Wilson Creek Winery weddings leave only pleasant memories behind: guests will rave about amazing food, stunning vineyard backdrops with endless photo opportunities, and impeccable all-inclusive service. If you always dreamed about a Temecula wine country wedding, this winery is a great option to choose.
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Location & History of Wilson Creek
Wilson Creek Winery is located in Temecula Wine Country, just 7 miles away from the I-15 freeway. The winery is famous among other Temecula wedding venues for its numerous wedding venues and all-inclusive service.
The winery is a family-owned property. It started as a small family enterprise in 1996. The entire family was involved and the winery grew into a successful commercial entity. In 2000, the Wilson family opened a tasting room. Wilson Creek’s vineyard property has multiplied from 20 to 90 acres in the last few years and expanded its facilities.
Now, the winery welcomes more than 1,500 visitors every weekend. The property includes a big outdoor patio dining area and area for picnics and lots of indoor and outdoor venues, including a ballroom and concert stage. This place is ideal for rehearsals, weddings, and wedding anniversaries. The Wilson Creek Winery weddings can be really large: up to 1,000 guests.
As a full-service wedding venue, the winery offers tasty wine country cuisine & wines, stunning vineyard & mountain views, indoor and outdoor event sites, and experienced wedding planning professionals.
Parking is ample and easily accessible: two large parking lots can hold up to 1200 guests. Plus there are also parking facilities for people with disabilities. Valet parking is also possible.
Amenities of Wilson Creek Winery
Wilson Creek is a grandiose and very expansive property that honestly can be compared to very few venues in California. (Another of this kind is probably Calamigos Ranch). The winery features lots of facilities: a tasting room, a full-service restaurant with expansive dining areas, also for picnics. There are event sites like a concert stage and conference rooms. They also offer accommodations.
In this article, we will focus mostly on events sites & wedding venues.
The winery can accommodate groups of up to 1000 and offer custom all-inclusive packages to choose from. The lowest price declared on their website is $75 per person.
What is included in the Wilson Creek wedding packages:
- 5 hours of event time (additional time for a fee),
- choose between numerous event locations for the ceremony & reception (Merlot Mesa for additional cost),
- chairs, tables, linen, china, glassware, etc., set up and breakdown,
- 3 tray-passed or displayed appetizers during cocktail hour,
- menu options to choose from for a plated or buffet-style dinner,
- an open bar with a wide selection of Wilson Creek wines and champagne,
- water and lemonade station, gourmet coffee station,
- cake cutting,
- some lighting decorations, barrel accents,
- venue coordinator (outside day-of-coordinator required),
- bridal/groom dressing rooms,
- guest parking.
You’ll have to bring in:
- a florist,
- photographer,
- DJ,
- officiant,
- wedding cake/dessert,
- and professional day-of coordinator.
The venue will offer you a preferred vendor list if needed.
Wilson Creek winery is very kid-friendly. Children 5 and under are complimentary while children 6-12 are half-price. As for curfew, it’s a late-night venue and parties can go until 1:00 A.M. with the music indoors. Outdoor music has to finish at 10:00 P.M.
Events Sites of Wilson Creek Winery
One of the biggest perks of Wilson Creek is that it has different venues for every part of your wedding and there are really many. You can choose from numerous beautiful locations where your ceremony, cocktails, dinner, and reception will be hosted.
Ceremony sites
- The White Wedding Gazebo with a capacity of 200 is located right in front of the main building. It’s a nice area with a garden view ringed by trees.
- Concert Stage is located right in the center of the grounds. It’s a raised stage covered by a wooden pergola overlooking the vineyards from one site and the garden from another. The Concert Stage can host about 400 guests.
- Vineyard View Stage is great for smaller Wilson Creek Winery weddings up to 250. It’s also a raised stage yet with a more rustic vibe, located on the opposite side of the Concert Stage.
- Cabernet Hill is the newest ceremony site, located in the vines. It’s a wooden arbor as well, with the wine country views all around. It can host 120 persons.
- Merlot Mesa (by additional cost) is the last, very special, and very popular site on top of the vineyard hill. This site has probably the most amazing scenery. It’s far from other sites and the venue will bring there you & your guests by limo buses. The capacity of the site is 250.
Reception sites
Champagne Ballroom, Barrel Room, and Garden View Terrace Room are located in one of the 2 main buildings on the grounds. This house includes mostly event areas. The second building (and I think the oldest of two) has a tasting room, a restaurant, and the Upper Room for a smaller reception. The capacity of all indoor reception areas is from 60 to 100.
For a really large outdoor reception, you can use the Concert stage area (up to 400). Also, the Upper Courtyard (or winery grounds) between two main buildings can host up to 1000 guests.
As you see, each of these indoor and outdoor event spaces has its capacity & special ambiance, and you can combine them to suit the size and style of your wedding.
Bridal & Groom Dressing Areas at the Wilson Creek Winery
The winery has multiple suites for couples to get ready. In the photos below you see the bride in one of these suites. The room has all the facilities for make-up and hair vanity and good lighting.
The location of this dressing area was great for the bride: you can calmly get prepared far from the crowd, after that come down to make a First Look right in front of the building, and (if you have time) go to the vineyard that is easily accessible by the spot to snap some shots as well. Most vineyards that I have visited have quite a distance between the bridal suite and grape bushes and the bride is forced to walk through the dirt. Here it will not happen.
If you want to pamper yourself with more luxury or need more space for your wedding party, you can book the bridal suite at the Wilson Creek Manor across the street. It’s a very spacious bridal dressing area with plush furnishings, individual lighted makeup stations, and a bride viewing stage. As for the groom, there is also a cozy “Man Cave”. Besides, the Manor can accommodate 24 persons in 10 luxurious guest rooms
First Look & Couple Shots at the Wilson Creek Winery
In the pictures below, you’ll see that we’ve chosen the best nearest opportunity to make a First Look: on the covered terrace of the main building, right by the bridal suite. The bride just went down to the spot where the groom waited for her. We also made an alternative First Look (what is it you can read here).
Don’t miss the opportunity to take some shots in the house interiors. We snapped great couple portraits on the stairs leading to the Barrel Room and in the hall under a giant chandelier.
And surely, you can’t forget to take pictures in the vineyards. They are beautiful at sunset as well as in the late evening lit by garden lanterns.
Wedding Party & Family Photos at the Wilson Creek Winery
Your guests arrive on the property at the time written on your invitations. Still, because the winery is open from 10 am-5 pm the guests can come already at 10 am and enjoy all the day out. They will find a beautiful green garden with many walkways, a large restaurant (that is gluten-free friendly), and a bocce ball. So, lots of shots with your dearest & nearest you can start taking from the morning.
If you don’t have much time, you can take nice shots with your bridal party right in front of the house next to the dressing area. We also made some after-ceremony shots on the altar spot under the pergola.
And surely, the best place to make small and big group pictures is the Lower Garden behind the Concert Stage. It’s a great place for guests and visitors: very green and well-shaded, with many picturesque backdrops like a water fountain or a small bridge.
Ceremony sites of the Wilson Creek Winery
In the pictures below you’ll see one of two ceremonies at the Vineyard View Stage. It’s located in the garden between two main buildings and can accommodate up to 150 guests. You can decorate its covered raised stage or just put on some flower accents: with the lantern around the pergola and vineyard hedge, it already looks scenic.
As I know, many couples choose the Merlot Mesa ceremony site. But it will cost additionally and is far from the main buildings. Still, many newlyweds are excited about the fascinating view of grapevine rows and the overall serenity of this site.
It’s also possible to make your ceremony indoors and it becomes inevitable if it’s raining. One of the ceremonies in the pictures below was hosted in the Barrel Room. Under a giant chandelier and with the rows of barrels all around, it looked very rustic and nontrivial. Still, such elongated wooden rooms are not an ideal place in particular for wedding photography. Surely, if the weather is nice, you will find at the Wilson Creek winery more flattering ceremony sites.
Reception sites of the Wilson Creek Winery
The reception which you see in the photos below was in the Ballroom. It’s a very large 5100 sq. ft. and really a ballroom, classic and elegant with marble columns, wood dance floor, and chandeliers. Still, it keeps its rustic winery vibe because your guest will enjoy a vineyard view through the open French doors. It can host up to 300 guests: enough space for everything from the First Dance to the Bouquet Toss. The newlyweds will sit at the elevated stage, clearly seen from every angle: so, keep in mind to decorate your sweetheart table with your wedding colors.
The next nice point is: if you plan to hold your ceremony in another place and want only reception at the Wilson Creek, it’s possible. You can take $500 off the package price, and you will still have use of the facility for the same amount of time. The Wilson Creek Winery allows you to enjoy the Sparkler exit: one more reason to choose this venue for your reception.
The Wilson Creek Winery is great for multicultural weddings with numerous wedding parts and procedures. You can choose a new location for every part of your wedding. For instance, the first classic ceremony can be in the ballroom, the second national ceremony in Merlot Mensa. Cocktail hour or reception can be in the Upper Garden, at the Concert stage, in the Ballroom, etc. For such complicated detail-oriented weddings, the winery offers an experienced venue coordinator who is able to move 150 or more people around different locations. It’s another great advantage of this venue compared to others.
All advantages of your Wilson Creek Winery wedding
The reasons to choose Wilson Creek among other Temecula wedding venues are uncountable. I will just mention here the most obvious ones.
- There are multiple ceremony & reception sites to choose from.
- The venue is great for multicultural weddings with many complicated detailed wedding events. You will get lots of locations for your wedding party and everything you could only ask for in venue options.
- Venue’s management and coordinators are professionals, very responsive to any requests due to experience. They will make your big day from the beginning to the end run smoothly without any troubles.
- If you plan to use a lot of vendors (it may happen at large multicultural weddings) and they are not on the preferred vendor list, there are no problems with them getting onto the property and accessing everything.
- The Wilson Creek Winery offers great accommodations for out-of-towners coming for Temecula winery weddings. Elderly guests will be able to get around with ease on the property, there are also some handicap accommodations if needed.
So, you’ll find this winery is not only a beautiful place with stunning grounds & views, but it’s also more than reasonably priced for your all-inclusive Wilson creek winery wedding.
If you want to compare the Wilson Creek packages & options to other all-inclusive wedding packages in Temecula welcome to:
Lake Oak Meadows that also offers all-inclusive packages,
Lorimar Winery and Vineyards in the Temecula Wine Country has also beautiful vineyard views with a Tuscan vibe,
Ponte Winery & Vineyard Inn where you can also book overnight accommodations for your guests or a wedding night stay for you.
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