Weddingbee boards

FI and I are seriously considering the Garden Pavilion in Sonoma for our wedding next summer.  It's a private facility and they don't have a website or really much of any info online. Has anyone had their wedding there or been to a wedding there?  I'm just interested in some first-hand experiences.  Thanks!

twitchee, I was so excited to see your reply, thank you!  Elizabeth is allowing us to stop by this Sunday evening during a wedding to see the lighting, so I'm glad you were impressed by it because I have a feeling it's going to be beautiful.  We are 99% sure we're going with this venue for exactly all the reasons you mentioned.  We were a little put off initially by all the little houses and lots of loose dogs when you first drive in and by the funky bathroom situation, but we love the actual garden and pavilion, and like you said, the price is right for a 3 day rental! 

I saw that Yelp review and didn't even think to contact her, good idea!  Will you let me know if you can offer any tips during your planning process?  I will do the same, although I'm just in the beginning stages!  Thanks again!

Just now seeing this post.  @twitchee27 pretty much covered the info, I will add that I believe the site fee also includes umbrellas.  Also, the music must be cut off at 10:00 PM but we were told that we could have kind of an after-party in the small "ballroom" after that time.  I've gotten the impression that Elizabeth, the owner is kind of a stickler when it comes to getting the music off right at 10, and I think she would want that after party kept to a small number of people.  It really is a great deal, everything is so expensive around here! 

They don't have a website, so you'd have to call Elizabeth directly: 707-938-1983.

Just seeing this now, but 200 is the max capacity.  Definitely give Elizabeth a call, they are now renting out the big house for the weekend as well so you'd have the option of having 6 bedrooms available to your family.

@Natalie2011: I'd be happy to share our vendors.  Our florist is a friend of a friend who does it out of her house, I'm not sure that she is ready to take lots of weddings, but I could ask her if you're interested

DJ: I'm super excited about our DJ, Pure Energy Productions.  Phil, the owner, is awesome and I have full confidence in him (they get great reviews on weddingwire, yelp, etc).

Makeup: My sister has a friend from beauty school who does wedding hair and makeup professionally.  I am hiring her personally, but she also works through JS Makeup Artistry.

We'll be doing our rehearsal dinner on site, it just seems so convenient, and the 30 person limit she has is fine with us.

I have a few questions for you ladies.  I've been thinking about logistics and where to put different things on the wedding day.  If you're doing escort cards or some kind of seating chart, do you know where you're going to put it?  I can't figure out where to put it so people will be sure to see it and know there's assigned seating.  I was thinking maybe near the gift table (which I also am not sure where to put, maybe on the porch)?

I'm also curious how many people you ladies are expecting, and how you'll be setting up the reception.  We are inviting about 190 and hoping only 150ish show up.  My FI would love to have it out on the grass, but I'm not crazy about that idea because then that leaves the dancing kind of on its own in the pavilion or on the grass (which I don't think is a good idea because people will be wearing heels).  We saw a wedding there and they had the dance floor set up in the middle of the pavilion with the DJ near that window that passes through to the kitchen.  I really liked that the dancing was in the middle, I'm just concerned that we'll have too many people for that to work. 

I'd love to hear any other suggestions you guys have for set-up!

Ooo, yay!  Thanks so much for posting that, twitchee!  I love the details of that wedding!  I wish there was a wide shot of the overall set up of the lawn and pavilion to see where they put things (like that cute escort card table).

I'm actually meeting with my caterer there on Saturday so I will ask her!  I'll come back with any new info I get :)

Sorry, don't mean to leave you all hanging!  My caterer had to cancel last weekend because of car trouble so we rescheduled for yesterday but had to cancel because of this crazy weather.  So...we're waiting for the weather to get better so we can reschedule and not have to cancel again. 

@kimca07: Hi Kim, welcome!  The Garden Pavilion really is so gorgeous!  Definitely give Elizabeth a call.  She says she only does 12 weddings a year, though I don't know how strict she is with that.  When is your wedding?  The upside, as far as availibility goes, is this isn't a widely known venue in comparison to so many of the other place in Wine Country.  She doesn't have a website and Project Wedding and Yelp are the only places I've seen anything about it so I think that would work in your favor if you're on a tight schedule. 

Let us know what you decide!

Oh wow, I guess she realized that she could get more than what she's asking.  Still, $5800 for all 3 days of the weekend and two nights in the pool house is pretty good for Wine Country. 

I haven't seen inside the house because renting it out is new in the last couple of months, so when I toured the place it wasn't an option.  I know she said she wants to do some work to the rooms, but I have no idea how much or when she's planning on that. 

I think the best pictures are on the links twitchee listed at the beginning of this thread.  You really have to see it in person to get a good feel for what's there. 

As for weather, May and June will be warm and that area of Sonoma can get pretty windy but the Garden Pavilion is very sheltered by trees so it definitely blocks out a lot of the wind.  I was there on a very windy day and there was only a slight breeze in there because it's so surrounded by trees. 

Good luck!!

Wow, how exciting to have so many fellow GPers! 

@emymey: Just want to say, GREAT choice going with Audrey!  She's been my esthetician for a few years now and I adore her!  You'll have so much fun having her there!

I haven't thought about parking to be honest.  She says she can hold 200 people there, so I figured if we have 150 there should be enough...crossing my fingers!  I'm not sure how we'll direct people out of the parking lot, but Elizabeth told me that she's the one directing traffic as people are arriving, so I guess I assumed she would tell people where to go if needed.  Let me know if you think of anything!

One thing that I hadn't thought about until I visited during a wedding is that there's no lighting from the parking lot up to the lawn, so it's pitch black once the sun goes down.  Anyone who's been there recently, do you know if this has changed?  My plan was to have some kind of luminaries lining the driveway so people can see to get back to their cars.  I think we're going to use mason jars with votives.

@twitchee27: Hi Twitchee...can you believe how close it's getting?!  To address a couple of your questions, here is Audrey's website for her makeup business.  She is on the higher end for price, which is actually why I'm using my sister's friend instead (talk about awkward, as I lay there having her wax my eyebrows and try not to get on the topic of wedding day makeup...).  She really is great and is great at what she does.  You can also look her up on Yelp to see all her reviews.

As for the pool, my FMIL heard us talking about the possibility of using hula hoops so she took it upon herself to go out and buy some...so I guess we'll be using them in some way.  I may just make that her job since she keeps wanting to help with something.  The way I understood it from Elizabeth is that she has seen people wrap the hula hoop in something like ivy so it's hidden and then filled it with flowers/candles/whatever.  To be honest, I don't want to take on that big of a DIY on the day before, so I may let it go and if FMIL wants to do it, then great!  If anyone has an easy solution to decorating the pool, please share!

Ok, I'm back with another update!  I met with my florist out there this morning and walked through the house to get a firm count on the number of people it can sleep.  She's still doing work on it, and it's definitely not in great shape, but we're going to see if everyone in our wedding party wants to stay there so we don't have to worry about anyone driving when they shouldn't be.  Twitchee is right about it fitting about 20 people.  Here's how it breaks down:

Bedroom 1: 1 full/queen bed and 1 twin

Bedroom 2: 1 full/queen bed

Bedroom 3: 2 king beds plus a couch that someone could crash on if needed

Bedroom 4: 1 twin bed plus twin bunks, so 3 people total

Bedroom 5: 1 king bed

Bedroom 6: 1 king bed

Upstairs porch: she is going to screen it in and put two king beds out there with heated mattress pads.

Like I said, it's definitely old and the furniture is not the greatest, but to me it's worth it to put as many people in there as we can.

@emymey: This lady Giorgi's Cakes only does buttercream but she can make it look like fondant.  I don't know how her prices compare to other's but she's supposed to be pretty good.

@twitchee27: I wasn't able to go into bedroom 2, the renter is still in there but we kind of accidently peaked in through the bathroom.  I don't remember any details about it, just that there was one either full or queen bed.