California-Inland Empire

Why can't I just find a venue?

I went on a nice week long cruise with the FI and his family. And when reading I came across Desi's post about giving up. I'm just starting and already feeling like that. I still haven't found a venue after looking at so many and feel hopeless. I did find some great deals on 3 venues but am just not feeling the (I love this or WOW) factor. Am I just being too picky? We know what caterer we want and photographer and even photobooth company and they are so nice to pencil us in in the meantime while we find a venue but no luck :( I even have the paper of the invite I want I just can't do anything else until I book the venue. The last venue we have is Kimberly Crest but we have to take a day off of work to view is since they are only available from Mon-Thur from 10-3pm :( My co-worker who just got engaged a month ago already had her church, reception and dress!!! What's wrong with me? Sorry about this ladies; hope you girls are having a great day though :)

Re: Why can't I just find a venue?

  • edited December 2011
    When you're looking at these places, are they just bare? Or set up like an actual wedding? Maybe your having trouble visualizing your wedding there so thats why your kinda just blah about it? Ask to see pictures of weddings there, ask if you can swing by before a wedding starts just to see what it looks like fully set up.  I was kind of feeling the same way and I ended up choosing a venue that I had actually attended a wedding at so i knew what it would look like.  I hope this helps and don't worry, I've been engaged for a year, I'm getting married in a year and I just booked my church and reception area a few weeks ago =) Good Luck! PS. What area are you looking at for your reception?
  • edited December 2011
    What other places have you looked at? What style are you going for?

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  • mrs.payne2010mrs.payne2010 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    what style do you want? how big do you need the place to be? what is your budget? any specific area you want?
    maybe we can all come together and find you a place....
    were here to help, dont give up!

  • edited December 2011
    I have seen pictures of weddings to all the venues, becuase sara<3luis  you are right I am a visual person. We are looking to have 100 guest for $10k. We want an outdoor ceremony and reception but i'll even be happy with just an outdoor ceremony. We moved the wedding from March 2011 to May 2011 so the weather should be better :) I've looked at vinyards in Temecula found 2 that are nice so they are on the maybe list. I guess to make it easier we are looking for outdoor garden with fountain or waterfall or lake if possible, hopefully something that will let us rent for more than 5 hours. I guess the problem we have had is that catering is expensive and we have found a caterer that has an awesome package but a lot of venues want you to use their caterers.  I'm open to LA county, Orange county, Riverside and San Bernardino. I've looked at the venues you recommended on another post of mine breleficent but nothing yet :( I really appreciate your help ladies; many blessings to you all!
  • emilypeachemilypeach member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    fidning the venue you like that will let you bring a caterer is definitely the hardest but there is certainly something out there for you!! i almost lost my mind trying to find my venue so don't worry :)


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  • mrs.payne2010mrs.payne2010 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    the wineries are great, some work with your budget, others wont. im not sure if they allow you to get an outside caterer though, however alot of them are all inclusive, well for the most part. we checked into the falkner winery, the owner was willing to work with our 10000.00 budget too. we ended up going to wilson creek only because the price difference was a little more but the landscaping was just what i wanted. we also had to do an friday night wedding only because we got 10% off. sundays are cheaper too. not sure if you are considering those days, i wasn't at first but then i figured what the heck its 10% off...lol...also if you find a place that is just a little to much dont be afraid to ask if they can do something within  your budget, the worse they can say is no...
    okay so i found these:
    kimberly crest
    sierra lakes golf club
    shandin hills golf club
    leonesse winery(says they will work with any budget)
    grand tradition(very pretty)
    canyon crest country club
    wedgewood at green river(very affordable)
    lake arrowhead resort
    green mountain ranch

    those are just a few, i didn't check pricing on all of then either. also weddingcompass.com is really helpful, they have all kinds of places on there.

    hope this helps! : )
  • edited December 2011
    Most wineries will not let you bring in catering or alcohol, they provide it all.  I have been to several weddings there and the food in the restaurants are amazing but for some reason when they make it for a wedding its not good at all =( Try Whispering Oaks Terrace, its 2 miles past pechanga casino.  Or the orchard in Menifee, they all allow outside catering.  There is also Hearts home in romoland (don't judge by the location, its really very pretty!) at least check it out before you ax it lol.  Villa de amore has catering but you can rent the venue for a flat fee without catering.  Try the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda too.  Crestmore Manor in Riverside, the Mitten Building in redlands.  I'm getting married at the Ramona Bowl in Hemet.  they allow outside catering as well =)

    Hope that helps! 
  • edited December 2011
    Sara, I live near the Ramona Bowl.  I had no clue they did weddings.
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  • edited December 2011
    They do it right there in that open area when you walk in! I havent been able to post my bio yet but here is the link http://saraandluis.weebly.com/


     there are some pics of my friends wedding there... Its HUGE too! We have a huge area for cocktail hour (we are not doing our ceremony there) and the venue holds like 350 people... and it is very reasonably priced too
  • edited December 2011

    Thank you so much ladies, there a few venues I haven't heard of that I will definately look into. We are planning on getting married on a Sunday to cut costs :) I have looked at
    sierra lakes golf club
    shandin hills golf club
    grand tradition (I fell in love but it's out of our budget like some other venues)
    canyon crest country club
    lake arrowhead resort
    Whispering Oaks Terrace
    Hearts Home (we had a co-worker's sister get married here)
    Nixon Library (loved it too but catering is too much $)
    Mitten Building
    Vivian Gardens (Also fell in love but too much money)
    Crestmore Manor - I've emailed and called but haven't received a reply yet :(
    Kimberly Crest (trying to take a day off to go view it they only show it Mon-Thur 10am - 3pm)
    The Orchard and Abbott Manor are on my like list though the Orchard has a really good price and inclues so much.


    But I will definately look into some of the others you suggested. Thank you so much ladies!


  • edited December 2011
    We looked at Crestmore Manor. We showed up for our appointment and they had no record of our appointment. I heard the girl quietly say to another girl there, "So-and-so isn't even here yet. Should we just tell them to wait or to come back?" When the coordinator finally did arrive she made some lame excuse about how sorry she was and that she has been going over final details with a bride in her office about catering. That wouldn't have bothered me...but during our tour she kept excusing herself to "go and check on her bride." Ummmm, don't lie. It bothered the hell out of me and I figured if they were that unorganized I sure as heck didn't want to have my wedding there.

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  • edited December 2011
    Oh wow breleficent, good to know. When people are like that I know that obviously they don't want our business and I would definately not want any of that going on during the wedding. It's stressfull enough as it is.
  • edited December 2011
    OMG I have the worst venue exprience story!  I went to go look at this place in Corona called El Toro Ranch.  A friend of mine got married there and it was really beautiful so we went to check it out one day (I believe a Sat or Sun afternoon) and we knocked on the door to the house to speak to the lady that ran it and a man answered the door.  We asked for the lady and he said "oh let me get her, I think I may have gotten her a little drunk" WTF! So the lady comes out and I seriously thought it was a joke.  She looked RIDICULOUS!  She was wearing a skirt so tight she could barely walk, stripper shoes that wrapped around her ankles and just a suit jacket with her boobs pushed up to her chin.  She had the worst extensions in and I could see them from  feet away.  She was wearing pink and purple eyeshadow and her fake eyelashes were totally falling off.  Her lipstick was WAY outside of her lipline and it was like a frosted bubblegum pink... she seriously looked like a Bratz doll!  She was hammered and totally sluring her words.  She came out, started talking to my mom and I looked at my dad and was like "omg we need to leave! This is insane!"  She kept talking about how she had spent $100k on her daughters quinceniera and how her venue was more beautiful than Rancho Las Lomas (UMMM I dont think so!) It was crazy.  I loved the place, but I could not imagine this woman handeling my wedding. She was so unprofessional!
  • edited December 2011
    We are getting married at Green Mountain Ranc in lytle Creek. All outdoors. 2 ceremony locations to choose from, lakeside or mountainview. Reception outside under huge gazebo. Full bar, catering on site and they will let you go as late as you want just if you go over the 6 hour time frame you pay extra. I loved it becuase we anted outdoor reception but everywhere we looked had noise restrictions becuase they are in residentail areas. Not this place..they are in the mountains and you can party as late and as loud as you want. THe coordinator michelle is a dream to work with and we are paying about $8,000 for 50 people for all of it. Definitly worth looking into.
  • edited December 2011
    Wow Sara I can't believe that woman had the nerve to do that. You would think that they would try their best to get your business but again I guess some people just don't care.

    My fiancé and I wanted Vivian Gardens so badly but we found out there were costs that we weren't told about. Our friends got married there and they even said if they knew what they know now back then they wouldn't have gotten married there. They weren't told about the costs either and they found out after they signed the contract. Plus it takes them a while to reply and even though they seemed nice they also gave me the impression that they just want your money :( I was heart broken when I last emailed them and they didn't even bother to reply.

    Thanks Melissa I will definately look into them!
  • amyweetheeamyweethee member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Green Mountain Ranch in Lytle Creek is great. But Friendly hills golf course is nicer and cheaper.

    The Crestmore Manor is awesome but they are very busy. You can bring your own caterer there.

    Pine Creek in San Bernardino is also very reasonable and very nice

    Another beautiful location is Redlands University

    The Mitten Building lets you bring your own caterer too

    Have you looked at Castaways in San Bernardino? They are really nice

    Padua Hills is also a beautiful location
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