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Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CA Age and Occupation: 27, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force Pilot Engagement Date: February 21, 2009 Wedding Date: September 2010 Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery About Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
About Mrs. Jellyfish

The Search for the Perfect Venue

February 27th, 2010 @ 5:10 pm by Mrs. Jellyfish

Finding a venue was one of the most challenging parts of planning the wedding. I really wanted a vineyard setting, and with a guest list of about 200 people, it limited us a lot. My dream would have been a Napa wedding, but Napa comes with a hefty price tag. It’s also very hard to find a winery setting with enough space for an indoor reception for 200, and I wanted an indoor reception in case the weather didn’t cooperate. After hours of searching on herecomestheguide.com and Yelp, we narrowed it down to 5 possible venues. Three of them were wineries, and they all happened to be in the Pleasanton/Livermore area, which is conveniently located in between our parents’ houses. Apparently, it’s the new up-and-coming wine country, and it’s much more affordable than Napa. Here were the wineries we checked out:

  • Palm Event Center (Pleasanton): Palm Event Center is located right next to Mitchell Katz winery, and it features rustic wine barrel decor and a beautiful palm lined entrance. One thing that struck me about the place is how all-inclusive everything was – it comes with catering, linens, an in-house DOC (for a small charge)… it sounded great to our overwhelmed Jelly ears! This was the first venue we visited, and Mr. Jelly fell in love with it right away. I loved it too, but needed to shop around more before committing to a venue.

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Source

  • Casa Real (Pleasanton): Casa Real is owned by the same people as Palm Event Center, so they’ve got the same kind of all-inclusiveness going on (score!). It’s not as secluded because it is closer to an intersection, but it’s a bit newer and gorgeous both inside and out. I loved both the outdoor courtyard and the indoor Amber Room for the ceremony, and just the general luxe Mediterranean feel of the place.

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  • Garre Winery (Livermore): I absolutely LOVED the beautiful heritage oak tree that serves as the backdrop to the ceremony at this venue. I didn’t really like the idea of having our reception in a tent, however, so we nixed this venue pretty early on.

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In addition to those wineries, we also considered a couple San Francisco venues:

  • St. Francis Yacht Club (SF): Mr. Jelly’s dad had a connection there who could sponsor our wedding (it’s members only). We went and visited and it’s a very nice venue, with breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We thought about how much all of our out-of-town guests would love the view and location in the City. But something just didn’t feel right. We’re not really “yacht” types, and I felt like I would be giving up my dream of having a winery wedding if we went with this option.

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  • Marines Memorial Club (SF): We visited this venue because we heard it was fairly affordable and we thought it could be a nice nod to Mr. Jelly’s military service. Upon visiting, however, we just didn’t feel like it was “us”. It’s very ballroom-y, which works for some, but I never really envisioned a ballroom wedding. Again, this just solidified that what we really wanted was a winery wedding.

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In the end, we decided on Casa Real! Mr. Jelly and I were torn between Casa Real and the Palm Event Center, so we decided to flip a coin. Seriously. But when the coin told me Palm Event Center, I started making arguments for why I liked Casa Real more. That’s how I knew what I really wanted (good trick, eh?). Mr. Jelly was happy to oblige. Here is some more eye-candy from our lovely venue!

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Courtyard ceremony. We will be having our ceremony outside, weather permitting! (Source)

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A closer look at the Sun Garden. (Source)

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If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we could always hold the ceremony indoors. (Source)

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The Grand Salon – the main reception room. (Source)

Did you have a hard time finding the perfect venue? Were you torn between two venues, like I was?

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42 Responses to “The Search for the Perfect Venue”

1 2 3 

1.
Miss Giraffe
Bee
Miss Giraffe (message)  4,219 posts, Honey bee

Oh my goodness!! It’s so pretty! Good choice!

 
2.
Miss Cardigan
Bee
Miss Cardigan (message)  8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

What a gorgeous venue! Great choice!!

 
3.
Guest Icon
Guest
Krystle

Casa real looks nice. But is it just me or does the ceiling of the reception room seem undone?

 
4.
tea
Member
tea (message)  7,295 posts, Bee Keeper

casa real looks gorgeous! that was actually on my venue list too!

 
5.
luli29
Member
luli29 (message)  2,681 posts, Sugar bee

gorgeous!!!

 
6.
Member Icon
Member
MrsErinBoucher (message)  84 posts, Worker bee

yes!!!!!! i’m having thee worst time ever!!! i’m sooo picky and i want the perfect place. i too want a vineyard wedding but unfortunately none of the ones down here are all inclusive. it doesn’t help that we are having a small wedding. i don’t think we’ll ever find a place at this rate lol… anyway your venue is soo pretty and i think you made the perfect place!

 
7.
Member Icon
Member
MrsErinBoucher (message)  84 posts, Worker bee

perfect choice*

 
8.
Breezy
Member
Breezy (message)  53 posts, Worker bee

Perfect! It looks stunning in photos, I can imagine your guests will be just as happy as you guys are! :)

 
9.
Miss Jellyfish
Bee
Miss Jellyfish (message)  1,450 posts, Bumble bee

@Krystle: No, it’s not just you - it does seem kind of warehouse-y. Both venues were that way…it kind of bugs me a bit, but I love everything else so it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

 
10.
krissybee
Member
krissybee (message)  3,921 posts, Honey bee

WOW!! impressive choice!

 
11.
October2010Bride
Member
October2010Bride (message)  335 posts, Helper bee

Great choice ;)

 
12.
Guest Icon
Guest
Tamee

Hey Ms. Jellyfish, have you found your photographer yet? I’ve hired XSiGHT (out of Sac) to do my wedding…I’ve seen several weddings by them done at the Palm. I attended a wedding at the Palm, and it was AMAZING!

 
13.
Member Icon
Member
BrownEyedGurl (message)  85 posts, Worker bee

Great choice! I was in a wedding at Casa Real and it’s a gorgeous location!

 
14.
OctPumpkin
Member
OctPumpkin (message)  593 posts, Busy bee

Bravo! I think selecting the perfect wedding venue is SO important - it sets the ambiance for the whole affair! See, I was so opposite, I didn’t want a place that was all-inclusive at all. We visited six places and it was the first one we fell in love with - Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley, Ca. It was just right in my gut. Signed and deposited today!

 
15.
Miss Hot Wings
Bee
Miss Hot Wings (message)  2,213 posts, Buzzing bee

wow… look at that sun garden! I love that you did a coin flip and then argued for the other. heehee.. perfect choice.

 
16.
Member Icon
Member
xLailax (message)  414 posts, Helper bee

Beautiful! You make it sound so easy :)

 
17.
Miss Jellyfish
Bee
Miss Jellyfish (message)  1,450 posts, Bumble bee

@Tamee: We already hired a photographer. Is your wedding at the Palm?

 
18.
Mrs. Penguin
Bee
Mrs. Penguin (message)  3,507 posts, Sugar bee

Gorgeous! And so nice you have a plan B. There was rain in the forecast 10 days out from my wedding… I was pretty collected and calm up until that point but when that forecast came out with 50 percent chance of t-storms, I LOST MY MIND. I cried for about an hour… like a raging cry! (We had no plan b.) Needless to say, there wasn’t a raindrop in sight, but just knowing that rain won’t be an issue for you no matter what is awesome.

 
19.
MrsWoohoo
Member
MrsWoohoo (message)  656 posts, Busy bee

Both are gorgeous! Our photographer shot a wedding at Casa Real and it’s a beautiful venue. We have friends who held theirs at Palm Event Center too. :)

 
20.
Miss Elephant
Bee
Miss Elephant (message)  6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

Beautiful looking venue!

 
1 2 3 

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Mrs. Jellyfish
Mrs. Jellyfish

Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CA Age and Occupation: 27, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force Pilot Engagement Date: February 21, 2009 Wedding Date: September 2010 Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery About Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!

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