Sparks Ranch Resort

We initially decided to have our wedding at SRR because the owner, Valerie, claimed she was flexible ("that day is yours, honey, you do as you want!"), promised many connections to local vendors, and promised we could have people camping and staying onsite for the whole weekend, which was the most important part of the weekend for us. These things could not be farther from the truth. She was not at all flexible when we wanted to deviate from any of HER plans. When we asked if we could have the ceremony in the back, "Absolutely not". When we told her we envisioned a more casual Friday dinner with ~100 people vs. a more traditional rehearsal dinner for ~20, she grudgingly obliged, not without first opining in a demeaning and disrespectful manner. She stated that we were over the allotted "person-hours" on the property, though there is no mention of that in the contract (and we were under the 150 person limit). She is full of empty promises; she made no introductions to local vendors; in fact, vendors often warned us against Valerie. Once, I asked for details about the "complementary" brunch that was in the contract we signed, and she asked me if I knew what complementary meant and then proceeded to tell me it meant she was giving something to me for free, and could therefore also take it away, which she was doing. Though the contract states there is "plenty of 5th wheel parking" and we discussed tent camping ad nauseum with her (and have proof of discussing it with her 6 months prior to the wedding...though she will claim otherwise), she eventually restricted all camping, breaching the contract. In one of our conversations, she mentioned SRR was no place for "dirty Santa Cruz hippies, though you know how I love them", which left me in tears. She has refused to return our deposit, so we are in the process of taking our time-stamped notes from calls with her, voice recordings (that we ensured she was aware of), and our signed contract to sue her for breach of contract.

Where to even start… the owner is extremely rude and disrespectful. I called to simply ask her pricing, since none was listed on the website, and instead of telling me she starts on this 20 minute talk about amenities, rooms, how much she parties etc. I indulge in the conversation, as to not be rude. Finally she asks me my budget and I tell her I only want a ceremony no reception and less than 2k. (We are spending over 15k on our honeymoon and want a simple wedding) so as I say this she laughs and tells me how that won’t get me nothing but a barn and a parking lot then continues to laugh. I didn’t want to be confrontational so I explained how I have called 3 different beautiful venues that do ceremonies for less than 2k. She proceeded to laugh and say how she is sure they can not keep their lights on with that price. I was shocked and honestly didn’t have any words to say at that point. I’ve never been so disrespected in my life. She then tells me her ‘people’ would never go somewhere like that and that 15k was a great price for a wedding in this little town. I just hung up. Needless to say only go here if you are super wealthy l, otherwise you will be treated like a peasant.

I attended a wedding in 2019 and it was absolutely the most amazing wedding I’ve ever been to. The property is gorgeous. I would love to have my wedding here.