Cator Woolford Gardens at The Frazer Center

Erin, Bret, and the team at Cator Woolford were a delight. The gardens are beautiful, and it was an amazing venue for our wedding and reception.

I wanted an outdoor wedding with an indoor option because you never know about the weather in Georgia. Sure enough, the day of the wedding was just gorgeous. Then around 5:30pm weather started coming into the area. Erin and Brette moved everything under the reception tent just in case.Everything was perfect!! I could not have asked for a better venue or more friendly and helpful people to work with! We managed to get the ceremony in without any bad weather and by the time the weather did arrive, everyone was already under the reception tent.The rain merely helped to cool things off which was a true blessing! The wedding felt like a fairytale to me. I could not have dreamed of anything better!Thank you to Erin, Erin and Brette for all their helpful suggestions and wonderful insight. Linc and I appreciate all that you do!

My husband and I just recently got married at the Cator Woolford Gardens and were so pleased with how everything turned out. Erin is so lovely to work with; she's professional, helpful, and on top of things- you're in such good hands! The gardens were immaculate- everything was ready and in place as planned for us, no problems AT ALL. Not to mention that a good portion of your money goes towards supporting educational programs for disabled adults at the Frazer Center, an added plus for all of the money one can spend on a wedding! We couldn't be happier with our choice to have both the ceremony AND reception there!

We LOVED the people who helped us through the whole process. The list of preferred vendors was extremely valuable and we used it to the hilt. I'd refer Cator Woolford to anyone. Thank you for one of the most beautiful outdoor weddings in Atlanta in 2010! Sheree Colestock-Lamm

wonderful!!!

Even though the price for this venue may be higher than other, I felt that it was well worth it because all of the money goes to the Frazer Center, which services disabled children and adults throughout Atlanta. It's always nice to know that your money is going to a cause instead of into someone's pocket.

Erin Moore, the event coordinator at the Cator Woolford Gardens is professional, a quick thinker and fun to work with. The bride and groom and the bride's parents all worked together to create a beautiful event. The garden's in July were full of bloom from black-eyed susan's, knock out roses , ,butterfly bushes, daisy's. We had a butterfly mass release at the end of the ceremony and the butterflies had plenty of sources of food and shelter. It was beautiful. We have received so many compliments from friends and family about the venue and the hidden treasures it holds. We hope others will learn about the Cator Woolford Gardens at the Frazer Center and the good work they are doing there to help others in need. The Fenton Family, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Everything was perfect--despite the bad weather! Erin was so helpful, and she even connected me with another bride from the same weekend so we could split a tent. FYI--If you are planning on getting ready in the building in the gardens, make sure you bring an extra mirror or two, and ask that there be chairs in there. The gardens and the staff were absolutely wonderful!

my name is benita lee my husband and i renewed our vows at the cator woolford gardens on july 04, 2009 what a beautiful event it was, i am so very greatful to the gardens staff for the wonderful job they did to make my day as lovely as it was. the wedding theme was hawaiian, so you can just imagine that it looked as though we were really on the big island, Anjelica, Erin, Brian, and Don i couldn't have asked for a better team in getting things together for the big event everything was perfect in our eyes and would recommend this venue to everyone looking for a beautiful outdoor venue it was truly a day that will forever be in our hearts. Erin and Angelica thanks for everything. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Gaye Lee (Benita)

This venue is absolutelly beautiful, and it will stay with you forever! No matter the time of day or weather, pictures will be wonderful. The garden is very private for such an event. The staff is as helpfull as they can be and very honest and down to earth. I highly recommend this venue for any event! What a great way to help their cause as well! Thank you so much!

We had such a wonderful wedding at CWG. At first, it was just that the flexibility and cost savings of being able to provide our own alcohol was virtually irresistable. But then, we saw the place and met the people. The grounds are breathtaking (everyone said our outdoor garden wedding, complete with pink blossoms drifting down from the trees, was the stuff of storybooks!), and it made it extra special to know that the money for renting the facilities goes to fund the school for the disabled. Both of the girls in the facility sales office were incredibly accessible, knowlegeable, professional, creative, and accomodating. Erin Stroup is a real pro, and you can tell she's done and seen all things wedding before. The facility sales staff graciously allowed for all our requests, no matter how large and/or random, and worked well with the many different vendors, both those they'd worked with before and those they'd just met. All their suggestions were helpful, and some aided us in reducing our wedding cost. Overall, we loved working with the CWG team and would not change a thing about the venue if we had it to do all over again. CWG was by far the least stressful vendor to deal with in our wedding-planning process. For that, we are still so very grateful!

I just held my wedding ceremony & reception at Cator Woolford. I had no issues with them at all - they were extremely flexible, everything ran without issue, Erin & Staff were GREAT throughout the whole process! Everyone in Atlanta was amazed that the location even existed (even people who have lived in Atlanta for 50+ years) - truly a "secret garden". Loved it!

Cator Woolford Gardens is not only one of the most beautiful wedding sites, they have one the most friendly, helpful staff. Its truly a hidden gem in the Atlanta Market. They were incredibly caring and I could tell they were genuinely invested in my wedding. Besides the beauty, the number one advantage was they're flexibility in allowing us to bring our own decor and alcohol. I would highly recommend this venue to any atlanta bride that.

It was beautiful! We loved knowing that the fee to use the space went to a good cause as well.

Cator Wolford provided a great backdrop to my daughters wedding! Photographs turned out beautiful and Erin was the BEST. The gardens were the perfect venue for the ceremony and having the Atrium for the reception was great. It was nice to have everything all in one place. The only negative was that the place was a little hard to find for my guests because of the mapquest and GPS shows that it is on Ponce De Leon but it is actually on a side street. My suggestion is to put signs at Ponce pointing to the venue. I discussed with Erin, the wedding coordinator and she indicated that this would be done for future weddings. Overall everything was very nice!

Erin is awesome! One of the great aspects of this venue is that you can bring your own alcohol.

Overall, I am very pleased with Cator Woolford Gardens and their staff. Erin Stroup in particular was always extremely friendly and helpful. On the day of my wedding, it was raining right up until the ceremony. The staff was very accommodating in moving tables and chairs from the gardens to the tent and back to the gardens as the weather changed. The golf cart driver (I believe his name was Frankie) was also very funny and friendly. During our rehearsal, they also gave us as much time as was needed, which was very helpful.Some issues I had:1) I could not get ready on site because Cator Woolford does not allow you use of their facilities before 4pm (without paying an expensive additional time fee). I had to pay for a hotel room near the venue to get my hair and make-up done because of this issue, which was mildly inconvenient.2) Due to a wedding the next day, I had to pay for same day tent removal service. However, I don't think this is an issue specific to Cator Woolford -- it would come with any wedding facility that does multiple weddings in a weekend.3) Cator Woolford states that the music has to end by 10pm, and the you have until 11pm to clean up. We abided by these restrictions, but the facility's event coordinator (Judith) started yelling at my wedding coordinator and my guests when they were not moving fast enough for her. I understand that the space has to be cleared and prepared for the next days event, but I feel that this could have been done in a calmer, more professional manner.Like I stated previously, I was very happy overall with the service and event space at Cator Woolford Gardens.

Pros:-Allow outside caterer for a fee-Can bring your own alcohol-Beautiful gardens-Can use existing tent -Usage of 200 chairs-Friendly & knowledgeable coordinator -Flexible set up & clean up time-Indoor rain option - hold less than 150 guestsCons:-Poor lighting in the Pavilion area-Small tent has pebble floor - hard to walk around in heels & can be dirty-No trash cans/dumpsters-Music restrictions due to surrounding neighbors-Ice maker doesn't work-Mismatched table sizesThe gardens were beautiful. We were so blessed with good weather so didn't have to spend extra money on outdoor rain options. Overall, the pretty outdoor surrounding made all the efforts worth it. We spent a lot of money in other areas that you wouldn't normally spend at a regular venue. We spent money on extra lighting, table & chair rentals, and extra tent to accommodate more guests. I had some worries about the pebble floor in the existing tent so had to put all the young guests in that tent. The no trash can or dumpster being available was an inconvenience to my caterer. We also had to end the wedding early due to low music tolerance because of the surrounding neighbors (10pm restriction). With all that being said, we were willing to do everything to have a perfect outdoor wedding.The best thing about the venue was that the coordinator was so flexible & had great ideas. Without her we wouldn't have been able to do a lot of the set up early on. She also worked really well with the other vendors like our DJ & caterer.

PROS:-great location for ceremony and reception-rain plan available-great people to work with that are helpful-set up and break down included-BEAUTIFUL-can provide own alcohol (HUGE cost saver)CONS:-lots of people working part time, so you never know who you're going to be dealing with-"preferred" caterers are very high end (NOT a cost saver)

When I just made up my mind that I had to have an outdoor wedding, I went looking for the perfect venue to fit our somewhat tight budget. The first thing I found out is that there aren't a whole lot of wedding venues in the Atlanta area that are outdoors. There were some in the northern mountains (Dahlonega, Dawsonville) but living in Woodstock and relatives coming from Marietta and Cartersville and friends coming from Fayetteville and Macon.... We decided it really needed to be near Atlanta for a central location.Then I found the Cator Woolford Gardens, also known as Atlanta's Secret Garden. It is what was the house gardens of the mansion of the man who started what is now Equifax, in the early 1900's. The garden is gorgeous - Italian provincial pillars and vines and trees and flowers and mosaic walkways. They have a pavilion with bathrooms and then a separate building with more bathrooms, and a stone staircase that was absolutely gorgeous for photos!!They also have a tent where you can set up a reception but we just had our wedding there.They have parking up at the Center (a rec center for disabled people) and then they shuttled folks down to the garden site in golf carts - that was really nice. Folks really enjoyed it.The moment you turn into the drive, you are struck by the history and mystery of the place. YOu would NEVER know it's there. It's a gate on the outside, and a driveway and half way down ther eis the most beautiful site. It holds 300 chairs I believe, officially. We could easily have put in more but the folks would have had a hard time seeing anything at the front. The site = perfection.Location = in the old section of gorgeous historic Decatur but right outside of a very bad area (so that was a little weird). Folks coming to the wedding basically went through the ghetto and then came out on the other side to manicured lawns with grand historic restored mansions from the early 20th century! The experience with the woman who was at the time of us reserving in charge of the events was....crappy. We went there, went over everything, talked it all through, gave her the deposit, did all the paperwork and we were all set. Then early in the month of our wedding, she insisted I had to come in again to go over it all over again (I lived and worked over an hour away). I ended up having to take off work to drive there, I got there, we went over the same stuff (which could have been done on the phone) and then 10 minutes later I was back on my way. So I took 2 hours and a day off just to spend 10 minutes talking and didn't need to. That was really frustrating.The week of my wedding I was informed she had been fired. Great! She sucked but she also knew what the heck to do about my wedding in 5 days! She had assured me that there would be the necessary tables out there for the guest book adn that someone would be there to help us learn how to use the music station at the rehearsal. No one was there. We went up to the center and they said the guy was down at the gardens and to call his name. We had 14 people yelling out his name for 5 minutes and he never came so we had to put the music into the car in the small wedding party parking lot near the garden at full blast in order to just barely hear it enough to walk to it at our REHEARSAL! It was awful. The morning of the wedding, I went there again to make sure that everythign would be ready. They were like yeah it's all ready. We went down to the garden and there were no chairs set up, no tables, there were twigs and branches all over the paths, and no one was in sight. I went back up and they said that it woudl be taken care of. This is like 5 hours before our wedding for Pete's sake. I also asked if the guy would be available to help the guy taking care of the music for the wedding how to use the machine! She said yes.Well, I found out after the wedding that he never showed up - and our ushers went up three times to try and find him but they kept saying he was down at the Garden and they'd call his name and he never came to show them how to use the machine. So they tried to figure it out on their own. Well, one of the speakers wiring was bad so only the left half of the audience heard anything and they just barely heard it because there was a button that needed to be pushed to make the audio louder and the guys didn't know that. So our wedding music was really quiet adn then you couldn't hear our vows at all from the audience I hear. We had paid extra just ot have that feature. So basically - our issues were not THAT bad, especially considering that it was the perfect location and the price was unbeatable, but if you are extremely desirous that you not have to worry a minute about whether or not there will be chairs or music in your wedding, I would think twice about dealing with them.Oh yes and for price - Friday - Sunday was like $2500 - $3500 and Thursday was $500. So we got married on Thursday. :) If you have a reception there, they require you use a caterer and the cheapest one they would allow was like $40 per person.