A Secret Garden — Attraction in Independence

My daughter and her new husband had their wedding at A Secret Garden. The experience was not all positive. Here are the pros and cons to be carefully considered before booking this venue. TL;DR The owner is extremely difficult and controlling, but the space is beautiful. Book with caution.

PROs The venue’s garden setting and indoor event space were beautiful. It was the perfect vibe for my daughter and son-in-law. The bridal suite for the bride and bridesmaids was wonderful - spacious and comfortable. The groom's space was adequate (no sink or bathroom, much smaller). The owner, Russ, created pretty and memorable bouquets for the bride, bridesmaids and family. All of the flowers were truly unique and breathtaking. Russ was supportive and nice to the bride. She was very easygoing, so she could handle his controlling style. Having a cocktail hour in the garden before the ceremony was a great way for guests to arrive at various times and enjoy time together before sitting down for the ceremony. The mini lights, pathways, and greenery were just right. We loved the caterer the venue recommended. Many guests commented on the delicious food. The bartending vendor they suggested also did a good job. The wedding couple loved working with the photographer, Bailey. CONs The numerous rules and “traditions” of the venue were random and annoying. And they wouldn’t budge on these. For example, they refused entry for the groom and all of his attendants for 20 minutes because it “wasn't time for them yet” - conveniently glossing over the fact that the timeline for the day was never provided. This forced the groom and his attendants to be late to pictures as they had planned on getting ready at the venue, not lectured like children. Russ and his employees held firm to the secret agenda and venue regulations and acted affronted when we, the paying customers, questioned them. The owner, Russ, likes to be the center of attention. He insisted on welcoming everyone to the venue before the ceremony started and on speaking at the end of the ceremony. It was unnecessary, intrusive and disrupted the flow. He interrupted the lovely live music during the recessional after he missed his cue. He emceed a 30-minute dance contest/bouquet giveaway at the reception, which also felt like The Russ Show. Both of my sisters asked, “What’s the deal with that guy?” Russ was rude to our ceremony musicians when they wanted to visit the space before the wedding day. He promised a sound system that wasn’t adequate, so luckily we invited the musicians to the rehearsal, where they discovered they would need to bring their own. He was impolite to the officiant and downplayed her important role. He repeatedly told us how late he stayed up and how hard he worked. He also liked to tell us how much various parts of the venue cost. We’re the customers. We’re paying for a service. We don’t need this information. This venue is very bride-centric. Weddings as a whole tend to be skewed more towards brides, but this was next level. The groom attempted to liaise with certain vendors (a decent chunk of which were non-negotiable), and they would refuse all correspondence from anyone other than the bride. During planning meetings, Russ would go out of his way to sideline the groom, focusing solely on what the bride had to say, and sometimes even talked about the groom as if he wasn't in the room. As a whole, the experience (minus the day of the wedding) made the groom feel like nothing more than a guest in his own ceremony planning. Russ was uncivil to me as the mother of the bride. He dismissed my questions and repeatedly “put me in my place” before and during the wedding although my daughter had told him that I was her co-planner and that she wanted and respected my input. He had a way of being super harsh, then sometimes trying to walk it back with a joke that fell flat. Booking this venue means putting up with Russ’ abrasive, overbearing, and...

Wow ! What a beautiful place tucked away for a wedding. This garden was everything you could ask for, however the staff running the place were out of this world in a terrible way. A friend of mine found this place at a bridal show and made the decision that she wanted to get married there. From the very first meeting she and her fiance had with Russ it was attitude. Rules and guidelines changing , days she was "allowed " to call him without being scolded by a child, even after another staff member told her to do so. He made finding a caterer for her an absolute mess. She was told we were able to have so many different alcohols to drink and mixers. After making that decision she was told that there could be no liquor in his place , only beer and wine. The week of the wedding she had to scramble about a bartender bc he didn't have one. When the bride and girls showed up there were probably 5 of us and 2 little girls. We're loaded down with bags , dresses , makeup everything waiting on him to let us in the place in a room the size of a hallway. She was told she was "on his time now". Basically he slowly ended up wasting 45 of our time when we got there instead of taking care of hair and makeup. The photographer and Russ rushed us most of the time we were getting ready and Russ was very rude about it. He had a lot of rules. The photographer and Russ spent so much time taking pictures , we thought they were going to turn out great. Unfortunately even though there was like 2 hours of pictures before the wedding , the entire ceremony, the more than an hour they were lead around after the ceremony and the rest of reception,, there are like no pictures!! Most pictures with the bride and groom with their wedding party are all the same in front of the same fireplace that most of the other pictures are in front of. Lots of people with eyes closed. It also took more than 4 months to get this pictures all with out any color correction. They edited pictures and posted them on social media but did not give the edited versions to the bride.There are almost no pictures of their children. Many things planned in the reception were cut bc of how long they were kept away taking pictures, that they don't even have. Most of the guests were leaving when they returned. Lots of things were promised to this couple. Lots of promises were broken after lots of money was paid for this to be the day of their dreams.To be completely honest the decor looked almost identical to all of the other weddings they host just a little difference in color scheme. I would never recommend this man or his team to anyone. They do not deliver what they are contracted to do. To top it off my friend has not received any apology or how could we make anything any better , instead she has been mocked. She was dissected by his little gang of followers and made out to be crazy. All because she was sad and upset about how he ruined that day that she had been planning for months....

Bride review here: I got married at A Secret Garden in April and it was absolutely beautiful! The ballroom: MAGICAL. The owner, Russ, is extremely talented and devoted to creating your vision for the day. He definitely has his own ideas/plans, but he is willing to listen and compromise to make it the best experience possible. You just have to be clear and firm about what you want! It is a very unique venue in the fact that he does SO much! Decor, floral, suggested/pre-arranged vendors—everything I needed to make the wedding planning process as least stressful as possible. He is really good at adding meaningful and unique touches to your day too. We had good experiences with all of his suggested vendors/staff. They were all so kind and accommodating and wanted us to have the best day! Not to mention professional and talented in what they do. One of his newer staff members, Ms. Ava, did a great job of being there for me the day of.

I know that Russ has had some mixed reviews in the past. I will agree that he is a lot of personality! I’ll follow that with I think he is a very sweet guy with a great sense of humor who truly cares about his brides and giving them the best day possible. I did experience some of the back and forth that has been mentioned in previous reviews throughout the planning process. He can oversell and forget things that he has mentioned previously, but overall he delivered an amazing day. I found it very helpful to just communicate with him! Ask questions. If you find him being “pushy” or firm about something, it’s usually because he has had a certain experience. If you talk it through with him, he really does work to come up with a solution that works for everyone.

Russ and I have different personalities. I am extremely Type A and there were times during the planning process where Russ wasn’t. I was allowing that to stress me out until I made the decision to just “let go and let Russ” for my wedding and I am so glad that I did! I had such a special day and I know that it would not have been possible without him. Thank you Russ, A Secret Garden, and your team for a...