Sadly, we lost Phil on April 18, 2023 after a two year battle with colon cancer.
His legacy lives on in the design of all of the areas in our back yard where so many have visited, celebrated and complimented on it’s uniqueness! We both appreciated the joy and the love that everyone has shared with us and made our gardens so special.
Obviously, I took almost a 20 year break from my children’s ministry while helping Phil bring Once Upon A Time Gardens to life! Now, I am continuing on as a ventriloquist with my sidekick puppet, Billy, speaking with children … and adults too! … about bullying and sharing their joyful life in God to others, with love and compassion.
Once Upon A Time Gardens will always be just outside the home that Phil and I made together and I don’t plan on going anywhere! But I will only be doing very small celebrations.
A BIG thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way and to everyone that will visit us in the future! You can still read our history below.
Phil and Kathy Costello: The husband and wife team behind Once Upon a Time Gardens in Clayton, NJ.
We were married in Las Vegas on July 4, 2005. Being in the ‘seasoned’ part of our lives and both of us having been married before, we are extremely fortunate to have met our true love! When we’re not working in our gardens, we love to travel together, especially to beach locations both on the east coast and abroad. A chalkboard in our kitchen only ever had two words written on it … ‘Forever Honeymoon’. And that is definitely the way that we live our lives as a married couple, on vacation as well as at home every day!
The happily-ever-after lives of Phil & Kathy Costello 
When we moved into our Colonial home in Clayton, which was built in 1850, the back yard was a blank tapestry, ready to paint a scene where people feel like they’re walking into a dream or a fairy tale, into their own ‘happily ever after’. If you schedule a visit, we would be thrilled to show you all of the photo op areas that we have specially designed for many wonderful and happy memories!
We do our best to create a garden that you and your family will treasure.
We’ve had couples come from up to 3 hours away – even from out of the coutry … during every season of the year … in sunshine, at dusk, during blizzards and rain and even in 19 inches of snow!