“The Mountain Terrace is the perfect wedding venue for couples who love nature and redwood forests. As a wedding photographer who specializes in redwood weddings, I have recommended this venue to many couples. Working with Kristy and the Mountain Terrace team is a dream. Their communication throughout the planning process is organized, clear, and concise, making it easy to coordinate all the details. The venue itself is stunning with gorgeous views of the peninsula and an on-site redwood grove tucked in the mountains. The catering is delicious and top-notch, while having all the celebration amenities in one location makes throwing the wedding party a breeze. I would highly recommend The Mountain Terrace to any couples looking for a beautiful outdoor wedding location in the Bay Area.”

“We held our wedding reception at Saratoga Springs in the Cathedral Grove region of the venue on a Saturday in October. After visiting them for a walkthrough, we booked this venue about a year and a few months in advance. This was the first venue we visited and we fell in love! We felt a great family-like vibe from the staff, starting with Jennifer who coordinated our initial booking and tour. Throughout our time preparing for this event, Olivia and Sam were extraordinary in their communication, response time, and knowledge of these events. They did a wonderful job in helping us understand what we needed vs. what we wanted and good decisions to make. They never tried to upsell us on more expensive options, always letting us know the best value for what we wanted. Throughout this process, we knew we had made the right choice in terms of staff. Scenically, Saratoga Springs is stunning! An outdoor venue with several different species of large trees like oaks and redwoods, many small creeks that run through and around the venue, and several amenities included such as lights that wrap around the trees, a firepit, and artificial turf that you can actually wear high heels on! We were in love with the scenery immediately because our reception was LOTR/Legend of Zelda themed and this was perfect for us. Throughout the actual event, the Saratoga Springs staff was excellent. They assisted us and our own day of wedding coordinators in running the event and making sure we had everything that they could provide. Our reception was during a brutal heat wave in the Bay Area, but Cathedral Grove had so many large trees that the shade they provided meant the floor never got hot and it felt more like 75 degrees which was SO essential for the comfort of ourselves and our guests. Everything was great, and we give the venue and their staff a 10/10. There was one glaring issue we want to address. The DJ we booked, Paul Dominguez, was a very nice man. He seemed to be on top of it, being in constant communication with us leading up to the event. We felt that he was going to do a great job. Yet, when it came time for the event, he made SEVERAL mistakes in what we asked him to do that we felt the need to address this situation and performance. He is part of the approved vendor list for DJs but we honestly feel Saratoga Springs needs to either reevaluate him or discuss this with him because literally everything else about the night was perfect for us, except him. Again, he is a nice guy and even provided cold sparklers for us for free which we really appreciated, but the lack of attention to detail in several aspects of this night was something we felt we needed to address here. Overall, Saratoga Springs is an excellent venue choice for a big event like a wedding/reception and we are happy to recommend anyone looking for a venue. We had an amazing experience for our reception and we are very satisfied with the staff and scenery of this venue.”

“We had our wedding at Hakone in June 2023. We booked the venue early out (Sep 2021) and have had an extremely positive experience from planning up to our wedding day. The site: Beautiful space for what we needed (120 guests). Guests, including kids, loved experiencing the garden before and after the ceremony. There is a variety of areas/backdrops for photographer to take portraits. Amenities: Their "base" rental includes most essentials - tables, chairs, dance floor, and basic sound system. It is one of the few places we could find in the bay area that allows BYO alcohol which is typically more cost-efficient than an alcohol package from caterer. The only "con" is due to being in a residential area, dancing/loud music has to be wrapped up fairly early. Service: Although the venue does not technically come with a formal planner/coordinator, we felt taken care of by Tony and Melia every step of the way. After booking, they willingly allowed us to come back for 2-3 additional tours and answered our emails promptly. They even coordinated rehearsal and allowed us to drop off decor items/alcohol on the rehearsal day. We did not hire a planner/day-of coordinator (just had family friends help out) and yet we felt completely taken care of. On our wedding day, Melia ensured our ceremony started on time and directing the procession. She even stayed until the end of reception. Most of our vendors had worked at Hakone before which made the day even more seamless. After the wedding, we promptly received our deposit.”