The Story Behind The Venue

If you’re new here, let us reintroduce ourselves, we are the brand new owners of The Garden wedding venue in Oconee County just minutes from Athens, GA! You may have known this venue by its former name, The Thompson House and Gardens – we recently purchased and took over operations in 2026.

Who are Elsa and Michele

Elsa Thomason and Michele Romans have a unique friendship dating all the way back to 2017 when they met working at a corporate office at the front desk. We were both newlyweds and figuring out life in so many ways. We became instant work friends and developed a really great work dynamic! After some time, we both happened to enter the wedding industry – Michele as a wedding photographer and Elsa as a wedding planner!

Michele has specialized in the Athens, GA wedding area and has served over 100+ couples through her photography business. (View her work here). Elsa has specialized in the Monroe, GA area through her company, Bustle & Co., creating seamless, stress-free wedding days for her couples! (View her work here.)

We got to team up on a few wedding days where we were both hired by the bride and always had a blast! The wheels were always turning on how we could team up even more to work together.

How They Discovered The Garden

In October of 2025, Michele and her husband, Levi had been praying and looking for a location to start the church God had placed on their hearts. We knew the church would be called Garden Church, but didn’t know what the location would be yet. I (Michele) had heard of the Thompson House and Gardens, although somehow had never been here for a wedding in the past.

I started an email draft to them that simply said “Would you be interested in selling your venue?” I sat there staring at it and thought… “This is too crazy”. So I saved it in drafts instead of sending it. One week later, while praying again for a location, I went to a wedding vendor networking lunch and overheard someone say “The Thompson House and Gardens is for sale”. Immediately, I grabbed my phone and texted my husband – could this be it?!

We scheduled a meeting and tour – the moment I pulled in I knew this was the place we had been praying for.

I knew this meant we would likely also continue running it as a wedding venue.. cue my call with Elsa. I knew I couldn’t do this alone and called to ask her about helping me. Not only is she in for helping me, but her and her husband decided to join us as co-owners!

What’s New at The Garden

The last several months have been some of our busiest, most fun and most intense we’ve ever experienced. In a 2 week span, we had an estate sale, got rid of every furniture / decor item, installed all new furniture and decor, had the venue painted and deep cleaned. It was a bit wild, but totally worth it!

If you want to see the upgrades we’ve made, click this blog post here!

We’ve been collaborating with other local vendors to help us create the most seamless experience for vendors and brides possible! We want it to feel like a breath of fresh air to come to our venue.

Weddings & Events 2026 and 2027

Believe it or not, we didn’t stop operations during this transition time! We are currently hosting and accepting weddings and events for 2026 and 2027. We also offer Rehearsal Dinner rentals and Full Service Planning trained by Elsa and her Bustle & Co. team!

If you’re interested in touring, you can inquire to receive our pricing and tour information here.