We had a 80-guest wedding here mid-December and we can't recommend this venue enough to anyone who is considering doing a cost-effective DIY wedding!! Rebecca Hart was so helpful and great to work with! I asked her so many questions, especially within a week or two of the wedding and she was so patient, kind, and detailed in answering each and every one of them! We rented the arts garden for the ceremony, and the 2/3 community hall and patio for the reception! We are so happy with the way everything turned out! We planned/ set up/ coordinated everything ourselves (other than food) with the help of family and friends so we saved a lot of money.
Some tips/ some things I had to figure out for myself:
- Make sure you give yourself ample time to set up if you are doing DIY!! You are paying for each area of the venue by hour, which includes decoration and cleanup time! Our wedding ceremony was 3:30-4 at the arts garden, and we gave ourselves from 1-5 to include decoration and cleanup time. Our cocktail hour and reception was 4-8 at the community hall and patio and we gave ourselves from 1-9 for decoration and cleanup. That was almost not enough time for decorating, and we needed a lot of help. So make sure when you are renting rooms, you are giving yourselves enough time for all the setup and make detailed plans about how you will be setting up. They do not allow any setup before your rental times and any cleanup after your rental times. Also, they only allow drop-offs the morning of.
- They provide many different types of tables! Be very clear and detailed about where you want each table. They have large round tables, 8' rectangular tables, sitting cocktail tables, tall cocktail tables, serpentine buffet tables, half round tables, and smaller round tables. They will have all the tables and chairs set up for you by your rental time! But they do not provide any linens so you have to figure that out!
- They provide the standard white ceremony chairs for a ceremony at the arts garden! However, you cannot use those indoors and cannot request for those chairs in the community hall. At the community hall, they only provide black conference chairs. We did not like how the black chairs looked so we rented chiavari chairs from a rental company for the community hall.
- You have access to the kitchen if you rent the community hall. If you only rent the arts garden for the whole wedding, you do not have access to the kitchen (which includes an ice machine, carafes, a sink, and refrigerator)!
- You have to find all your vendors! They do not offer any wedding packages and you are taking care of everything yourself! You are only renting out the space here and they provide just the tables and chairs.
- You must purchase special event insurance and you need a security guard(s) if you have alcohol involved. The center will guide you through this process.
- Because it's DIY, you can buy all your own alcohol and just hire a bartender. You save so much money compared to paying for a wedding package that includes an open bar! Plus you or guests can take it home afterwards!
- If you want to use candles at the community hall, you must get Brea fire department candle approval. You have to go to the Brea city fire department (very near the community center) and bring the different types of candles you'll be using so that they can test each of them.
- No sparklers allowed for send-offs
- Bring your own sound system for the community hall. They provide a speaker for the arts garden, but not for the community hall.
- If you live or work in Brea you get a great discount! Unfortunately we did not.
- If you want drapes around the hall, you need to rent them with a rental company. We decided not to drape the hall and thought it still looked nice.
- The plants and leaves around the arts garden and patio do not look the same in the winter compared to the spring/summer/fall. Be prepared for that if you have a wedding or event in the winter!
All in all, we are very happy with our wedding held here! Feel free to message me if any of you have any questions. read more