Wedding venues

How many guests are you planning? What type of outdoor setting are you looking for?


My first thought was the French Estate in Orange. It’s an outdoor estate garden venue. It holds up to 150 people, and for that many people plus ceremony and reception is $5,050, but that includes things like tables, chairs, the shuttle for guests to and from the parking lot, etc. If it’s a smaller guest count, the price goes below $5k. The venue allows you to bring in any vendor you want, or they have suggestions that they have special discounts with. They are very transparent about what the venue comes with in the base price, so check out the website!
https://www.thefrenchestate.com/weddings/

The Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach is $5,500, but a pretty big chunk of that is tax-deductible, which helps with your budget. It also comes with tables and chairs, and potentially a few other goodies, but you’d have to look into it for all the details. It’s a more forest-like venue. I believe they have a caterer list, but they allow you to bring in other caterers as well.
https://www.encenter.org/facility-rental/green-wedding/

If you’re down to do DIY, the Cattle Camp at Bommer Community Park in Irvine is super pretty when it’s dressed up, and since it’s at a city park, it’s cheap too. You’ve got the rustic cattle camp aspect, but there’s lots of green trees areas to hold your ceremony. Since it can be hard to imagine the venue dressed up, I’ll also include some wedding galleries that have been held there.
https://www.cityofirvine.org/parks-facilities/bommer-canyon-community-park-cattle-camp

http://brittrenephoto.com/2015/05/21/bommer-canyon-wedding-amanda-calvin/

http://stopandstareevents.com/bommer-canyon-wedding-irvine/

The Brea Community Center has a new Arts Garden that looks nice, and can hold up to 300 people seated. The non-resident fee is $219 an hour, though there may be some other fees to add in.
https://www.ci.brea.ca.us/Facilities/Facility/Details/Arts-Garden-36

The Woman’s Club of Orange has an outdoor area that their gallery shows has held ceremonies and receptions in the past. I’ve seen Woman’s Clubs run around $2,000 for rental, so they should be pretty affordable. https://www.orangewc.com/

The Placentia Round Table Woman’s Club also has an outdoor area.http://www.placentiawomensclub.org/rentals.html

The Woman’s Club of Claremont has an outdoor area, and a gazebo. http://www.womansclubofclaremont.com/rent-our-facility/

Here’s my venue/vendor spreadsheet that also has other suggestions as well.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16oLyBviL6fA8uKD0Kgfhh48uFtNEMksZuHirgjyjNXk

Good luck!

Hey Ali, what do you need that 5K to include? And where in CA are you planning to get married? The WeddingWire cost guide has info on venue prices in CA, why a venue costs what it costs, what other costs one should plan for, and how to save money on the venue. You can also of course change the location to your actual city, I randomly chose LA.