THIS IS NOT AN AWARD-WINNING WORTHY VENUE!

**Please be warned before booking your event here**

What should have been a joyful celebration for my husband and me was made deeply stressful and miserable by the Garden Venue team.

• Sales & Booking Issues Our sales agent, Lovemore, made empty promises at our first meeting. He convinced us to pay a deposit for the maximum capacity (130 guests), assuring us we could adjust later. Once paid, he became unreachable and even deducted items from our invoice without informing us when asked for the invoice to be rectified. Invoices were repeatedly incorrect and took weeks to receive.

• Venue Capacity The Elephant Hall cannot comfortably seat 130 guests, despite their claims.

• Accommodation Failures The reservations manager completely forgot to book some of our rooms. Guests, some elderly, were moved 3km away to a partner hotel, Apple Blossom, with a shuttle service that left them waiting up to 30 minutes. Check-in was supposed to be at 2pm, but guests were left waiting long past that.

• Decor & Catering Despite meetings to finalize décor and menus, the setup on the day was completely different to what had been discussed. Guests were served beef dishes even though I explicitly requested no beef and pork for religious reasons. One of my desserts were not even prepared. Chairs were mismatched, broken and dirty.

At 8pm, when the groom and I went to eat, some food had been removed from the bain-maries and was suddenly pulled out from behind a counter. Some guests were even told the food was finished!

• Bar Tab Mismanagement We had a large bar tab, yet guests were charged for drinks from the start of the evening.

• Pest Infestation!! There were ****roaches crawling in and out of the tea cups! This is a MAJOR health and hygiene issue which the Garden Venue staff ignored like it was normal and of course my guests had to witness.

• Ignored Complaints We escalated our issues multiple times through different platforms, but management ignored us. When we did go through to the venue to see them, they reassured us things would be different but no attempts to correct anything from their side were made.

The only positive aspect of our experience was the DJ, Thabang, who was professional and excellent.

For the price charged, the standards at this venue are shockingly poor. Between broken furniture, mismanaged bookings, incorrect invoices, and ignored complaints, this venue caused us unnecessary stress on what should have been the happiest day of our lives. I honestly believe some of the reviews are ****. Please don't bother reaching out to me @TGV Team. We've already tried that. I will be taking this up with Consumer Affairs.