If you are dreaming of a garden romance, you have to know about Eden Gardens weddings in Moorpark.
The venue is famous for its fairytale-like celebrations. With its gardens, flowers, exotic birds, and intimate event spots, it’s an outstanding small piece of paradise in Southern California, great for your big day.
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Location of Eden Gardens California
Eden Gardens is an outdoor venue, located in Moorpark of Ventura County. It’s next to the 101 freeway, situated in the hills between Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. Moorpark is in just 11 minutes from Simi Valley if you drive non-stop from there. The exact address you need is Eden Gardens weddings 3900 Brennan Rd Moorpark CA: at the end of your trip, you will find refreshingly green lawns and shady groves in the middle of the unremarkable rural area.
This 4-acre landscape will nicely surprise anyone coming here — with its forest, rare birds, and blooms of rose bushes. After dropping cars off with the valet service, visitors go deeper into the green maze of palms and ferns and find among ponds and waterfalls great spots for a ceremony and reception. This place is a peaceful and relaxing outdoor retreat with all facilities for perfect Eden Gardens weddings.
Amenities of Eden Gardens Moorpark, CA
The venue is ready to host Eden Gardens weddings from 50 to 300 persons. It will provide you with an all-inclusive package: food, staff, equipment, and same-day wedding coordination. The fee for the wedding areas (site fee) depends on the day of the week:
- $5900 for use of ceremony and reception area on Saturday;
- $4500 for Friday and Sunday Event Garden weddings.
However, if you book in the middle of the week, you probably will get a discount. For this prise, you will have at the venue 7.5 hours, including 2 hours for the bride to get ready, and 5.5 hours for the ceremony & reception.
There is also a minimum guest count depending on the days chosen for the celebration.
- For Saturday it’s 150 guests.
- Minimum for Sunday: 100 guests.
- Minimum for Friday: 100 guests.
The catering package is not included, it depends on the menu you’ll choose. Security and insurance are required as well. Thу exact information you will get from your Eden Gardens representative.
So, your Eden Garden wedding costs will depend on your guest count & day of the week & your menu.
Eden Gardens works with the Command Performance Catering company. They will prepare for you:
- the ceremony & reception setups,
- drinks during the cocktail,
- variety of menu selections and options which can be easily customized, both plated and buffet-styled,
- party favors,
- cutting and serving of your cake, and
- provide the breakdown and cleanup.
Besides, you will be fully equipped for your dinner with:
- seating tables with linens and napkins,
- china, flatware, water goblets, and wine glasses,
- white folding chairs for the ceremony and reception,
- a sweetheart table with linen,
- gift and guest book areas, a place card table, cake table, and DJ table.
- outdoor lighting.
You will also have a day-of-coordinator from the venue who will make sure that all elements of the service proceed exactly as planned. So, as you see, the venue’s aim is to save you as far from a headache as possible and make the planning process easier.
You have to find only vendors like a DJ, photographer, florist, etc. And you can choose them from the list the venue will give to you. Suggested vendors have all worked at Eden Gardens weddings before, so they are familiar with the place.
Eden Gardens has the following restrictions.
- Music must be off at 11:00 P.M.
- There is also a noise ordinance and a volume limit for the DJ.
- You will have to pay for parking/valet, so plan the valet in your budget.
- One hour after the end, all guests & vendors have to leave the property.
- No rice, birdseed, glitter. You are also responsible for the cleanup and removal of all brought-in decors.
Wedding areas of Eden Gardens California
Eden Gardens is fully outdoors, it resembles a circular green maze with event spots, separated from each other by trees. When you walk in, you walk in a circular way and firstly reach the ceremony spot, then the cocktail patio, and lastly the reception area.
- For the ceremony, you will have a lawn overlooking a pond. The area is surrounded by palm trees and has a stone platform for exchanging vows.
- The guests will enjoy cocktails on the patio with a 12-foot fountain.
- The reception area is a large space with a lawn, stone courtyard, and a covered pavilion.
Now, let us look a bit closer at these romantic backdrops for your love celebration.
Your Eden Gardens wedding preparation
The venue provides the couple with two areas for getting ready:
- a groom’s area outdoors, and
- an air-conditioned bridal trailer, with all facilities, yet quite small.
These areas have at least one undeniable advantage: they are separated from each other and secluded. If the couple will desice not to see each other before the ceremony, it can be done it without effort.
For couples who prefer something more spacious and classier, the venue offers a house on-site to rent. And some couples choose a nearby hotel for their preparation.
Keep in mind that you will have 2 hours at the venue to get ready before the ceremony.
First Look at the Eden Gardens California
There are lots of picturesque locations at Eden Gardens and the layout in itself is quite huge. So, it’s not difficult to take pictures in different spots.
Our First Look was on one of the paths under a tree canopy. It’s a well-shaded and secluded spot, great for emotional photographs. Green walls and big palms around add to the quiet atmosphere of the place.
If you like more open space areas, you just walk forward along the path to aviaries. The path will bring you to a small courtyard surrounded by trees. However, we decided not to go far from the ceremony spot.
We made great couple pictures at the entrance of the venue. It was just about sunset time and the photographs you see are filled with air and soft sunlight. Here you can read more about advanatges of golden hour shots.
Then we came back under the branches of the trees arched over walkways. They are lit with twinkle lights in the evening. It was a good moment to make romantic fairytale-like portraits.
There are lots of cute hidden spots at Eden Gardens like this stone bench that served as a nice backdrop for couple shots.
Group photos at Eden Gardens California
We made some wedding party photos during the groom’s preparation in the outdoor groom’s quarter. But the most convenient time to make wedding party & family shots is the cocktail break between the ceremony and reception. The cocktail will take place on the patio following the ceremony spot, next to giant trees. At that time, all guests are in one place, no need to encourage them to pose together or search for them. Just organize your guests in small or big groups and get your pictures while they are enjoying their drinks. The patio is well shaded and very spacious: we made some really amazing large group photos near a big tree.
Ceremony at Eden Gardens Moorpark, CA
From the tree-lined entrance, guests will walk along a path ringed by palms, passing through aviaries with beautiful white peacocks and other birds. Here the staff usually places a table with the guestbook & wedding favors; they also offer guests non-alcoholic beverages.
After this small break, guests go to the ceremony spot with the view of a soothing pond surrounded by greenery. They take their seats next to a stone platform with a steel frame. This frame will look the most attractive draped with a white half-sheer cloth and floral arrangements. With a drapery, you will get a beautiful small gazebo for your vows as the focal point for viewers. A crystal chandelier hanging from above adds to the romantic vibe of the spot. Actually, the ceremony site of Eden Garden reminds me of the ceremony spot at Los Angeles River Center & Gardens where it also needs a bit of personal touch & decor to make it unforgettable.
The bride walks down the aisle along the same pathway as guests. She goes up to the platform from where she and her soulmate will be perfectly seen.
From the ceremony spot, you can hear the sounds of birds. Though their voices add to a “paradise garden” feel, the noise may be a bit disturbing. Be sure of your audio equipment before starting the ceremony and exchanging vows.
Usually, couples decide to organize the ceremony at 5-5.30 P.M. The idea is that it shouldn’t be too hot outdoors at this time. The 5 P.M. is a perfect time for a garden ceremony in the hot months.
After the ceremony is finished, guests will move the other way to a patio set to enjoy their cocktails. At this moment you’ll get a great opportunity to make group shots.
Reception area of Eden Gardens Moorpark, CA
Ater the cocktail hour, the guests enter the reception area. It’s a large space including a green lawn, stone courtyard, and a covered pavilion. Guest tables will be placed right on the lawn. The concrete dance floor is next to the lawn and you will find your sweetheart table on a raised stage platform in the middle.
This is one more advantage of the venue: large spaces in both ceremony and reception areas, great for big events. At the dinner, guest tables will not be placed too closely to each other, you will have enough room for dancing, guest activities, photography, and just walking around.
Small up-lit waterfalls of the area create a relaxing background sound. Besides, you will see many trees with twinkle lights and nice stone fountains at the spot. All this together provides a great elegant ambiance.
The covered pavilion can hold about 200 people. Surely, you can use it in case of rain: this is one of the reasons why people pick this venue over some others nearby: they want to have a tent or something that can be a good emergency option. If it’s chilly, under the roof it will be a bit warmer than outside. The guests can also walk freely through the area (which is not always the case at some venues). As for vendors, moving in and out is easy and everything is close by.
Why Eden Gardens weddings of Moorpark are outstanding
The Eden Gardens venue with its simple elegance, beautiful outdoor areas, and all-inclusive services reminds me of one more venue of this kind which I described in this article. The Eden venue has the same intimate natural feel and great opportunities for an outdoor garden celebration with full privacy. You can be sure that this place is only yours so that you don’t need to worry about running into another bride on your big day 🙂
The place is filled with greenery and secluded: coming nearby, you will have no idea this place exists if you aren’t looking for it. It’s one of the points that makes it special.
Here you will have separate spots for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and the reception which allows you and your guests to explore the area and experience the whole venue.
Lawns, water features, and beautiful small spots hidden by trees are natural backdrops offering lots of photo opportunities. The venue looks magical at night when it’s lit up with twinkies in the trees & tree archways.
All Eden Gardens weddings are provided with the services of the Command Performance Catering company so you don’t have to worry about hiring a separate vendor for chairs, tables, linens, or food. You will find lots of reviews complimenting their cuisine. Besides, the venue comes with a wedding day coordinator so the planning process will not be a trouble for you.
I have photographed many weddings at lots of venues and think Eden Gardens in Moorpark is one of the best places in terms of price, space & quality services.
Here I describe other venues with all-inclusive packages:
- Calamigos Ranch of Santa Monica,
- Ponte Winery & Vineyard Inn of Temecula Wine Country,
- Twin Oaks House and Garden in San Marcos,
- and Serendipity Garden in Oak Glen.
The vendor Command Performance Catering also works with Quail Ranch in Simi Valley.
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