The Orange Hill Restaurant

Orange Hill was a great venue! We heard from several of our guests that the s’more station was awesome! We were a little concerned about the bar being outside but that only increased the reception space and gave our guests somewhere else to mingle. It also gave our guests a place to enjoy the beautiful view.

Pros: -- We had a relatively small and intimate wedding, and our top requirements were good food and an open bar. The food was delicious (filet, salmon, and the ravioli for our vegetarians), and the drinks were flowing all night. -- The restaurant is really lovely and has a nice rustic aesthetic without feeling too stuffy or like a cabin in the woods. We got the bigger ballroom which had floor to ceiling windows all around. The view at sunset was amazing! -- Choosing linens and cake was a breeze. The basic cake at Patty's is included for the price and no matter what it'll be tasty. We ended up spending around $60 to upgrade to fancier icing decor, but it still would've been delicious if we hadn't. -- Cindy and her assistant Rudy were easy to work with and were very good about answering all the questions we had. They made very helpful suggestions when we were picking out our entrees and our linens and we were glad for the guidance! --Bridal suite was very useful to keep extra shoes and items in, though I wish they'd either leave it unlocked or give the bride a copy of the key because we locked ourselves out for a bit and it took a couple of tries to finally get someone to unlock it. The day wasn't without its hiccups though: -- Would recommend either hiring a coordinator though or appointing someone as your wedding manager. Venue tried to say that we were over a few people on the day of (something about a few extra place settings, though I had sent over exact counts for each table so there wouldn't be any empty seats set up), and my MIL ended up fixing the issue and filling me in a few days after. -- Linens weren't set up at 3 which meant table decor was a little delayed when our parents were trying to hustle so they could make it to the ceremony at 4 in a different location. My other MIL had to step in here to fix things as well. -- The bar was supposed to be set up inside rather than outside, so the DJ had to do some wrangling to keep people around for the big events. But, it was nice to see that the patio got some usage. Overall, if I had to do it again, I would still pick Orange Hill despite the few wrinkles, but I would highly recommend hiring a coordinator (or having two go-getter MILs in my case) to help things go smoothly. If they had an in-house DOC, I would've thrown my money at them.

I worked with the coordinator who was very helpful and quick to respond to to all my emails, but the service on the wedding day was awful (the restaurant coordinator is not present during the wedding, you have to hire a day of coordinator on your own). I wanted guests to be served right away after the first dance, and we ended up waiting over an hour for cold food with almost no sides. Dinner being served so late completely ruined my schedule. We sat there just waiting and waiting for cold food and then had to rush father/bride, groom/mother dance, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss, when we had planned some dancing and space between each but had to get them done before the photographer left. It pained me to see my guests just waiting for food and I was getting restless as I just wanted to eat and have the party start. While waiting for dinner no one was served wine even though it was part of the package (they did eventually when I complained), and no one got water and two tables never got cake, one being the table with my immediate family. There was another wedding going on in the smaller room which was the excuse I was given, but my wedding had less than 60 people and as they are a restaurant I would expect better service. Also, they tell you its all inclusive for 10k, but you will later get a bill for over 5k for service and gratuity, but when I left the wedding the staff said that does not include any tips for them or extra pay, so I'm not sure what that bill is for. If you want a great view this is your place, but if you want your wedding to go somewhat as planned (there will always be bumps, but this was unacceptable) and good service, avoid this place. Thankfully I had my ceremony at a different location.

Orangehill restaurant was the best venue we could ever ask for. They were within our budget and had the most amazing view of Orange County. Also to mention my wedding coordinator Elena went above and beyond to make sure our day was perfect. I'm so happy we chose to celebrate our wedding there.