Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    The Gardens Wedding Center

    4.4 (25 reviews)

    Services - The Gardens Wedding Center

    Wedding planning

    The Gardens Wedding Center Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - The Gardens Wedding Center

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    I don't know where to start. What fell into place as the most magical day of my life couldn't have been done without such an amazing venue. The Owners of the Garden Center are extremely professional, thoughtful, streamlined, and highly knowledgeable. My Wife, My family, and My Friends were all taken care of, felt in place, and had nothing but wonderful memories to be left with and shared. We where tended on, we where taken care of, we shared laughs, memories, and left with an overall sense of completion on our journey to getting married. And I haven't even mentioned how beautiful of a venue/location this place is for a wedding. From the Gardens, the rooms, architecture, bars, food, audio, ponds, cemeteries, and wonderful decor this place is filled with secrets and character.

    My husband and I got married at The Gardens Wedding Center on 6/14/2025 and it was nothing short of a dream. Everything from the schoolhouse where our wedding party got ready to the green space set up to play lawn games was picture perfect. We knew going into it that a garden would be lovely in June, but The Gardens is so much more than just flowers and greenery. The love and care that Johan and his family put into this venue and the weddings they host is viscerally palpable, and you feel it the moment you get out of your car in the parking lot. The chapel is striking, with stained glass windows and beautiful wood floors, airy cathedral ceilings and a feeling of lived-in comfort. The schoolhouse, complete with climbing vines atop the front door, is charming and exactly what you need for a wedding party. There is a large airy room for the bridal party and a basement room complete with Pacman arcade machine for the groom's party. Almost every space is touched by warm sunlight dappled by leaves. The garage is a bar with rustic touches that complement the surroundings. The garden is vast, complete with a pond and a tree swing, and provides a new backdrop every foot or so. Pictures taken only a couple steps away look like you're in a whole different part of the garden. Every month contains different flowers and foliage, which you can see examples of on their website (which is SO helpful when you want to envision what the space would look like at the time of your wedding). The outside tent was the perfect size, lit with lovely Edison bulbs, ideal for dinner and then later at night for dancing. The chapel was our backup for the ceremony and reception, but we lucked out with the weather and were able to use it for our photobooth as well as our dessert buffet, which worked out wonderfully. The catering, which is provided by Chef Kent (Amanda's husband), is literal heaven. Our tasting appointment was so much fun and all the food so delicious that we had a difficult time narrowing down our menu. We couldn't have been happier with the options we chose and our guests agreed. Beyond the aesthetics of The Gardens, we couldn't have wished for better people to work with to make our dream day a reality. We had toured a few other venues, and they all felt stiff, forced, and Pinterest perfect (not that there's anything wrong with Pinterest but we wanted a certain atmosphere that we were not finding). We both felt the expectation of stuffiness completely dissipate as soon as we stepped into The Gardens. At no point did my partner and I feel like we were at a wedding venue because Johan, Julian, and Amanda are so welcoming and so comfortable to be around that it felt like we'd always known them. The property feels like a family member's generational house that you go to for big family reunions, so much space to explore and a relaxed atmosphere. Johan is the friendliest, chillest man you'd ever want to be running a wedding venue and solidified that we wanted The Gardens to be our venue less than 10 minutes into our initial tour. I saw my partner's face when we walked into the garden, and I knew we were sold before Johan even went into detail about the property. Julian clearly loves what he does, is a brilliant bartender, and so excited to try new drinks/recipes. My favorite cocktail is a Painkiller, and he recreated it perfectly to be one of our signature drinks. They have so many standing options for signature drinks as well, all of them delicious. I sent a billion emails to Amanda, mostly filled with scatterbrained and rambling questions, all of which she parsed out and provided answers for. She is so personable and calming that the nerves I felt creeping up to our 30-day final walk through were soothed almost immediately. They were all so genuinely excited about our vision from the start; whether that was the tablescapes, our color schemes, our signature drinks, our processional and recessional songs, that it truly felt like working with friends. They are very accommodating for requests and either give great recommendations for anything you can think of or bounce ideas around with you so you can solidify plans. My mom was so impressed and made multiple comments that Amanda was a blur between helping our party set things up to putting things together and taking things down at the end of the night. They all work so hard and are so good at their jobs that it takes a great weight off your shoulders, which is very VERY helpful when you're planning your own wedding. They are personable, efficient, talented, and truly want to make your day amazing in every sense of the word. We couldn't be more thrilled with The Gardens and all the hard work they did, we can't recommend them highly enough. Our photography was done by O&B Photo Co., and can't recommend highly enough either.

    See all

    2 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    19 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Lyn B.
    0
    11
    2

    2 years ago

    I attended my nephew's wedding here. It was a lovely venue with excellent service. I would recommend it.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kim G.
    9
    30
    3

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of George T.
    1208
    1023
    7518

    9 years ago

    Helpful 6
    Thanks 0
    Love this 4
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Laura M.
    17
    14
    10

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Ask the Community - The Gardens Wedding Center

    Review Highlights - The Gardens Wedding Center

    Johan is so nice and helpful and you can tell he truly cares about your wedding going the way you want.

    Mentioned in 7 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Blue Fancy Events - Photo courtesy of Heather Cook Elliott

    Blue Fancy Events

    (5 reviews)

    Blue Fancy (BF), unfortunately, did not meet our expectations. I don't think it's necessary to go…read moreinto detail listing all of the things that went poorly, and I, of course, want to give them credit for the things that did go well. Context: we are both from Wisconsin, but are currently living out of state with stressful, time-consuming jobs, which is why we wanted to hire a planner. Our budget was lower than what I'm guessing BF is typically used to working with (less than $60,000), so I'm not sure if that was a factor. We got married in Fond du Lac and most of BF's contacts/experience is in the Milwaukee area. We had a backyard wedding at our family members' homes (a small ceremony at one location and a larger reception at a second location) over a holiday weekend. We hired BF 1.5 years prior to our wedding date leaving plenty of time. Pros: -BF was very helpful with providing structure (a to-do list, timeline) and recommending vendors. -They were insightful when finalizing the rental company contract in terms of backyard wedding details that we would not have thought of. For example, generator needs, water hookups, etc. -Day of set-up. They provided us with 3 team members, which was incredibly helpful with setting up chairs, tables, a few decorations, etc. Cons: -All together, we had a total of 3 planners. Our first planner quit and our second planner had to take a step back due to a serious personal matter. This resulted in poor communication, confusion, and stress. It was often unclear who was taking lead on what and we felt the team did not have the bandwidth to actually manage our wedding. We constantly felt like we had to double-check everything and take care of things ourselves because it was unclear who was doing what and we did not want things to fall through the cracks. Despite this, things did fall through the cracks. For example, we did not finalize our catering contract until 1 month prior to the wedding, which ended up being $8,000 more than we originally agreed because we had no other choice. Additionally, the band that BF recommended pulled out 6 weeks prior our wedding. This was not their fault and they found a replacement within one week, but this was still stressful . -They seemed to take a 'copy and paste' approach as in they just replicated what they did for previous weddings instead of really listening to what was truly important to us. More of a you fit us instead of we fit you. For example, although they provided recommendations for vendors, we ended up having to find some on our own because their recommendations did not align with our preferences/budget. Examples: photographer, videographer, and hair & make-up team. When we mentioned wanting a videographer within a certain budget, we were told this was unrealistic and received no help. We did find a videographer within our budget and he did a great job! So happy we found him. -Poor attention to detail. This was pretty concerning and prevalent throughout the process. A couple of examples: (1) they neglected trash removal and only had solutions for the Milwaukee area when we brought it to their attention. We ended up coming up with a creative solution on our own; (2) at the rehearsal dinner, the lead planner did not know the location of where to tell the hair and make-up team to go the following morning (day of). In sum, we're hoping our experience was abnormal. Nonetheless, we never received an apology, acknowledgment, or a thank you for using their service or any sort of contact after the wedding, which we find unprofessional. We were extremely sympathetic to the series of events that were out of their control, but ultimately, the way it was handled was subpar and the planning process/day of execution was stressful. We wish them the best and hope things are improving.

    My husband and I are still both VERY happy that we hired Blue Fancy Events for our wedding and are…read moreforever grateful to have had Jan as our planner for our 150+ person wedding in Lake Geneva, WI. Out of all of the money we spent on this wedding, the one thing that honestly was the most worth it was hiring Jan/Blue fancy as our full service planner. ..We were a covid wedding (8.8.20) that had to be postponed to this year (8.21.21h and Jan took SUCH good care of us (mostly me, who had questions and meltdowns frequently) through it all. She did all of the heavy lifting with the vendors, came with me to my rentals and florals appointment for support, texted and called me whenever I needed her for advice or a question, reminded us of payments and even scheduled appts for us with our vendors and decorated/helped clean up our wedding amazingly with her team day of! Jan was just a great person to have around during this past crazy year and a half and I'm so thankful to have had her as our planner. She made me feel so comfortable right from the start and I felt like she was a friend. If you're on the fence about getting a planner and you're in WI, hire blue fancy and ask for Jan!! You will not regret it! Thank you Jan!

    Orchard Valley Acres - Smoked Brisket

    Orchard Valley Acres

    (1 review)

    I would not trust this place with your special day. A few days after we toured and discussed what…read morewe were looking for money-wise, we wrote a check for the deposit and went to meet with Felicia and discuss and sign the contract. It was cold and rainy that night, Felicia suggested we can just give her our check and she will email the drafted contract and we can go from there. We are very trusting people and out of good faith, we trusted she would take care of us. She emailed the contract to us, it was not what we had discussed when we walked through the venue. We went back and forth on different options with the menu to try and make it more in our budget. She would adjust the fees for the food, but then increase the percentage of the gratuity, so the total expense would come out the same as before. After a few emails back and forth, I explained that I don't have a good feeling about the situation and was not interested in having my wedding at her venue. I asked for the deposit back, since we did not sign any contract, we did not hear back from her. I would not trust this woman and her unethical business. She was initially prompt and nice, but after she had our money, she took a long time to respond and seemed to have an attitude. I am glad that this nightmare happened to my husband and I so early in our planning process. Everything happens for a reason- because of this crappy experience with Felicia and Orchard Valley Acres, we found an amazing barn venue 15 minutes away from Orchard Valley Acres , it was more cost-efficient, more beautiful, more inclusive, less limitations on vendors and the owner really put her heart into our day. DO NOT TRUST THIS PLACE WITH YOUR WEDDING/MONEY!!

    From the owner: Orchard Valley Acres is located on 17 acres of land in the heart of the Kettle Moraine Valley…read more Nestled between rolling hills and wooded areas, our rustic and charming barn is the perfect space for weddings, corporate events, and more, and since 2015, it's been our pleasure to host guests' special events in our restored 20th-century dairy barn. We also provide on-site catering and event planning services, so individuals can indulge in one of our farm-to-table meals and relax while we square away all the details. Thanks for celebrating with us these past years, West Bend, and we look forward to hosting more memorable events for guests at Orchard Valley Acres in the years to come.

    Brides On A Budget

    Brides On A Budget

    (3 reviews)

    My husband and I hired Brides On A Budget because we had a small budget to work with for our…read morewedding and had no idea how to plan a wedding on our own. I'm happy to give a five star review because Brides On A Budget helped create the intimate wedding of our dreams. We were married at the Overture Center in September 2010, a beautiful space we didn't think we could afford or even arrange. Our wedding planner, Laura, acted as the liaison and handled all of the paperwork, contracts, seating and table arrangements, even down to the color themes and handling of the guests all while being completely professional and friendly and honest. Even though it was a small wedding, I could not have done this without the help of Brides On A Budget. The list of vendors they work with was fantastic and we were able to get real deals on our wedding cake, our flowers, even the person who did my make-up the day of. Working with Laura was like having a friend do the dirty work; she was a great listener and was able to understand our needs after just one meeting. She was diligent about responding to emails and phone calls and because of her hard work, we were able to just really be in the moment and enjoy the wedding and the reception without the hassle of worrying about organization or writing checks or overseeing guests or meals. She helped make our wedding special and memorable and I would wholeheartedly recommend these services to any bride or groom to be.

    Laura is amazing! We hired Laura because we were overwhelmed with the process, on a budget and…read morereally needed help. She helped us find the perfect vendors and build the wedding of our dreams on our budget. I can honestly say without her, I would have been lost. With her, we threw the most amazing party and our friends are still raving about the time they had. We gave her a few objectives and she truly was able to build the perfect wedding for us. I owe her a lot and if you are a bride who needs just a little help or a lot, she'll be the perfect fit.

    Piece of Cake Consulting

    Piece of Cake Consulting

    (3 reviews)

    I hired Piece of Cake Consulting to plan and coordinate my wedding. I was pleased to find that the…read moreowner, Betsy, is also whom I worked with throughout my experience. She was a on top of every detail, which really helped me with my stress level. At times I felt she had a better grip of what was going on than I did. Betsy was helpful, organized, caring, and professional from my first consultation with her until after my wedding, when she followed up to make sure I was pleased with her services. I would highly recommend Piece of Cake Consulting for wedding and event planning! The price is well worth it as Betsy's services provide peace of mind as well as an amazing and beautiful experience!

    We just returned from our honeymoon (we left the Monday after the wedding) and one of the first…read morethings we had to do was to review Piece of Cake Consulting and its owner, Betsy. Our wedding was exactly what we wanted, in no small part because of Betsy's hard work. From our first meeting, Betsy really listened to what we wanted in our wedding and inspired confidence that she could make it happen. We both liked Betsy's style - a nice balance of flexibility but also asking good questions about our ideas to make sure we had really thought things through. Betsy took it from ideas to reality. She provided recommendations and references for vendors, but was not pushy about it. She worked well with everyone involved. The week of the wedding, Betsy really took over, confirming (and re-confirming!) all of the details with the venue, vendors, etc. By the time the wedding came, everything was in place and it went so smoothly. (We suspect many things were going on behind the scenes, but Betsy and her assistant took care of everything and we never saw any snags or issues.) Betsy is organized, detail-oriented and can take control when needed, but also super easy to work with and, not unimportantly, she made wedding planning actually low stress and fun! We HIGHLY recommend Piece of Cake.

    Cherry Blossom Events - Andrea VandeBerg & Sarah Sarbacker

    Cherry Blossom Events

    (6 reviews)

    Are you excited to fret over what flowers are going to be in which vases at the reception? Would…read moreyou rather dedicate all your waking free time to chasing down rental and florist contacts, or would you rather sleep? Fretting and chasing are not things I enjoy. So I had an EXPERT do them for me. Except for Sarah Sarbacker, those things are not fretting and chasing - they are thoughtfully planning and cheerfully contacting. Thinking about the BIG DAY, I did NOT want to be the one in charge. I wanted to enjoy and relax with my family and friends. And I forsaw the difficulty with a family member being in charge of all the details. That person wouldn't get to enjoy the day! Unless they were a regular bossy-pants, in which case I would not enjoy taking direction from them in the first place. Let me also tell you this: 15 minutes before our outdoor ceremony, clouds were gathering and the wind started to blow. Sarah happily and confidently crawled into the back of our car (where my MOH and I were staying warm) and asked to start the event a few minutes early because the clouds were threatening-looking. Oh a more pleasant woman I couldn't have heard this from! She even took a few minutes to tell a funny personal story and get my mind off THE WALK DOWN THE AISLE. She was a sea of calm. She projected absolute certainty and helpfulness. She does not dominate - she takes direction from what you suggest. She is a wedding FACILITATOR. I believe she is truly gifted in dealing with all different sorts of people, and yet she has a perfectionistic tendency (to get the chairs just right, to get the table centerpieces just right, etc...). She is polite, cheerful, and nothing seems to throw her for a loop. It was a perfect day. And Sarah Sarbacker was a huge part of making it so.

    Literally can't say enough amazing things about Andrea!! She is truly the absolute best! Our…read morewedding would never have happened without her. I decided I wanted to get married on our family farm, a daunting task that she truly brought to life. She thought of every little detail (needed a generator, bathroom trailer, lights, mosquito treatment, valet, etc) and was extremely organized and thorough. She laid out a very easy to follow timeline, checked in each month with the tasks to focus on every month, gave suggestions of professional experienced vendors, but was also willing to go way outside anything she had done before and find new options. For example we wanted really adventurous food with a mix of thai/peruvian/mediterranean/vietnamese/indian and somehow she found the perfect caterer who could make it happen. Andrea is simply the best and you will be lucky to have her, I thank my lucky stars she was available on the date we wanted. She is worth way more than she charges. I cannot recommend her more highly.

    Tremaine Weddings and Events - Paul's Neon Glasses front and center for my dark & moody wedding.

    Tremaine Weddings and Events

    (14 reviews)

    Layton Park

    My wedding was 10/07/2022 in Mequon, Wisconsin…read more I HATE writing this as I was so confident when I booked Nilsa back in November 2021. She boasted about how she could help the older guests get coffee and make sure they didn't need anything and with my dad being 85 years old & having some older family members attending this stood out to me. I also booked her husband Paul to officiate us. I was able to zoom with them both and felt 100% confident. During the months leading up to the wedding I reached out several times to Nilsa asking if there was anything she needed from me & she was not the best at communicating with me. I didn't speak with her again until a week before the wedding. She told me that someone else would be coordinating (Hannah) and assured me I would be in good hands, this did bother me as I felt I should of been introduced and had the opportunity to at least zoom with the new person and make sure they knew what I needed from them. I was given the contact info and started texting with Hannah who was the new coordinator and she seemed sweet. Nilsa assured me that she would be there for my rehearsal but she was not. No one showed up to our rehearsal. My bridesmaids and I set up the centerpieces at the Riverclub Thursday for hours by ourselves. The night before the wedding I was notified that Hannah was no longer going to be the coordinator and it was going to be someone different named Xavia. Nilsa was also reaching out to me the night before the wedding asking for my timeline which I of course wanted her to have but I felt that she should of asked for this information weeks before the actual night before my wedding as I was stressed enough. The afternoon of the wedding Xavia and Paul did spruce up the centerpieces and add the batteries in the candles. Made a run to the store for batteries as I think I may have gotten the wrong ones so that was really appreciated. Paul unfortunately said my name wrong during the ceremony which really upset me and my husband as well as my parents. I tried to laugh it off but it was upsetting as this is literally in our wedding video and my husband literally says "Marianna? I don't know that girl". The coordinator was pretty much sitting around most of the night not doing much and everyone kept asking me who she was and that upset me because I feel like had they seen her "working the event" they would of known who she was. Xavia was asked to make sure guests didn't enter hall during private photos and prior to ceremony however much to my disappointment this did not happen. So many guests saw me in my dress prior to the ceremony, Guests had removed placecards from tables prior to photographers being able to take photos because of this misstep. Nilsa did come a little later in the evening to check in I think and did stay to help pack up. The packing up was VERY a helpful! They really did an amazing job and I 100% am grateful for this. Everything was brought to the cars designated and I didn't have to do any of that. Nothing was broken which is amazing! I am disappointed that many of the promises made to me prior to signing the contract went unfulfilled. I feel mislead. While I understand that short staffing and unpredictable events do occur, the lack of communication leading up to my event, the disorganized approach to gathering information to make my event successful, and the mispronunciation of my name really fell below board. As a bride, you want assurances that your expectations are understood, that someone besides you will be handling the small but incredibly important details, and that someone is ensuring that your event progresses without hiccup. Instead, I was bombarded by questions that should have been handled by the coordinator, had my bridal party dictating the order of events in the absence of the coordinators presence and did not get a chance to really absorb and enjoy the night of my wedding. The execution wasn't there. I wish they had fulfilled the contract promises with the same detail and dedication they used at the end of the night in clearing the venue. Had that same enthusiasm been embodied through the night, I would have been able to write a more favorable review.

    DO NOT HIRE!!! Scammers! They will not make time for you…read more Excuse after excuse to not set up a single phone call for the last 8 months. Has done nothing for my wedding and has lost trust to be my day of coordinator. After I had to threaten Small Claims I then get a response. Save yourself the headache. What is supposed to be the happiest time of my life is now filled with this stress. A vendor meant to save me the stress has caused me my only real wedding stress.

    Bella Beginnings

    Bella Beginnings

    (3 reviews)

    I've had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth in the past on weddings. I own my own DJ company…read moreand love when I have the opportunity to work side by side with her! Events run so much more smoothly when she's in charge. She has a relaxed way about her, but is very meticulous with details. I highly recommend working with her if you are looking for a great planner!

    I can't say enough about Bella Beginnings and how critical they were to our wedding being an…read moreamazing success. Elizabeth was incredible and went above and beyond to send creative ideas, helpful suggestions and kept me on track along the way. She kept great notes, attended meetings with vendors I could not attend (as I am out of state), thought of many day of items I hadn't and all while presenting me with great solutions and ideas. During the day she kept everything on track, learned my bridal party and became part of the family. She was also amazing support when my venue coordinator abruptly quit (10 days before the wedding), she brought in extra help for the set up, found me a violinist, triple checked all details with the venue, and checked on the set up during the cocktail hour to ensure everything was exactly as we discussed (I later heard it wasn't but Elizabeth kept calm, didn't panic anyone and ensured everything was as it should be). Several times my mom and I said, "How do people do this without Elizabeth?" Elizabeth is that extra pair of hands you need who knows what to do when and allows you, your mom and your wedding party to fully enjoy the day.

    The Gardens Wedding Center - wedding_planning - Updated June 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...