The Mountain Terrace

on video call with Kim, where she showed us layout options for the venue. Her disposition was monochromatic (smiling with her mouth, but not her eyes), especially when congratulating us. It felt very forced. But I figured she just had a long day; no problem. We communicated during the initial contact as well as during the video call, that our guinea pigs and bunnies are like family to us. As such, we want them to be present at the wedding. When we followed up on this, we were told how people usually hire sitters or put them in crates. I asked about their comfort with at least having them on the lawn area during the ceremony, as they weren't allowed anywhere else - even in the home rental. She repeated her statement about sitters and crates. I saw the most enthusiasm from her while discussing the pricing. She suggested the premium drink package and home rental (with a strict "no pet" policy). After we explicitly stated our pets travel with us, our needs were clearly not being considered. So we naturally declined the rental for ourselves, but mentioned the home would be great for our grandma, who has accessibility needs( she is in her late 90's). Upon arriving for the tour, we followed the signs past the front and through the back fence to the venue. Lovely area with the redwoods in the background. We weren't a fan of the fake golf-grounds grass down the walkway, but the fire pit area and swing were cute. Unfortunately, the interpersonal experience was equally off-putting with Anastasia. From the time we arrived to when we left, we did not get the impression that we were welcome. I had to initiate a handshake, a basic greeting and form of respect, which was met with a visible pause and the same forced, disingenuous expression as Kim. While we love that there would be a coordinator (I believe in the $2k range at the time I am writing this), as well as a provided list of vendors, we weren't a fan of how long we would have access to the site itself. They claim use for 8 hours, however there's only 5 hours available for the ceremony. 2 hours are used prior to the ceremony for the setup, and an hour near the end is used for the take down. We were told we didn't have to leave immediately at the end, but there isn't much reason to stay once the takedown starts at 9/10pm without food or seating. There's a $1k + labor charge for each additional hour. She showed us around and left us with some albums inside to look through for inspiration, as well as time to walk the lot. She mentioned there was an onsite house rental, but didn't show us the house. There was clearly no communication or consideration between team members regarding my grandmother’s accessibility needs. More concerning was the lack of diversity in their marketing; out of the several albums of couples with their families and friends on their special day, we found only one person of color, who was a guest. As a couple looking to see ourselves reflected in a venue's history, this was a major red flag. The most telling moment happened as we left. After reaching my car, I realized I forgot my water bottle and stepped back inside, only to find the heater on and music playing. When I returned to the lot, I saw another couple arriving for a tour. We were never offered music or heating at any point. The couple was Caucasian, which shouldn't matter in an ideal world, but it did. It was a stark, painful contrast that confirmed we simply weren't given the "welcome treatment". To note, it was only under a half an hour from when we arrived. While the venue was pretty, it was clear that we weren't welcome; we clearly are not their ideal clients. If you are looking for a venue that considers your approaching 100 grandparent, works with people of color, and offers basic, genuine hospitality, I would suggest looking elsewhere.