Affordable Garden venues???

[Deleted User] · September 2009

Hi Everyone, I'm currently planning a San Diego wedding from out-of-town. Does anyone have any recommendations for a ceremony/reception site for a garden wedding? I'd be okay with some part of it indoors, but I'd love for a beautiful garden to somehow be a part of the theme. We're expecting, at most, 200 people. Affordable would be nice too... thanks for your help!

Sprzout · September 2009

Well, I'd suggest a winery...:) Most of them have the vineyards and outdoor venues available for you. I'd suggest my venue, but it's $2000 plus roughly $22/person for the bar package...I've been trying to talk to them about having a non-alcoholic bar package (Mormon family and recovering alcoholics on both sides - we don't want to tempt them) but our venue seems to be trying to strongarm us into it.There's a lot of garden and outdoor venues around San Diego...Balboa Park has a Japanese Friendship Garden that's pretty, as well as the Prado courtyards; those would definitely meet your criteria, but I have no idea what the prices would be off the top of my head...

jfarr6 · September 2009

How much are you planning on spending per person?

Marick · September 2009

We are also planning a garden wedding, here are some options we were considering: 1. Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park 2. Quail Gardens 3. Presidio Park (we are getting married in the Junipero Serra Museum in Presidio Park with outside stuff afterwards) There are also beautifully landscaped gardens at hotels/houses/resorts in the area, but these tend to be more expensive. We also found most wineries to be more expensive than these public gardens. Hope that helps! Margaret

[Deleted User] · September 2009

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Margaret - I was checking out the Japanese Friendship Garden but I was concerned about the time schedule and being too limited w/ set-up. I'm probably going to try to do a lot of it diy, so I was hoping for more of a full-day availability. Jfarr6 - it depends... if it's inclusive (i.e., w/ food) we could deal w/ $75/person or so and if it's not (just the space), probably not more than $20 per person. Sprzout - could I ask where you're having your wedding? I noticed you said it included bar, but did that price include food too? (no, right?)

hartkar · September 2009

I'm going with the Vista Optimist Club. It's gated, private, and really pretty (the pictures on their site aren't the best, but it is really nice). They charge $18 per person to rent the site, but it includes tables, chairs, and all the place settings. You get the place for the entire day, and can bring in any caterer you want, along with your own alcohol. The only thing it doesn't include are linens (I'm discovering most caterers provide them) or chairs for an outside ceremony (the chairs have to stay inside), but they work with a company that charges .80 a chair, so it's not too bad.

Sprzout · September 2009

Momo, I'm having it at Bernardo Winery.They're charging us $2k for the venue, approx $22/person for just the bar, and then I have to use one of 4 approved caterers, of which I chose Personal Touch Catering. Personal Touch is charging us a little over $5k for approx 100 guests, and they're providing linens, plates, silverware, food, and doing the cake cutting for all of that...It's a nice venue, but I'd rather not have the alcohol if I can help it, partly to cut costs, partly out of respect to our guests.And I forgot about Quail Botanical Gardens in my mention earlier...That's a nice place too!

daniellepanda · September 2009

We went with the Quail Botanical Gardens and it worked great for us because we did alot of DIY and we where able to choose any caterer we wanted. If you do ceremony & reception for the evening time block which is 5pm-11pm (and you can start to set up the areas at 2 &3pm included in the time block charges) it is $2800 for a fri or sunday, or $3300 on a saturday venue fee and they will let you use the white folding chairs they have (we only used those for the ceremony) and also they have banquet size tables and 48" rounds you can use too if you ask. Or if you have a day time reception it is $1200-$1700 for limited access to area's on the grounds until 5pm. But I would say it doesnt really fall under the "affordable" category because the $3000 venue fee doesn't include any food, alcohol, linens, etc fee's. We didn't end up going with the Japanese friendship Gardens (our first choice) because they where going to be even more expensive then the quail botanical gardens and the parking situation there is not a fun one on the weekends so you need to also consider a guest shuttle of some-sort. Have you looked on the san diego parks and recreations page? They have quite a few parks/garden like areas that can be rented for a reception for under $500 that seem nice if you don't mind a morning or day time wedding that ends before dusk.

[Deleted User] · September 2009

Thanks for the messages everyone! Hartkar, I'll have to check the Vista Optimist Club out - I was looking at the Rancho Guajome Adobe as another option in Vista, but you have to finish by sundown and we were sort of hoping for an evening wedding. still considering it though. Sprzout - I love the Bernardo Winery - I actually have looked into it, but I'm not sure if it's really affordable for us - it's a beautiful place though. Daniellepanda - I'll have to look more into the parks. Quail looks pretty (I know someone that just got married there actually) - sounds like you had a good experience there. I just came across the Karl Strauss Brewery Gardens in Serra Mesa - anyone have any experience there? Their packages actually seem pretty reasonable b/c they include site fee, meal, bar services, cake AND DJ and all the chairs/tables/plates etc., for as low as $80 a person. I haven't known anyone to get married there though...

Affordable Garden venues???

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