AvantGarden Reviews

I cannot recommend this venue enough! If you want stress free wedding planning and a beautiful, fun wedding, this is the venue for you. Mariana makes everything so easy and truly transforms the venue into the prettiest and coolest wedding venue. She was always available to answer questions and was super helpful. For example, we decided kind of last minute that we wanted a jazz quartet to play our cocktail hour and with one email to Mariana with all of her connections, she had a fabulous group booked for us. All of our guests loved AvantGarden. From our friends who enjoyed the taco truck and the DJ upstairs, to our parents and older family members that were very appreciative of a quieter more relaxed place to talk and catch up downstairs. I truly do not think there is any other comparable venue in Houston. I think you would be hard pressed to find another venue this unique, fun, and beautiful for the price. Plus, AvantGarden comes with the best planner and day of coordinator around! Seriously, just book it! You will not regret it!

Our friends and family keep raving that our wedding was the best wedding they've ever attended! Maybe we're a bit bias, but can't help but agree. Our wedding day at AvantGarden was truly enchanting! We had a vision for a vintage art nouveau-inspired celebration, but finding a venue in Houston that matched are style proved to be a challenge. That is, until we discovered AvantGarden. From the moment we met Mariana, we knew we were in good hands. She understood our vision and brought it to life. The venue itself is stunning, and has a unique charm that we fell in love with. Mariana and her team were incredibly professional, knowledgeable, and attentive to every detail. She ensured that everything on our special day was executed flawlessly, and we had an absolute blast celebrating with our friends and family. Also the taco truck was the icing on the cake, best wedding food ever! Thank you Mariana and the AvantGarden team for making our wedding day truly unforgettable!

My fiancé and I got engaged in August of 2023. We live in New York City and were planning a small wedding for December 2024 in Brooklyn. In January of 2024, my mom got diagnosed with a very aggressive stage 4 cancer, and was admitted to MD Anderson for treatment. We wanted to try and get a wedding together as soon as possible so that my mom would be able to enjoy herself and we could bring our families together to celebrate. I met with Mariana at the end of January to see if we could pull off a wedding in just 2 months, and she was confident we could get it done. She told me “I do weddings every single weekend and we take care of every detail. If you told me “I need a wedding next weekend” we could get it done.” I was nervous to take such a hands off approach and trust Mariana with everything, but decided to take a leap of faith and embrace the mindset that even if everything went horribly wrong (which thankfully nothing did) we would still have both our families together celebrating and my mom would be able to be there. Mariana planned and executed an INCREDIBLE day and we could not be more thankful. We got rave reviews on every aspect of the wedding from our guests. The two things I was most worried about were flowers and food (especially since we couldn’t find the time to try the food with such a short timeline). The food was absolutely incredible and I scarfed down those tacos as quickly as I could! I sent a PDF with inspiration of the kind of flowers I liked and the bouquet and centerpieces matched the vibe so perfectly I was completely shocked. For scheduling and flow of the event, Mariana and her staff were completely on top of it and the day flowed smoothly. The DJ was excellent and followed all our instructions perfectly, and picked great songs for dancing that got everyone up and moving. We had around 125 guests and it didn’t feel cramped or crowded at all for ceremony or reception, and it was enough people for a true party vibe. Even though we planned quickly and the wedding followed the usual wedding formula, the day felt so personal and we were able to find the time to add some small touches like custom wedding programs, table assignment cards, and some fun games at the end. I also had some unusual guest care requests - a couple of my guests are Orthodox Jews and I needed to get separate kosher food for them. Mariana understood and made sure they were taken care of. It was just perfect. We can’t thank her enough for this day and the memories that we will cherish.

We just had our wedding here and I can't say enough good things about this place.
It's whismical and unpretentiously beautiful.
The food served from the taco truck and the buffet with a lot of side dishes was great! Our guests loved the idea!
The staff was extremely helpful with the entire setup and clean up. They took care of every detail, coordinating and decorations.
Marianna and Bella were very easy to work with and made the whole process stress free for me and my wife. They really did an amazing job and answered all our questions and were very responsive from the beginning of pur wedding planning.
Also the dj, cake, desserts were all very good.
We are so glad to have chosen AvantGarden for our wedding!
Zack and Alice

Mariana and Bella are amazing wedding planners and took care of every little detail. The venue is gorgeous and has this very unique vibe to it, which was enhanced by the beautiful flower decorations the florist made (highly recommended too). Music and food were absolutely on point too.

Couldn’t imagine a better place to have had our wedding reception this past weekend. AvantGarden was the first and only venue we toured after we got engaged and instantly knew this was the place for us. It was absolutely beautiful and Mariana was so helpful- she picked up our cake, set up all of our decor, and her staff provided great service throughout the evening. We had our ceremony at the AD Bruce Religion Center and it was nice to just show up to AvantGarden after the ceremony and have everything set up beautifully and ready for our guests to enjoy! The tacos were better than any wedding food we’d ever had before! Highly, highly recommend this venue!!

If you are looking for the perfect location... this is it!
The place is magical and right in the heart of Houston!
We chose to have a small wedding, only 95 guests. It felt just right for this venue.
We chose the all inclusive package, we only had to provide a photographer.
Mariana made excellent recommendations and hired all the vendors for us. We only met with her 3 times, but she understood our vision perfectly.
The bartenders helped us come up with 2 signature drinks, but all the drinks were very good!
The food from El Palomo was great, the dj, the decor, everything was 10 stars!.
We wholeheartedly recommend AvantGarden ❤️

We can’t say enough positive things about our wedding experience at Avantgarden.

We had never been to Avantgarden before, but after meeting Mariana and seeing the venue my wife and I both had no doubt it was the place we wanted to hold our wedding. The venue itself has such a funky and cool vibe, truly a gem in the heart of Montrose.

Mariana is an absolute pro. She worked with us to create a wedding package that was right for us. We never had any doubts that she had everything under control from the planning and logistics aspect. She also has such a calming vibe that really helped put our minds at ease leading up to the wedding.

Everything went so smoothly on the day of the wedding: The tacos and cake were fantastic, the staff was so kind and accommodating, and the DJ really took our song recommendations and created an amazing and unique playlist. We heard from so many guests that it was the best wedding they’ve ever been to.

Thank you again to everyone who helped make our wedding so special.

I had my wedding on October 15, 2023 and I had a wonderful day thanks to Mariana and her team. Even though many brides say that the wedding goes by quickly and they remind you to enjoy it, Mariana made sure that I enjoyed my day. She allowed me to truly be carefree from the time I arrived until the time we left. I didn't give specific instructions how to incorporate the items I brought to the wedding, but she did a wonderful job using her best judgement. My guests have been raving about the uniqueness of the venue and the use of space. They also loved the taco truck and thought it was a nice touch. AvantGarden is the perfect venue if you're looking for a garden wedding aesthetic in a space that has charm, character, and quirkiness.

My husband and I are highschool sweethearts.
We agreed to get married when we found the perfect place that described our personalities.
Years later we found AvantGarden by chance and fell in love with the old mansion. We also wanted a patio wedding, AvantGarden provided both.
We hosted 137 guests.
The ambiance is amazing. Eclectic and authentic, elegant and fun.
The food from the taco truck is a delicious tribute to our own special local Tex-Mex style in Houston.
The dj and the staff were amazing.
The florist made me a gorgeous bouquet, exactly what I envisioned.
And Mariana was so attentive to every detail!
She made the planning easy and fun for us.
We couldn't have dreamed of a better celebration!

I LOVED having my wedding at Avant Garden! Mariana is so knowledgeable and experienced with hundreds of wedding on her belt, that I just had to answers questions and she took care of the rest! She planned it, coordinated it the day of, decorated, had a whole crew for setup/shutdown, and ALL within a very reasonable price point. Service was amazing, the crew were quick background players, she was so sweet and patient with me, and I have already recommended this place to other people. 10/10.

We had our wedding at Avant Garden two weeks ago (March 26, 2023), and it was truly amazing! I'm a planner at heart so it was difficult for me to let go of managing all of the details, but I couldn't be happier with the results. Avant Garden is such a cool space and very unique! Our event was fun and high quality without being stuffy or overly formal. I also feel like you get SO MUCH bang for your buck with this venue. You'd be hard pressed to find another all inclusive venue at this price point in any major city - plus she does discounts for Sundays and holiday weekends.

Our wedding had 70 guests, but we originally planned for 50 - Mariana was extremely flexible and made all of this work. We did the all inclusive package which came with flowers, DJ, food, cake, bar, decor, and day of coordination. 100% worth it, and if considering Avant Garden I can't recommend enough to go with this package. Let's break all of these components down a bit…
• Food - The taco truck is truly top notch - every guest was raving about the food. There are great options for vegetarians and gluten intolerant guests as well. They also do an option for late night pizza - we opted out because we were on a budget but I'm sure it's amazing.
• Bar - Since Avant Garden is an actual bar people could get anything from a complicated/gourmet cocktail to a basic mixer. Legitimate cocktails! And we had the bar open before the ceremony which is extra fun.
• Flowers - Absolutely gorgeous! All I did was send Mariana a Pinterest board and she made it come to life.
• DJ - The DJ was fine, but not amazing. He was a professional and followed our instructions for the processional and recessional, but didn't really follow our guidelines on the 'party' music. Nonetheless, we had a super fun dance party and it was a good time.
• Décor - Mariana has amazing stuff in her inventory and the space looked beautiful. The only thing you will have to provide are signs and photos. Here is a list of everything we brought - welcome sign, seating chart, table numbers, ceremony 'reserved row' signs, framed photos of couple, 'guest book' sign, 'gifts & cards' sign
• Cake - Mariana works with a local bakery and the cake was gorgeous! We did a two tier, the top chocolate and base tres leches with floral decorations.
• Day of Coordination - Not much to say here other than that Mariana is a true professional and kept us in mind all evening. She even blew air conditioning on our sweet heart table during dinner so we wouldn't get too sweaty!

Five stars across the board - You cannot go wrong getting married at Avant Garden!!

dfs dfsfd sdfsd fds dfsfds dsfsdfdf

I've read a lot of reviews about how accommodating AvantGarden is for events, but I'm not sure anybody can top our experience. Our wedding was set for what turned out to be the absolute coldest day of the polar vortex around Christmas, and Mariana and her staff were able to move the entire wedding inside and still make it look absolutely magical. They did not miss a beat and kept the whole event going seamlessly, keeping our stress levels low and making sure everybody had a great time. Their timing for everything was on point and all of our guests told us how beautiful everything turned out! I am absolutely recommending AvantGarden to any and everybody in Texas!

We chose Avant Garden to host our December 17th, 2022, wedding and it was a true and utter dream. Mariana the owner, eased all our concerns and delivered us the most beautiful wedding day we could have imagined. The venue fit perfectly with the mystic fairy tale wedding I envisioned and is an all-purpose facility. We were able to host our ceremony there, use the covered patio for a sit-down dinner hosted by the taco truck housed in the parking lot, and use the 2nd floor area for a dance party after the reception. The decor provided was stunning, and the building played a part in making sure our theme was executed to a tee. Mariana has a full staff that works for her, and they effortlessly set up every detail of our wedding. Bar service was available, as well as full waitstaff. The food was amazing, and the self- serve taco truck was a hit amongst our guests. They designed my bouquet which I thought was beautiful, and had the venue decorated to my liking. Every concern I had was quickly addressed. My now husband and I will be forever grateful to Mariana and the Avant Garden family for everything. If you are looking for an eclectic hidden gem in plain sight with old school vintage charm. Our only complaint is that we wished we could do it again every weekend and have Mariana continuously re-create our wedding day. We HIGHLY recommend.

Our wedding at Avant Garden was beautiful, fun and everything unfolded effortlessly. Mariana and her staff were very attentive. The DJ recommended by Mariana was on point with the music, the food was tasty (we went with taco truck), and the drinks were good. The venue is spacious, and they transform this place into something very special for weddings. Our flower arrangements – especially my flower crown and bouquet - were stunning and exactly what I wanted. Our vegan dessert, cakes, especially our gluten free cake were delicious. As a coordinator, Mariana worked hard to create our vision, incorporated our feedback and collaborated with us on some creative things we wanted to do differently. Our night was magical, and everyone had a great time.
P.S. Mariana is very good at what she does. Trust Mariana.

We absolutely recommend AvantGarden for couples who are looking to have an authentic, colorful, and relaxed wedding! The music, ambience, and charm had our guests raving about the fun and beauty of our special day.

I was drawn to this venue because I spent many years living in the heart of New Orleans, embracing the richness of courtyard gardens and classic architecture. That made AvantGarden such an easy pic. I also loved that we could provide our guests from all over the United States a chance to experience a touch of the classic and authentic feel of this diverse and cultured city.

I must also add that our day was very cold and rainy. This did not disrupt our experience in the least. Mariana and her team did an exceptional job reassuring me throughout the day leading up to our ceremony that all would be marvelous despite the terrible weather. The patio where the ceremony and dinner took place was covered and heated well.

Lastly, the food truck was awesome! Efficient and incredibly tasty.

We recently had our wedding at AvantGarden and it was absolutely amazing! Mariana is incredibly dedicated to ensuring that the day goes as perfectly as possible. She has lots of experience coordinating weddings and knew how to handle every little thing that came up. In the planning stages, she instantly understood the aesthetic we were going for, and it was executed perfectly. We were blown away by the flowers, taco truck, cake, and the wonderful staff.

Mariana and her staff set up all the decorations and dance floor props we brought, and helped gather all our things at the end of the night. They also had fun with us - the DJ was dancing all night long and the bartenders were wearing our LED flower crowns, which made us happy! It felt like everyone wanted to celebrate with us.

Our guests had a blast and we received lots of comments about how fun the wedding was. They raved about how delicious the tacos were. The venue is unique, charming, and so beautiful - especially under the lights at dinner. The atmosphere is magical and dream-like, and the venue photographs beautifully as well. We have zero reservations when it comes to recommending AvantGarden!

My husband and I could not have dreamt up a more magical day! Mariana and her team did an amazing job executing our vision. Our friends and family are still raving about what an amazing wedding it was! I would 100% recommend AvantGarden for your big day.

We can't recommend AvantGarden enough after our 65-person wedding last weekend. It's the perfect place for couples looking for a beautiful, well-run venue with tons of character. My fiancee and I weren't interested in a ballroom-type reception, and we loved the laid-back but elegant atmosphere at AvantGarden. We also appreciated that Mariana and her team make everything really easy and take care of a lot of decisions (we weren't the kind to want to control every single tiny detail). Admittedly, we were a tiny bit nervous ahead of the wedding because Mariana seemed so relaxed about everything coming together. But all of the reviews were right: Mariana and her team make everything go off without a hitch. The staff were exceptional, coordinating with vendors (including our all-important frozen margarita machine provider) and making sure everything went seamlessly during the reception. The decorations were beautiful, especially for the flowers and centerpieces (we just offered some thoughts on what we wanted, and Mariana's team made it happen). The DJ made sure everyone had a blast. The late-night pizza was great (even if we were stuffed by then). We were just thrilled with how everything went on our wedding night, and it's all thanks to the AvantGarden crew.

AvantGarden was an amazing venue for our wedding, and without a doubt the right choice. The patio was beautifully decorated with twinkle lights, elegant chandeliers, white linens, and hanging lanterns that mixed with the outdoor greenery that created an un-matched atmosphere. The entire staff were friendly, and served/assisted our guests with a warm welcoming attitude - as if they were another happy guest who were excited to be part of our big day. Like every other wedding, we had our fair share of hiccups - but they were handled swiftly and professionally by the owner and wedding coordinator Mariana. She went above and beyond to ensure we enjoyed our day, and kept as much off our plate as she could. We can't thank her enough for all her efforts. We're still hearing from friends and family about how much fun they had, and how beautiful the wedding was.

After researching many venues online we came across Avant Garden. We thought it could be the venue for us so we rushed to schedule an appointment. After touring the venue and meeting with Mariana we knew that same day we’d be married at Avant Garden. Having a taco truck at our wedding was always a goal for us and the option to have oven brick pizza was a bonus. Mariana was very helpful throughout the whole process. As a bride I was worried about the rain and cold weather. Mariana has a way of calming you down and reassuring you that everything will be great. And everything was amazing. Having her as the day of coordinator was a blessing. The flowers were exactly what I had envisioned, the table decor was perfect. Our guests loved the taco truck, there was so many options. The uniqueness of the venue is perfect for those who do not want to be in one room. Having three bars worked out great. The DJ was easy to work with and handled the night perfectly. The 360 camera was a little minute add on and we can’t stop watching the videos. Our guests really enjoyed it. Our signature drinks were exactly what we wanted. The sparkler exit was the perfect way to end the night. Our family and friends can’t stop talking about how much fun they had at our wedding.

It’s been a little over a month since our beautiful wedding at Avant Garden, and we could not have chosen a better venue for our families and friends to celebrate such an important day with us. From our first meeting with Mariana, we knew we’d found the right place. Avant Garden is such a charming old house with plenty of indoor and outdoor space, very centrally located in Montrose (the neighborhood where my wife and I met and spent so much of the early years of our relationship), and the available wedding packages make planning such a breeze - we were incredibly happy to let Mariana and her team take care of the catering (El Palomo is INCREDIBLE – our guests still rave to us about how much they enjoyed the tacos and the taco truck setup), beautiful flower arrangements (around the venue as well as centerpieces, corsages, boutonnieres, etc), linens, valet parking, DJ, and amazing wedding cake. We brought our own photographer and photo booth and Avant Garden handled everything else! Throughout the process Mariana was able to help us make decisions based on her years of experience and was also very flexible in accommodating a pandemic-related postponement. Wedding day execution was flawless - every single member of her team is so warm and friendly, and they made sure our guests had such a fun time. It’s impressive how quickly and seamlessly they transition the space from ceremony to dinner while guests are none the wiser as they enjoy cocktail hour on the front patio, and on our particularly chilly wedding day the heat lamps were more than adequate to make sure no one was uncomfortable. The upstairs dance floor was so much fun, and Mariana’s recommendation that we put our photo booth up there was spot-on. Bars are located outside, inside and upstairs, so no one is ever very far from more dancefloor fuel. Absolutely get the sparkler send-off too – it was great. We wholeheartedly recommend Avant Garden and Mariana for your wedding.

Absolutely the best wedding. Mariana and her staff made the planning and execution of our wedding easy and stressless. The recommended vendors were also spectacular (especially the photographer and the food truck).

Mariana was patient with us as we postponed the wedding several times due to the pandemic. A lot of my friends saw price hikes and canceled plans, but Mariana thoroughly explained the differences in cost and worked with us to keep the cost at the original price although her and her staff were affected by the pandemic.

Had our wedding and reception here on a Saturday and couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. Mariana is an absolute all-star, and her venue is unbeatable for 100-125 guests. All 3 bars were stocked and staffed by fantastic bartenders. Her DJ was outstanding and easy to work with - I sent him a list of songs for each phase, he picked up the vibe and rolled with it. The lighting, decor, flowers, succulents... literally everything Mariana put together was amazing and I'm eternally grateful to her for putting it all together and coordinating all the fine details. 11/10