The Dream Inn, Where Your Wedding Dreams Come True
201 to 250 guests
Holds ceremonies and receptions
Shelby Getsla
MANAGER
Have you always dreamed of having your wedding on the beach with panoramic ocean views?
Dream Inn Santa Cruz is a full-service beachfront hotel wedding ceremony and reception venue located in Santa Cruz, California. We offer breathtaking views of Santa Cruz’s Boardwalk, historic wharf, scenic West Cliff drive, and the Monterey Bay. Begin your wedding day with your toes in the sand, then party the night away in our ballroom space with floor to ceiling windows and sweeping ocean views. The Dream Inn Santa Cruz pays tribute to its history with 1960's whimsical decor and relaxed seaside atmosphere. We offer rentals, catering, bartending, and wedding planning services on site to make your special day everything you have dreamed of!
Pricing details
Starting prices
Reception:
Contact for price
Ceremony:
$1,350
Bar services:
$35 per person
Catering:
Contact for price
Starting prices don't include service fees, taxes, gratuity, and rental fees. Guest count and seasonality may also affect prices.
Amenities + details
Amenities
Ceremony Area
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Ceremony Types
Civil Union
Commitment Ceremony
Elopement
Interfaith Ceremony
Non-Religious Ceremony
Religious Ceremony
Second Wedding
Vow Renewal Ceremony
Settings
Ballroom
Beach
Waterfront
Hotel
Restaurant
Venue Service Offerings
Bar & Drinks
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Destination Wedding Planning
Food & Catering
Planning
Destination Wedding Planning
Wedding Design
Rentals & Equipment
Service Staff
Any questions?
Meet the team
Shelby Getsla
Manager
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I'm Shelby Getsla, Wedding & Marketing Manager at the Dream Inn Santa Cruz. I have executed many weddings, social, and corporate events for clients over my many years at the Dream Inn. I love being a part of the couple's special day, and making sure that the planning process is stress-free and fun! I believe everyone should be able to plan their Dream wedding, and our dedicated staff will make sure it is flawless!
Reviews
4.9
out of 5.012 reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
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Kelsey J
5.0
8/18/2024
We stayed at the Dream Inn in June for our wedding night and had a wonderful experience. Before our stay the staff was kind enough to let us tour a couple of different rooms so that we could request the one with the ocean view that we wanted at the time of booking. Our parents arranged for decorations, gifts, and champagne to be delivered to the room before our arrival, and the staff did a great job setting everything up and were very kind and congratulatory on check-in. Our only regret is that we didn’t get to experience the many amenities of the hotel because we only stayed one night. Overall we loved the ocean views and retro vibe and are looking forward to returning for an anniversary!
Tiffany S
5.0
5/22/2019
We had our wedding ceremony down on Cowell’s beach and the reception in the ballroom at the Dream Inn. Katie & Chelsea did an awesome job coordinating everything. Totally my beach dream wedding come true. Everything was phenomenal! The food was amazing, the views from the ballroom were spectacular, the staff was very friendly, courteous, and completely accommodating. Our guests said that it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever attended.
Vendor response 05/22/2019
Thank you Tiffany for your review! I am so glad you were able to have your dream beach wed...
ding, you and Russell were great to work with! I wish you two the best in your future together and hope to see you back for your anniversary :)
And Congratulations!
Best,
Katie Hillenga
Any questions?
Susie R
5.0
11/09/2018
We absolutely loved our wedding at The Dream Inn! The venue was gorgeous and the staff was incredible both leading up to and the day of the event.
Let's start with the venue. We looked at a ton of venues. You are simply not going to find a more beautiful venue in Santa Cruz. All of our guests were raving about the views of the beach. There is floor to ceiling glass windows that give you a panorama view of the boardwalk, beach and ocean. Unreal. We were even able to slip out onto the beach during sunset to snap some photos in the sand.
If you book the Dream Inn, you'll have the chance to work with Katie. She's wonderful. You can skip hiring a wedding planner because Katie takes care of so much. She did an unbelievable job for us coordinating everything and providing creative input. It's pretty tough trying to figure out what vendors are really legit, but she was able to give us some honest recommendations on who to use and who to avoid. She worked with them all leading up to the event which took a ton of work off of our plate. She's incredibly organized and took care of every little detail on the day of. We just had to show up and the whole place was setup exactly how we had envisioned it.
Vendor response 11/09/2018
Thank you two for your kind review! I absolutely LOVED working with you two and helping ma...
ke your wedding vision come to life. I can't wait to see the rest of your wedding photos, and hope to see you both around the Dream Inn again sometime!
Wish you two the best!
Katie Hillenga
Leslie W
5.0
10/28/2018
Great place to get married! As soon as I saw pictures of the reception space and the views, I knew this was the place I was going to get married. Katie H. was so great to work with. I was very specific on my vision and what I wanted for the day, and my expectation were beyond met. All the staff were amazing and helpful and more than accommodating. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay the weekend, and so did our friends and family. Great place to say I do. Would 100% do it again.
Vendor response 10/30/2018
Thank you Leslie for your review! You and Jarrod were awesome to work with, it made planni...
ng with you so much fun!! I am so happy for the two of you, come visit again sometime !
Best,
Katie Hillenga
Dan R
5.0
9/14/2018
Katie Hillenga was our wedding coordinator at the Dream Inn. She is a total rockstar. I can’t even imagine how we would have done it without her. She was professional, polite, and unbelievably helpful with every little thing we needed. The venue itself was amazing as well with great food and the best view in all of Santa Cruz. Couldn’t more highly recommend having your wedding here.
Vendor response 09/14/2018
Thank you Dan and Kristen for your review! It was so much fun planning with the two of you...
and I loved being a part of your day! Wish you two the best :)
-Katie Hillenga
Amanda c
5.0
8/31/2015
We got married on Cowell Beach so we used the Dream Inn as our hotel. It's a very expensive place to stay but was nice too look out and see the beach! They brought us a nice card and some champagne and dessert on our wedding night and made a rose petal trail it was so romantic! Our families stayed at the Beach Front Inn and we were much more impressed by the amount of space they got for less money than we paid.
Gina M
5.0
12/27/2014
Fantastic venue! You can't beat the view! It took a week or so to get the first round of communication going (I was calling in July - busy season), but for an October wedding, so I needed to move fast. The initial options were all plated dinners, but because I was doing a Sunday wedding, they were able to accommodate our desire to have heavy appetizers instead. Had they booked the space for earlier in the day, we wouldn't have been able to set up at the time my florist and day-of coordinator needed to, but we were lucky to find out about a week in advance that the room was available in the morning.
The day before the wedding we met with Aurora and Noelle for lunch to talk about last-minute things buy honestly, everything was set. My day-of coordinator worked with Noelle to review timelines because the most recent updates were sent the day before (from me) and we wanted to all be on the same page.
The only thing I would have changed was to have the food come out MUCH faster. Our guests were standing at the entrance to the kitchen waiting to grab apps from the servers. We had enough food, it just wasn't coming out quick enough.
Aurora and Noelle decorated our room for us with rose petals and even went as far as to deliver a dessert we had mentioned at lunch the day before. It was truly amazing!
Dani A
5.0
9/09/2014
Reasonable pricing, excellent food, and the most courteous staff you will ever have the pleasure of working with. Not to mention the spectacular views of the ocean from where you will be eating your dinner.
Aurora was a dream to work with and made the whole planning process easy and actually fun. She was flexible and kind. If you are on a budget but still want the wedding of your dreams, the Dream Inn is your best bet.
Kristin Y
5.0
9/15/2013
Our wedding at the Dream Inn was fantastic! Aurora was a delight to work with. She accommodated my crazy grad school schedule, and when we did talk, she was always so warm and friendly. Once our reception started, I never worried about a thing. The room captain was always one step ahead, making sure everyone was taken care of. The event space itself is pretty standard, but the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the beach and Boardwalk are stunning, and ultimately what made us choose the venue. The food is incredible! I'm still getting compliments on it, and who ever remembers the food at a wedding? The guest rooms are awesome, and all with ocean views. There is nothing better than coming up to your room after a party and being greeted by the sound of the waves through your open windows. All in all, I could not have been happier with how our event went, and we are so glad we chose the Dream Inn!
Denise P
4.0
7/08/2013
My now husband and I visited The Dream Inn last year when looking for a wedding venue. It was very cool, hip, and young. The decor was mod and colorful-just like Santa Cruz itself! The banquet room was simple, a blank canvas for your wedding decor really... or not! The walls were all glass, making the beach and ocean views some of the prettiest I saw while in California. You can even see the boardwalk! The size was great for a small to medium wedding. But for us, the room was not special enough. That plus the lack of privacy- especially for beach photos- made us pass on this location. On the plus side, the service from the staff was outstanding! The woman who spoke with us was so friendly and genuine! She even gave us another locale as an option if we decided we wanted to go through the city and book an outdoor landmark just a few blocks away from the inn. And her local sushi restaurant recommendation was superb!!
Amanda C
5.0
11/02/2012
This venue is absolutely gorgeous. There are windows throughout the entire space which look out to the beach, wharf and boardwalk. The staff is great and Aurora, the on-site coordinator is the best out there.
Leah G
5.0
7/11/2010
We were on a tight budget so we were only able to have a 3 days honeymoon, and we had to stay local (within driving distance). We got married in Carmel, and after having our original honeymoon spot fall through (it was terrible) we decided to spend it at the Santa Cruz Dream Inn. We had stayed here before we got married a few times so we knew that we loved it, but this time it was so much more- it was so special. We got a free upgrade which was awesome. We spent our days by the pool or down by the beach, walked to restaurants on the pier and cruised the boardwalk. I'll never forget it.
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Shelby Getsla
MANAGER
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