California Wedding

Yea! And my friend got married last summer at Brownstone Gardens

It was awesome! You can make it as fancy or as rustic as you want!

Try the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park in Berkeley.

It's rustic, the outdoor setting is so beautiful, you don't need many decorations outside. You can bring in your own caterer, so you have control over the budget and rentals. (I totally get your stance on white linens!)

I know quite a few brides who got married there, it's a great venue!

I checked this place out when we were looking.  www.flowerfarminn.com

We got married at Allied Arts Guild, in Menlo Park. We had a vintage wedding, it's the prettiest place you could ask for, and more affordable than other venues.

Looking for a rustic venue (in this neck of the woods, anyway) can be really deceptive.  Some of the rustic venues are waaaaaay out of most budgets (like 10-15k just to rent) so don'tget discouraged.  Here are a few that I think are a little more reasonable:

Quail Hollow Ranch (Santa Cruz Mountains):

http://www.scparks.com/weddings.html

Wildwood Acres (Lafayette--East Bay):

http://www.wildwoodacres.com/

Mountain Terrace:

http://themountainterrace.com/themountainterrace/html/weddings_guidelines.html

Presidio Log Cabin:

http://www.presidio.gov/venues/Pages/Log-Cabin.aspx

Although a little out of the way (another 45 min), a friend of mine recently went to a wedding here and had a great time:

http://americanriverresort.com/

Good luck and welcome to PW!