2026-07-05 · Venues · 7 min
Six stories of glass and pine rising out of an Arkansas forest: Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens is not just the most famous wedding venue in Arkansas, it is one of the most striking ceremony spaces in the country. Couples travel from across the South and well beyond to marry under its soaring timber trusses, and the gardens that surround it are worth the trip on their own.
I have filmed at Anthony Chapel as a Hot Springs wedding videographer, and it deserves both the hype and some honest planning advice. This guide covers what the chapel is actually like, how the light behaves through the day and the year, the walk in from the parking area, where couples hold their receptions in Hot Springs, and how I plan a film there. To see how it all comes together, you can watch a real Anthony Chapel wedding film on Vimeo.
Anthony Chapel opened in 2006 inside Garvan Woodland Gardens, the botanical garden of the University of Arkansas, on a wooded peninsula reaching into Lake Hamilton. It was designed by Maurice Jennings and David McKee. Jennings was the longtime partner of E. Fay Jones, the architect of Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, and the family resemblance is obvious: floor-to-ceiling glass, a lattice of southern pine overhead, a stone floor underfoot, and a roofline that dissolves into the treetops.
The effect is that the forest becomes the architecture. Your ceremony happens inside the woods, not in front of them. Tulips and dogwoods in spring, dense green in summer, fire-colored leaves in fall, and bare dramatic branches in winter. Every season films differently, and all of them film beautifully.
Beside the chapel sits Millsap Bride's Hall, where the wedding party gets ready and waits before the processional, and a carillon bell tower whose bells carry across the gardens and make a wonderful sound cue in a film. Around all of it are the gardens themselves: the Full Moon Bridge, the Garden of the Pine Wind, koi ponds, waterfalls, shaded woodland paths, and the Garvan Pavilion, itself a Fay Jones and Maurice Jennings design.
The glass is the whole reason to marry here, and it is also the single biggest technical variable on the day. A few things I plan around:
Ceremonies at the chapel run in scheduled time blocks, so a plan matters more here than almost anywhere else I film. There are no do-overs on the processional. Confirm your exact window with the gardens' events office when you book, and share it with every vendor.
Guests do not pull up to the chapel door. You park inside the gardens and walk a path through the trees to reach the chapel complex. It is a short and genuinely lovely walk, but build it into your timeline and tell your guests in advance so nobody is sprinting in heels. Ask the gardens what assistance is available for guests with limited mobility; they handle this regularly and can tell you what applies on your date.
For film, this walk is a quiet bonus. I usually arrive well before the block begins, walk the route, and pick out a few spots along the path for guest arrivals and for the couple's exit. Because everything is on foot, there is no car-to-car dead time between the ceremony and portraits, and more real moments end up in the film.
The chapel is a ceremony site first, so most couples pair it with a reception somewhere else. The usual patterns:
Whatever you choose, plan real travel time. Getting from the chapel to a second location eats into coverage, and a videographer who knows the route will tell you honestly what fits inside your package hours.
A typical plan for a ceremony at the chapel and a reception in Hot Springs looks like this:
If you are planning an Anthony Chapel wedding, my film packages start at $2,700, and I know the chapel's light and timing well. I film across Central Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas, and you can check your date here.
For peak Saturdays in spring and fall, plan on 12–18 months ahead. Weekday and off-season dates are considerably more available. Book the chapel first, then build your vendor team around your date.
All four seasons are beautiful because the forest is the backdrop: spring dogwoods, lush green summers, blazing fall color (late October–early November is peak), and dramatic bare-branch winters. Fall books heaviest; winter is the hidden gem for availability and moody film aesthetics.
Many couples use event spaces at Garvan Woodland Gardens or head into Hot Springs: the historic Arlington Hotel and lakeside venues on Lake Hamilton are popular. Your videographer can film both locations in one package; just plan travel time into the timeline.
Parking is inside Garvan Woodland Gardens, and there is a short walk through the trees to the chapel, so choose shoes that can handle a path and arrive early. Ceremonies run on a set schedule, so the processional starts on time. After the ceremony, the gardens are open to explore, and the bridges and ponds are worth the extra half hour.