Listen to the audio version of this blog below!
We are incredibly excited to announce the new ownership and rebrand of The Garden, formerly known as The Thompson House and Gardens! We are Michele Romans (Michele Houston Photography), Elsa Thomason (Bustle & Co), and Casey Horton – the new wedding dream team.
Michele and Elsa have worked a combined total of 150+ wedding days and Casey is our expert florist and gardener! Together, we’re bringing a unique vision and experience to this beautiful venue just minutes from Athens, Georgia.
The Garden Wedding Experience
One of the unique aspects of our team is that we bring three different expertises to the table. We will be offering Full Service, Luxury collections for wedding days that include Venue Rental, Full Planning & Design as well as Floral Design. This is create a seamless, elevated experience for our couples.
We are one of the only wedding venues in the Athens area that offers ALL of the following features:
- Both indoor and outdoor ceremony options
- Both indoor and outdoor reception options
- Multiple Ceremony Backdrops Indoors
- Multiple Ceremony Backdrops Outdoors
- Comfortably holds up to 200 guests including dance floor and band
- Bridal & Groom suites on site
- Parking on site
- Multiple Rehearsal Dinner Locations
- Full Service Collections – venue, planning & floral
Inquire about your wedding day here.
Rehearsal Dinner Experiences
Our venue is the perfect location to host your rehearsal dinner as well! We recommend booking the full weekend collection with us to include your wedding day and rehearsal dinner. However, we also offer Rehearsal Dinner Only packages.
Those can also be found when you inquire on the weddings + rehearsal dinner inquiry page.
Elevated Events
Another aspect of our rebrand vision that we’re excited to share is our list of Elevated Events for brides, vendors and the local community! Some of our events include:
- The Garden Bridal Soiree (for brides & their girls!)
- Sip & See (wedding vendor networking event)
- Galentines (for ladies of all ages!)
- The Garden Market (for anyone in the community)
You can learn more about these events and purchase tickets here.
Company Events & Personal Celebrations
The Garden venue is also available for Company Events and Personal Celebrations. You can learn more about our non-wedding rentals here.
The Vision & Brand
Our vision for the venue is to create an elevated, luxury experience in a luscious garden setting for couples to host their ultimate, timeless wedding day! We also want to create a hub for the community to experience joyful events with their favorite people.
One of the unique things about our story is that Michele and her husband Levi Romans have felt the call to start a church in the Athens area. We knew it was going to be called The Garden Church, but we didn’t have a building to meet. Throughout 2025, we have been praying specifically for a building for the church and when we discovered this beautiful garden venue, everything seemed to fall into place. You can hear more about the church and the testimonies of this venue on our church website here.
We can’t wait to see you at a future event! If you have any questions, feel free to email us at gardenvenueweddings@gmail.com.
Website images by Sarah Folsom Photography, Michele Houston Photography and Heartbrave Photography
Click the button below to inquire about your wedding with us! You will instantly get our investment guide and be able to schedule a tour to see the space.
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