Source
r/pasadena•
threxd

Visiting Huntington Library Gardens to propose?

Hello Pasadenans! I’m visiting LA from the UK and am after advice - I’m looking to propose to my girlfriend in the Japanese Gardens at Huntington Library on Sunday (we’re both very plant-y people), but I’m struggling to find any info on how busy it would be on a Sunday and where would be the best place for it. I’ve never visited before.

I know they don’t allow photoshoots or anything and that’s fine. I’m looking for a relatively low key affair of just me, my girlfriend and someone to take a photo of the moment, hence why I want to do it at a time when it’s not too busy (I realise that might not be possible on a Sunday before Presidents’ Day).

Thank you in advance!!

Posted Feb 16, 2022, 7:48 PM UTC

3751
ryanglim•

Close to closing would be best, so maybe 5pm. That’s close to golden hour so any photos would be pretty good. Should be a lot quieter as well.

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threxdOP•

Great tip, thank you! Forgot about golden hour and later in the day would be better for our jet lag!

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Nasel_Ranger•

I second that idea. The golden hour there is fantastic! What kind of flowers are either of you partial to? The rose garden isn't the best, but if either of you are into succulents, get over to that section. Or if you want more of a magical setting, the patio of the main house, it faces south and you can have a view of some rolling hills. Or lastly, the Japanese gardens, mid day- glow.

If you're looking at a map of the place, some areas translate better for certain lighting. So going desert to Asian gardens is east to west. Hope that helps for locations.

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threxdOP•

The patio and view of the hills sounds lovely! I’ll have to lol into that.

Yes the map is proving difficult for me to get an idea of the geography, so thanks for that!

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EpidermGrowthFactor•

I frequent the Library a lot and I would recommend right when they open at 10AM, but also you might get a better sense of foot traffic by calling the staff - they're very kind. The Japanese Garden is VERY beautiful, but I would check the gardens out once before you propose to her if possible.

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threxdOP•

Thank you! Probably won’t be able to visit the gardens myself first, so I’m currently watching a bunch of video tours to get an idea of what looks good 😅

And good tip on giving them a call!

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EpidermGrowthFactor•

Best of luck. There's a set of stairs that lead up to the Bonsai Collection/Zen Court that results in a very pretty/peaceful photo op once you get to the top.

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threxdOP•

Sounds lovely, thank you :)

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Gearjock•

Everyone has given advice for the location but I just wanted to throw something a little extra. I planned on proposing to my now wife at a big park like this. Mate, I had a plan and everything but it eventually had to be ditched. I had 3 separate gazebos mapped out and everything but she was just so excited about being at the place she kept taking us in different directions. Eventually I spotted a random spot away from people before grabbing her hand and saying, "Hey lets go look at this real quick." So yeah, just wanted to say this is a great idea but also be okay with the location not being exactly "perfect" in your mind. The moment will be perfect no matter what and a story you'll tell for years to come.

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threxdOP•

Great advice, thank you :) it’s definitely easy to overthink so I’ll try to be as flexible with my planning as possible!

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WaterBearDontMind•

There are some paths in the Japanese gardens that go north toward the waterfall and can be secluded. The first is a narrow footpath along the stream at the level of the bridge (the “valley”) that goes to a tiny gazebo thing roughly here. (34.1268919, -118.1158346) At the end it is near the waterfall; low visibility of the bridge and architecture though.

The second starts at the level of the house/bonsai garden and goes directly into the Chinese garden, along the hill. It is mostly forested but the path has visibility of the Japanese garden along the southern portion near the house.

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Suz626•

This.^ The gazebo! For location - It’s next to the Chinese Garden, but The Pavilion for Washing Away Thoughts is actually the start of the Chinese Garden (incase Japanese is important to you) but it’s down by the stream so you must walk up stairs to go to the rest of the Chinese garden. I think this must not be obvious on the map because people are always coming to it and confused how to get to the Chinese garden.

https://www.huntington.org/frontiers/2018-fall-winter/reading-chinese-garden Scroll down to the Pavilion photo.

People usually don’t hang out there too long and maybe your photographer can save it for you.

The rose garden was recently pruned and there really weren’t any roses there a few days ago. We go several times a week. Crowds have really varied lately, and the times it’s busy. But you should be able to find a private space for sure.

Another idea — there is a path that runs along the road from the west 2nd entrance (you go through the main entrance and then through another, you’ll show your ticket again) to the Chinese garden and it’s filled with Camellias and it leads to the humongous “front lawn”, complete with Italian statues and a fountain at one end. Maybe somewhere almost at the lawn, there is a bench on the path.

The Japanese garden has a lovely fenced bonsai garden that is a bit separate from the main Japanese garden, just above it. There is a little stream and bridge. Sometimes quite empty.

Hmm I’ll keep thinking. Congratulations!

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threxdOP•

Wow this does look beautiful and further cements what others have said about there being no bad place for it. I love the idea of doing it there actually.

The streams around the Japanese gardens and rose gardens also sound lovely. I’m now trying to figure out if I can propose a multiple times because these all look wonderful!

Thank you!

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threxdOP•

This is great, thank you so much! The path to the waterfall area is a great idea and I think the waterfall itself might be a nice spot. Secluded sounds ideal really so I don’t mind if the bridge etc isn’t super visible. The second option also sounds interesting. I’ll look into both of these, thank you.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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threxdOP•

Good to know, thank you! And yes it really does seem stunning everywhere there

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EuphoricMoosePasadena•

I love that you're taking the time to make a thoughtful and beautiful experience. I don't have any advise re Huntington, I just wanted to thank you for putting a smile on my face with imagining a proposal there. It's beautiful. She'll feel so special.

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threxdOP•

Hahaha thank you! This has actually been over a year in the planning but because of life and everything, things have changed very quickly and I found myself today without any idea of what I was doing.

But thanks to everyone in this thread, I have a much clearer plan and hopefully it’ll be as special she deserves!

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TrickyWonPCC•

Hey OP, I have a membership that allows me in as early as 8am on weekends. I’m almost certain I could get the pair of you in as guests, two hours before they open to the general public. There is significantly less traffic as long as you don’t mind the morning light

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catcat1980•

Another idea — there is a path that runs along the road from the west 2nd entrance (you go through the main entrance and then through another, you’ll show your ticket again) to the Chinese garden and it’s filled with Camellias and it leads to the humongous “front lawn”, complete with Italian statues and a fountain at one end. Maybe somewhere almost at the lawn, there is a bench on the path.

The Japanese garden has a lovely fenced bonsai garden that is a bit separate from the main Japanese garden, just above it. There is a little stream and bridge. Sometimes quite empty.

Hi! I was following this thread because my (future) son-in-law is thinking about proposing here too. If you get a membership does one membership allow 2 people to enter?

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threxdOP•

Hey! That’s really really kind and I’ll have to consider it. 8 might be a bit tricky for us as my girlfriend wants to do some other things in LA on that day and I think she’ll want a slow morning after our flight the day before. But I’ll let you know if that changes because that’s a really kind offer. Thank you so much!

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TrickyWonPCC•

No problem at all, regardless I can set you two up if needed, early if you’d like. Cheers, and greatest of luck on the whole trip

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TheKrakenHunter•

After you get your tickets, take the entrance to the right that leads to the Camellia garden, and take the paths through there to the fountain and then on to the Shakespeare garden. All scenic with many blooming flowers right now. Near the wildflowers, there’s an archway between two buildings that heads towards the rainforest. Head through there and towards the left to find a few small groves of Cherry blossoms that were in full bloom the last time I was there. They also mark the entrance to the Chinese garden where you see the dragon dogs. The Chinese garden will have many great places for pictures. To get to the Japanese garden, get back on that road that brought you to the Chinese garden (there’s a 2nd entrance just down from where you entered) and take the first path down towards the little creek. Follow that into the Japanese garden, and enjoy the view looking up towards the house and bonsai gardens, rather than taking the upper path from the Chinese garden to the Japanese garden. Propose near the footbridge, with the photographer keeping the house and small stone pagoda in the background.

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threxdOP•

Lovely plan, thank you! I’m gonna try and map this one out, it sounds wonderful

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TheKrakenHunter•

I kept meaning to do this, and here's a quick map of what I said up there:

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https://imgur.com/gallery/ZpTKvBJ

​

Avoid the Rose Garden, Herb Garden, and Tea Room. Roses were clipped back to the bone, and the Tea Room is under MASSIVE renovation. They are all in the same part of the garden. When you enter the Chinese Garden, head towards the right instead of the left. Going right puts you on the long loop through the waterfall. I don't think the upper part of the Chinese garden is worth it yet, and just follow my red arrow to the exit and find the creek that leads to the Japanese Garden. After you go up to the Bonsai Garden, go straight to the Turtle Ponds (I didn't mark this but it's easy to find), and then the Desert garden, which will lead you back up to the entrance.

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United-Student-1607•

Ima do this next week. :) thank you.

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New_Responsibility27•

Make sure you make a reservation, we have season passes and were turned away the other day.

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Suz626•

Holiday Mondays and other holidays and weekends members need reservations but not during the week. If you’re a Contributor or higher level member you can enter during your early hours (8 - 10am) on the weekend without reservations. However, it’s a much faster entrance if you have reservations. For awhile members had to have reservations at any time. Usually you can make them last moments, but some busy days, like around the Rose Parade, it’s packed!

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threxdOP•

I will do, thank you!

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ErnestBatchelder•

Japanese gardens are amazing. Do you want an audience? Because there are some scenic sections of that area, but most of it is pathways until you get into an open air courtyard of bonsais (by the way, some of the oldest bonsais on the west coast at least). You're just going to have witnesses listening in if you try there.

There are plenty of pockets of quiet at the Huntington, including open-air fields where people sit in the grass. Maybe bring a blanket. The desert garden is always the quietest (also, not as scenic as some). Personally, after the rose garden there's a patch of green lawn with a statue at the bottom that's my favorite & it may work.

As for crowds, right at opening or right at late afternoon/closing.

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threxdOP•

Nooo I very much do not want an audience haha. A few people strolling by would be fine, but I think a crowd/audience would be a bit much for our mild British sensibilities!

I might have to see where’s good on the day then. From the pictures, I thought the bridge would be lovely but I suppose that would be the busiest area.

I’ll have a look at the rose garden as well, thank you!

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josejalapeno96•

Most of the roses have been trimmed :( I was there last week and they were all barren

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ErnestBatchelder•

Here's my advice. Call ahead and ask them where do most proposals happen? What are some quiet spots? If they answer the phone, the staff there are really nice. Currently, you may have to book a time, I don't know if they stopped that or not.

Definitely pack a blanket. Go in, stroll around and get an idea of the space (it's huge, but you are British, you all are good walkers), go for drinks/refreshments and tell her you want to go back to x,y,z spot (whatever you've spotted that looks "right" and have your drinks. I still say one of the large patches of grass where people like to sit is best- large and sprawling enough for a private convo. Any bridge is going to have non-stop traffic. If you plan on getting down on one knee, expect some people to earnestly observe. It is what it is & people love a proposal

Final option: go mid-week. It is more mellow.

Good luck!

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threxdOP•

That’s great advice, I will definitely be calling them to see what they think.

I love the idea of walking around and choosing a place. I think I’ll try to have a shortlist in mind for four or five places and then see what feels right and possible on the day. I think just walking around the gardens will be lovely enough.

Thank you for your help :)

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namewithanumber•

Yeah the main Japanese garden is fairly crowded, at least after 3pm maybe not in the morning. There's a less-frequented bit above/behind the house that has nice views of the garden.

Here:

location

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threxdOP•

Oh that’s very pretty, thank you

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pfarner•

To get a sense for recent traffic levels anywhere, a tool I use is the right side bar on Google searches in a browser. It might be visible on mobile, but I haven't spotted it in that interface. This gives you an hour-by-hour histogram of predicted and actual population in a spot, which can help you find a spot the hours when people normally aren't there.

Other than that, what others have said sounds good, and the Japanese Garden worked out well for us, what, 17 years ago.

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threxdOP•

Very useful, thank you! Glad to hear it’s a good spot :)

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greenglobus•

Early morning hours (8am -10am) are open to certain membership levels. Depending on your budget and schedule you could get a membership and then go early before it gets crowded.

That being said; the Japanese gardens are large, there are often quite places. My personal suggestion is that there is a relatively secluded gazebo on the north side of the Japanese gardens (at the lowest elevation). To get there you take the foot paths north from the decorative bridge. I marked it on the map here : https://imgur.com/a/1UZ7l6S

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threxdOP•

I think someone else suggested the gazebo and it really does seem beautiful! Thank you for the map as well!

Membership is out of my budget as I splurged on the ring itself, although if I lived in the area I would 100% be signing up!

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greenglobus•

Glad the map helped! This particular gazebo is usually empty and it’s isolated so if there are some people you still won’t get a whole crowd of people looking from afar.

I think I saw you say elsewhere that you’ll walk around a bit and select a spot. That’s how I chose a specific spot to propose (but it wasn’t at Huntington), so I think that you’ll know where the place is when you see it.

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threxdOP•

Yes I think that seems like the best option, as I can’t control every aspect of the trip. I’d like it to feel slightly spontaneous as well!

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mirificatio•

You know we all want to see the snapshot of your big moment, right? (Or maybe it's just me?)

You cannot pick a bad spot at the Huntington. Best wishes!

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threxdOP•

Hahaha I will try my best to deliver that, especially after all the helpful comments here! Thank you!

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natsmith69•

Good luck and congrats! All great info here.

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threxdOP•

Thank you :)

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specialduckie8•

Sunday morning right they open shouldn’t be too busy. Also, there is a beautiful fountain nestled away from the main path, which would be nice if you wanted something more low-key. Put in these coordinates in Google Maps: (34.1283501, -118.1134353)

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threxdOP•

I’ll try that, thank you!

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specialduckie8•

You’re welcome and good luck! Please let us know how it goes!

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threxdOP•

I certainly will :)

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Rawscent•

Going on Friday, so I’m not sure, but this is the start of camellia season and north of the house is an amazing camellia garden. You can walk by their on the way to the Japanese Garden.

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IzzyMcFuzzysnort•

Hello! I actually work at The Huntington - going on 16 years now! I highly recommend going to a place that is not frequented by visitors very often. The desert garden comes to mind, as well as the lily ponds, the jungle garden (complete with a lovely waterfall), and the Australian garden lawn (huge and beautiful). Proposing early in the day or later in the afternoon is a good idea, as most of the responses have stated. Good luck!

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threxdOP•

Oh wow! What a place to work, it must be so much fun.

Those are great tips, thank you, I’ll put it on the shortlist.

It’s looking like we’ll be going in the morning now. I couldn’t get through to the phone lines, but I think it’ll be fine to just go there and walks to the places that are on the list and hope for a quiet moment :)

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mirificatio•

Well? Did she say yes?

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