Descanso Gardens

fortunately, the overall planning process was much more stressful than it needed to be, primarily due to a serious lack of communication between the venue (Descanso) and their exclusive catering partner (Flora Catering). From the very beginning, it was clear the two teams were not aligned. In fact, after confirming our original wedding date and sending out save-the-dates, we were later told we’d need to move the date because of a miscommunication between the venue and catering departments. This caused a lot of unnecessary stress and inconvenience for us and our guests. To make matters worse, they initially only offered a $500 discount on the venue fee, even though the venue itself cost $8,000. Throughout the planning process, communication remained inconsistent. Again with the lack of communication between the venue and catering, we had to repeatedly clarify where our ceremony and reception were taking place, layouts, table settings, etc. things you’d expect to be locked in early on. We also didn’t receive a finalized layout for either the ceremony or reception until just before the wedding, which caused stress. The staff we interacted with were very kind, and the day-of experience went relatively smoothly, but not without issues. Our seating chart and table arrangements were incorrect, and the onsite coordinator (who you are required to pay for) did not help set up, manage the timeline or flow of the evening. Ironically, it was our photographer, who stepped in and helped keep things on track. Overall, while the venue itself is undeniably beautiful and our wedding turned out well, the behind-the-scenes coordination and planning support were lacking, especially for a venue at this price point. If you choose Descanso, be prepared to stay very hands-on and double-check every detail, because if you don’t, things may fall through the cracks.

t this venue...you can hire them independently to provide longer-term wedding coordination service and they'll absorb the day-of fee). Deanna, coordinator we hired, was terrible. We didn't even have ceremony musicians booked until 3 WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING! This was after MONTHS of us pleading with her to recommend/contact musicians. She didn't provide a payment schedule (the one thing we'd requested and ensured would be included in her services prior to signing an agreement), and she was totally out-of-the-loop in terms of what was going on with our vendors (we were unable to do a final in-person consultation w/our florist before the wedding, where we'd have been able to actually SEE samples of the centerpieces, etc, because Deanna didn't have it on her radar at all whatsoever. I had to do it by phone at the last minute, and of course, Deanna wasn't even available to participate. I was 100% on my own w/the vendor management). We also expressed concern over the bar getting too crowded, w/a long wait time during cocktail hour. We ordered 90 glasses of champagne and wine to be passed on trays to our guests immediately upon entering the rose garden after the ceremony. We asked for this additional service anticipating that 120 guests with 2 bartenders would immediately create a long line at the garden reception. Our worst fears were realized when a huge line formed at the bar and no servers were serving wine and champagne to our guests when they entered the fountain area. There was NO WINE, NO CHAMPAGNE, NO PASSED TRAYS. My mom went looking for Deanna, and found her chit-chatting with Leticia, the head of catering, and asked why the champagne we'd PAID FOR was not being served. Deanna and Leticia both gave her attitude and said "the servers are busy w/the food service-what do you expect?!" She had to argue with them and say, obviously, we expected passed trays of champagne, as we'd PAID AND ARRANGED FOR. Shortly after this confrontation, a few servers with trays of maybe 10 drinks began circulating among the crowd. Why was this even offered as an option in the catering package if it wasn't feasible? Leticia (head of catering) was also severely un-responsive throughout the planning process; we'd hoped to upgrade the wine (and spend more $$!), and she'd promised to set up a tasting so we could decide on our selection, but our multiple attempts to reach her via phone and email to schedule it went unasnwered. Then, to add insult to injury, after we'd contacted her numerous times in February about both setting up a tasting and inquiring about an updated quote once we'd finalized menu selection, the payment schedule, etc, never to recieve a response. Out of NOWHERE, on JUNE 21, we received an email from Leticia saying we needed to pay $15,000 "ASAP." Again, this without ever providing an updated quote or payment schedule as requested several times. We even recieved a "request for final payment" a week after our wedding, in spite of the fact that we had already paid in full-with both Leticia and Deanna copied on payment and receipts! And again, this occurred in spite of the fact that we'd hired the COORDINATOR WHO WORKS FOR DESCANSO, AND KNOWS/WORKS DIRECTLY WITH LETICIA ON A ROUTINE BASIS! How does stuff like this fall through the cracks?

rs. If you are looking for a beautiful unique space with a great view, great food along with professional service… look no further, the DG is the place. We highly recommend the venue and their staff. Eric Morales Extreme DJ Service

p lots of $. You'll notice another review complains about the same person I had challenges with, Hailey. When I initially reached out to Descanso Gardens about packages, scheduling a tour, everything was great, everything as smooth. After we toured the venue, it went downhill. My fiance and I wanted to do our ceremony at their beautiful Oak Grove, but our reception elsewhere. We were ready to sign a contract. We had been in contact with Hailey and she informed us that she could not book anything without a catering component, and advised that we could host cocktail hour since there would be no reception. That was fine by us, so we asked for the Food and Beverage minimum and she advised us to reach out to Patina catering. I reached out to Patina and they responded that "We are working on new wedding packages, menus and food & beverage minimum. I certainly do not want to confuse you and would appreciate if we could hold until the end of September to give you the right information." It was August 30th and I'm being told I need to wait an entire month before I could get this information? I think we all know how precious 1 month of time is when it comes to trying to plan and book wedding stuff. Anyway, I reached out to Hailey and informed her of the response I received from Patina and she never responded. Also, I had asked for availability for August-October and she replied with July and August dates, which did not answer my question. After the non-response and runaround, I told my fiance to deal with it, so he called Hailey and left a message. Nothing. I remembered I had received an email from another coordinator there, Joan, before she connected me with Hailey, so we called her and she answered! Joan advised us there was no requirement to do cocktail hour, and was also able to give us availability for the months we were looking for. Although it's a beautiful and affordable venue, there are many other options. There were a few times, I had to initiate and follow up because I didn't get the answers to my questions. The confusion with the food and beverage requirements, the lack of response - these were enough to deter me from booking this venue.