Here's the summary:
-This was the only venue my fiancee and I viewed before choosing, and after our initial contract meeting with Kristie, we left confident that this was the ONLY venue for us. They combine catering into their venue contract ...(the food is absolutely amazing, btw- and pick the potatoes for the brunch, not the pancakes), and gave me personal creative freedom to decorate and provide activities tailored to our own tastes. Our wedding was very personalized.
-While they don't have a bar, you can BYOB and hire a bartender (we used a couple kegs from BevMo and crates of Two-Buck Chuck from Trader Joes). They also provide you with a long list of rentals for any extras you need: I strongly recommend the umbrellas (it gets blazing hot in the day) and heaters (it gets chilly at night).
-The venue is beautiful and spread out. My guests had the full run of it for the weekend to do our rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, Capture the Flag, party it up, wedding, reception, bonfire, and brunches.
Mainly I'd list to gush about the amazing staff (it's all in the details):
-The day we were leaving for the venue for the rehearsal we had an episode at home in which my fiancee and I were threatened (like I need ANYMORE stress- I was literally shaking as I drove up the mountain to my wedding). We immediately voiced our concerns to Shaunah and Kristie regarding our own safety, as well as the safety of their staff. We had already rented the basic security guard that Pema Osel Ling offers but the staff at Pema Osel Ling felt it would be better for everyone if we hired actual armed security. Not only did Shaunah find an affordable armed security guard LAST MINUTE, less than 24 hours before the wedding, but she kept him hidden from me the entire day of the wedding. She was worried that I would freak out more if I visualized this security guard, and he was so sneaky I literally did not see or think about him until the end of the night when he was leaving. I completely forgot I had security! You might wonder if that meant he was hiding instead of doing his job but that certainly wasn't the case. Everyone ELSE saw him- he had a photo of the unwelcome guests, checked guests in cars as they arrived and patrolled the ceremony and the reception. Thankfully, he wasn't needed to tackle anyone- in fact, there were many guests who assumed he was my hired stripper, and mistakely ran up to him for photos. LOL. Poor guy. I REALLY APPRECIATED the extra mile Shaunah and Kristie went to ensure the safety of my guests and their staff. I was very happy to put the extra money forward last minute.
-Shaunah kicks ass. Throughout the entire process. She answered every single question I had- we literally had strings of emails going back and forth full of my nit picky questions and her thorough replies. I was absolutely impressed with how quickly she responded at times- it'd be late at night within a half hour sometimes, and I'm wondering: "you're not in the office, why are you responding?" As the wedding coordinator, she assisted me with finding my own vendors, rentals, collecting payments, reviewing contracts, trouble-shooting decorations and activities with me and generally acted as air-traffic control the weekend of the wedding. She was friendly, personable and professional 100% of the time. Actually, she's the sweetest person in the world.