Little Gardens Restaurant and Lounge, one of Gwinnett County's oldest fine-dining spots, will close as a restaurant in three days with its last Sunday brunch.

It will live on as a special event facility for weddings, but its days as a favored place for proposals will end, said owner John Gibb.

Nick Arroyo/AJC (ENLARGE)

In 2007 Chef Dave Newborn welcomed visitors to the Little Gardens restaurant in Lawrenceville.

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Gibb estimates that as many as 2,500 couples have been married at the restaurant since he and his wife Pam bought it in 1979.

Gibb's decision has set some long-time customers to tears, he said. But Gibb, 64, is looking toward other business ventures and eventual retirement, both of which will keep him from giving the restaurant the attention it deserves, he said.

Gibb and his wife Pam sold the restaurant to Magic Moments Catering and Events, largely because he couldn't stand the thought of selling the white-columned mansion on Lawrenceville Highway to a real estate developer, he said.

"We couldn't have found better people to take over," he said. "We wanted to make sure the people who work here were taken care of."

Many of Little Gardens' 55 full- and part-time employees will be retained by the new owners, Gibb said.