Venue Reviews
Noriega House: Bakersfield
Noriega house is a very beautiful outdoor venue, they have an indoor option but only for very small parties. The rooms indoors are beautiful for getting ready and for bride and groom photos. This would have been one of my top choices if I was having a spring wedding but since we are getting married in June I didn’t want to risk the weather being too hot. Overall this is a beautiful venue and it’s affordable.
Rating: 8/10
Leaning Oak Ranch: Bakersfield
This venue is someone’s backyard which although it was pretty, was a bit strange to me that someone actually lived in the house. There wasn’t really indoor amenities so it was all outdoor, but the yard was very pretty. They had a fireplace and a bar with a barbecue which were both cute and functional. I would recommend this as more of a birthday or shower location but I didn’t think it was great for a wedding. Also it was quite expensive (for its placement and what it offered) and you have to take out your own insurance policy for the day of since it is someone’s home. The people who run it are very sweet and easy to work with, this venue just was not for me.
Rating: 4/10
Park Place: Shafter
This venue was beautiful, but kind of pricy. It included linens and food so they price it per person (including children). I do recommend looking into this venue if you are getting married in the area because it really is beautiful. My experience with the woman I met with was unpleasant which turned me off from enjoying my experience and hindered how I felt about the venue as a whole, but I truly believe it was just that one person who altered most of how I felt about that venue because I ended up booking a venue very similar in price and the grounds are beautiful.
Rating: 7/10
Rose Garden Estate: Tehachapi
This was the venue I got closest to booking before booking my first venue. The woman in charge was so sweet and accommodating and the venue overall was beautiful. The ceremony area faced the beautiful hills, the gardens surrounding were full of flowers, and overall it was very pretty. The reception hall was nice but the decorations were a little over the top for my taste, but she’s very flexible with all decorations so that could have been changed. She had two packages, one all inclusive and one for just the venue, both seemed reasonable for what you get and she is very forthcoming with all pricing and expectations. Also you get full access to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a living room and kitchen for the day of until 11am the next day. Overall this is a great venue and the people were great to work with, the main reason I did not choose this venue was because they did not have my date available.
Rating: 9/10
Spanish Oaks Ranch: San Luis Obispo
I fell in love with this venue as soon as I saw the pictures online. It’s beautiful and only 15 minutes away from downtown SLO. They have an indoor option for smaller weddings, (probably up to 120-130 comfortably with round tables) but since the weather is so nice most people have the ceremony and reception both outdoors and use the indoor for things like cake and the guest book. Overall this venue is beautiful and these photos below don’t do it justice. I did not choose this venue simply because my grandmother is wheelchair bound so having it 2 hours away from home was not the best choice for my family. This venue is also very affordable especially considering how close it is to the beach and the people who run it are very sweet and understanding!
Rating: 10/10
Monji Gardens: Bakersfield
Now I saved the best for last! I’ll keep this one relatively short because I will do a more detailed post when I take my bridesmaids to tour it next week. This venue is truly my dream venue. It’s not surprising that a landscape company would make a wedding venue with gorgeous grounds, but let me tell you it’s beautiful! It also has the most beautiful bride room and a groom’s suite (which most venues only have a room for the bride, not the groom). It has an outdoor ceremony area with an indoor reception hall, which is exactly what I wanted! This venue is truly gorgeous and we booked the all inclusive package which includes the cake, dj, tables, chairs, linens, dinner, appetizers, security and a few other perks! It’s truly the perfect venue.
Rating: 10/10
Please note that all of these photos were just taken with my phone. They all have much better photos on their websites but due to copyright issues I only used my own. I hope you found this helpful and if you have any questions please feel free to send me and email or DM, and I would love to help you find your dream venue!
I talked vaguely about pricing, but since many venues do not wish to have their packages posted online I did not include them in my post. However if you wish to email or DM me I would be more than happy to share the pricing and packages with you of all the venues listed.