The Oaks at Duncan Lane Reviews

What separates The Oaks from all other venues is that they truly care about people and they understand what it takes to put on a wedding from 20 people to 200 people. This is such an underrated aspect of any venue. Shayla, Jordan, Morgan, Linda and the Duncan family were great hosts and they all worked well together, like family, which was important to us in our venue search. Their hospitality and work ethic was first-class. We visited the venue in June 2022 and Jordan gave us a very in-depth tour. After looking at the grounds, he then gave us detailed pricing about the venue, the all-inclusive amenities as well as the catering and bar options. You will not find similar amenities likes this anywhere in California. Jordan and his father-in-law are constantly updating The Oaks. There were many improvements and new additions between our tour in June 2022 and our wedding in July 2023! Leading up to our wedding, everyone at The Oaks was extremely communicative about what was needed and when. They also handled a lot of wedding tasks themselves, which was a huge bonus. The day of the wedding we were relaxed and had nothing to worry about. The ability to be on-site at 10 AM was great because both of us had our respective spaces on the property, in the main house and the groom suite, to relax with our wedding parties and families prior to our ceremony and reception. Every one of our guests was enamored with the beauty and set-up of The Oaks and its attention to detail. For a 90 degree wedding day, the oak trees provided so much shade that it was perfect, cool weather in the middle of summer. We can’t recommend this venue enough for anyone in search of one.

Shayla and Morgan were the most wonderful hosts. It is amazing to see how much love and effort they have put into building this venue. Everyone in their team is wonderful and helped make our day run smooth. They went above and beyond to make sure nothing went wrong. Even down to giving our fur baby his medicine at his dedicated time so the FOB was able to enjoy the night with us and not have to worry about watching the clock. We can not thank everyone enough for the amazing service they provided. This venue was worth everything!

The oaks is truly a magical place. We had our dream wedding here and everything was perfect. Shayla and her family our so much love into the place and it really shows.

The Oaks at Duncan lane has a special vibe about it, we are so happy we chose it for our big day! Our guests felt the special vibe too and still talk about what a beautiful outdoor venue it was! Our wedding felt so perfect from start to finish thanks to the staff for making sure everything ran perfectly! The Bridal suite and Groom's loft are amazing too! We absolutely loved spending our wedding night in the Bridal suite and house, it is so beautiful and it was fun to share our first morning as Mr. & Mrs. in the beauty of The Oaks!

We were the first big wedding to happen at this venue. We naturally ran into a few kinks, but I have no doubt they have since been worked out. The Duncan Oaks team was so helpful with problem solving and making sure we were enjoying our day no matter what. They went above and beyond to make it the best day ever for us. The venue is breathtakingly beautiful and the work they have done on the property before and since our wedding is amazing. You can't go wrong getting married here. They will take good care of you.

If you can, choose a different venue. I paid almost 1000 for 11 kids. I was told there would be chicken tenders with Mac and cheese for the kids meals. They only had enough chicken tenders (they gave two chicken tenders) for six kids. A lot of the kids didn’t get their kids meal, because they did not bring enough food. They offered the kids food from the adult menu. if they are going to borrow from the adult plates, then why did I pay for children meals? I literally paid about $980 for twelve chicken tenders without the max and cheese. I sent an email, however they have not refunded me or even responded to their incompetence.

In addition, at the end of the night, my mother had asked one of the staff if there was any leftover alcohol. At first, she was told no. After she asked again if they are sure, we were then given alcohol back. However, it was noticed that not one of our guests drank wine. We ended up with all three bottles of white wine back, but absolutely no red wine was returned. We are a Mexican family and mostly beer was drank by everyone. Not sure where our red wine went.

Third, during the ceremony, my uncle said that one of the staff (a male) was driving around in the cart. During the ceremony, there should be as little noise as possible. Outside traffic is uncontrollable, but the venue’s own staff should be aware that the ceremony is a sensitive time and moment to be driving the cart. None of our disabled guests even got a ride in the cart to the ceremony. They say they would do this, but they don’t sit at the entrance looking for people who need help. Someone has to go look for them to offer a ride in the cart, I guess?

The venue also has lots of limitations for what can be tossed at the ceremony exit. What we are told in email and in person is greatly different from what the contract says. It is unfortunate that I followed the contract and bought real dried petals (white, pink, and purple petals). I bought these because I was reading the contract, and making my purchase based off the contract. However, the day of they refused to let me used my real flower petals. Keep in mind, they make you buy event insurance as well, in case anything goes wrong. And they still don’t let you use real flower petals and real lit candles.

They only gave one bartender option and he is expensive! He is over $1000 and you still have to supply the alcohol. His drinks aren’t amazing or anything either.

Lastly, it feels like at the end of the night some items went missing from inside the house, which I was surprised because we told them we were staying overnight. I had a burger from BJ's in the fridge and the box of dried flower petals (which was worth $80). These items went missing. Have someone be in charge of making sure you get all your stuff back, because at this venue things just go missing.

I paid for 11 full children’s meals, and received 6 incomplete children meals. In addition, better care should be taken of the alcohol. It is unprofessional for the alcohol to seemingly go missing, then be found, but missing three bottles.

If you choose this venue, make sure you hire a day of coordinator. My day of coordinator mentioned that Linda did not help much with the decorations I brought. Linda is there for the venue, not for you. She just stopped me from using my petals for the ceremony toss. But she really didn’t help much when it comes to decor. (I had picture frames, a shelf for my succulent favors, random little decorations)

The venue coordinator Linda also says they work well with other vendors, but honestly I don’t feel they are that flexible. My photographer asked Linda if the practice ceremony can be moved to 1pm rather than 1:30pm and Linda would not budge. My bridesmaids had to get ready, leave midway for the rehearsal in their get ready robes, and then come back to continue getting ready. It would have been much easier if the rehearsal was at 1pm, and the. The girls can come in and get ready after, and not go outside in their robes.

I also want to mention the getting ready suite is really small. I had five bridesmaids, my mom and her friend, and one make up and one hair artist and it was hard for the bridesmaids to get ready, so they left the room. Even getting ready pictures seemed difficult for the photographer and videographer to get.

The internet connection is horrible as well. My friend tried to play music and there would be a twenty minute pause for the song to go through, lol.

In my opinion, I paid way too much money for the quality of service I received. I looked at over 8 venues before I booked this one, and wish I went with another one instead.