A Boardwalk To Remember: venue

Bay Area Venues - The Finale

If you are a Bay Area, Cali bride, you can check out my previous posts on budget friendly venues for large weddings (200-300ish range).

Bay Area Venue shopping
Bay Area Venues - Part 1
Bay Area Venues - Part 2
Bay Area Venues - Part 3

Cocoanut Grove - Santa Cruz, CA

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Fiance and I had decided that we would spend a day of FUN on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. And since I was in high-gear wedding planning mode, I made our trip dual duty and made an appointment to see a venue that was located at the end of the boardwalk. You see that dome looking building that's sticking out near the end of the boardwalk in the picture above, the one with the American flag on top of it? Yup, you are looking at our beloved venue. Fiance and I loved it the moment we walked in.

Here is the entrance our guests will see when they enter from the street side. Of course, the sign would be changed to our names.

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This room is called the Sunroom and it is sooo beautiful. I wanted to get married in this room but our guestlist was too large for it. *Sigh*

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We are actually renting out two rooms; the Bayroom and the Ballroom. The Ballroom is really huge and is so pretty. The pictures really do not do it justice! I am very sad that I did not take pictures of this place. I think I was so excited when we were touring it that I forgot all about my camera!

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Here is the Bayroom. The windows are shut in this picture, but you can see the beach from here. Do you remember the very first picture above? This is the dome-looking building.

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Between the Bayroom and the Ballroom, their maximum capacity was 1,000. We were so excited!! Finally, a place that could hold all of our guests! And since they were used to holding large events, they had all the necessities such as having enough tables, chairs, linens, dishes and silverware so that we didn't have to rent from another place (some venues will only have enough for 100-200 guests, so you may have to pay extra in order for them to rent some from another place). We will be using the Bayroom for our ceremony and then the Ballroom for our reception. With such a huge space, I am excited to start planning for decorations.

This was truly the perfect venue for us. It was budget friendly (kinda), kid friendly, large, and beautiful. We decided on a morning wedding so that our familes, friends, and out-of-town guests can play on the boardwalk afterwards. Who wouldn't want to play on the boardwalk? I will definitely be out there in my wedding dress afterwards. I'll be riding on the rollercoasters and ferris wheel, and eating hot dogs/cotton candy/funnel cake. I can't wait!!

Here are some pictures I took that day (after I got over my venue-bliss and remembered my camera) of the boardwalk.

How many venues did you check out before finding The One?

Bay Area Venues - Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

Preservation Park - Oakland, CA

Preservation Park in Oakland is this really cute area that has 16 historic houses and was renovated to include Victorian park benches and lamps. I am sad that I didn't have my camera with me the day I went to visit because this is such an adorable place. The above picture is the view you would see if you were standing from the bandstand and looking out into the street.

Many people have their ceremonies on the Bandstand.

All pictures from Preservation Park

They then have their Reception set up around the fountain. This place is huge. They were willing to accomodate my 250ish guest list. I think it would have been fun to have it outside with the pretty fountain. With such a beautiful fountain, I don't think you'd need that much decor.

If you didn't want it outside, you could rent one of their houses that they use for events. You could also rent out a bridal room to get ready in. This place was pretty affordable and they had a list of caterers. I think you could work the prices with the caterer if you wanted to. You could also rent out the parking garage across the street for the whole night for, I believe, $500. Not bad for city parking.

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Wedgewood at Metropolitian Golf Links - Oakland, CA

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This place is out on a golf course down the street from the Oakland Airport, literally.

The big thing I liked about this place was that it was suuuper cheap. This is definitely a budget friendly place. They had packages where they did EVERYTHING for you (invitations, music, champagne, linens).

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The ceremony is held at this cute gazebo. The bad thing is that planes are taking off and coming in all the time so you may miss a few words here and there. And also, there may be some golfers teeing off in the background.

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But look how beautiful it could be! (See a ceremony there on this blog).

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I was not too big on the tent reception though. I don't know why. I'm sure if it was fixed up, it would look super nice. I think I was just not liking the idea of the place being so close to the airport, having to deal with the noise, and the golfers.

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Hollins House at Pasietempo - Santa Cruz, CA

This place is on the Pasatiempo Golf Course in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It had an incredible view of the beach. This was the only day fiance got to go venue shopping with me, so this was the first venue he got to visit.

All photos from Here Comes The Guide

Although it was a beautiful place, I just wasn't feeling it. In the end, I decided against having anything on a golf course (no offense to all of those married on a golf course, it just wasn't for us). I was having out-of-state people flying in from Texas that have never been to Cali before and I wanted to show them something memorable! Be it the city life in SF or Oakland, or the beautiful beaches of Santa Cruz.

I just had one more venue to go to that day with the fiance. We fell in love with it the moment we toured. It was our perfect spot! It had everything we wanted: big space, affordability, fun, kid friendly, and the beach! We booked it right away.

Next up: Our Venue (FINALLY!)

Were you totally against a certain type of venue?

Bay Area Venues - Part 2

Part 1

City Beach - Fremont, CA

This place is not your usual wedding venue, but I think it is a great option for someone that's opting for a huge space, a kid friendly place, and a more casual wedding party. City Beach is used a lot by the surrounding Silicon Valley companies for their events so they have a huge amount of space. They have a lot of luau-type of parties here and you can tell by their Hawaiian decorations when you enter the building.

When you enter, you will see a rock climbing area. This will be open to the public. But once you venture in past the restaurant, the section beyond that will be for your private party only. This includes the Event Area, Interactive Game Hub, and the Garden Patio with the Bocceball Lanes. The ceremony could be held outside under some pretty trellises above the Bocceball area. It's actually quite pretty and they cover the Bocceball lanes for you. Afterwards, the reception could be held inside the Event Area. This place is great for kids because the Interactive Game Hub has a ton of things to distract your little ones, such as pool tables, air hockey, video games, human size chess board, foosball, ping pong, etc. Your guests can also lounge back outside in the Garden Patio area for cocktails, or just to play some Bocce Ball. And if you end your party early, they could always hang out at the Pineapple Bar since that's open until 2am. No need to go Club/Bar hopping. It's all right there!

I really liked this place and even though we didn't pick it, it was always in the back of my mind. Maybe fiance will use it for his bachelor party since he's gone rockclimbing here a couple times.

*I can't find the pictures I took of this place so all pictures are from City Beach*

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Ardenwood Farm - Fremont, CA

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Ardenwood is a historic farm located in the city of Fremont. Who knew that Fremont had all these awesome places? This was another cool place that I got to visit. It is a huge farm that sits on a ton of acres. They have a special area just for weddings.

Here is the Gazebo where the Ceremony would be held.