Casa Romantica Reviews

Casa Romantica was our wedding venue in Sept 2022. It is a beautiful venue and offers so many photo opportunities and a lot of space for guests to explore. It offers several places for first looks, first dance etc and you can truly personalize your wedding day. We suggest going down to the beach after the ceremony to take pictures on the beach and pier. I would advise that this venue only had air conditioning in the bridal suite. If you get married in the summer be ready for the heat! Also remember the venue does not provide any equipment and you will have to reserve cooking tent and all rentals from their one approved rental company Bright Event (we did not have the best experience with this rental company). We suggest using the wood casa chairs for your sweetheart table! Overall we loved this venue and the beauty it offered on our wedding day!

Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens was an absolutely beautiful venue and ideal location for our daughter’s wedding. It truly exceeded our expectations.
The wedding on the patio terrace overlooking the ocean and the San Clemente pier provided the most picturesque backdrop that one could imagine. The courtyard for the seated dinner for 100 guests provided a magical atmosphere, while the main salon provided the perfect setting for dancing after dinner.
The venue offered exceptional views overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This, along with the buildings’ historical Spanish Architecture, combined to provide a great setting for the wedding photographer.
Michelle Bogdanoff, Venue Coordinator, was readily available and easy to work with whenever we called. She was very friendly, professional, and knowledgeable about all aspects of the venue.
Michelle, in coordination with Priscilla Granger (and her team), really knew how to provide a great venue with unsurpassed support. This ensured that the wedding party, and all of the guests had an excellent time!

Casa Romantica is sort of a cheesy name and the venue fee is a little pricey (considering it doesn't come with any rentals)... but my god it was so worth it. We had visited 20+ venues between San Diego and LA, and nothing really stood out...until I found Casa. The moment I stepped out onto the ocean terrace, I fell in love at first sight. It is truly a breathtaking venue and 3 months post-wedding, my guests haven't stopped talking about it. Other things I love about this venue: 1) There's the right amount of outdoor versus indoor....outdoor ceremony, outdoor but enclosed dinner reception, and indoor dancing - that is a true trifecta. 2) The size of this place is perfect for 100-150 person wedding. Big enough to explore and not feel crowded, but small enough to feel intimate. 3) The venue coordinator Michele is really responsive, friendly, professional, and totally reasonable in accommodating your requests. 4) Part of the venue fee counts as a donation to the Casa and you/your fiance can become members of the community for a year. 5) They have a small art exhibit that changes throughout the year and is open during your wedding: from classical style paintings to modern sculptures to colorful murals. 6) So many areas in this venue for amazing wedding photos.

Absolutely beautiful venue! We couldn’t have been happier with our decision to have our wedding ceremony and reception at Casa Romantica. The ocean view impressed every guest. The Spanish style home made the wedding feel more intimate and romantic. I highly recommend this venue!

Just wanted to say thanks so much for making my daughter and her new husbands wedding perfect!!
We couldn’t have picked a better place! Everything went so smoothly. I must of heard 100 times “this is the best wedding I’ve ever been too” Thanks again to everyone who made the day so special!

Absolutely loved this venue and all the staff. They went above and beyond to make our day perfect for us! This venue is the best!

I had my dream wedding at Casa Romantica on Saturday June 3, 2017. This wedding venue is STUNNING!!! We visited a couple of venues and this was our first stop but we fell in love with it the moment we walked in. I've never seen a more gorgeous wedding venue in my whole life. Some people don't choose this venue because they have a list of vendors you have to choose from, but every vendor we chose was seriously the BEST and we had no issues with any of the planning. Our coordinator, Cortney Helaine, caterer Iva Lee's, DJ Todd, and florist Petite Bouquet all knew each other well and work together all the time. They make a perfect team and it made everything work so smoothly for us. They literally work with each other every weekend so it's almost like they work for the same company. Michele, the venue manager/coordinator, was also extremely accommodating, friendly, and professional and super easy to work with. Thank you, Casa, for making our fairytale wedding come true and allowing us to have the best day of our lives with all the people we love. I still feel like I'm dreaming :)

an absolutely beautiful place to get married. As i came down the aisle i could see all of my friends, family, my future husband standing in front of me and the ocean spread out behind him. It is breathtaking.

We got married at Casa Romantica in April 2017! This was the PERFECT venue that overlooked the water, yet had such quaint architecture. We got married at 4:30 and it was just beautiful! We were so happy with CR and highly, highly recommend it! Michele was great to work with and we are so glad we chose CR!

My husband and I got married here in September. The whole house and the view from the back are absolutely stunning! The inner courtyard (where we had dinner) is intimate and has lots of nice details (greenery, wooden beams, painted tiles), and the actual house had plenty of room for dancing, a few cocktail tables, a bar, and dessert. The outdoor space is also lovely, with a butterfly garden and cozy fireplace area on the sides and a view from the back that opens up for a panoramic view of the ocean and the pier. Some vendors are pre-determined if you book here (valet parking services, catering and bar services), but you are still able to bring in photographer/videographer/florist/DJ/band of your choice. Michelle is really easy to work with when planning an event too. Loved having our wedding here!

My husband and I got married at Casa Romantica in May. I may be biased, but Casa Romantica is one of the most beautiful places you could ever get married at!! It offers a STUNNING view of the ocean and San Clemente pier, without having to have your ceremony take place on the beach where sand can be an issue for elderly guests and women in heels! The architecture of the building is gorgeous and the gardens are breathtaking. It is also wonderful to be married in a private venue where your friends and family can take over the venue without strangers walking through. While the cost of the venue may be high, we were able to drive this down by working with Iva Lee's as our caterer. Iva Lee's was incredible - delicious food, wonderful service - and made the entire process very easy since our rentals were purchased through Iva Lee's as well. When we factored in the savings from working with Iva Lee's, Casa Romantica was actually a more affordable option than a lot of the Orange County alternatives (and just so much more romantic and charming!!). Plus, you get a membership to Casa Romantica, which hosts a lot of cool events! I cannot begin to say enough nice things about Casa Romantica - it truly is the perfect wedding venue, and we feel SO lucky that we were able to get married there.

In my completely biased opinion, Casa Romantica is THE most beautiful place to be married! Our wedding there was at the end of April and we could not be happier with the venue we chose. The weather was gorgeous, but even if it had been pouring rain, the site is stunning in its architecture, beauty, and views. I will never forget our first dance on the ocean terrace, saying our vows in front of the beautiful blue water, or dancing the night away inside its Spanish-style building. Thank you to Michele and the staff at Casa Romantica for helping make our wedding day unforgettable!

We recently got married here and it was a fabulous party! The venue is so impressive, you really don't need much. We worked with Michele from booking to the big day and she was always prompt in responding to my emails and very polite and nice. I can't believe how perfect it went! Thank you, Casa Romantica!!

This venue was absolutely beautiful. The staff were all so very friendly and helpful. It made our big day super special!!

My husband and I were married at Casa Romantica in July 2013. While the cost of the venue was a little higher than we expected, it was worth every single penny. The staff was friendly and helpful throughout our planning process and the site is absolutely GORGEOUS. Our photographer and videographer fell in love with the place immediately. In addition to the beautiful location, I love that our money went towards a non-profit that is an important historical landmark in the local community. Our guests were absolutely blown away with how beautiful everything was there. You don't need a lot of decorations here because the place is stunning on it's own. I am so happy that we were married here.

What a beautiful venue! Breathtaking views and grounds! We were married overlooking the ocean and afterwards we were blessed with the most amazing sunset I have ever seen - it made for absolutely beautiful pictures! I had the most beautiful wedding day & could not have found a more beautiful place to have it!
Arin & Billy Meade

My husband and I loved having our wedding at Casa Romantica. The venue is really so beautiful and it is nice for guests to have so many different areas to explore, between the different gardens, the terrace overlooking the ocean and pier, the cozy room with the fireplace and ottomans, the bridal suite, the "man cave" downstairs, the outside courtyard in the middle of the Casa, and the main Salon with the beautiful chandelier. The gorgeous ocean backdrop, colorful gardens, and Spanish influence of the venue really make for wonderful photos.

Brianne, the coordinator, was great to work with. The venue does require you to use their preferred vendors but we were very pleased with the ones we used. Since the cost of renting the venue really only includes use of the home and grounds, you do have to bring in all of the other vendors but we felt the beauty of the venue was worth the price. It was exactly what we were looking for. They also only hold one wedding per day, which was important to us.

We had the most perfect day thanks to this location. The water in the background of every picture, the amazing architecture, the capacity and accommodations were all amazing! For the amount of time and money you will put into a wedding, this location will elevate the quality 10 fold!

I did not run into any problems at Casa Romantica. The site is breath taking, the onsite manager very friendly, and I was happy with their preferred vendor list. They even gave us a gift bag on the day of our wedding with two wine glasses and a Casa Romantica book. I advise to book a year in advance, and to choose a day of coordinator that is familiar with Casa. Also, everyone has to be out by 10pm because of the noise ordinance, but I threw on a second dress and hit the town with my husband and guests :D

This was the venue of our DREAMS!!! I am still giddy and smiling from ear to ear thinking of our wedding at the Casa and everything that went so right! The lush gardens are beyond amazing, the views are breathtaking, and the staff was a pleasure to work with. Cathy (one of Casa's managers who stayed during our entire wedding to keep things running smoothly at the venue) was an unexpected surprise but, boy, was I happy to have her there as she kept me calm, helped with my confusing bustle (she had safety pins, tape, and great tidbits of advice at the ready!) and really just made the night even more special. Casa Romantica was the perfect place for our big day-- and I feel I need to thank them just a little bit for the amazing, electric sunset, glorious photo opportunities, and the gray whale that swam on by during our ceremony. Magical!

ROMANTIC! ROMATIC! ROMANTIC! If you want to have the most beautiful and romantic wedding ever, with an ocean back drop, and amazing botanical gardens surrounding you inside a super charming historical Spanish colonial villa, than you've come to the right place. But this review is more about their staff and our experience with the venue. Michele was great. Easy to work with, helped us book appointments, and secure the venue. She has worked with so many vendors in the San Clemente area, that she can give great advice on who to book and why. We had an issue with our videographer, and she had our back and helped solve the problem. We had a wedding coordinator, but Michele was there too making sure that everything went smooth as silk. The rest of the staff and security were basically invisible, but I had comfort knowing that they were quietly taking care of things. I will say there are quite a bit of rules since it is a historical building, but I don't think it will be a problem.

My husband and I celebrated our wedding reception here recently (9/3/10) and we could not have picked a more gorgeous place!! Casa Romantica sits upon a bluff that overlooks the Pacific ocean and the San Clemente pier. It is so close to the beach that you can hear the ocean waves crash upon the shore. What we loved about having our wedding reception here was that it is private. No other parties or events going on near us during our special day, meaning no party crashers! It was just us and our guests. We loved the Spanish style architecture and the fact that the house offers two fireplaces (one indoor and the other outdoor) and two fountains (one large one in the parking lot and the second one in the back of the house). We loved how it is so spacious; plenty of places for your guests to walk around and explore. For example, guests can explore the butterfly garden, the inside of the house, the gardens surrounding the house and exhibit rooms. Another great feature of this location is that it has an outdoor amphitheater. This proved to be quite useful for our event, as we had Polynesian dancers perform there for our guests during the cocktail hour. We absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Casa Romantica! We received many compliments from our guests on how beautiful and breathtaking this place was.

As for the cons there are a couple, but this should not hinder people from booking this place for their wedding/reception location. First, when you book Casa Romantica, that is all you get; as they do not provide catering, tables, chairs, linens, valet service, etc. Thus, you have to go through outside vendors for practically everything, which can easily cost lots of $$$$. Casa Romantica, does have a list of preferred vendors from which to choose, so this helps in selecting qualified vendors that you can fit around your budget. Second, they now have a new policy that in order to book the place, you must have already hired your own certified wedding planner (which is a good thing). We already had a wedding planner so it was no big deal. Last, because of the Orange County noise ordinance, events must end by 10:00 PM.

Couples if you are interested, I highly suggest you take a tour of the place and inquire on available dates, as dates quickly fill up. Also, if you are looking to save some money, look into having your event on a weekday or a Friday. We had our event on a Friday and we saved lots of $$$. :)

--BTW: When I first booked our reception venue back in July of 2009, we were dealing with another lady, whose name escapes me at the moment. She was horrible and never returned calls. However, this lady is no longer working there anymore (thank GOD!) and they have someone else, named Noreen and she is WONDERFUL! :)

Spectacular venue....ceremony on the patio overlooking the Pacific Ocean, spanish style open courtyard reception area, charming architecture, and style. Our wedding was for apprx 100 people and I think that was the perfect size for this venue.

This venue is stunning! The value is great, the view is gorgeous and the staff is wonderful to work with. There are some limitations on what you can do there, but it's a historic site so it makes sense. There's a limited list of caterers that you have to choose from, which was fine because we loved the caterer that we chose! It's also open to the public during the day so my husband and I plan on visiting each anniversary.

Magical....so elegant. It is pricey but if you want a wedding with an ocean backdrop this is the place!