About this vendor
One of OVY Camp's main fundraising strategies is to rent out the property for weddings, retreats, reunions, and other non-profit organizations. By choosing OVY Camp and Event Center for your event, you are helping send hundreds of underserved youth to a high-quality summer camp program.This is a beautiful backdrop for all events. With lots of windows and a gorgeous fireplace, Scheid Hall has tables and benches for groups of all sizes (up to 200). OVY Camp and Event Center stretches over 100 acres of forests, creeks, and open spaces. There is an extensive network of trails that will bring you to cobblestone beaches alongside the creek, groves of majestic redwood trees, and to the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking San Gregorio Valley.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Indoor Event Space
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Handicap Accessible
Liability Insurance
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Settings
- Backyard
- Barn
- Beach
- Historic Venue
- Mountain
- Park
Venue Service Offerings
- Destination Weddings
- Rentals & Equipment
Awards and Affiliations
2023 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
4.7
out of 5.024 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
OVY is STUNNING. We just had our wedding in May and initially we were worried we may get unlucky with weather but the whole weekend was magical. OVY is a diy paradise! We step up e...
verything on Friday with the incredible support of our friends and family. We catered a food truck called 3 Hermanos Mexican Grill, it was delicious I will dream about those birria tacos and consome 🌮. Saturday, my family made an incredible brunch. We had about 70+ people staying at the venue so making sure food was well thought out was essential. Overall, we had a wedding guest total of just over 100. During the day on Saturday our guests played in the pool while we got ready in the lodge. My wife and I got ready in the lodge, it would have been nice to have two separate spaces to get ready (we were trying to keep everything a surprise), but we made the shared living room space work. Total we had 2 brides and 10 bridesmaids. We used California beauty co for hair and makeup. They were great and really did a fabulous job with a variety of different times of skin tones, textures, and hair densities. As two brides, I did often have to remind the coordinator, Megan, that we were two brides. It was also odd that she did not ask what we wanted regarding hair and makeup till 48 hours before the wedding.
We got married in the redwood grove and it was beyond our wildest imaginations. We set up several rows of benches for those that needed to sit and the rest of our guests stood. Joe, our point of contact at OVY, was super helpful! We kept the decor simple and it was perfect. We then had happy hour outside the hall and had our reception/dinner/dancing inside. We had a silent disco inside and all our guests loved it and it really helped cut costs as we made the playlists ourselves.
The fire pits and outside area really provided whatever kind of type B fun our guests wanted. We did snores and snacks for the late night dancing. Sunday morning we provided Trader Joe’s burritos to go. It worked easier and bought the perfect amount.
We used Chiara as our coordinator and she really helped us organize our ideas. She thought of everything and made sure all the puzzle pieces were in place. We were planning our wedding from out of state so her expertise was essential to the success of the weekend.
Overall, would book Camp OVY over and over again. The mission is incredible and make your own adventure style wedding was everything I hoped it would be.
What an amazing venue! It was absolutely everything we wanted! The location itself is BEAUTIFUL and being able to spend the night at our venue was a must for me. The allowance t...
o arrive Friday and leave Sunday meant we didn't have to worry about setup and pack up on our wedding day, and Saturday was just for good times and celebration! They provided us with a vendor list that helped me to find and coordinator and caterer who had worked with them before (the recommendations were fantastic). I feel so lucky to have found the perfect venue for my perfect day!
We just got married last week and had an amazing experience at OVY camp! Everyone there was super nice; Matthew was helpful in planning the wedding from out of state, and Joe was ...
great helping us the weekend of! Had about fifty guests, and I was extremely happy when Joe made it work where everyone could be seated at the platform redwood grove. Everyone seemed to enjoy the lawn games and bonefires for S'mores after dinner. We were able to accommodate our whole wedding party at the main cabin too so prep in the morning was easy. Great place for a wedding and to help support a wonderful cause!
OVY Camp provided a gorgeous setting and great camp amenities for celebrating our wedding with friends and family in May 2023. We highly recommend OVY for couples who want a DIY we...
dding in the redwoods!
My husband and I got married on a Saturday with a headcount of 165 guests, including 10 children. We invited guests to stay on-site and participate in camp activities from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, with 70-90 guests sleeping on-site between the three nights.
The venue is do-it-yourself, which gave us options for personalizing the weekend. We had our first look and group photos at the Redwood Grove, ceremony at the amphitheater, reception inside Scheid Hall, barbecue and craft afternoon at the BBQ area, and other meals at the gravel area outside Scheid Hall. The amphitheater provided a beautiful redwood backdrop for our ceremony, and every moment felt magical.
The official OVY recommendations of vendors were excellent. We ended up using OVY-recommended Chiara DeJoy for day-of coordinator, Kitchenina for catering, DJ Jezzy Rae from Heart of Gold DJs for DJ and emcee, and A Festive Affair for rentals of patio heaters and ceremony arch. For the Friday welcome dinner we used Vatos Tacos, a taco cart that another couple had used for their wedding weekend at OVY and recommended on Yelp--and they were great too! We found our photographer Stephanie Secrest through a friend, made our own wood flower arrangements instead of using a floral vendor, had Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert, and used San Mateo Catering Company for drop-off breakfast burritos on one of the days.
The lodging on site was ideal for a camping weekend. Most of the wedding party stayed at the Willow Glen Lodge, while guests stayed in cabins, tents, and camper vans. The cabins, shared bathrooms, and showers were very basic but we prepared guests for this and encouraged folks who wanted hotel-level amenities to stay at one of the Half Moon Bay hotels or an Airbnb or VRBO nearby. Guests who stayed on-site enjoyed camping with friends, waking up at the campground, taking hikes or walks during downtime, and not having to drive between locations on windy Highway 84. It created a fun community vibe for the weekend.
The success of the weekend was made possible by the camp / venue director, Matthew. He has been the director of OVY Camp for 10 years, during which he has grown the wedding business from about 2 weddings per year to 20 per year. The revenue from the weddings helps to pay for the youth summer camp.
Matthew is calm, thoughtful, a clear communicator, a logistical and coordination genius, an expert on every detail of his venue, a quick problem solver, and very kind. He was incredibly helpful throughout the process, from giving us a structure to organize our planning, to providing all of the facilities rules and capabilities, to offering excellent vendor recommendations, to helping us think through how we would use the space, to answering our endless questions, to being on-call, working closely with our coordinator, and helping with planned and unplanned venue logistics over the entire weekend.
When we had rain over on Friday and the wedding day, he helped our coordinator and us think through decisions about alternate plans (consulting five different weather forecasting apps!) and supported us in making those decisions. We ultimately moved the reception inside but kept the ceremony outside, and fortunately, the sun came out for the ceremony! Matthew's management helped make our weekend fun, beautiful, and a wonderful time to connect with guests.
OVY was the perfect place to celebrate our marriage with friends and family! It was everything we were hoping to have for our wedding weekend when we first started on the wedding journey.
OVY Camp was an awesome place to get married. It was storming on our wedding day but it went smoothly and was still an awesome experience! Throughout the planning process Matthew (...
who runs the venue) was helpful and communicated thoroughly. He was always quick to respond and open to chatting. The weekend of the wedding we were supported by another camp employee, Joe. He was great and went above and beyond to support us and our planner to make sure everything went well, even in the pouring rain. We were even able to do our welcome dinner and a farewell brunch on-site. I do recommend paying for the post event cleanup (an additional $750 currently for the entire property). We did not and that would have made Sunday WAY less stressful.
Lodging: I had many friends stay on-site in cabins and said they were cozy and warm even through the rain. They said some bathroom stalls were tiny but did not have any issues. They were able to stay comfortable Fri and Sat night! We also had a full lodge which was cozy and warm - a great place for family to hang and for the bride to get ready. For those who did not want to stay on-site, Half Moon Bay is close and guests had no issues coming and going to wedding events.
Reception Hall and Kitchen: So beautiful - our wedding was in December and as mentioned, happened to be during the wild rain we have been having recently. The hall was warm, comfortable and provided us with everything we needed throughout the cocktail hour and reception. The kitchen also had everything we needed and was fully stocked - your caterer will love it. My father in law also used it to cook brunch for those on site Sunday and it was easy to use and work with.
Ceremony: The only time it stopped raining was from 3:00-4:00pm, our ceremony time! (We had been PRAYING!) - We got married under the redwood grove and it was beautiful. Everyone loved it and we did too. Couldn't imagine a more magical place to get married than surrounded by your closest loved ones and giant Redwoods!
They also can provide games and other fun things like the pool. We did pay for games but due to the unfortunate weather we couldn't use them much. They would have been great otherwise!
All in all, I recommend OVY Camp for your wedding!
You can't do better than OVY for price, setting, and helpful staff. We got married in August 2022 at OVY Camp, and we are pinching ourselves because it was so perfect.
We wanted...
a wedding where we could invite the children of our guests, where we could stage all events outdoors due to COVID, and where the natural beauty of the place spoke to us and our guests. OVY Camp totally fulfilled these requirements.
We also got some amazing bonuses: the swimming pool, which added a great element of play to the event, festival-style camping so that our guests didn’t have to stay off-site (though some chose to, of course) and MATTHEW - he was incredibly helpful and friendly. He has important insight because they host so many weddings per year, so definitely take advantage of your walk throughs with him. He made things so much less stressful.
We loved having our wedding at OVY camp. We were looking for a place where we could do a lot of DIY, bring in our own alcohol, and have everyone on site all weekend and this fit th...
e bill. We were able to host all our younger guests in the cabins, the wedding party in the willowglen lodge, and the older relatives in a nearby hotel in Halfmoon Bay for the entire weekend. We drove ten minutes to do our first look on the cliffs overlooking the beach. Matthew was super responsive to all of our questions, had great recommendations, and made the process so easy! Matthew even went above and beyond and helped drive my grandma out to the ceremony site so she wouldn't have to walk all the way out there! The redwood grove was gorgeous for the ceremony and the main lodge was the perfect touch of rustic for our reception. We were able to have family members cooking all weekend in the industrial kitchen for a big brunch on Sunday and catered Friday and Saturday night. Would recommend OVY camp to anyone looking for an outdoorsy DIY wedding! Could not imagine our wedding anywhere else!!!
Our wedding was an absolute dream at OVY! We wanted an outdoor venue that we could bring our DIY spirit to. Matthew was amazing from the start with clear communication, lots of ven...
dor support, and day-of assistance. My family and friends that stayed on site over the wedding weekend loved their time at OVY as well. A perfect location for us, with redwoods, sunshine, and a perfect indoor hall for dinner and dancing.
My wife and I got married at OVY Camp, and we couldn’t have asked for a better wedding venue. OVY Camp offers an incredibly unique setup, granting you access to the beautiful site ...
from Friday morning through mid-day on Sunday for prices that were exceedingly reasonable. OVY boasts a breathtaking redwood grove (we used this for our ceremony), a scenic amphitheater with a fire pit (we brought a projector and hosted a movie night for friends and family on Friday night after our rehearsal dinner), a sprawling field for kid and adult-friendly activities and cocktail hour, as well as a gorgeous main hall for dinner and dancing.
The entire venue bristles with personality, but also invites you to make your wedding your own -- one of our favorite parts about OVY Camp was the DIY element of the wedding. OVY provides the venue (as well as a few other clutch accommodations, like tables and benches), and you supply the rest. Matthew Lyles, our primary point of contact, is an extremely helpful partner to you throughout the planning process and the big day -- and, while he’s definitely not your wedding planner, he was able to dispense invaluable tips to us that helped us to make our day beyond special. Watching the venue transform from a sunny and friendly kid’s camp (still super scenic) to an elegant and fully decorated wedding destination was truly unbelievable, and an experience my wife and I will cherish forever.
OVY Camp also offers on-site lodging in the form of cabins (very rustic, but a few of our guests stayed in the cabins and raved about the experience) and a nicer lodge. This unique concept enables you to offer guests a much more personal and intimate experience, and we loved it.
It seems like OVY is gaining in popularity, as it should! We received overwhelming positive feedback from our guests, and our expectations were exceeded tremendously. You can’t go wrong with OVY, and by choosing OVY, you also support a really meaningful cause. We are so grateful to have gotten married at OVY — our wedding journey was incredible from start to finish, and we couldn’t recommend OVY more highly.
My husband and I chose OVY as our wedding venue and it was the perfect setting to bring our dream redwood DIY wedding to life. We got married on March 19th, the only rainy day of t...
he month. The rain made the day even more magical than we could have ever envisioned. We are all about supporting local, so we knew this was the perfect spot for us.
There are so many incredible things about this place. First and foremost, the redwood grove where our ceremony took place was beyond stunning. Everything in the grove was so lush and green, making it the perfect color palette for our vision. Our guest were blown away by how beautiful the site was and it made our ceremony even more beautiful and intimate.
We loved the flexibility of the site, where you can get settled in on Friday and stay until Sunday. This allowed us to have our rehearsal dinner, bridal and groom wedding day preparations, and wedding ceremony/ reception-- all on site.
Lodging-- Guests can either stay in the 24 person lodge or cabins, which can extend the wedding day to an entire weekend celebration. We had a handful of our wedding party/ family stay and they loved the accessibility and accommodations on site (showers, trails, kitchen).
Matthew the director of the site, provided us with an excellent list of vendors who we ended up using for our special day. Matthew's professionalism, calm demeanor, speedy responsiveness and kindness made the weekend experience enjoyable and worry free!
Another feature of the site, was the rustic and charming dining hall where our reception took place. Tables and benches are included for use for the entire weekend. The hall was a large space, capable of fitting up to 200 people. We ended up having 130 people and managed to arrange our tables in a way that was comfortable and still had space to move around. The fireplace made the space feel so warm and cozy. Also, the conventional kitchen was massive-- allowing us to store everything we needed for the weekend and was the perfect space for set up for our cater.
One of the best things of the site, was that our proceeds from the venue went directly to helping to bring underserved youth to camp. We felt great that we could contribute to a wonderful cause on our wedding day!!
We have no regrets choosing OVY as our wedding venue and highly recommend others to do so for your special day!! If we could, we would give this experience and venue, 1000 stars!
OVY Camp & Event Center was the perfect venue for us. We are an "outdoorsy" couple, so a weekend in the woods camp wedding was what we were looking for, and OVY delivered. There's ...
a variety of nice areas to make use of, and we made sure to use them all throughout our October weekend. We had our rehearsal dinner on Friday up at the amphitheater, camp activities Saturday in the field + pool + BBQ area, our ceremony in the redwoods, and the reception in the main hall + under the bistro lights. The ceremony site is beautiful and serene, and tightly nestled in by majestic old growth trees. Being surrounded by nature during this special moment was important to us, and our guests were glad to experience it as well. The majority of our guests traveled in from out of town, so it was fantastic to have cabins to house them in (major perk). Everyone had a ton of fun, and the weekend definitely exceeded our expectations.
Matthew the venue manager was also really great to work with throughout our planning process. We postponed our wedding due to COVID-19 in 2020, so we worked with him for ~2.5 years (through the pandemic and all of the stress surrounding that). He's extremely accommodating and friendly, and was more than willing to help us out whenever we asked and always answered all of our questions to the fullest extent possible (we had a TON of questions). Matthew also made the day of our wedding so much less stressful. He was always around in the background helping to direct traffic and answer people's questions, moving trash bins and water coolers around, etc.
We definitely recommend OVY Camp and wouldn't have had our wedding weekend any other way.
1. Matthew is the venue coordinator. In the lead up, he was very responsive to all our emails. During the weekend, he handled everything that came up. We had an unexpected PG&E pre...
ventative power shut-off at 11am on the day of the wedding that lasted throughout the entire thing. Matthew got right on it, and somehow kept the lights on. He monitored the generators, helped get perishable items consolidated, worked with the vendors, and kept the DJ powered till the very end.
2. The cabins. I was worried that our guests may not be into the whole cabin thing, especially with the shared bathrooms. Some of guests weren't, and chose to sleep at home or get a hotel nearby. But a surprising number of our guests (of all ages) had fun cabin camping! Multiple people talked about how nice it was to disconnect a little and enjoy nature (but still have a bed to sleep on). We were super busy the whole weekend, but our guests enjoyed exploring Half Moon Bay, hiking around the venue, swimming in the pool, checking out the Teepees, etc. If you make clear to everyone it is a CAMPING wedding, I think guests know what they are up for, and will choose for themselves if staying over is their thing. (Even still, I did put some extra thought/stress into making sure people were comfortable and prepared for the cabins.)
3. The wedding. The kitchen is great. We used it for cooking as did our caterer, and it was a fantastic. There is tons of freezer and fridge space. We did the dinner and dancing all outside in the gravel area in front of the Main Hall because of covid. I'd definitely recommend putting in thought to make the gravel area feel festive and uncluttered. However, by the evening, you really could have done nothing, and the place would look nice with the bistro lights and fire pits. Also, people LOVED the fire pits. There were times when more people were hanging out at the fire pits than on the dance floor.
4. Other tips: I think a lot of OVY weddings are DIY heavy. We were too. The plus is that you can be! Not to mention, unlike other venues, you have until Sunday to leave, so even if you are DIY, you don't have to do any breakdown on the night of your wedding. However, DIY'ing a weekend is a whole different ball game than DIY'ing 4-10pm. So just be sure you have a VERY detailed game plan so you can get done what you need done and then get back to enjoying your guests.
5. Final thoughts: We were heavily debating eloping at city hall or doing a real wedding. We made the decision to do this route, despite all the extra work, so that we could share our celebration with our family. Camp OVY really made that possible. I had time to see EVERYONE. I think a lot of couple's big wedding regrets is it going too fast and not getting to spend time with all their guests. Because we had such a chill Friday night and Sunday morning, we had a ton of time to enjoy the company of everyone who showed up, in some cases from far away. Plus, the venue was empty. It was super late on Friday night, and I was walking up to the amphitheater by myself with a flashlight, and I realized, no other time in my life have I felt safe walking by myself that late at night. But at OVY, the only people there are your friends and family (plus a skunk, 3 deer, and an owl). This means you can just relax. You can set stuff up ahead of time and not worry about things getting stolen. You can let the flower girls wander around on their own. It's a great place for people to gather.
We first toured OVY for our wedding in September of 2018, and knew right away it was perfect - it was affordable, there was plenty of room for a large guest list, our guests could ...
all stay on site with us, we could use whatever vendors we wanted, and we could tailor our wedding weekend to be exactly as we wanted. To top it all off, OVY's Executive Director, Matthew, could not have possibly been more pleasant, accommodating, communicative, and easy to work with. We ended up postponing our May 2020 wedding due to Covid, and Matthew stayed in touch and remained enthusiastic about our event. We FINALLY had our wedding in Sept of 2021 and we are soooo happy we kept our original plans and saw our vision through to completion. Our guests, even those who were a little skeptical about the rustic nature of the venue, had a BLAST. We got to spend so much time with everyone since we had the venue for the full weekend. We used the fire pits each evening, we rented the pool on the wedding day, and the cabins were filled with our friends. The ceremony was held in the Redwood Grove which was pure magic - truly a perfect setting. We hosted the reception outdoors in front of Scheid Hall and it was dreamy with the Bistro Lights provided by OVY. Amplified music needs to end at 10pm, so we hosted a Silent Disco which was probably the highlight of the whole weekend. I would highly recommend if you know your guests will want to dance late into the night! Our wedding weekend could not have been more memorable or magical. Hosting at OVY was the best decision we made!!
Even in 2020 we could still have a memorable and festive wedding. My wife and I got married on Oct 31 at OVY. We initially booked OVY as our wedding venue in Oct of 2019 and we wer...
e super excited about having the full weekend of coast exploring, lawn games, hiking, dancing, cabin time and shared meals in the great hall. Once the pandemic settled in we realized our plans needed to change and I can’t express enough how transparent, communicative, honest, and helpful Matthew was during a confusing time. Matthew helped us re-envision our event to be in line with the current San Mateo County Public health guidance and restrictions. He worked with us to change our booking of the site to one magical day!
We were able to have an intimate and socially distanced outdoor ceremony in the redwood grove and picnic lunch in the bbq area, Also, we got great photos up by the oaks and down by the creek by @predophoto. OVY’s masking policy was clear and effectively communicated, the bathrooms were clean and the site was beautiful. We are excited to return to OVY for a full weekend of celebrations once we're out of the pandemic.
The OVY is a beautiful location, it had everything we wanted for our event. However we got stuck in a hard spot due to the COVID-19 shut down. We were unsure if we were going to ...
be able to host our event there. Matthew, the executive director, informed us about 4 months out we would have to pay the rest of our deposit and if the venue had to cancel we would be reimbursed the full amount. The other option was to walk away from our initial deposit. We chose to pay in full. Two months before our wedding we checked with Matthew about the status of our wedding. At the time he was unsure if we would be able to host our event, we asked for a 30 day notice so we could move to plan B for our wedding. Matthew refused and told us per the contract he has up to the day of the event to cancel. Well anyone planning a wedding knows you can’t plan a wedding overnight. We went back and fourth and fought with the entire organization and they gave us half the total cost back. If your the type of person that’s needs certainty when planning a event, I’d look elsewhere. The only reason I gave two stars is because it is a beautiful place, after our experience it has lost all its beauty in my eyes..
My fiancee and I were set to get married here in October and were very excited but once the pandemic hit things really went south with the venue. We didn't get any communication at...
all from the venue until we reached out and were really never given any reasonable options. The first time we talked they told us we could either hope it all works out and that they would only give us a refund if there was a shelter-in-place order still on that day or we could move our date but we would have to not only eat the deposit we had already paid but pay for the deposit for the new date. As a result we continued hoping the pandemic would calm down and we would be good for October. Knowing we owed the rest of our deposit 3 months in advance we reached out to the venue a bit before that asking what our options were. Still they refused to really show any understanding or flexibility. We could either once again hope it all worked out (they wouldn't even give us a discount if we couldn't use the inside space - saying that was our choice...even if public health guidelines prohibited it), cancel and eat the deposit, or postpone and have to pay the new 2021 rates, which would cost us $2500 more. So essentially they gave us the option to hope it all worked out, with zero assurances or protection, or pay them more money because of a global pandemic we obviously had zero control over. I understand the unfortunate circumstances the pandemic has put them in as well but they are unfairly putting all of the burden on the clients. We had 5 other friends who were supposed to get married this year who were able to postpone without penalty. None of them can believe what OVY did to us. We decided to cancel and cut our losses because we felt we had really no other good options. We were either forced to roll the dice even further with the health of our guests, as well as with our money, or pay them even more money to postpone because of a global pandemic. Needless to say I wouldn't book this venue unless you are confident nothing will go wrong...which is hard to know these days.
On top of this they tried to sell the ridiculous options they gave us as being especially generous multiple times. At one point they bragged of how their cancellation policy was better in the 2021 contract...which did not help us. They also claim that the cancellation policy in the 2020 contract which cited "acts of god" as a reason for a full refund, did not apply to our situation. They also said they would "do us a favor" and let us book a new date a little more than 3 months before the wedding yet were going to charge us $2500 more for a date next year. Part of the reason we chose this venue was because we supported the cause but were very disappointed to see that the venue was trying to capitalize on a pandemic to make more money off of their clients when we had already paid them thousands. So considering the uncertainty that still exists I would definitely suggest finding a venue that is flexible and accommodating, I know we certainly will.
We had our wedding at camp OVY and I am so glad we chose this venue. Most of the wedding venues we looked at were nice (beautiful country clubs or golf clubs), but something bother...
ed me about all of them. When we saw camp OVY, I realized what was bothering me: all the other places felt like "wedding venues"; like they were artificial. Camp OVY is the opposite; it is so natural and felt like our own special place, which is exactly what it was for the weekend. As soon as I saw the platform, I knew it was the place for us to get married. It was like something out of a dream.
The manager, Matthew, was super friendly and gave off such positive vibes. I felt that he genuinely cared about us and wanted to help make sure we had everything we needed, while being respectful of our privacy. I forgot he was there until we needed him, and then it seemed like he popped up out of thin air. While making our preparations, Matthew was very responsive and knowledgeable.
We were worried that it might be overcast or rainy, since our wedding was in November (November 16, 2019, since you asked), but we had fantastic weather, even though several of our guests told us that they drove through heavy fog to get there. It really does seem to be just inland enough to avoid that fog.
Best wedding weekend ever!
My wife and I had our big weekend at OVY Camp on August 16-18, 2019. It was everything we could have hoped for.
The very first time we visited OVY, we h...
ad a feeling it would be perfect for us. From the beautiful rustic dining hall to the ceremony site in the towering redwood grove, every aspect of the property spoke directly to us.
A few more things of note:
The site coordinator, Matthew, was responsive, helpful, and generally great to have around throughout the whole process.The venue can accommodate 100-150 overnight guests (BYOBlankets and pillows), so tons of money is saved on hotels, etc.
The accommodations are rustic yet picturesque, a perfect halfway point between full camping and "boujie" yoga retreat.
The "Lodge" was perfect for our older guests: 24 beds, 2 big bathrooms, and a full kitchen and living room gave them just the right level of comfort and privacy.
The full commercial kitchen at the dining hall (separate from the lodge) makes it really easy to coordinate affordable group meals for guests staying the whole weekend.Walk in fridge is perfect for storing food, beer, champagne, and florals!
The variety of settings and spaces offers basically infinite flexibility for planning: We didn't even officially use the amphitheater, for example, and barely utilized the BBQ area near the redwood grove. We might just have to plan another wedding ;).
The venue is literally 5 minutes from some of the most beautiful coastline in the country, perfect for photography.The venue itself has amazing photo settings as well.
There are several quaint little fishing towns within short drives that make for good exploring during free time. Pescadero and La Honda in particular are well worth checking out.
Saturday morning yoga under the oak trees at the teepee meadow was a huge hit, as was a couple of hours of pool time in the late morning.
The bride and I rented a camper trailer and parked it by the teepees for our accommodations, and it was absolutely perfect. Note that they allow only 2 camper trailers or RVs per weekend, and there are no sewer connections, so you have to pump elsewhere afterward. We had our water tanks full when we showed up, but I imagine we could have filled up there from a hose. (Check with Matthew on that)
All in all, it is pretty hard to explain what a great experience this was. We have been hearing ever since that it was "the best" or "the most fun" wedding ever from all our friends and family. OVY provided a perfect canvas for our big weekend, and the people we love painted a masterpiece. After dinner, we set up the band and a dance floor outside between the dining hall and the sports field and had the best dance party of all time. The bride crowd surfed. I bloodied my lip. It was PERFECT! (Crowd surfing and bloodied lips are completely optional, I'm told)
There was one minor hiccup on Saturday involving the plumbing at the bathroom near the dining hall, but Matthew was so on top of it, including ordering a backup port-a-potty if he couldn't fix it (which he did), that the bride didn't even know about it until I told her on Sunday. Matthew is on site full time during the events, and hence never far away if he's needed.
Before we left on Sunday, family and friends were already talking about a 10 year wedding camp reunion, or even a 1 year. I think it's gonna happen. We can't wait!
We had our wedding at OVY from September 13-15, 2019. It was absolutely our dream wedding. If I could give it 100 or 1,000 stars I would. Honestly, it was exactly what we wanted...
in every way.
When we started looking for a venue we wanted a beautiful location with a commercial kitchen (so my brother could handle all of the food), that had cabins as well as camping available. We knew we needed a large hall for meals and dancing, redwoods (if possible), and a field for games.
We wanted a blank slate to do all of our own decorations and call on our family and friends to help us throw a weekend long event that would feel intimate and allow us all to get in quality time with each other. We didn't want to be bogged down with too many rules or rigid formats as it was extremely important for us to plan the event organically. We had been searching for months, and were beginning to lose hope as people began telling us what we were seeking didn't exist.
Then we found OVY! We met Matthew and were immediately set completely at ease by him. Walking around the property with him we got more and more excited and overjoyed, so much so that by the end of the tour, we were ready to sign on the dotted line! We hadn't even considered the notion of finding a venue that would also be a charity. It just kept getting better.
As the planning process went on over the course of the next year Matthew was always an email or call away. The guy is incredible. He is simultaneously laid back and reassuring, while being completely capable and professional. We seriously were so thankful for him we were just about ready to have him marry us. If OVY gets 1,000 stars Mathew gets another 1,000 himself, not that you can really separate the two as he obviously meticulously cares for all aspects of the property and operation.
So much more to say, but seriously, if any of this sounds like your thing, do yourself a favor and go check it out!
All the best!
Daniel
This venue is truly one of a kind. During the process of finding our wedding venue we went through multiple different locations but the second I saw this place, I knew. Throughout ...
the process before the wedding the manager, Matthew, was beyond helpful. He was very responsive and made the whole process SO easy. We got the venue at 11am on Friday til 1pm on Sunday - most venues only allowed us 5hrs! For the cost of this place is very reasonable and there are very few restrictions, I would recommend this location to everyone I know that's looking to get married. The location itself is beautiful and once you get to put your own touch on it, it becomes even more beautiful. The venue is all DIY so if you aren't looking for that than this may not be the place for you, but why not do it yourself, then it's exactly what you want! The location provides tables, benches, fire-pits, lighting, serve ware and a gorgeous backdrop. For cell service, I had no issues and I don't believe any of my guests did either. (The main hall has WIFI if you have a carrier that doesn't get reception) Overall this was a great experience for my now husband and I, I don't and won't regret anything. OVY Camp & Event Center is truly such a special place that we will forever cherish.
My wife and I had our wedding at OVY over Labor Day weekend in 2019. Simply put, it was perfect. The venue is a kids’ summer camp, so it’s a little rustic, and pretty removed, wh...
ich was exactly what we were looking for. The only tough part was handling food and drinks, none of which are provided. But the venue more than makes up for this. It was great to have the place for multiple days, allowing us to have a big BBQ for friends and family the day before the wedding (turned taco party), and to have the on site cabins for more adventurous folks to stay in. We had plenty of people staying in the cabins and they had a great time.
Moreover, the venue is stunning. We had two ceremonies, one Indian and one western, and this venue was perfect for both. For the Indian ceremony, requiring more of a stage and requiring a place to have a small fire, we used the Amphitheater, which easily fit our ~150 guests (with room for more) and all the necessary parts of the ceremony. The Amphitheater was nicely shaded for the audience and not far from the main lodge area. For the western ceremony, we used the Redwood Grove in the late afternoon. The light filtering through the huge redwoods was absolutely perfect, there was, again, ample room for our guests, and there is an outlet and electrical system run out to the grove so our speakers and microphones were simple to run. We opted not to use the platform, instead standing in front of the small grove of three redwoods, and were very happy with it.
Finally, Matthew at OVY was wonderful to work with. He was a great resource as we were planning our events, and does a great job running the venue. It was a blast to meet and get to know him over the course of our wedding.
If you want something off the beaten path, and don’t mind a little extra legwork, OVY is an outstanding wedding venue and we can’t recommend it enough!
Matthew Lyles, the Executive Director of OVY Camp and our point person for our wedding venue, was a dream to work with. He answered all of our questions in a timely manner and ensu...
red we had everything we needed to make our wedding weekend memorable. The venue itself is unique in which we were able to rent it out the entire weekend and hosted a welcome luau, several pool party's, our wedding, and a brunch onsite the morning after our ceremony. Many of our guests opted to stay onsite in either the Willow Glen lodge, the cabins, or camping which was the catalyst for many special behind the scene memories such as an impromptu bond fire jam session. The venue itself it absolutely stunning with the redwood grove (where we held our ceremony) and the vast rolling hills of San Gregorio. It was such a special weekend and would absolutely recommend this venue to the Bohemian bride and rustic guests!!! My husband and I couldn't be more thrilled with how the entire weekend turned out.
OVY Camp is a dream location to get married for the couple looking for an outdoorsy, DIY-style wedding. The venue provides a blank canvas to set everything up just to your preferen...
ces while providing a scenic, lush setting with all the necessary infrastructure to throw an amazing reception along with a full weekend of activities. Matthew, the venue lead, is incredible to work with by providing all of the help, support, and guidance needed without ever imposing or causing any stress. He was patient with all of our questions and tour requests, including the endless list of questions from our parents as well :).
We lucked out with sunny weather in a particularly wet spring, and we were able to make the most of it with the variety of spaces OVY camp provides including a vast lawn for games during the day, fire pits for day and night time bonfires, the cabins and Willow Glen for comfortable accommodations for almost all our guests, the beautiful grove for a picture-perfect ceremony, and the well-equipped Hall for the reception and to dance the night away. In all, OVY Camp exceeded our expectations, wow-ed our guests, and even had our parents impressed - it’s such a magical place! We would absolutely recommend OVY to anyone dreaming of a camping-style, full-weekend of wedding fun.
I've been planning weddings at OVY for a couple years now and each time I book a client who has chosen this venue, I get a little extra excited. I've come to know and love Matthew,...
the guy who runs the place, as well as the ins and outs of this one-of-a-kind, magical place. OVY is the perfect place for the DIY bride. It's also a great place for a full out production. OVY really lends itself to any couple and provides a beautiful backdrop for those forest/campy/redwoodsy/lodgey wedding vibes. Looking forward to many many more events at OVY!
Contact
5360 La Honda Rd, San Gregorio, CA
