happy bride in the valley
Wedding: 05/10/2009
Reviews:
6
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Calamigos was perfect for my daughter's wedding on Mother's Day; outdoors at the White House and reception in the Polo Room. The staff were very accommodating, professional, and I was very pleased with all meetings before and up to the wedding. We used vendors that were familiar with the location and some were suggested by the wedding specialist there. I think the most compliments came from guests and family regarding the food; it was delicious, from the appetizers to our buffet dinner and plenty of it....you never had to track down a server at the reception....they were always passing out food!
I can't imagine using another facility that had everything we needed and my daughter and her husband were very pleased with it all.
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Reviewed On:
05/13/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering
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Kupferbaum
Wedding: 03/22/2009
Reviews:
5
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The food was FANTASTIC! Everyone raved about it. The facility is beautiful and everything is spotless.
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Reviewed On:
04/30/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering, Event Rentals, Wedding Planning
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Tam and Mike
Wedding: 03/08/2008
Reviews:
5
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We had our ceremony and reception at the Calamigos Equestrian Center in Burbank. The ceremony was on the Terrace of the Grand Equestrian Ballroom and our Reception was in the Grand Ballroom. I could not have asked for a better venue and vendors! They are so organized and helpful there. Annah was there to answer any and all of my questions I had at any time. When she wasn't there the other girls helped me just as much. They made everything so painless and easy...except for the dollar amount, which was pretty expensive, but it was worth EVERY penny!! They also had everything included, and I mean everything. The food, the tables and chairs, the linens, the appetizers, the alcohol. The only thing we had to bring in was the cake. The whole place is beautiful and I was so very happy with the entire process along with our wedding day. They even had a coordinator there to help us at the Rehearsal and the day of. WONDERFUL! If anybody is getting married in Los Angeles, I suggest getting married at the Calamigos Equestrian Center in Burbank. You will not be disappointed!!
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Reviewed On:
03/14/2008
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering, Event Rentals
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LisaNP
Wedding: 03/01/2008
Reviews:
5
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When my husband and I started researching venues to hold our wedding reception we left no leaf unturned. We live in Glendale so we were primarily looking in the Glendale, Pasadena, and Burbank area. Our guestlist was 200 and we were on a budget of $20,000 for food, drinks, and room rentals (including linens, chairs, tablecloths, placesettings, drinkware, etc). We really had a vision of being able to have an open bar, a cocktail hour with hand passed appetizers and a delicious plated meal. We had a good budget to work with so we were able to include a lot of sites in our search. We wanted a site that had an all inclusive package, a beautiful room preferably with a fireplace, a great dance floor, exquisite decor, great catering, and professional staff. Calamigos was the only place that had this all and more. The grounds of the equestrian center are goregeous and nothing was off limits for pictures. We have so many great pictures with beautiful backdrops. Every one who works with you on your wedding will be professional, responbile and they all work to make you happy. Our wedding was fantastic, everything I had dreamed. We took a moment to sneak a look at the room before guests arrived (I highly recommend this!) and we our breath was taken away. From the candles glowing in the fireplace (woodburning for those fall/winter weddings) to the sconces, three gorgeous chandeliers and twinkle lights everywhere was romance. The food was so good and arrived hot off the grill. The appetizers were unlimited and all passed. It was a truly elegant event.
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Reviewed On:
07/14/2008
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering, Event Rentals, Wedding Planning
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Sibila and Otto
Wedding: 09/27/2009
Reviews:
3
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For us and for all guests, the venue was stunning. The food was delicious and good presented. All services with high quality.
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Reviewed On:
10/13/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue
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Annie
Wedding: 08/01/2009
Reviews:
6
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They did a wonderful job. The room was beautiful; the service staff were very kind and attentive; and the food was wonderful. I would highly recommend this location.
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Reviewed On:
08/13/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering
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sofis31
Wedding: 01/30/2009
Reviews:
5
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Calamigos is a wonderful place to get married. Their staff really goes out of their way to make your vision happen. I would recommend considering having your wedding on an off day, say a Friday or Sunday. You get the same wonderful location for a lot less money.
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Reviewed On:
04/03/2009
Services Used:
Catering
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staceyw
Wedding: 09/15/2007
Reviews:
7
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I had my wedding at Calamigos in 9/07. I couldn't possibly say enough. Everything was beautiful, the site and room. The serving staff were amazing. The food was awesome (yes, wedding food was actually awesome!). Calamigos planners Robin and Annah were so helpful and great all the way through...flexible, great attention to detail, sweet and really made me feel like they cared about creating a special experience for me. My experience with them at all steps from my first phone call to leaving the venue on our wedding day was everything I could have hoped for. I am still getting compliments about how beautiful the room was, how great the food was and how much fun everyone had. Big thanks to Calamigos!
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Reviewed On:
06/04/2008
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering
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lkayc
Wedding: 06/06/2009
Reviews:
5
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I recently had a wedding at Calamigos Equestrian Center. They were AMAZING! I would highly reccomend the venue for anyone who is looking. They offer a variety of settings without the feel of a "wedding factory". It was beautiful, the staff was really exceptional to work and the food options were all very high in quality. We received a ton of compliments on the food! They offer packages which make planning so much easier since the venue already comes with fabulous catering, quality linens, chairs and tables, as well as a ceremony and dinner coordinator. I could not have been happier about the service I received or the outcome of the wedding. I work in event so I tend to be very detail oriented and they delievered on all accounts!
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Reviewed On:
06/30/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering
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jen
Wedding: 11/03/2009
Reviews:
5
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awesome service
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Reviewed On:
11/03/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue
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Sugrplums
Wedding: 08/30/2008
Reviews:
1
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Calamigos has a pretty good rep already from things I have read. It was recently named one of the top places to have your wedding reception in Southern California and I would have to agree that this was the perfect setting for my special day. The food was delicious, all of the arrangements I had made in terms of my guest book, table numbers and such were all taken care of just to my liking. It was beautiful.
I guess the only reason I even bother reviewing this well known and highly praised venue is because I was very very disappointed with the "wedding coordinator" assigned to me. Clearly, it must be a tricky job, but coming from a field of work where I know all the ins and outs of putting together a huge event, I tried my best to keep her well informed and basically did a lot of her job for her.
Yet come the day of our rehearsal and she barely facilitated any of what was going to happen. We all left knowing little more than what we already knew before the rehersal. Still, that's not what bothered me. What bothered me most was on the day of the wedding, she failed to keep guests from coming into the place where I was getting ready, and somewhat scolded me for starting our ceremony on time (I have punctual friends what can I say) and for finishing slightly early. She told me that she was having to deal with a very upset kitchen because we were early....by 10 minutes!
Even if that did throw the kitchen staff off, I don't think that it's very professional for a wedding coordinator to get mad with the BRIDE about it. I was taking photos at the time and was basically at a loss. I mean what am I supposed to say to that? Sorry, my ceremony wasn't to your liking? Furthermore, she was rude to my parents and didn't take the burden off me or my maid of honor. The rest of the night I was basically coordinating with the photographer, the head caterer and the DJ as to when we should do the next thing on the itinerary. I should have had a head set on that's how much I ended up having to "work" my own wedding.
This is a person who Calamigos requires you to have and charges you an extra $350 to employ. They claim that they do this because it really is necessary in most weddings to have a specific person running the operation so that the bride, her mom, the bridesmaids, etc. can all do the things they have to do. I would agree with that logic, but I certainly didn't get what I had paid for in this case. I think it probably just really has to do with who you get, but they don't tell you who it is till the rehearsal.
So, a word of advice: Calamigos at the LA Equestrian Center is a wonderful place to have your event, but ask who will be your assigned coordinator in advance. Maybe see if you can meet them. It was the difference in me giving them a glowing review and the less than perfect one you just read.
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Reviewed On:
09/11/2008
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering
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Jean
Wedding: 03/01/2008
Reviews:
5
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I felt that the policies at this venue were too strict. While the food tasted better than I anticipated, I wasn't quite sure this venue was worth the cost.
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Reviewed On:
02/25/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue
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PwincessC
Wedding: 04/11/2009
Reviews:
1
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While Calamigos is a very beautiful place to get married, the incompetence of certain members of the staff adds way too much stress for the bride and groom to enjoy their day.
I was married at Calamigos on April 11, 2009. I originally toured the facility with Robin, who was delightful. When I came to make my first deposit, I sat down with Mina (the manager of the facility)and expressed concern in that Calamigos wanted payment in full for everything 10 days prior to the event. I asked what kind of recourse we would have if they didn't come through and perform to our standards. Mina replied that they do numerous weddings a week, they are booked every weekend of the year and that they have loads of glowing reviews and we should have no problem.
We had our final meeting with Annah, who was also wonderful.We went over all the details of our wedding. Our day of coordinator was going to be Virginia and we were assured by Annah that she'd do a great job.
Our wedding ceremony was at the Little White House and was gorgeous. We did not have any problems until we entered the reception. Upon entering, we realized that our seating chart (one we had toiled over for days, as I'm sure all brides do) was entirely skewed. The Day of Coordinator Virginia had been in charge of placing the table numbers on the tables. Sounds like a menial task, but not to Virgina! She had messed up and reversed our table numbers, resulting in our parents, siblings and grandparents and other family members being seated at the opposite end of the room. We couldn't even see our parents from the head table. At this point, everyone had already been seated so there was no easy fix. We had to provide a solution to her, as Virginia was too inept to figure out what to do. Therefore two more tables had to be brought in to move our part of our family closer to the head table. I must point out that this was done rather quickly and efficently.
I had paid $15 a table to upgrade to the chocolate brown linens. I was told there was no way to waive this fee and that I would be so happy with the nice linens. I walked in and there were Ivory linens on my table. Their answer to what went wrong with that is as follows:
"In your original meeting with Annah, Ivory overlays with the sandalwood napkin were ordered. The order was changed after your phone call with the chocolate linen request and we are still trying to find the source of this error. At this time, we cannot determine whether a computer error with our linen inventory occurred or if it was a human error. We have refunded you for the cost of the rentals. We are still investigating this matter and I would like to assure you that severe disciplinary action has be taken on our end with our team due to the errors in set up and coordination of this detail as well as the layout issue."
In summation, they have no idea how this happened, which is ridiculous. They managed to put the linen cost on my final invoice, so there was no error in making sure that I paid for it. I feel like they're acting like they're huge company, rather than the mom and pop location that they are. (I was refunded my money that I paid for the linens by the end of the evening).
As far as the open bar, we had requested that only the drinks that we paid for be offered at the bar and that no cash was to be brought out at the bar. We were hosting for House brands of alcohol and domestic beer. There was to be no option to purchase premium liquor. Yet when I walked by the bar, there was a huge tacky sign stating prices for purchasing of liquor. We had to go out of our way to find Virgina AGAIN (she kept disappearing)and tell her of yet another screw up. She had the sign taken down and we told her we wanted the entire bar to be free, including premium drinks and she agreed that it was the least they could do. That actually worked out nicely in our favor, yet still embarrassing asking guests to pay for drinks.
I understand that errors are going to happen at events. Yet, the amount of errors and the severity of the errors are unforgivable. We asked for the refund of the 20% service charge and were told that since we had been given a bar upgrade (because of their errors) that this should serve as payment. Oh, and they also extended our room time for an extra half hour, which was a nice gesture, but still doesn't change the fact that I had to spend a half our at my own wedding pointing out and fixing their mistakes.
If you do decide to go with Calamigos be very wary that you are giving them your money ahead of time and their remedy to fix their mistakes is to give you an extra half hour of room time. It did serve as a nice way to get a bar upgrade. Also make sure to request Annah as your event coordinator. She seemed very capable. I would not recommend Virgina. I felt like it was her first wedding and she had no clue how to fix her mistakes. They really ought to hire people with better management skills. Had I screwed up like this at my job, I would no longer be employed.
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Reviewed On:
04/29/2009
Services Used:
Ceremony & Reception Venue, Catering, Event Rentals
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4.5/5.0
