If you want the ultimate CUSTOM wedding with all your favorite foods plus a talent show, Diamond Bar Center is your dream wedding venue come true!
There are many pros to having an event here: stunning hilltop views, hiking trails, plenty of free parking, grand ballroom with high ceilings, and a stage! DBC allows outside food and alcohol with proper documentation (catering permits, food receipts, certified bartenders, etc.) The grand ballroom accommodates up to 400+ guests, so this was the perfect venue for me. No fancy decorations were necessary because the architecture is already beautifully designed. If you know a Diamond Bar resident, they can help you book the venue at the discounted resident rate.
The only thing they didn't allow was a fog machine for the dance floor, but I could easily live without that!
The event coordinators are very friendly, and willing to provide a tour by appointment. I was also able to visit the venue multiple times without an appointment just to look around and familiarize myself with the venue (I visited in early afternoons, before any event was starting to set up).
The venue is in high demand, so my fiance and I booked the venue 16 months in advance for the next available Saturday. (It was worth the wait!) You also have to pay for the venue by the hour, so set-up and clean-up time is tight (you may want to consider adding extra time for clean-up).
DBC provides the tables, chairs, portable bar, dance floor, lighting for the dance floor and stage. They also have mics, speakers, and a projector. A handful of DBC staff will also be available during the event (to help with lighting, trash, etc). For an additional fee, I used the outside motor court and lawn area for cocktail hour and fun lawn games. I worked with DBC event staff to design the floor plan about two months in advance.
Hosting an event at DBC requires A LOT of planning and logistics. I had to plan and bring the tablecloths, silverware, glassware, centerpieces, hire waitstaff/bartenders, schedule food deliveries, etc. A day-of coordinator is a must as well. This wedding tested my planning skills, but it was worth having everything custom-designed. (Tip: Create a detailed logistics packet with contact numbers, detailed timeline, pictures, to everyone involved in the planning crew so that everyone knows the schedule. The more descriptive the details, the better the result!)
We only had one-hour to clean up. Friends and family all worked together to pack up everything in one hour. If I had to do it over again, I'd add an additional half-hour for cleaning.
Tip: Since we reserved a block of rooms at Ayres Suites Diamond Bar, I coordinated a free shuttle with Ayres for the leftover food and alcohol to be dropped off back at the hotel room.
Also, DBC allows floating candles (in 12" tall vases or less) and tealight candles only. I already purchased 16" cylinder vases before knowing the size limit, so my 16" vases had no floating candles (which still looked beautiful).
In the end, my custom-designed wedding had all my favorite foods from SIX different caterers (Portos, Brodards, Mediterranean, Thai, Filipino, and even Pizza), amazing performances during cocktail hour and on the ballroom stage. We used the projector screen for a photo slideshow and video. My 300 guests are still talking about how EPIC the wedding was.
Thank you DBC event staff (Monique, Jeanine, Estefanie, Vanessa) for all your help! The event was beautiful and ran smoothly.
First Dance as Husband/Wife Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjancq1xqY&feature=share read more