Absolutely stellar wedding venue that has a great layout for both guests and wedding party, an excellent network of vendors (some required by the venue and some recommended), and experienced wedding staff that can execute the vision for your wedding.
First off, our guests made comments like "Hands down the best wedding we've ever been to". The Ceremony area, to our cocktail hour, to the grand dining area, and finally to the bubbling (literally), laser, spotlightted, custom lit dance floor, guests had an amazing time throughout.
Our planning was smooth, with experienced operators like Tammy and Ryan to get the logistics of all of the main ceremony, cocktail hour, and dining/seating/menu down. Required vendor Entertainment Express will MC and DJ your wedding; they are awesome, with the venue having impressive sound and mic capabilities, as well as custom lighting and monogramming. We went mainly with recommended florists and desserts, and they delivered flawlessly, as they have intimate experience working with Padua.
The actual wedding day was executed by the staff wonderfully. Everything about the ceremony area was set up according to plan, allowing the bride and groom to be the main focus. The microphone and sound system made the process seamless, with no hiccups. We did an open bar, and friends told me the drinks were awesome and smooth to obtain. If you want to do alcohol, you must go through Padua packages, so you can't save money DIY. Ultimately, I personally love the services from Padua; they really provide excellent service. They are seasoned operators.
Finally, the food. I can't emphasize how good the food was. They really know how to deliver at scale, and really seem to be foodies. The Sea Bass is one of my all time favorite meals now. The 24-oz bone in ribeye was a massive hit with guests and me! I think most of the medium ribeyes were perfection. My brother did mention that his steak was overcooked, though, but he was able to try his wife's steak and said that one was perfect. So, I imagine that most people had excellent steaks, but there might have been a few steaks that weren't quite perfect. In hindsight, perhaps I would have chosen a smaller beef to have more consistent food delivery, but I still received comments from guests saying it was the best steak they've ever had.
The dance floor was banging, the dj and mc were awesome. My bride and I stayed on the dance floor the whole night, and guests had a great time. Our MC Evan was awesome and we loved working with him! We met him early on in the planning stages and loved his personality, so we were sure to personally request him to be our MC. I think we did have a slight mishap where we tried to add Glowsticks as part of our package, and it didn't get on to our timeline, so we had to ask him on the day of the wedding, and he was able to find some glowsticks to distribute to guests. I'm not really sure if we were charged for it or not ever, but make sure to talk to your vendors when you think something might be slightly off plan. Ultimately, though, Evan was an integral and awesome part of the wedding, and he guided us, the wedding party, and the guests through an amazing night. He also designed a custom etching that was a cute bear that was light displayed on to the backwall for everyone to see. We absolutely loved the custom design, and it really was a unique touch to the wedding and our vibes. Working with Entertainment Express was awesome!
My overall conclusion is that Padua Hills is a well oiled machine with experienced operators. My wife and I were able to use the canvas of the venue to create a beautiful day, and Padua was perfect. When we were looking at venues, this was about the 8th one we looked at. I immediately knew this was the one after meeting for a tour with the head owner/chef, and my wife slept on the decision and agreed. We toured the venue around Oct 2022. They were quite booked out, so we couldnt find a Saturday date we wanted in 2023, so we scheduled the day all the way to May 2024, 1.7 years in advance. The owners and staff are real people, as I dont think they are part of a larger corporate structure like other wedding venues are, so all interactions felt personal and real.
Padua is a premium venue that can execute your vision seamlessly in all phases. read more