experience! It was a beautiful and perfect day! More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Jon B.
Stopped her yesterday for their annual "Art in the Gardens" festival and enjoyed myself immensely. Have been prior and am glad to see they are continuing to work on the property to bring it back to it's glory. The house itself has more rooms open (yes they still need some repair) but more rooms are available to see. The house itself is huge with a lot of history. The grounds were nice, but due to this years drought they did not look that great. Also a lot of the running water attractions (fountains, pools, creeks) were not operational, not sure why. The aviary, and garages were under construction too, but the rest of the grounds were open. The Japanese garden and Rock garden/trail are a must see, so cool. It's about a 1/2 hour outside of Rochester so if you have a couple hours to kill, check it out, very nice. More...
Reviewed on Yelp
Jo Anna Mcwill
Beautiful gardens , friendly staff and delicious cafe to enjoy after a delightful stroll. Absolutely can't wait for the renovations of the greenhouse!
Reviewed on Facebook
Nicole M.
This is a great spot to spend a nice day walking around the several lush gardens that the park has to offer. You buy tickets at the little hut in the back by the greenhouses. Admission is now $14 a person. If you have an Entertainment book, there is a BOGO admission coupon inside.They have walking tours that are given by volunteers. The tour is an hour and a half, and spans a mile of the property. The tour is solely based on the history of the family and the property, not about horticulture. I don't want to discourage people from the tour, but after about halfway through, I decided to leave the group and continue exploring myself, because we weren't receiving the type of information about the gardens that I would have liked. The museum docents inside of the mansion were eager to share stories about the family and history as well.If you are coming with small children or elderly, they do have small golf cart-like trams that take you to the different places on the property, and run on a donation base. The second floor of the mansion is not handicap accessible. After your tour, or exploring by yourself you can grab lunch at the cafe on site, or even better, go into the basement of the gift shop for wine tastings. They have a volunteer pourer, where you can taste 5 wines for $6. I wanted to try the wines that were specifically made at Sonnenberg, so I would recommend starting with the Sonnenberg Abundance. In general, I think that is a nice place to spend time exploring local history. Grab lunch on main street in Canandaigua, or bring a picnic with you to the gardens. Parking is free. More...
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Lisa A Vanetten
I loved the gardens & and the peacefulness that was there
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William Doyle
Really gorgeous mansion and beautiful gardens. Friendly and accommodating staff as well. Well worth an afternoon. Wine tasting was fun too.
Reviewed on Facebook
Laura
We didn’t want to do a formal, sit-down rehearsal dinner, so we planned a cocktail style/garden party for all of our guests that were in town the evening before the wedding at Sonnenberg. The grounds are absolutely stunning; lots of beautiful gardens and the freedom to roam anywhere you like. They actually drove all of our guests up to the mansion and main area in carts, which they all loved. The mansion in the center is incredible, and has a huge veranda, where we were able to put a band, a bar, several food stations, numerous tables for our guests, and still had tons of room to spare. Planning with Deborah was seamless, definitely recommend for a beautiful venue! More...
Reviewed on WeddingWire
Mary M.
We love the Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion and visit it whenever we are in town. Â It's a great stop for photographers and when the trees are in bloom it's magical!
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User6910841
Our wedding at Sonnenberg was gorgeous, even with minimal decor. The staff was amazing and we didn't have to worry about a thing the day of the wedding. All of our guests LOVED the venue - they had free admission to tour the property! Many people have decided to go back for a visit so they can take in the beautiful property. I recommend this venue to anyone! More...
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James Goff
Beautiful for a long stroll and very gothic and also haunted for sure alot of character to the guest house and mansion creepy vibes send chills down my spine every time I'm there
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Kelly Smith
I grew up one block from Sonnenberg Gardens and it is a special place in Canandaigua and my heart. It's a walk back in time. The grounds are beautiful and the mansion is spectacular, but it's the hard working staff and its many volunteers that maintain it. Please come visit it to see for yourself. More...
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Jackie Guthrie-VanAllen
Visited today haven't been since I was a child! What a gorgeous historical home,can't wait to go back in the summer and see the amazing gardens. To think this was just a summer home blows me away! More...
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