Winsford Gardens — Attraction in Franklin

My first impressions of Winsford Gardens was that it was a beautiful, quaint wedding venue. Even better, is that it is owned by a seemingly charming, down to earth New Zealander: Peter.

Over a year in advance I visited the venue, greeted and shown around by a very accomodating Peter. I brought my parents and my future in-laws on the second visit- and we were all just in awe of the kindness of Peter and the beautiful garden he had cultivated.

To lock in the booking, we go into Peter’s office and he books us in on his computer. My dad asks ‘how would you like the deposit?’ to which Peter replies ‘oh that’s okay I will email you a week before the wedding for that’.

6 months prior to the wedding after booking everything- I make final enquiries for a marquee. Peter is contacted by the marquee company. He emails me to say that the venue is booked and that I never responded to his email invoice so he was obliged to book it to someone else.

At his reply I felt so angry with myself. How could I be so rude as to miss Peter’s email? After all, I pride myself on being organised, and this was a real stuff up on my part.

I sift through my emails, including the dreaded spam folder. There was nothing. Zilch.

I ask Peter (several times) if he can forward the email he had sent. He does not reply.

Needless to say, it was clear that there was never an emailed invoice. Peter had purposely double booked us.

No point crying over spilt milk I thought- I needed to find a new venue ASAP… so I write a desperate request for wedding venue recommendations on a wedding Facebook group, explaining the situation. Some offer great suggestions and some commiserate with me- having experienced the exact same thing… and it turns out… at the same venue! However, these brides were hesitant to leave a bad review, believing that 1. Peter is a lovely guy and they were willing to forgive his innocent mistake, and 2. Not wanting to put his family run business into disrepute because of an innocent mistake.

However, reading some of these reviews and speaking to other brides who were stung in the same way- it is clear there have been way too many ‘double bookings’ for it to be an ‘innocent mistake’.

I write this as a warning to anyone thinking of booking here. The crucial lesson from this tale is this: insist on getting everything in writing, otherwise it...

Absolutely disgusted with the owners of this venue. Professionalism is non existent. My son and new daughter-in-law had booked their wedding here for 26/02/2022 18 months in advance. They were approached twice by Peter to change their date but both times declined as they already had things booked. Peter knew he had double booked, he had told the Marquee Hire place he had double booked but it was sorted back in April 2021. His way of sorting the situation was not to advise us of the double booking, which would have given us 10 months to find a new venue, but to cancel the venue on them 1 week out, saying his son has Covid and was Isolating at the venue. This caused unnecessary stress, they had already had to cull numbers due to Covid restrictions. On top of this Peter hosted the other wedding there on 26/2/2022. I sincerely hope this Bride and Groom had a happy day to remember. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Hank and Margaret of Ginagin, who gave us the day we were hoping for at such short notice. Even though they had another event booked for the next day. Cannot say enough good things about them.

If you are dreaming of having your next big event at Winsford Gardens I would suggest you...

We had our wedding at Winsford Gardens early 2022 and it was absolutely wonderful.

From the get go Peter was helpful taking us on a tour of the property. Peter puts in a lot of hard work and takes such pride in his gardens and it shows. Peter was present with setting up and assisted the day before helping set up the final touches and reassuring a stressful bride. Peter is very familiar with local suppliers and is accommodating with coordination for the day. We were even able to have the venue a day before and after for a hassle free set up and pack down.

The location is breathtaking , with multiple options for marquee and ceremony locations. At night Peter discreetly turns on the festoon lighting wrapped around big trees down by the pond, and a large open fire pit for guests to enjoy.

It was a perfect day stress-free day and ill recommend Winsford...