Wedding Location?

G.,
We got married at Coyote Ranch http://www.coyoteranch.com/main.html in South San Jose in October of 2004 and it was beautiful. They were very helpful and the location, catering and drinks were all included for 150 people for a very good price.
Good luck!
B.

Might not be your thing at all, but there are some nice state park locations. You can have redwoods or ocean or both. We opted for an outdoor ceremony in Big Sur and paid all of $25 for the use of the ceremony site.

I am a wedding and event planner. I can help you but would need more information. Contact me through this response and I will give you my contact information if you like.
M.

I understand the budget. If you are in the South Bay, check out www.freedomhall.com. It is family owned deli during the week that converts to reception area in evenings. Everything is included in price and I loved our wedding there. They book really quickly, so call early. Good luck!

How about the Rose Garden in San Jose (Willow Glen)? A good resource for you would be Maxine Goulding, owner of Californa Special Occasions. Her # is ###-###-####. She handles Wedding and Events of all sizes and budgets and has a long list of resource contacts. Her website is www.CASpecialOccasions.com. Are you affiliated with a church that has a lovely garden area? If so, wedding and reception could be held at the same place. My husband & I have friends who invited 35 of us to a restaurant for dinner (he's also our financial planner and does this several times per year so we didn't suspect anything). After a pleasant "social hour", the minister walked in and performed a wedding ceremony. This was followed by dinner and wedding cake. Very low key, only people the Bride and Groom cared about. The restaurant was one of their favorites and fairly small, so the wedding took over the premises for the evening. My husband and I married at our church and held the reception in our back yard. We were on a really tight budget (26 years ago). Some of our closest friends and family made some of the food for the reception. I made some and had some catered by a local deli. We served punch, champagne for the toast and Wedding cake. Our family still talks about the day. We kept it simple and inexpensive, yet created a memory people still talk about. If you pick a place and need someone to perform the ceremony, Reverend JoyceAnne Pierce is a lovely person and would perform a lovely ceremony for you. Her # is ###-###-####.
Sad to say, $20k doesn't go far anymore.
Good Luck!

Hi G.,
Try the Freedom Hall and Gardens. It's in Santa Clara near Great America. They have a very resonably priced, almost all inclusive deal (the place, centerpieces, food, drink, cake, DJ, wedding coordinator) that will work for you. It's a deli during the day, but is amazingly transformed for the wedding - plus you can have the wedding outside (in the gardens) or inside. And the food is excellent!! Please check it out - they have pictures you can see from other weddings too. I think you can just Google them... Congratulations and I wish you the best!
S. H.

Not sure where you live, but we got married at Pasatiempo Golf Course and it was great. We had a $15k budget...

Hi G.,

I know what you mean. When I got married almost 6 years ago, my husband and I tried to keep our wedding cost under $25k. It's quite hard, but possible. You can look into Ainsley House and Garden in Campbell, Campbell or Saratoga Sunnyvale Community Center, San Jose State University Chapel, Evergreen Valley Community College or the community center next to the junior college (Sorry, I forgot the name). Good luck in finding a place for your wedding ceremony and/or reception.

congrats! not sure if you want formal or more casual wedding, but we got married on the beach in monterey and ceremony on beach and room right there. here is the link. http://www.adventuresbythesea.com/wedding.html
it was so much fun. the guests played games, danced and sat by fires outside. everyone said it was the best wedding and it was affordable. since our wedding we have friends that got married there and another couple had their new year's eve party there! it was that much fun!good luck!

Congrats!
My husband and I got married on Treasure Island at the Officer's Club "Casa de la Vista" in July of 2004. The best part is the room overlooks the water and both the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge. You really don't have to add much as far as decorations go and their is a nondenomenational church (designed by Frank Loyd Wright) a 30 second walk from the back patio (which we used for drinks and appetizers). I think the max that could fit was 150....not sure. Good luck! It was truly beautiful there.

My hiusband and I got married at Saratoga Country Club ten years ago, and not only was it a gorgeous location, but it was listed as 'great for brides on a budget'. If you have a large party, you can even have your reception right there, but they'll charge you for 100 plates, regardless of the actual size. But for a wedding site they were tops!

Have you checked out either Hakone Gardens or the Foothill Club in Saratoga? Both are truly lovely.

S.