G C Cuisine & Crystal Garden Banquet & Event Center — Restaurant in Edwardsville

I recently had my wedding and reception at Crystal Gardens. I cannot express how wonderful everything was!! My now-husband and I looked at a few other places in the area, but none made me smile ear-to-ear the way CG did when we walked into the facility. It was, and is, absolutely beautiful! On my first visit I had written close to 20 questions down, and Bill (who gave us the first tour) answered everything, even going on to give us more information than I ever imagined! I was sold right then and there. While I will admit I was a little put-off the first time I met Carol, looking back I understand that she needed to keep the professional attitude during our first few visits, rather than be “bubbly” and “chatty” in order to keep everything on track and make sure she knew exactly what we wanted. Any time I had questions for her I was able to reach her through phone calls and emails, all of which were answered promptly and fully. About a month before the wedding, she seemed almost as excited as we were about everything! When planning the menu her eyes lit-up and went into perfect detail about the food offered, and was very patient with us while we decided what we wanted to do. We were never forced to make any decisions, but were offered great suggestions when we looked stumped. The day of the wedding went off without a hitch! There was another event going on at the same time, but it never interfered with ours. We were even ahead of schedule (I haven’t been to many weddings – but that’s the first time I’ve ever experienced that)! The garden ceremony was absolutely beautiful! We couldn’t have asked for anything more. The decorations and landscaping were perfect. (Not that they could control this aspect, but the weather was amazing, too!) After our ceremony was complete and the reception had begun, Bill was there for anything we needed – even asking if the room temperature was to our liking! If there was anything we wanted, he was right there to make sure it was done. I was beside myself at how beautifully the room was decorated. It was a perfect way to start our memories as a married couple. And the food, well, was simply fantastic! We selected the beef and chicken, and received numerous compliments from our guests. The set-up was very nice, and the staff was excellent! From the bar to the buffet they were all very professional and all had big smiles on their faces while interacting with our guests. It was beyond just good customer service – it was exemplary customer service! When we came back a few days later to pick-up decorations we brought for the reception, Bill and Carol were still super nice and friendly. They had everything ready for us so we didn’t have to wait around for anything. If anyone were to ask me about having their wedding and/or reception at Crystal Gardens, I would say yes in a heartbeat! There are so many other wonderful aspects I could share about my experience, but then this would be a 10-page review, haha. I’ll leave on this note: If you are looking for an amazing place and staff to host your special day, please look at Crystal Garden. You will not regret it =) PS - the house DJ, Andy, was beyond amazing and was not forced on us as Matthew said in a previous post. The DJ was almost half the cost of others that we looked at, and his service was above and beyond what we expected. Also, with the open bar issue Matthew brought up - it states very clearly in the brochure that it is a 4hr open bar, and we got to decide when it began and ended, with the cash bar being available before and after...

NOT WORTH THE MONEY!!! The female owner was extremely rude. Their contract is not clear. For example, the contract says centerpieces are included in the package we picked. In their pictures they advertise different floral arrangements and centerpieces but at our last meeting 15 business days before our wedding the owner (female) tells us that the flowers were not included with the centerpieces and we could only use the vases and mirrors. Another example, dishes were also supposed to be included but in our package but again 15 days before our wedding we are paying them extra to use their "cake plates." Crystal Garden was supposed to set up our chairs for our ceremony but because we didn't pay to rent their chairs, we had to come the morning of our wedding and set up, again our contract say "best of all we set up and take down for you." My wedding day started there bad because the female owner would not let the wedding party in to get dressed. The female owner originally told use we (the wedding party) could arrive 30 min before the start of the wedding but when we got there she just stood at the door and would not let us in, meanwhile I hadn't put on my dress and the wedding was scheduled to start at 3 (it was 2:40pm). When we entered into the reception hall the venue didn't have enough chairs at the head table so we had to wait until they sat up four more spaces. We picked Crystal Garden because it was beautiful and we could stay in one place for everything. We didn't want the rest of the headaches this place came with. For the amount of money we spent, our experience with Crystal Garden should have been a good one. Their servers were nice and so was her husband. 1 star because of how beautiful...

Crystal Garden Banquet Center is a wonderful place to have a special event! In early December 2016, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a party for our family and friends. Karol and Bill could not have been more accommodating to my special requests. After booking our party and discussing some menu ideas and our budget, Karol sent me two complete menu suggestions with the cost per person. Since I wanted to combine some parts of the two menus, we met with Karol to discuss my changes. She was so gracious in helping me decide what to serve and was willing to make any changes that I wanted. Karol and Bill also made suggestions and helped us pick the perfect wines to accompany our menu. Karol is a very talented chef so our buffet menu was just what we wanted, including Linguine ai Frutti di Mare and Chicken Saltimbocca. Everything was prepared to perfection and simply delicious! We also had two of Karol’s luscious cakes for dessert. Our guests were so impressed with the menu as well as the venue. The Crystal Room was decorated for Christmas, understated but beautiful even encompassing the blue and silver accents that I wanted. If you are looking for a special place to have your special event, I highly recommend Crystal Garden Banquet Center in Edwardsville. Karol and Bill are totally committed to providing the best possible...