the old mission was an amazing venue for our wedding. one caveat: one of the two of you must be catholic and undergo the traditional catholic preparations for weddings. we are members of the parish in town so our process went really smoothly because we're there weekly anyway! there were several couples from out of town that we met during our wedding preplanning meetings (when you pick your date) that were getting married there, however.

If your heart is set on getting married in a mission- like mine was- just know that you CAN get married here EVEN if you are NOT a parishener! Contrary to what everything says online...My fiance and I happened to be visiting and figured it did not hurt to ask if it was possible..as it turned out it IS possible- they simply have not updated websites.
NOTE- you will pay a pretty penny "donation" to make it happen- but the way i saw it was that I got married at the mission AND had a beach side reception hall- for the cost they wanted to charge me to simplyRENT the venue I wanted in L.A...so if you look at it that way....it's not so bad.
There are many things that you can and can't do. If you are set on being walked down the aisle by your dad...this is not the place for you. They have 3 options- alone, both parents or bride/groom together.
Our weddign happened to be without electricity bc of an accisdent up the road..but nonethe less...our wedding was beautiful!

Five stars for beauty, ambience, and a historic location. The "Queen of the Missions" is a gorgeous wedding site. In California, there are very few options for getting married in a beautiful Catholic church, and this is one of the few. Every photo turned out spectacular--it's pretty much impossible to take a "bad" photo at the mission. All our wedding photos were amazing. The church (and aisle) is long and narrow, so even with smaller weddings the vibe is intimate and the church seems filled up. After the wedding, wedding church bells are rung and it is the most romantic and classic wedding ending possible.

Three stars for management in charge of weddings at the mission. They were very difficult to deal with--I think they are used to dealing with children of elite and well-to-do families and not millennials paying for their own wedding or those who are budget-minded. They have expensive flower requirements. Roy Spicer (head of music) would not let us use our own professional musicians, even though they were Catholic and were familiar with wedding masses. The singer we were forced to have was honestly pretty terrible. As long as the bride and groom pay the musician fee to support music at the mission, it shouldn't matter who performs music. It's the bride and groom's once-in-a-lifetime wedding, not the mission's wedding.

We wanted to focus on the wedding as a sacrament, and the cost and other meaningless requirements imposed were frustrating and made the planning process very difficult.

The mission could use a make-over in the wedding management department. Provide affordable options for less-privileged. Allow for other musicians should the bride and groom choose. Focus more on the sacrament. Allow for simple weddings--that is, after all, the Franciscan way, and Franciscans are who run the mission in the first place.

The Old Mission is a beautiful location and Fr. Daniel is a wonderful officiant. The church has several rules but, they notifiy you in advance of requiring a deposit. They require you to use their Wedding Coordinator. She was disrespectful to the church(eating in the church), unprofessional, and complained to the bride.

I serve the Air Force as a physician and found the mission because I am stationed near by. At first, I thought the mission was perfect. It was old and beautiful and in a gorgeous location. We thought it would be wonderful to get married at a place of history. All I have to say is poor service, poor professionalism and poor Christians for a Catholic Church. You get married here for the reputation of the church and definitely not for the staff. It's also all about the money. As a Catholic, I was very disappointed with the staff. They do not take responsibility nor accountability for their actions. You want to get married here, make sure you ask questions and during your rehearsal make sure you practice and make the staff stay behind to rehearse your ceremony until you are happy. We were rushed out and our ceremony did not go as desired.