Weddingbee Blog

Clark Gardens is a 143-acre botanical conservatory near Mineral Wells, Texas. I had my eye on this venue from the get-go, and I had a very strong feeling it was going to be the place we got married.

We actually arrived a little early to our appointment here. (We are chronically late people. I’m not proud. We’re working on it.) So, we took that time to stroll around the entrance for a few minutes while we waited for Brooke, the events coordinator, to arrive with her golf cart. Yes, we would be taking our tour via motorized vehicle. Score!

She introduced herself with a firmer-than-I-was-expecting handshake. This woman meant business! Actually, to me it showed me that she was confident. And I like a confident gal! The front of the gardens had a grand fountain with aisles on either end that would make for a stunning ceremony, but a little too grandiose for my taste. I’m not going for the “princess” kind of theme, but could appreciate the potential for another bride. Next to the fountain was their first large tented facility, which had a LOT of potential. I always saw a tented reception for our wedding, and this one was sturdy and humongous. A good option for sure…

I inquired about how many weddings are hosted on one day, since it is a sizable garden. She informed me that there would only be a maximum of two since there are two tented facilities. That means, no matter what, if it rains there is ample space for every single person to go. Excellent.

We saw the chapel and the chapel lawn, which were nice, but we never really wanted to get married in a chapel, so that was not for us. Then we came up to a beautiful pavilion right on the small lake on the property, and I was informed that this was where Mr. High Wire’s cousin’s wedding reception was about five or six years ago. Also nice, but for the guest list we are anticipating (125–150), we wouldn’t all fit comfortably under the gazebo, so some tables and chairs would have to be placed around outside of it. I didn’t want anyone to feel separated or in the “nosebleed” section, if you will.

We passed through another part of the gardens called the Summer House lawn, which was also very pretty. It didn’t specifically grab me personally, but it was nice.

While I’m writing this, I guess I should note that overall I had a very good feeling about this place before we even arrived. So, my review sounds kind of negative so far, but that’s only because I REALLY wanted this place to work, so I was thinking very critically as we went along on the tour.

Finally, we entered the back area of the gardens, with rows and rows of what I imagined to be beautiful flowers, but nothing was in bloom, of course, because of the time we did our tour—the winter season. Most areas were just mounds of dirt covering seedlings for the winter. But my imagination was flying. Then we pulled up to the entrance of the Rose Pavilion, and Daddy High Wire snapped this picture with his cell phone:

That is the walkway in the off season. Please tell me you can imagine how stunning this will be in full bloom. Those are rose bushes, for G-d’s sake! Can you feel my excitement? Vintage, rustic, but clean lines and structure. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. The walkway (which would act as the aisle that the bride walks down) is a bit long, but the fact that it is covered and semi-open on the sides means that it isn’t just a wide open space with all eyes on the bride. She’s a little blocked, but the groom at the end gets a clear view all the way down.

The walkway ends at the actual pavilion, shown here:

Image via Clark Gardens

The back of the pavilion has this fine little lady. (Thanks again for the shooting, Dad.)

Hey there, free-standing brick waterfall. You are so purdy!

Immediately adjacent to the Rose Pavilion is their second tented facility. Here’s another Dad-shot from the pavilion:

The “walls” of the tent are only in place during the cooler months or by the request of the renters. So, you’ll have to use your imagination to see the tent without the walls.

Yes, I know there is a lot of “use your imagination” going on here, but how lame would it be if everything looked exactly like it will on the wedding day? What’s special about that? Nuffin’.

After touring the inside of the tent, we took a potty break and viewed the “dressing rooms” that we would use if we were to get married at this back area of the park. It was actually their conference room, but they would bring in changing-room necessities like a mirror, an area to hang the dresses, etc. Eh, it could work, but it wasn’t ideal.

There is also a model train house on the property next to the bathrooms/conference area, so we lost Dear Old Dad for a few minutes inside. While we were lazing about on the golf cart, we were chatting about different odds and ends. I checked on what kind of dates would be available next fall, and a prime date in September was still open to book if we wanted. My grandma started to discuss lodging arrangements with Brooke, since the venue is pretty far “out in the middle of nowhere.” However, it turns out that if we were simply to stay on the highway literally another 30 seconds after the turn-off to enter Clark Gardens, we would wind up in a city called Mineral Wells, which has AMPLE lodging space. Three brand new hotels right off the highway and additional ones in the city. Very easy for guests, for sure. But then Brooke mentioned that there is a guest house on the property available for rent.

Check out this baby:

Image via Clark Gardens

Available for rental during the weekend of your wedding, it includes an additional social party of your choosing at the home (rehearsal dinner, bridal luncheon, Sunday brunch, etc.) and is fully stocked. Overall, I think several members of our party that day had little items that sealed the deal for this place. For MIL High Wire it was this rental home. We finished up the tour and decided we were all hungry, so we headed into Mineral Wells to get something to eat and talk about the day.

Mr. High Wire’s eyes were lit up. He LOVED this place. His mom was bouncing on her heels to snag this incredible guest house. We were a little panicked about losing the date—and having to make a separate trip out here to book (about a 90-minute drive) if we did decide it was what we wanted. Brooke was leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday at 4:00 PM and it was now 3:45 PM.

So we booked it. Are you SUPER surprised? Ha, I know I didn’t do a very good job of leaving anything in suspense.

Here’s why it worked for us:

1. The venue is somewhat in between for our families, so this way everyone has to do a little traveling, but neither side would HAVE to book a hotel that night if they couldn’t afford to or didn’t want to. But, there are ample options to stay the night if they choose.
2. We have experience with the venue since the cousin has already gotten married there, and they had a wonderful experience.
3. The date was available for the Rose Pavillion and tent, as well as the guest house.
4. Booking the guest house also means we have lots of gorgeous space for me and my bridal party to primp for the day. No conference room! I will already be on site when I wake up the day of my wedding.
5. The guest house will house our rehearsal “dinner,” which will probably be a big BBQ/swim/casual soiree. It is going to be relaxing and fabulous.
6. We will get to have separate locations for the ceremony (Rose Pavilion) and reception (tent), but also already have rain coverage in place. Just move the ceremony under the tent or completely under the pavilion. However, the overall fees are only for one venue, not two, so it wound up fitting perfectly into our budget.
7. The package we did choose allows for up to 225 people to be in attendance, meaning we don’t have to worry about cutting anyone due to the venue not being able to house us. We have lots of wiggle room for the guest list.
8. The venue offers a free candy bar at the reception for favors—included in our package. No extra fees. This was officially my selling point, even if that sounds silly. I always wanted a candy bar!!!

What sealed the deal for you in regards to your venue choice?