After visiting several possible wedding locations in the Santa Barbara wine country, my fiance and I fell in love with Koehler Winery. The event coordinator at the time was friendly and helpful, she promised us many things beyond what was listed in the contract, explaining that they were flexible with event end time, etc. We booked the location 9 months before our wedding. About 3 months later we were told the wedding coordinator was being replaced. When the new coordinator stepped in she had a list of things she was now enforcing that were not a part of the original contract and she informed us that many of the things previously promised by the original coordinator were now being revoked. The major change was that we were now being required to rent portable toilets as the bathrooms on the grounds could not be used. (A cost of $500) After many conversations back and forth, the winery finally agreed to pay for "Construction site" quality toilets as it was not included in the original contract. However I was still very unhappy as I had not pictured my guests using a Porto Potty on my wedding day.
2 months later the new coordinator quit. Our contact now was the winery's owner. She was beyond cold and in our many dealings with her made it very clear that this interaction was about one thing, the winery getting their money. Three weeks before the wedding the owner informed us we would be required to hire a lighting specialist (A cost of $1800). At one point we even consulted an attorney to sort through the contract and be present as we were considering taking legal action.
All the back and forth with the owner and constant change of terms was VERY stressful. In fact it was the only stress during our entire wedding planning. They have raised the site fee since we had our event and I would highly recommend looking elsewhere before booking this venue. Save yourself the frustration of dealing with these extremely unprofessional and cold hearted people. They don't care about you or your day, they only care about the money they're making.
