The Gardens at Heather Farm

e to COVID. In the months leading up to the wedding, we emailed with Natalie Dilibero, the Operations Assistant, and she was just so quick, compassionate, and sweet. If you're seeing this, Natalie, we appreciate you so much! There are the most roses in May but the Gardens was gorgeous in early July, with many, many roses in bloom, making for truly incredible photos. We did get our florist (Sweetness & Light) to make ground arrangements for the gazebo to add more color to the ceremony area and think it was a great decision! However, it's also beautiful without decoration. There are also PLENTY of other gorgeous plants throughout the Garden. The terrace area is mostly shaded and perfect for cocktail hour. I appreciate how the flow from the ceremony site to the terrace to the indoor hall is straightforward. The indoor reception hall, Camellia Hall, is also great with minimal decoration. We love the big windows and the high ceiling, and personally thought adding string lights were just enough. But many couples seem to add draping and other lighting. The point is that the space is classy on its own, and is versatile so it can be dressed up as much as one chooses. The hall has AC, but we decided to turn it off and have the doors and windows open later in the reception for more ventilation (unfortunately only a couple windows open, but there are doors on all sides of the hall), and it didn't feel too hot. Additionally, the rates are reasonable, there is ample parking, and you get to support a non-profit, educational garden. The day-of staff were cool with masking during the wedding and testing before (we dropped off rapid tests the day before the wedding). What is not to love?

or a September 2023 wedding and were not informed of any damages until almost March 2023. The options the venue offered were a refund, move your date into 2024, or host your event outside with an early curfew, no provided tables and chairs, and a couple luxury porta potties as the only bathroom options. Do not trust this venue with your special day

gatives (below), we would highly recommend this place. The negatives: working with GHF was overall very challenging. After we booked the venue and paid our deposit, they informed us that the indoor space would not be available for our reception due to pipe burst, so we had to scramble to find a new venue for the reception. Of course, the pipe burst was unforeseen and we appreciate the challenges that it created for them; however, it is what happened after that really gave us a negative opinion. They said they could re-book us for June-July 2023 because they would 100% be done with repairs by then. We later learned that they have not even started repairs in Feb 2023! The pipe burst happened in September 2022! They repeatedly kept telling us that the whole building is completely ruined due to the flood and there is not even the smallest broom closet that they could lend to us for a few hours for a bridal getting-ready room. Instead they kindly offered us a dingy-looking outdoor camping tent that we could use to our heart’s desire in 40-degree weather. However, the day of the wedding, we saw people working in their offices as normal inside the building! GHF has a flabbergasting chair policy. According to their contract, they can refuse to set up their outdoor chairs if the conditions are “wet”. Already this is a weird stipulation since they just have regular run-of-the-mill wooden chairs, not anything remotely fancy. But the real kicker is that apparently they get to make the call about what is considered “wet”, and their definition is apparently “if it rained even a tiny bit a day before and is not actually raining during the ceremony”. Nowhere in the contract is this actually spelled out. They left us scrambling to find another chair vendor (who luckily did not have issues putting their chairs in the rain). They then refused to set up these RENTED chairs despite the fact that they are identical to the chairs that they would have put out themselves had it not rained the night before. Again, this detail was not in the contract. In the end, this resulted in us spending a very large sum to rent and set up chairs despite the fact that it was not actually raining during the ceremony or for several hours prior. Due to these circumstances, we would not recommend GHF for a wedding in the near future.

for the ceremony + photographs. We rented the venue for 4 hours and it was cheaper than other venues in our area.

nding to any questions we had. My husband and I along with our guests. felt very safe with their Covid guidelines As luck would have it our new wedding date was the Sunday of intense rain so all of our outdoors planned had to be scrapped and everything moved inside. The venue was helpful with making suggestions about the ceremony and where things could be placed in regards to decor. A big thanks to the venue for being such a big part of our day!

ll review each separately. Catering: Elegant Occasions Martinez !!! (Hands down best) Chairs/lighting etc: Joe Squared (he has everything and chairs least expensive) Photo and video and booth: Keith Lynds (he does all three!) Band: California Groove San Jose Coordinators: Event Designs by Rayna Cake: Karen Delbonta @ Le Gateau Elegant Band: CA Groove from San Jose Thanks to Rebecca who is in charge at the venue. Thanks for dealing with all my questions! It was a very memorable day indeed I think especially since after three date changes it finally happened. And all these vendors were beyond our expectations! Go with Marie’s list and you’ll be very happy! Lol I’m Marie.

nice indoor space for the evening. The view of the park and water is really nice. Cons: We knew this going in, but there is a large park next door. We rented out the large picnic area to try to decrease noice, but there were large parties going on during the wedding so people were watching the wedding (totally fine with us!) and there was some music playing that I could hear during the ceremony. It is a community garden so not everything was perfectly groomed, but still lovely. My largest complaint is how strict this location is. They only provide the venue but have a lot of rules (no throwing things on the grounds, no dropping things off early/late, specific times people are allowed in the garden area, specific caterer list) which we knew ahead of time so we made it all work. We got married amongst COVID which threw a wrench in a lot of things, but it was frustrating having to fight with the venue (Rebecca) on a rules once we got close to the date. California already had some of the most strict rules of any state (we provided proof to the venue that every single guest was fully vaccinated or tested), and then the venue was adding on their own additional protocols to "discourage onlookers from being suspect that our event activities are risky"....Rebecca was otherwise great to work with, but once it came to COVID guidelines it felt like I was fighting to have the wedding we had paid to have, and she did not feel very warm on the day of the wedding either. Which is less than ideal when she had to check every guest in. COVID was a stressful time though, so I am sure the majority of my issues will not be a problem in the future. Overall, I am glad we chose this venue for our wedding and as long as you can be flexible, it is a beautiful place to get married!

esponsive via email to all our questions about venue specifications and vendor recommendations. GHF is a very beautiful, natural venue; but the best time to be at the gardens is definitely when all the roses have started blooming in the Spring/Summer. If you’re looking for a venue that has very romantic, simple, natural, garden vibes— this is the place to book. They are one of the most affordable venues in the bay area that has a space for an outdoor ceremony, a cocktail hour, and an indoor reception. The reception area is also just a beautiful canvas to DIY decorations-wise. And if choosing to do the ceremony in the gazebo area— you can definitely save on ceremony flowers when the roses are in bloom! When COVID hit, due to the lockdown, we had to postpone/cancel our big wedding. After rescheduling twice, we were finally able to have an intimate outdoor ceremony there a year later from the original date, and we’re just so grateful that GHF was flexible at the time and able to accommodate us. On the day of, our attendant Lauren made sure we had everything we need, made sure no one else that was not there for the wedding was lingering in the gardens for our ceremony, and was just so professional and easy to work with that day. I’m also so so glad we were also around for when all the flowers were finally in bloom. Thank you again Rebecca and team!

waited as much as we could to see if we would be able to have our wedding safely and ultimately decided in September to reduce it down to ceremony only. Rebecca checked in with us and gave us options to rebook/or adjust down to ceremony only and they refunded us for adjusting down to ceremony only as well which was very kind of them. The Gardens are absolutely gorgeous and the roses were in full bloom even in early November during our ceremony. They close down the Gardens for their events so we had it all to ourselves. It was peaceful and beautiful and we got so many compliments on the ceremony. They are particular about time as well as no bird seeds / petals etc if that matters to you. We ended up booking a 4 hour ceremony slot to accomodate decorating and setup. The Reception room is plain but rustic- a DIY/creative's dream space which is what I was really looking forward to so I'm a little sad we weren't able to utilize it. So much potential ! They also gave us an hour the day before to have a rehearsal. I wish the coordination there was a tad bit better because we seemed to have overlapped some of the time with another party but not a terrible big deal. For the price and location you can't beat the Gardens especially if your guest count is more intimate. I honestly would love to have other events here and cannot recommend them more. They book up quick so definitely head over to their website and check their calendar of events. seriously ...get married here !

le without her and the gardens staff. We are so happy we ended up having our ceremony here. So beautiful and peaceful. I would recommend this venue to anyone!!

anymore because the pictures of this place online were all pretty. Me and my fiancé immediately went there the next day and we knew from that very moment that this is going to be the place our wedding will take place. The ambiance was very romantic and serene which are perfect for our wedding. Rebecca helped us and toured us around the place and she was very helpful and knowledgeable. She was suggesting a lot of things which gave us ideas on what we should do on our wedding day. We Did our ceremony at the gazebo and the reception at the Camella hall. Our guests were all saying that our venue was so beautiful which proves that we made the right choice. We love the Gardens and we highly recommend it!

thing gets delivered to the venue and that you have a day of coordinator to help with the setup. It has both an indoor and outdoor option, beautiful photo spots. Great for children and families. They are professional and responsive and punctual. Great recommendations and excellent customer service! We got so many compliments on how amazing the venue was. There is a library/meeting room that can be used as a dressing room.

rest of your lives together. We didn’t live in Walnut Creek when we booked the venue and Rebecca spoke to us on the phone for about an hour easing any concern and answering every question we had with kindness and care. She was so on top of communication and every detail we hadn’t considered. She even recommended a phenomenal florist for us (Sweetness and Light), based on my personality, who we simply adored.. The Gardens at Heather Farms is one of the most stunning places I have ever seen, with an exceptional staff, and a gorgeous venue, this is hands down one of the best affordable and elegant Bay Area finds. Book now, while there is still space available.

ound our caterer through their recommendation. We had about 90 guests, and we fit pretty comfortably, with enough room for a dance space. I really wouldn't recommend any more than 100 people for a wedding here. Additionally, the space is very private, and the time you are given within the space is very reasonable to hold an event. However, they do have a strict 12am out time. Or you get charged. It can make you feel rather rushed by having to clean up in the end.

n everything was in bloom. We worked with Kelly from the start, and she was super helpful answering our questions, showing us photos from different seasons, and suggesting vendors. Both she and Rebecca were extremely prompt answering emails and made the whole process much easier. We picked a lot of vendors from their suggested list and I'd definitely recommend doing the same; the caterer, DJ, and decoration company knew the venue so well and worked seamlessly together. The gazebo and rose garden are really lovely for the ceremony and photos, and it was wonderful having a cocktail hour on the patio before moving up to dinner in the reception room. The room looks a little bland on it's own, but I couldn't believe how it transformed once all the tables and decorations were set up. It's sort of like a blank canvas, so you can dress the room up however you like. Planning a wedding can be stressful, but I feel like ours was much easier than it could have been, in large part thanks to the venue we chose.

olutely wonderful.

Farm is gorgeously kept and maintained, the flowers were out of this world (I was worried May blooms wouldn't look as nice as earlier in the spring but that was not the case) and every single one of our guests commented how beautiful our venue was. There were so many hideaways and spots for gorgeous wedding photos. As far as logistics go, everything was spelled out very clearly from the get go and there were no surprises.

windows and high ceilings. It easily fit our 109 guests and had enough dance floor space for EVERYONE to dance! It was a perfect place to get married :)

can look kind of like a multipurpose room. The vendor they let us use to drape the ceiling made a huge difference. Heather Farm let us split the cost of taking down the pictures with the couple that were married the day before us. I agreed to do it before really looking at the pictures, and in hindsight I would have left them up. They are very my style, but I don't think most people would want to leave them up. There is a randomly shaped set of cubbies above the gift table, so be sure to take note of the measurements when planning your decorations! The small staff that runs the garden was helpful and replied to my questions promptly. This is not a full service venue, and since I didn't have a wedding planner, I had a lot of questions. There was one issue on the day of event- David, the guy employed by HF to set up, was not scheduled to arrive early enough for our rental time, and the DJ and caterer were left waiting outside. As soon as the venue was unlocked, David and the rest of the vendors kicked into high gear. Everything was set up on time, our guests never knew. HF refunded the money I had paid for an extra hour without any fuss. This was an unfortunate hiccup, but the way they handled it left me without much to complain about. Overall, I loved the blooming flowers in the gardens and was very happy with my wedding.

ace. I got many compliments from our guests that we picked a beautiful place. Our attendant at the wedding was great. He was very accomidating and helpful when we needed something done. I highly recommend this place!

ate. Which caused nothing but headaches and chaos the day of, when family and friends, who should of been getting ready and enjoying the day, were setting up the venue and delivering everything needed for the night. We even had extra costs for chairs etc that were considered a "late pickups" because the venue wouldn't let us leave anything until the next morning.

spice it up and make it your own. The big windows and exposed beams provide for a beautiful canvas! The Pros- - Price! For the Bay Area this is an amazing value for a venue. You have a lot of flexibility with vendors on their lists, and it is really a bare canvas. - Location- easily accessible, lots of parking, easy enough to find. - Scenery- gorgeous garden setting. - Staff is easy to communicate with and very responsive. I never had any problem getting ahold of either Tracey or Tyler. - they provide and set up any tables you might need, as well as chairs (if you want to use their ugly ones- see con below). Cons: - They are very particular and have their rules. The one I was frustrated with is that you can't use the white folding chairs used for the ceremony for the reception, because they won't allow them to be around food. The chairs they provided for the reception are hideous conference chairs that look like they're straight out of the '80s, so we had to pay $500 to rent the exact same chairs they provided us for the ceremony to use at the reception. You also can't use birdseed, flower petals, etc, which is frustrating to some, but it seems like most outdoor venues have these rules. Overall I would definitely recommend this venue! Our wedding was 2 weeks ago and we already got our deposit back in the mail.