My initial review is based on customer service alone... I am working on putting together a Spring Design 'Gala' for my company, and I reached out to Garre Vineyard and Winery. I submitted my event requirements to Garre, and requested a quote. Sonia Beasley, the Sales and Marketing Director, responded back to me within the hour! Price points were clear and concise, making it very easy to digest! Sonia, thank you so much for your time! I look forward to speaking with you again in the near future. read more

The courtyard is spacious and new and has a spanish mission/italian piazza feeling to it. It's still a great "blank slate" and the decoration options are wide open though. It's large and can manage a large reception, while retaining a certain sense of intimacy. Visual acoutrements include a tasteful bubbling fountain in the center, archways, grape vines, and his/her getting-ready rooms. The indoor reception room is bright, simple, and a good weather option, but I think most people would prefer to rent the courtyard. This great winery venue. Don't take my word for it; check out this slideshow and judge for yourself: http://www.mauriceramirez.com/AileenDenny And another wedding I shot there recently: http://www.mauriceramirezphoto.com/page2214.htm?blog=2722 read more

My husband and I were set on finding a wedding venue with a more rustic feel, and after searching for weeks for the perfect setting found the Martinelli Center nestled in with many of the wineries in Livermore. There is a beautiful outdoor ceremony site with views of the vineyards, a great stone courtyard with fireplace and fountain, and an interior reception space complete with wood beams. Also, tons of free parking for your guests and large, clean restrooms! Lindsay was our coordinator, and we could not be more pleased! Having someone there to quickly get back to me with answers to my countless questions about table sizes and measurements and meal pricing really made planning a wedding a thousand times easier! She even gathered up a few extra wine barrels for use around my reception. On the day of the wedding, I was so impressed by how calm she remained as she easily directed the wedding party to where they needed to be at all times and was even able to move some of my décor from the ceremony site to the reception. The food on the wedding day was great, and the servers were very friendly and attentive. Right after we said our "I do's", we rounded the corner to go sign our marriage license, and they had prepared wine, beer, and champagne for the entire wedding party. Our guests enjoyed the fruit and cheese platters during the cocktail hour and the craft brew was especially enjoyed by the guys. read more

Martinelli Event Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Livermore, California

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I really enjoyed myself at my wedding. Overall I am glad we picked this venue because we had many less expensive options. I am glad we decided to go with the beauty of the Martinelli Event Center. Venue: I'd like to start by saying that September is a great time of year to enjoy what the Martinelli Center in Gary Winery has to offer. We were able to take professional pictures in the grape fields and we really enjoyed the sunset views. The actual layout of the place is very nice. It looks like an old Italian Villa. I would consider the facility to be very clean and well-kept. There are restrooms available close by and a nice dressing rooms for both the bride and the groom. Food: The food was not bad. We had tri-tip and potatoes with a salad. The food tasted average at best. Customer Service: Maya Angelou said, " you may not remember what someone did or what they said, but you will remember how they made you feel". Working with the staff started off well. They returned emails promptly and provided positive feed back. However there were often discrepancies in their calculations and many times budgets had to be revised. We were told that our original coordinator resigned and we had to wait a few weeks closer to the month of our wedding to speak with the new coordinator. Several times we emailed the establishment to find out when we would be getting a new coordinator and we didn't hear back. When we finally heard back from our new coordinator, we received an email stating that our wedding would be canceled if we didn't call back immediately. This is not the way a bride and groom wants to feel close to their wedding day, however we intended to stay positive and continue to work with the new coordinator. The day of the wedding: The restaurant or catering staff was pleasant and smiled. We had some major concerns with the customer service. Firstly, we purchased a beverage package however the catering staff never made our guests aware that there were any beverages available for free. Many of our guests assumed they had to pay for Beverages and so they did not even go up to get a soda or apple juice. Overall most of our guests said they were waited on nicely and they got their food promptly however we had a handful of people who did not get the vegetarian option meals we paid for. Overall I would say the catering staff worked hard and did a good job. I recommend this venue for weddings. read more

Martinelli Event Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Livermore, California

My Fiancee and I had an appointment with Lani to tour the facility, get some additional information, etc. We show up for the appointment about 15 minutes early, head over the office, and the door is locked. Appointment time comes, still nobody. Then we see 2 people enter the event room, and start setting up tables and chairs. Give them a few minutes, head over, knock on the doors. The 2 people inside look over at me, turn back away from me, and continue setting up their tables and chairs. WTF? I call the Event Coordinator, Alanna, and she is out of the office, so I leave a message asking her to give me a call to explain what was going on and why nobody had shown up for our appointment. 2 days go by and still no call or email from anybody at the Martinelli Center. I send an email today and get a response saying that she doesn't know why Lani didn't show up but had I called her voicemail and listened to the message I would have known to call Garre's direct line, and not Alanna's line, and that somebody would have rushed over immediately to assist me. Then her supervisor Amy calls me. She said she hasn't had a chance to speak with Lani yet, but apologized for her not showing up. She said the people inside the building I saw were actually clients and not employees. Since when do clients have keys to the building, access the storage closets, and are required to set up their own tables and chairs? She told me the same thing Alanna said in the email - I didn't call the right number and had I done so, someone would have been right over. This is the best part ----- After this conversation, where she basically blames me for Lani not showing up, she asks me if she could set up a new time for us to tour the facility. I told her that that wouldn't be necessary as we have already moved on from their facility and were no longer considering them for our wedding. She asks me "Then what was the point of this phone call?" I tell her "To find out why nobody had the courtesty of calling me to tell me they wouldn't be at my appointment." Her response "Well good luck finding somewhere else." CLICKKKK. I got hung up on. Avoid at all costs. Other reviewers said their communication was horrible and we found out first hand. read more

We booked Garre's Martinelli Center for our 2008 wedding. Before we paid our deposit, everything was sunshine and roses. Well, months go by and I'm emailing them occassionally about a tasting... didn't you all say there would be one? After all, that's one of the reasons I chose you over Wente? Finally the tasting-- chef's choice tasting so it's not like you get to try everything you want. Half the food was good. The tri-tip, the winery salad, the mahi mahi (salty, but when you add the salsa it's good)... half the food was terrible (chicken skewers, chicken marsala, and the worst crabcakes). And I was concerned because it seemed to be a crap shoot. You had no idea what was going to be good and what wasn't. I expressed my concern to Alanna, my catering manager. Response? Thanks for your input. That's it-- that's all she had to say. So I escalate to the Director of Catering (who is married to the chef or related to him so she gets defensive). Who finally says 'the chef wasn't there that day, so maybe the food quality was off' then says "I've NEVER had a complaint about the food.' Finally, after weeks, and because I mention knowing AT LEAST two other brides were dissatisified with the food (thank you theknot.com Nor Cal Board), they agree to a second tasting. We also had to tell them that they would not get our second deposit without a second tasting. BTW, the other brides attended different first tastings than I did, so I don't think it was an isolated incident, despite what they said. We get the second tasting. The chef, BTW, is a lovely and nice man. His food is slightly overseasoned at times and he's overfond of bacon, but when HE cooked for us, it was good. Only two problems: By that time I was concerned about the service at Garre, and at the second tasting there was bacon everywhere which I had repeatedly reminded them to omit because of our guests religious/dietary restrictions-- Alanna hadn't told the chef. It's hard to know what your food is going to taste of on the 'day of' without the bacon if all you can taste at the tasting is bacon. Ya know? Plus, one of the other Nor Cal brides was supposed to have her second tasting (she and her fiance were there waiting) and her catering manager, Erin, had forgot to tell the chef... so they had to reschedule. None of this instilled us with confidence. But the big clincher was this, when I pressed Garre about the chef being at wedding because the food quality was obviously problematic without him, they couldn't tell me he would be there. Just that he 'over sees all of our events"... like he did the first tasting. I should also mention that the wait staff for the catering events did not appear well trained, doesn't speak english much, and doesn't appear to have much if any experience waiting tables short of delivering the food. They are not the same staff as the cafe staff. At the first tasting a glass broke at our table and it took them about 10 minutes to figure out and discuss what to do. All the while, they couldn't understand me, had to hunt someone down who spoke English... I can't imagine what would happen if one of my guests broke something at the wedding. Disasters happen at weddings, and I had no confidence that the staff could handle them. These are the reasons that 3 months before our wedding (insane stress, trying to find a good unbooked venue 3 months out for 80 people. THANK GOD ours is a Sunday wedding, if was Saturday we'd have been toast)... we cancelled with Garre and booked with Deer Ridge Vineyards, which is catered by Hap's Catering. Full tasting of all our dishes (even side dishes!), trained staff, and the food is very good. Plus the facility is beautiful and the owner Carl, is a gem! There are other choices for weddings in Livermore, explore them. read more

I really really fell in love with this place. I wanted to have my wedding here. It had everything I wanted: 1. Winery wedding 2. Spanish Mediterranean Villa type 3. FREE Chiavari chairs 4. Reasonable rental fees ($3,000 for Sat, $1,600 for Sun - peak season) 5. Free heat lamps if needed 6. Capacity indoors is 200 with a dance floor 7. High Ceilings 8. Rectangular shaped ballroom I was ready to convince my dear fiance to trim our guest list to 200 and have it here..but man, the sales manager dropped the ball!!! It was two weeks ago yesterday when we toured the venue with Lindsay, Client Event Specialist, who told me the Sales Manager, Laura would call to follow up with me on Friday (May 22nd). That was 2 weeks ago tomorrow, I haven't heard a peep. Not an email or a phone call. To think I already priced everything out and picked my menu, but talk about unprofessional. If they can't seem to call me just to follow up, imagine if I did book my wedding here? Lindsay is the only reason why this review got 2 stars instead of 1. She was very responsive to my emails and questions. At first, she told us that the date we wanted to view the venue was booked up - all the available appts with the sales manager were taken. Instead of the sales manager, Lindsay squeezed us in and and took us on a tour herself. After the tour, I asked her for available dates in June and July. She gave me tons of available dates.........So I can't believe the sales manager is too busy to call me. Lindsay should get a promotion for being so proactive. So, potential brides beware!! read more

Recently came here for a wedding and the thing that still sticks out the most is how horrible the wine was - seriously unexpected to have crappy wine but I digress. The grounds were nice enough but not spectacular. They offered plenty of parking and there are hotels within a 10min cab ride. It was sunny but extremely windy during the wedding I attended. After the ceremony we were directed into the courtyard but it was quite chilly and they would not let us in the dining area because "it wasn't ready". Most of the guests looked annoyed as the wind was pretty strong and we were just stuck standing there. Eventually someone made it inside and opened one of the doors to let us in. They kept the doors locked until it was "ready" but at least they didn't kick us out when we busted in early. The appetizers were boring and consisted mostly of very overdone crostini. We had two little ones with us who were starting to get cranky and close to a meltdown so I asked the catering staff if they had anything the kids could eat - crackers or something. Several minutes later they returned to tell us they had nothing. Seriously? Nothing to satiate a couple crying kids? Its hard for me to believe they could not have brought out anything for the girls - fortunately they were just whimpering instead of having a cry fest. Drink wise the options were a crappy merlot or an even crappier chardonnay. They had a few beers on tap but they kept changing - it was really mind boggling what was going on with the bar. We had a buffet style dinner which was better than I expected with the tri-tip, and salad with figs and blue cheese being the two standouts. The dance floor was adequate and the wait staff efficient enough. They were extremely nice in allowing me to use the phone in the kitchen to make a call as my cell phone had died. I wouldn't consider booking an event here but if you do be sure to be very thorough with your questions so you know exactly what to expect. peace, love, and good booze ~ chase read more

I was in a wedding here back in July and although we had a really really fun time and the bartenders were great, the food was terrible and the service was very slow (about 40 minutes between salad the entrees). The courtyard was beautiful but there were no efforts made by the staff to prepare for the heat that made it nearly impossible to be outside. As the bridal party was getting pictures, no staff member took initiative to bring out drinks or anything, the best man ended up bringing out a tray of beverages for us. To top it off, at one point the bride actually had to wait in line for a drink...not cool! It was my best friends wedding so I was very aware about how things were going, and I although my friend brought in beautiful decorations and and created an amazing event the staff had little to do with the outcome and basically stuck to the minimum for effort. read more

We just got married here at the end of July. I must, say we were pretty worried after reading some of the reviews on here, but we decided to give it a chance and it was SO worth it! Everything was absolutely perfect! Lindsay B., our coordinator, was on top of everything! She was quick to respond to any questions or concerns (and I'm sure I got very annoying at times!) and went well out of her way to help us. She is absolutely wonderful! To be honest, we were very dissatisfied with the quality of the food selections we were given at our tasting, so I ended up contacting Lindsay and expressing my concerns about this and we were able to set up another tasting. I am SO glad we did because the other selections we tried were DELICIOUS! We received so many compliments about the food after the wedding (genuine compliments! - and I feel like that doesn't happen too often with "wedding food"). The buffet line did seem to take a while for the guests to get through, but the staff was very polite and helpful and our guests didn't seem to mind. Lindsay actually ended up putting out another keg of beer (complimentary) because we ran out fairly quickly - it was so sweet of her and I know that many of our guests appreciated being able to have that beverage option once again. Everyone had a great time! The landscaping is beautiful, everything was clean and set up on time, the staff was wonderful and the food was delicious. I truly hope that others can share our same experience in the future because it was absolutely perfect! read more

Martinelli Event Center - During set up before the wedding: you can see the table set up, chairs and room (architecture) - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Livermore, California

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It was my first time here. I attended a wedding in November. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I was definitely impressed with the set-up. Luckily the day was nice, since the wedding ceremony was outdoors. What I loved was when the ceremony was over, they immediately opened the doors to the adjoining Martinelli center, and the butler passed hor d'ouvres were immediately out! There is nothing worse than starving between the ceremony and the reception. The service was great! But, just like Princess said, the grass was very soft, and for having an outdoor wedding, all the heels kept digging in. Overall, great place to have a wedding. Very serene, private, and clean! read more

We attended their Easter Brunch for the first time this year. Our reservation was 1:30pm, which was towards the end of the event. The check-in, where you prepaid for the meal & gratuity, was disorganized and my small group of 4 adults & 1 toddler, with no one waiting behind us or having been in front of us, took a solid 15 minutes. I did anticipate that since we were towards the end of the event, that there may be some limited availability when it came to the food. The food was probably very good earlier in the day, however, the burners on the warmers had been turned off so all the hot food was lukewarm at best and the cold food overly warm as they didn't have the food shaded and chilled properly. The kicker came towards the end of our meal. I watched a woman (no idea if she was customer, owner or employee - I'm guessing manager or owner by her bold actions) walk through the dining room with a dog. The pup had no service animal designation. She then proceeded to walk into the kitchen with the dog!! Needless to say, we will not be making this our Easter lunch tradition after this. Next year we'll have to try one of the many other options and honestly I don't think I'd come back even to just the winery if this is how they run their events. It can't speak well for their overall management. read more

I came here in early June on a Sunday for a friend's wedding. Being the East Bay, it was still very hot at 5PM. We all were sweltering in our nice dresses in the direct sunlight. If you go during the summer be prepared to wear a hat and loads of sunscreen. The bride and groom also looked to shiny which might ruin and wedding photo or two. I thought the staff was helpful and professional and the logistics of the wedding didn't have any obvious problems. Ceremony started at 5PM where we all died in the heat, 5:30PM drinks on the patio which was nice and shady, 6PM dinner and dancing. The dance floor was a bit on the small side as we all like to dance, but the food was great, the drinks kept coming and the bride, groom and all their friends had a wonderful time. read more

My wife and I were married at the Martinelli Center @ Garre a couple months ago at the end of August 2014. We had an awesome wedding there and really positive experience interacting with the wedding coordinator, Lindsay. Rather than just being professional/patient with our (right before the wedding) continuous email stream to her, she would reply thoughtfully and with encouragement. During the day of the wedding she did a great job directing our wedding and kept everything running smoothly. Her experience helped us relax and be comfortable while planning and on our wedding day (as much as it is possible to ever relax at your wedding...). Martinelli Center is on a bit of a hill above the rest of Garre's buildings. The view of the surrounding vineyards is great from the outdoor wedding ceremony area. This ceremony area is just outside the doors of the reception hall & has a really pretty vine-covered arbor for the wedding party to stand under. I sweat a lot and was terrified (weddings give you the weirdest fears) for months ahead of time at the thought of wearing a tuxedo outdoors in Livermore in August. However, the shade of the arbor and breezes due to being on a hill really came through and it was not uncomfortable at all by 5pm when we had our ceremony. On the other side of the reception hall is a courtyard where we had cocktail/appetizer hour. It was also a convenient place to set up our various tables, photobooth, etc. and looked very pretty at night with string lighting. On a tangential note, we had some older guests (like my grandma) who move with difficulty and it was nice that the venue is easy to get around and has convenient bathrooms. The bridal suite is spacious and it has a groom-room. A lot of the other places we looked at prior to selecting Garre did not have a room for the Groom, so I thought this was really neat. It was way more relaxing to hang out and calm down before the ceremony started in my own room with my groomsmen. The food was delicious. One of my favorite parts of wedding planning was visiting Garre's cafe to taste bites of all the different food choices (and wines!). The biggest hit at our wedding was the bacon-wrapped filet. I did not have time to actually eat anything after the salad during the wedding, but I gathered that from friends and family responses. We had a guest who asked for gluten-free meal and Lindsay took care of it. As for the cost, we were happy that the wedding packages were all-inclusive and we never had the feeling of being upsold (or nickel-and-dimed) for every little thing that came up. All around an awesome place to get married. read more

Last week I had my wedding at the Martinelli Center. It was absolutely fantastic. Lindsay, the coordinator, is professional, enthusiastic, and could not have been more helpful or responsive. She responded promptly to all of my calls and emails and showed great initiative in doing her job! Everything went as planned and so there is only really one event that I will comment on. As a bride, the wedding planning can be a new experience (I've never planned a party of this size, much less this importance), and being on the organized and relaxed side, I thought I had thought of everything. Long story short I ordered the wrong size table cloths. They showed up at the Martinelli center on time, 1pm on my wedding day, and Lindsay immediately called me to tell me what was going on. This was 100% my fault. Lindsay fixed everything. Garre has a very professional relationship with other local vendors, and fixed the tablecloth problem with no direction from me. Plus I didn't get charged in any way for the exchange. This was an enormous stress off of my shoulders on a day that really doesn't need any more stress from just being your wedding day! Without reservation I would recommend this venue for a beautiful and worry-less wedding. read more

I just coordinated a wedding reception over the weekend for my sis in law. Overall, the event came out beautifully. The staff was quick and very friendly despite the last minute details of putting the tablecloth overlays--which by the way, the groom failed to inform them about. We had buffet style food and it was delicious. I only regret I didn't have enough time to sit down and enjoy a full plate and then get another. The AV system was great too. They had 3 screens that automatically came down--it added a really nice touch to presenting the video montage. Erin the catering manager was very helpful except for a little bit of an attitude that she later on apologized for. I didn't take it personal because things were starting to cut pretty close to the event time. The ONLY complaint that I would have is dealing with the catering office staff pre-event time. They were very friendly over the phone but was poor in returning phone calls/ emails. I was even told over the phone that Erin, our catering manager, would be in in a few minutes and that it would be ok for us to come in and speak with her--only to find out when we got there, she was off. But it still ended ok. We got to speak with someone else and finalize the details of the reception. Overall, I'm very pleased with how things turned out in the end. The food was great, Erin was helpful the day of and the staff were really friendly. read more

I was helping decorate for a party there this weekend and the entire staff was AMAZING!!! So helpful, so attentive and really went above and beyond to make sure everything and everyone were ok! The property is beautiful but the staff made the experience amazing read more

I came here over the summer for a wedding and while the wedding was beautiful, the couple happy, the food good and overall everything went well . . . . I was not crazy about the location. The center itself if sort of plain and the reception hall is a simple. Though spacious, has a tall ceiling and very clean; I wasn't overly impressed and I can only imagine the price for wine country. The grounds are nice enough but the grass was surprisingly dry and dying in areas which was quite noticeable but maybe just to me. Also, the arbor is small and quaint but nothing overly special. The couple looked sweet up there taking their vows but I wish it had been a tad more ornate for the special occasion. The areas for getting ready seemed nice though, the bathrooms were clean, the courtyard is one of the best parts and with a fire pit going it really did help the day feel romantic and neat. I'm not sure if the event center caters but the food was quite good, the appetizers being passed around were tasty and the drinks were good! Service was also pretty quick and attentive throughout the evening. Yum and yah! Plenty of parking, we stayed at a great Hilton nearby and went to the bocci ball place the day before - all pluses. Beautiful wedding but just okay/pretty good location. read more

I was a bit concern after seeing all the comments in yelp regarding this place, but fortunately things went well during my wedding day. The food was pretty good and my guests were satisfied. The only complaint is that the appetizers were distributed in a short period of time... Our wedding coordinator was supposed to be jackie but she somehow dissapeared prior to our wedding. We sent emails for couple times and we didn't get any replies for 2+ weeks. Luckily I then contacted Lindsay and from herI found out that Jacky had to immediately leave due to family reasons. I still think it's quite weird that I didn't even get any out of office notification. Anyway, everything went well afterward with Alana and we're happy with her flexibility and professionalism to go over the details with us. read more

Beautiful wedding venue for my daughter. Allowed a lot of DIY which gave us flexibility of vendor selection (flowers, DJ, photographer, etc), this also allowed us to keep control of our budget. Outdoor wedding with vineyards in background. Indoor reception for sit down buffet dinner and dancing (good food, with chicken & beef). Outdoor courtyard was great for the bar and mingling. Staff and wedding planner (Maria) were all helpful and nice. Couldnt be happier with how it all worked out! read more

We held our daughter's wedding recently 7/25/2015 at the beautiful Martinelli Center at Garre Winery. From the start they were wonderful to work with. They returned our calls and emails promptly and attempted to meet our every request. We first interacted with Lindsay who is amazing and very knowledgeable. It was with her recommendations and their list of vendors we were able to choose a fabulous bakery, florist and DJ company locally that made the evening epic! We did upgrade to the middle tier of wedding options, and found it worth the difference. We were matched with Suzanne as our coordinator for the evening and though being new to the venue she was gracious, accommodating,considerate, and very organized.She bent over backwards to make the evening truly special for our daughter. She and her staff helped make our daughter's dreams come true! Thank you all for a magical evening. read more

Martinelli Event Center - Spanish courtyard is only one of their options - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Livermore, California

My husband and I had our wedding at Martinelli in November. We fell in love with the venue, first with the courtyard as we loved the string lights and fireplace. We also loved how secluded it was, it was further away from the main road and the ceremony space outside was quieter. The venue itself was beautiful on our day. The staff was great, especially the guy that was in charge of getting up all the tables and plates/flatware/etc. The minus of a star was for some communication issues throughout the process. Suzanne was our go-to person for our wedding. We loved her energy and she made us comfortable in the initial meeting. Once we got closer to our date, there were some communication issues that did cause me some stress, little details I didn't need to be concerned over. For example, we had a few "final meetings", but each time we met to discuss final details, either things hadn't been written down, or not heard, as we had to repeat many things and choices that we had already discussed. Or on our last meeting, when I mentioned the chargers for the tables, she was surprised that I wanted them (we had already confirmed them) and I heard a long story about how they didn't have enough, they'd have to rent them, etc etc. Not a problem a bride wants to have to hear about the week before the wedding. On the wedding day itself, thank goodness my bridesmaids helped take care of little details (guests were arriving and no candles around venue were lit, table at ceremony space was not there and my officiant had to go find one, the sweetheart table was never served wine and I had to rely on guests to bring us a drink, etc). Basically, a lot of details were promised and not exactly followed through, which was frustrating. A week after our honeymoon, I received a call from the venue saying the linen company was calling them since I hadn't paid them (however, I had paid the venue directly for the linens, and the error was on their part, they hadn't paid the linen company). However, most of the details issues were never noticed by the guests and our overall wedding day at Martinelli was beautful. If you do choose to go with this beautiful venue, you need to make sure you double check, then triple check everything so make sure it goes off without a hitch! read more

Martinelli Event Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Livermore, California

I was at a business dinner event ~ 60 - 70 people Thursday, 10/15/15 from 5 pm - 7 pm after a day of wine tasting in the valley. The center was beautiful as were the surroundings. I had not been at Garre for a few years and was pleasantly surprised at all the upgrades. The buffet dinner of focaccia bread, 2 salads, beef bolognese, chicken piccata , mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, coffee and dessert was as good as any very nice restaurant. They also had a full bar cocktails as well as wine, not many wineries have a liquor license for hard alcohol. Down below near the tasting room they were setting up for a rehearsal dinner on the grass with white table cloth tables and corn hole games. It also looked very nice / fun and when I asked about pricing as I have a son's wedding coming up it seemed very reasonable. read more

Great Venue to host a wedding As a Photography and Filmmaking, we love how warmly this location look and feel, love the vow ceremony location behind it with a nice garden feel. check out our video and see it for yourself https://vimeo.com/51478740 martin vo www.cinecrown.com read more

What a nice place in......Livermore??!!! Such a nice rolling piece of property for a winery. The events center is great! Lots of stone, a great courtyard with a fountain. The conference rooms were great for our office event. We even took a break to play Bocce Ball...fun! They catered us lunch and it was really good! read more

Would have loved to tour this place when looking for somewhere to hold our wedding. It's too bad they didn't show up when we were supposed to meet. No call to let us know, either. We waited for 30 minutes before leaving. If you can't even meet us to show is around why would we book our wedding here? Oh, and there were people setting up the rehearsal space. They couldn't be bothered to help us either. Don't waste your time. read more

Let me start with the good. Martinelli Center (and Bella Rosa at Garre) are beautiful - absolutely stunning place to get married. The ceremony area at Martinelli overlooks the valley, surrounded by vineyards, and is picture perfect. The outdoor reception area on the other side is a Mediterranean style courtyard, with market lights strung above, it would be an amazing place for dancing/cocktails. It was those things that led my fiancee and I to book our September wedding at Martinelli. We booked in September 2014 at Martinelli, and were promised that we would set up a meeting soon, to iron out the details. A couple of months passed without any contact (we didn't even know who our coordinator was at that point), and then we were told of a group tasting (for all 2015 couples). The food, to be kind, was terrible. Salads with no flavor, overcooked salmon covered in a creamy garlic sauce, well done hangar steak covered in what tasted like A-1 sauce. The only good part of the meal was the dessert (which was from an outside caterer). Beyond that, we still hadn't met with our coordinator (she wasn't even at the tasting). I told them of our concerns, and heard back from them a week later, when I found out that our coordinator was no longer working there. They would let us know when they'd hired someone else, and would like to set up a second, private tasting, to ease our concerns on the food. We picked a menu for the second tasting, and went back with our own newly hired wedding coordinator. We no longer trusted them to follow through, so we decided to hire our own. The food, again, was terrible. A caprese salad which had no flavor (completely bland tomatoes), a flatbread with eggplant that was stale and looked worse than it tasted, the salmon again, which was undercooked this time (raw in the middle), and lamb skewers, which were overdone, and looked inedible (tasted OK though). We also got to try all of their wines...I'm no wine connoisseur - pretty much everything tastes good to me - but I didn't like any of them (outside of the sparkling wine). What's funny, the worst part of the whole thing - they had recently hired someone to be a coordinator, and she wasn't there. The only contact we had with the venue at this point was the server, so we still couldn't iron out any details. At this point, we were ready to cancel our booking, but we gave them one more chance - if they would allow us to bring in an outside caterer, and outside wines, and they would allow us to use the space at a price that kept us in the same budget range, we would be willing to keep our booking. Erik, the head chef, and the boss, was genuinely upset that we were so unhappy, and set up a meeting with us to talk it all over. He was sincere, and opened some new wines for us to try (which we liked - they were not Garre wines), and introduced us to the new, new coordinator (the fourth we had been through, but the first we had met). He agreed to let us bring in an outside caterer, and use any wine on their list we would like. We were happy with that, so walked away that day convinced we would stick with it. It was later that night that we received a new proposal from them, which detailed the cost of making that change, and it was exorbitant. In order to keep the wedding at Martinelli, we would have had to double our budget. So, I wrote Erik a long explanation, and told him we would be cancelling our wedding there. I requested our deposit to be refunded, due to the complete incompetence at every step of the process. As a business owner myself, I would have been horrified to hear of these issues, and would have gladly refunded the amount, and sworn that all of these issues would be fixed (I wouldn't want other couples feeling the same way). Erik disagreed, but was willing to refund a portion of it (half, initially, and then after some back and forth, he agreed to refund all but their "hard costs"). Their hard costs were a lot higher than I thought reasonable, and I still think it was the wrong way to handle it, but we agreed and decided to let it drop. All that being said, I was torn on writing this review. I just think it's important that people know about these issues prior to booking their wedding. Do yourself a favor - insist on doing a food tasting before you book. Insist on getting the details ironed out before you give them any money. And most of all - hire yourself an outside coordinator. read more

My daughter made reservations at Garre for Mother's Day Brunch. I was excited as I assumed it would be in the new Bella Rosa restaurant. Her confirmation email gave us directions to go to the Martinelli Event Center instead. I had no idea until I just read the other reviews that this is part of the Garre properties. It was a very windy day out in the Livermore Valley so when we were seated we were happy to find that we were indoors. But that proved to be a less than optimal experience since the food, which was buffet style was outside, so everyone, including wait staff had to enter and exit double doors. Every time a door closed it slammed so hard it sounded like a canon. You couldn't prop them open as it was too windy. I wonder why they didn't choose to have the food inside the space to make it easier than having to juggle a plate and a door in the wind. At one point three different doors slammed and my daughter called it a 'Trifecta!' We had to ask to be moved as our table was wobbly and the drinks spilled even as they were placed on the table. There was no background music just the sound of the doors and conversation. If you've gone to a convention, say the SF Auto show, and purchased food and sat at one of the tables that would be a comparable experience. I cannot complain about the food as it was plentiful and fresh. Smoked Salmon, Asparagus with Manchego cheese, an omelet bar, prime rib, waffles, eggs, desserts and more. The selling point for us was the bottomless Mimosa's. They were pouring Garre's sparkling wine for the 'champagne'. I think coming early was the best idea, our reservations were for 10:30, as the serving stations did look pretty barren when we went back for another serving. The grounds are beautiful within the courtyard and out. We visited the natural garden where many flowering plants and bushes provided a backdrop for some great photos. I would have to say that unless you are really happy with buffet style meals then the price was a bit steep and I didn't even pay. I think the experience would have been nicer even if we had just gone to the Cafe and sat on the patio. I am very torn over giving 3 or 4 stars based on the ambiance or lack thereof. read more

Came here for a wedding a few weeks ago. Location was pretty. Sound system wasn't working properly and after too many blasts and pops during the ceremony, they just turned it off; so ceremony was hard to hear. Noticed a huge stain on carpet in the room used for the reception. That was a turn off. Also dance floor was tiny. Food was a mixed bag. If you ordered the Pasta Primavera you got boiled noodles with a few peas and carrots. It was nasty. If you got prime rib and chicken, you picked well. That was a good plate of food. Service staff did not come around much to refill water glasses. Felt ignored. read more

So went to Easter brunch here and what a disappointment. Store bought muffins...looked like Cost Co. fare, frozen waffles and deli ham. The omlet station had seafood sitting for hours with no ice under it and God only knows how many people got sick from that. There was a tall gentleman chef with blonde hair that looked very nervous or high and he did seem to be in charge, hope he's only hired help for the day and not the chef. If this is the quality of food they plan to put out when the open the new place steer clear of it. I did also see what appeared to be a woman very friendly with the "chef" walk into the kitchen with a dog....gross and against so many health codes. I had such hopes for the place after eating there in February, had a beet salad that was to die for. Based on this visit Garre is a memory soon hoped to forget. They also ran out of champagne and last but not least the servers are better at Dennys, who ever runs the front of the house is clueless read more

Bottom line - I wouldn't trust them to handle my wedding. And here's my story, why. We scheduled a site visit on 8/21/15, with thoughts to book them for our upcoming wedding next year. We met with their coordinator, Susanne, at 3:00pm. She discussed things with us, was nice, and everything seemed to be going well. She gave us a site tour, and luckily they were setting up for a wedding, so we got a good idea what the venue would look like all set up. We explained to Suzanne that we were interested in the Sunday of a holiday weekend, either 7/3/16, or 9/4/16, because we wanted to get their lower Sunday rate and minimum, which Suzanne said would be a $10,000 minimum. Susanne confirmed we'd get the Sunday rate and minimum on the Sunday of a holiday weekend, including 9/4/16 (which is the same policy as all the other venues we visited). She said that Sunday 7/3 was booked, but Sunday 9/4 might become available on Wednesday (it had a temporary hold till then). Suzanne then said Saturday 7/2/16 was available instead, and proceeded to give us a written quote of $10,838.88, for Saturday 7/2/16. Suzanne then said that if we bumped up our spending to $12,000 they could do Saturday; otherwise, we would be fine for 9/4/16 - if it became available. She said that we should call back on Wednesday to find out if 9/4/16 is available. She also said there'd be an additional discount applied to our total if we switched to Sunday 9/4, since it was not a Saturday. We then asked for a more detailed price quote and draft contract, since the written quote she gave us didn't clearly break down what was included and not included. Although we discussed these terms in detail, we wanted to have everything laid out in writing to avoid any future confusion. Suzanne said she'd email the info to us in a couple days, and that another coordinator, Dipika, would help her with that documentation. Fast forward to Wednesday, and still no documentation, so I email the person on the business card Suzanne gave me; which turned out to be Dipika's email address. On Thursday, Dipika responded to my inquiry, saying that she had forwarded my inquiry to Suzanne. Today, Friday, Dipika responds with a 1 page quote for Sunday 9/4/16, in the same format as my Saturday 7/2/16, quote, except the total is now bumped up to $16,593.44 (instead of $10,838.88), and the details show I'm getting less options too (Suzanne's quote included beer, wine, and well drinks, and 4 course plated; whereas Dipika's quote was wine and beer only, and 1 course plated). And to add further insult, Dipika explained in her email that they want to charge us the premium Saturday rate for Sunday 9/4/16, since it is a holiday weekend, and therefore sorry, but we do not qualify for booking Sunday 9/4/16, because their Saturday minimum is $20,674. The, she concludes, we would qualify for any other Friday or Sunday at her $16,593.44 quote (excluding Sunday 9/4), and to let her know if we want to choose a different date. Yeah... right. So no, I do not trust them to plan my wedding. read more

We had our wedding at the Martinelli Event Center on November 21 2009 and it was nothing short of perfect. We took a chance picking a day in November since the weather is a little unpredictable but that Saturday was gorgeous! Lindsey was our coordinator, but I did have to request her since she worked in another area other than coordinating. She was easy to get a hold of, returned my emails very fast, was patient, kind and a huge part of my big day. Nearly 2 months later our guest are still raving about the great food and awesome service. The day was seriously perfect, I can't say enough about it. The vineyards were beautiful, the food fantastic and I loved that they supplied the chiavari chairs at no additional cost. I highly recommend the Martinelli Center!! read more

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I have such mixed feelings. To get to the meat of things, they did a good job on the day of my wedding. Everything was perfect. But I got a little pissed off when things like payments and actual dates that we were supposed to meet with Garre ( like our tasting) was not initiated by the venue. After the initial timeline there was no email reminder for anything. I'm just saying communication is really important with crazy brides. But that is the end of my gripes. It's a beautiful location with great food! My wedding reception was perfect! read more

My sister's wedding was at Garre Winery and reception held at Martinelli Center. Overall this place was great, the grass was green (obviously taken care of), clean throughout the area even the bathrooms. I didn't give 5 stars because on the day of the wedding, the ground was wet. Since we were wearing heels, we were sinking with every step. The weather was perfect that week too, sunny! So I'm not sure if the center watered the grass the night before but it definitely was a no-no since it stained the bride's dress (from underneath) and had some guests with dirt on their shoes. read more

Sooo Im a year behind on this review but better late than never. We had our wedding at the Martinelli Event Center last year on 8/17/2013. This place fit in perfectly with the theme and look/feel I was going for our wedding. We had our reception outdoors and it was just perfect. Lyndsay, Irene and all of the staff went above and beyond to make our wedding day amazing. Our guests even commented on how great all of the staff was. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the day was perfect. Thank you again Lindsay and staff :) read more

We just had my son's wedding at event center last weekend. Great place for wedding. Everyone commented on how perfect it was. Lovely setting, would highly recommend for wedding, Lindsey was very nice and Kyle, bartender/ general all around good help rocks!! Can't recommend place and people enough. Btw, food was tasty especially considering feeding 150. Why look anywhere else??! read more

Our wedding was held here in November 2012 and we were really happy with the venue, the food, and with our coordinator, Lindsay. On our first visit, we were impressed with the beautiful location, ample parking, separate bride's room and "groom's quarters." We sat down with Lindsay, discussed a couple of food and beverage options, and she printed out quotes for us right then and there. The cancellation policy was made crystal clear as was the payment schedule. When family came into town several months later and wanted to see the venue, Lindsay happily invited us back. Here's what we loved: the food (had a buffet with tri-tip and chicken marsala and we still get compliments!), the wine, the beer, the view from the ceremony space, the white wooden chairs for the ceremony (not cheap plastic chairs), the chiavari chairs in the reception room, the beautifully lit fireplace in the courtyard, free use of the wine barrels for the altar and cocktail hour in the courtyard, bridal room with private bathroom (a bride needs a private bathroom for crying out loud!), super clean restrooms, Lindsay's help with our rehearsal day and her quick responses to my 100+ emails, great servers and friendly bartender. You can also set up a slideshow easily, just be sure to bring your own laptop. My only suggestions for the venue: while they do provide a very helpful timeline of items needed and payment dates, as a previous poster mentioned, there's no reminder from Martinelli. You're on your own to mark down due dates for payments and things like reception layouts. Our buffet ended up being held outside (in November, it was pretty cold out). I wasn't thrilled that I hadn't been warned that if our guest count hit X number of people, the buffet would be moved outside. It was expensive to add one extra hour of reception time (for dancing) to the end of our event. I would have loved to rent things like charger plates from the venue directly rather than purchase my own (and then have to pack them up at the end of the night...). None of these are a big deal obviously, more like conveniences. :) Addressing a few odd complaints in previous reviews - the venue does the catering for you and they bring specifically bring the food and beverages that were ordered. There isn't a full service restaurant at Martinelli just waiting for random orders that weren't placed in advance. For this reason, I highly advise that if you've got picky children and you think they'll be hungry after the ceremony, bring your own snacks. Also, your DJ should be in full control of the speakers and sound system during the ceremony. Our DJ had his own speakers for the outdoor parts of the wedding, and everything went perfectly fine. Lastly, the entire reception room was set up even before our ceremony started. As the bride and groom, we were the ones asked when we wanted the room to be opened to guests. It was pretty cold on our wedding day so we asked that the room be opened shortly after the ceremony. (Keeping the reception room locked had nothing to do with the staff...) Overall we had a great time and I'd definitely recommend this venue. read more

My sister in law got married here the end of August. The staff was very friendly.The bridal suite was spacious and clean.They had champagne and a big platter of fruit and cheese with a very attractive presentation. Since I was in the wedding party we were running all over the place and so I did appreciate how the staff brought wine and apps to us while we were taking pictures. If I had to say one down side was the salad it was just iceberg lettuce and tiny croutons. My filet mignon was perfect! There was a mix up where my daughter got chicken and my husband informed the staff and the immediately brought out a filet mignon plate. The staff was very very friendly! They were so friendly in helping us before the wedding.The venue was perfect! We all had a very magical time! read more

I was just married here!! Everything went amazing and the staff is so wonderful!! The planner Elizabeth made sure everything was exactly what we wanted and she was so great and easy to work with!! All of our guests complimented us on how great the venue and the service were. The bar staff was quick and not a huge line meaning they were efficient and quick at handling a party of our size! We had both the reception and the ceremony outside. Perfect!!! They made wedding planing so easy! I wish I could give more stars for this venue! read more

I am super disappointed to say but I had to give this place 1 star (I would have given them a 0 if it was an option). My fiance and I really loved this venue, it was our top choice out of the wedding venues we wanted to get married in. However, their lack of communication was the determining factor for us to decide not to book. We had a 10 AM appointment to meet with the sales director-Katie on Saturday morning but she never showed. Instead we met with Abe the Executive chef there at Garre' who showed us around and went over the package details with us. At first I didn't think anything of it I just thought to my self maybe she was running late and would later show but the whole time during our visit there she never came. The day after on Sunday, we received a quote from Katie not even an apology that she had miss our appointment or some type of acknowledgement. The details on the quote stated a Saturday date package when I specifically wrote on the questionnaire sheet that we would like a Friday date package. I quickly responded to her email right away and asked her to revise but up until Wednesday I still had not received the revised quote. A few days later I sent a follow up email but still did not hear back. I then eventually called (yes, that is how bad I wanted this venue) the place and someone there guaranteed that she would reach out to Katie directly to have her update me by the EOD. I eventually received that email from Katie, but still no quote just an email saying she would send me the updated quote by tomorrow the latest. Long story short it took me two in a half weeks to get the revised quote because they were supposedly now experiencing issues with their quote system but by the time we received the revised quote my fiance and I were already over it. She never even followed up once after sending the updated quote.... As a couple seeking to pay a big investment on their special day this venue did not do it for us when it came to making us feel special about wanting to get married at this venue. If the lack of communication and attention to detail started before anything was ever booked I would be afraid of what would happen if we were to book. No future bride/groom should ever have to worry about communication or details if they are paying that big of an investment. We wish this venue would have really worked out for us because we loved everything about it however it was just too stressful already due to our experience with the Martineli's venue at Garre. read more