Davis Islands Garden Club

patio and we ate inside, so the space is both indoor and outdoor. The venue is a blank canvas but also very pretty, so you can make you vision come true there, but a lot doesn’t need to be done because the outside speaks for itself. I liked that I got to bring my own vendors in but also can use, and not made to use, their preferred vendors. Amber is also amazing! She was so great to work with and super responsive and a huge help with all of my questions. I couldn’t recommend this venue more as it’s beautiful and the staff is great. It was a great experience and would do it all over again if I could!

nday’s and Friday’s are a lot cheaper than Saturdays and tomorrow availablility!

grand as you desire. However, you will need the assistance of a day-of coordinator for set up since the venue only sets up their own indoor tables and chairs. Amber, the venue coordinator, is very responsive through text and email. The location near the airport and downtown Tampa was also a plus since all our guests were from out of town. DIGC was the perfect space for my ceremony and reception for 80 guests.

dding was outside on the grass or under the patio, and it all went so well and smoothly, it was truly a dream!

the water is a plus! Inside is definitely DIY but the venue has very reasonable pricing for additional decor (drapes and such) and includes some decorative takes for free! We had around 160 people in attendance.

e perfect for our daytime garden-style reception. They also provide tables and chairs as part of the rental which was much appreciated! A major area where the Garden Club can improve is the service provided by the event manager, Amber Beatty. While she kept a cheerful tone throughout our correspondence, she turned down many of our requests (early access to the venue while it wasn't being used, a discount on overpriced drapery rentals that she was profiting on, use of lanterns during on our send off that many other venues use) with a arguments that didn't make logical sense, which was frustrating. She always needed to get the last word in and seemed to enjoy saying no. While our wedding turned out wonderfully, Amber detracted from the planning experience as we always felt we need to calculate our interactions with her. I hope that the Garden Club will address this and offer customer service more in line with their charming offerings with future brides.

uestions. The extra add-ons (drapery, cushions, tables, chairs, etc) are very helpful and more affordable than most vendors in the Tampabay area. I love that they allow you to use outside vendors (unlike most venues) and that they allow you to enter the venue first thing in the morning to setup. My only complaint: I wish they provided janitorial services on the day of the event. It rained the morning of my wedding and by the time I got there in the afternoon, there were huge dirty puddles of water on the “aisle”. Otherwise, I was very very happy with my experience and I have already recommended this venue to several other brides.

s last minute, which she was very accommodating with the request. It was a beautiful location for our wedding and I would highly recommend this property to someone searching for a venue. Takes very little decorations because the grounds are beautiful and extremely well kept.

ar as how to use the space, was large enough to seat 150 guests indoors, generally easy communications with the venue coordinator. Difficulties: There were lots of hidden costs (Chairs, drapery, cushions, lights...things really added up and it didn't end up being as affordable as we anticipated) & the interior on its own is a bit drab and needed enhancements. Overall, it was perfect day and the Garden Club was the ideal setting for our event!

to work with. Definitely recommend.

, wasn't too formal but still very pretty, and would help enhance our theme and colors instead of dictate those. Day of the wedding, I was able to get inside to drop off everything for my coordinator and I thought I was supposed to get the keys at 10AM but no one ever showed up. I didn't worry too much since I was able to drop everything off anyways. We chose to rent the garden chairs, which was a much better price than if we had gone to an outside vendor to rent chairs, and the cushions for the patio. I completely recommend renting the cushions if you plan to do your dance floor on the patio. We chose to do our ceremony under the first tree branch when you walk through to the back and it was perfect! I didn't want to do what everyone else did and use the gazebo. Initially, I wanted to do the reception inside but my husband really wanted to do it outdoors and it was the best decision! We had our tables set up on the left side of the lawn and using the beauty of the outdoor space meant we only needed to decorate our tables and added cafe lighting above the lawn. We got so many compliments on how beautiful our wedding was, everything was perfect!

had our wedding here.

s though, so make sure you have a plan in place for those pieces. We used the water taxi as transportation from our hotel to the venue as an added bonus - it was awesome!

ilored to what you are looking for. We received nothing but compliments! I would recommend it to anyone!

garden setting with a gazebo. A indoor / outdoor facility for rain or humidity emergencies.It was a dream. The quality was beautiful, Extremely helpful and friendly team, especially Michelle!She went out of her way to make our day so special, i will forever be grateful to her hospitality. They produced everything we needed like tables and chairs, just like I wanted it.They had excellent communication. What a professional team I was extremely happy with this venue, and it started our wedding off like a fairytale! My guests raved about the location, they loved it! And the newlyweds head off in a boat from the venue sailing into the sunset. A perfect place for a wedding.

ater in the background. Needs a lot of decorations to spice up but with the right décor it becomes a very enchanting venue. The price of the venue doesn't include ceremony chairs or the extra décor you see up when touring the venue so keep that in mind when budgeting. The only flaws I had with our venue was I felt the communication was difficult. Every so often an email wouldn't be responded to, we were told our venue payment and wedding insurance wasn't given to them, but we had the confirmation emails saying they were already paid from them. Gave me a few stresses. Also, there are a few rules that held back the wedding creativity for me. I had a Rapunzel/Tangled wedding and we couldn't do the floating lanterns (fire code I understand) but made me sad that we could of done it with other venues. Overall I will still be recommending this venue to any friend who wants a smaller, lower budgeted wedding!

airport, food, etc.). Contact Michelle to set your date!

accessories. We rented a U-haul truck and brought amazing pieces that when combined with the venue being on the water and its beautiful surroundings, made it all to be perfect. The venue is not large so it will not work for a large wedding. My wedding was 75 people so it was just the perfect venue for us.

iful outdoor wedding. We had 119 guest which fit everyone comfortably. We were able to have an outdoor ceremony along the canal, an outdoor cocktail reception on the back patio and a dinner reception inside the club. With the club you you have to bring in all your vendors, which can be good for those who have time to research caterers, florist, etc. The club gives you a preferred vendor list which we highly recommend on using, because the club has several strict rules and the preferred vendors know what they can and can not do (which is helpful so you can receive your full deposit back) Half of our wedding guest came from out of town, so we were able to use the dock located approx 75 yards from the club to escort our guest to and from the wedding site using a water taxi from the Marriott waterside. Michelle, the site coordinator, was wonderful to work with, she was extremely helpful and very timely when getting back to us with questions. She was always available to open the club up for us when we had walk throughs with vendors or wanted to see the grounds. The club does provide 60" round and rectangular tables along with metal folding chairs. They also have white lawn chairs for an additional charge. We had a wonderful experience and highly recommend this venue.

mmend that in cooler months. The only downfall is you get the barebone structure and definitely need to hire a company to come in and decorate and do lighting otherwise it's very plain inside. They get a little pricey for adding curtains and cushions to the benches, which I think should come standard. But overall nice venue and our guests loved it.

fully. It is an amazing venue for an amazing price. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't need to because it was perfect!

or patio is great for cocktail hour and the inside is big enough to hold many tables plus a good sized dance floor, but small enough to provide an intimate feel for the wedding. As soon as we visited we knew this was the place for us. Almost all of our guests commented on how beautiful the location was. Michelle and Tiffany were very helpful and were always quick to reply to emails. We couldn't be happier with our choice to get married here.

feeling. The staff is great to work with too! You will love having your wedding here...I know we did!

b. In reviewing my photos, there are areas of grass that appeared dead. On the morning of my wedding, my coordinator showed up to find none of the set up had been completed (this was the purpose of providing the floor plan the week before). This caused my coordinator and staff to have to set up the entire inside and outside which caused them to run terribly late. It was a domino effect because they ran out of time to get to some of the little "details" I had requested (custom made pillow cases, sash ties for cocktail table5s, etc...). Everything is piece mail with the DIGC...you pay for every single thing (every chair you need to use, etc..). If I had to do it all over again, I would contract one of the nicer hotels that have a waterfront view so I can get a "package"....

ved the idea of being able to use the indoor or outdoor, or both. The grounds are immaculate. With a venue like this, it is a clean slate. Meaning you have to provide all the decor to make it what you envision.