i actually hired my catering company event professionals (they have good reviews on this site) first and they referred me to ambassador campus.  they have never done a wedding there before, but recommended this venue since it was within my budget.  we met and toured the site together before i officially book them as my caterer!  what i like about event professionals is that you can rent everything from them (tables, linens, lighting).  this was a smart choice since i didn't have to deal with multiple vendors.  now, they are a preferred vendor of ambassador campus.

my wedding is not until sept. 2009, but i really like working with my caterer.  they seem organized and very responsive to my emails and phone calls.  i also like that i can bring my own alcohols, yet not need to worry about insurance, license and bartenders since they take care of all these.

has anyone dealt with pasadena fire dept for permit?  how strict are they?  also, does the site allow bio-degradable confetti? 

I'm also getting married at the Fowler Garden in Oct. 2009 and having event professionals cater.   Like lenakb, I  also love working with event professionals .   It's so convenient that you can rent everything from them!   Also,  the fact that they own their equipments,  they can be more flexible with prices and try to work with your budget.

As for the fire permit, haven't dealt with it yet but will  let you know if i find out more about it.  

which garden are you getting married at lenakb?   

as for others that are getting married at the fowler garden,  are you renting the bathroom from the high school?   how about parking?    thanks in advance.

Bathrooms - do we have to rent them? I was not aware of that!

Various entities - Sylvia (site coordinator) told me that the Italian & Fowler Gardens are fine to get married at in spite of the sales, but the long staircase, inside of the mansion and one of the other buildings (for getting ready) could be iffy if someone buys.

Parking - I think we can utilize one of the HS lots close to the field (for Fowler Garden weddings)

Vendors - we are having Greenstreet Cafe cater (our fav restaurant!) and the manager there is taking care of our rentals (Dolphin Rentals) and our cake (Porto's).

Fire Permit - check out the restrictions/rules on the website & download the application. You also have to meet with the fire marshal in charge of that venue. Yikes! I hope he approves floating candles for the fountains! lol

Alright, here is a question ... are sparklers considered fire crackers? do you think that is possible at this venue? My heart is set on them, but my fiance says, "ya right."

Hi Ladies,

So far, I have not booked my caterer yet. We were looking at Jays Catering, where they do rentals, bar, and food as well.

I am holding both the ceremony and the rception in Fowler, and I am renting the bathrooms from the high school. That is extra, you do not need to rent bathrooms if you are using the hall on the other side of the church, the reason we are booking the high school's bathrooms (which arent very nice when we saw them) is because it is such a long walk to the ones that come w/ the venue. The bathrooms and pending sales are definitely a down fall with this venue.

As for the sparklers idea, I too have my heart set on them but, I have a feeling the fire dept wont allow them... if anyone goes through that process w/ the fire dept. please let us know how it goes. I dont even know how I would begin that whole process.

P.S. The merrit mansion (the big white mansion) is for sale, the merrit garden is also pending in that sale which is why they arent allowing anyone to book wedding ceremonies there until 120 days out from the wedding date.

The terrave villa which is next to it on the left just got sold along w/ the great lawn which is that large grassy area next to it. The new owners are asking for 500.00 an hr to hold a ceremony there (ridiculous). The fowler garden is the only garden w/out concern as it belongs to the city of pasadena and is marked as a historical landmark.

Wow thanks for the insight!

BTW - is anyone getting married at the Fowler Garden on Oct. 10???

I'm  getting married at the fowler garden on Oct. 24th.    I"m renting the bathroom at the HS since the other bathroom available is quite a  bit of a walk for guests.   Also,  my wedding will go till 10 in the evening and it might be too dark for guests to walk to the bathroom at the italian garden.   HS bathroom rental is $75/hr.   It's cheaper than renting those portable bathrooms. 

Hi ladies ...

For those of you who do not want your guests to have to trek up hill to bathrooms, but also do not want to pay for bathrooms either, there is a compromise. I talked to the site coordinator and the HS has bathrooms that can be used free of charge, but they are not directly across from Fowler, but two buildings over. That's what we will be doing. It is a bit of a walk, but at least its not uphill!

Hi jmb!  Congrats on your upcoming wedding!  Just wanted to say that from the standpoint of someone who works in the wedding photography business, the Ambassador Campus Flower Garden will probably be the best venue for some really amazing rich, vibrant, and romantic looking pictures.  It would probably be my first choice for that reason, with the ULV second and the Museum third...but when it really comes down to it you should pick whichever venue you think best matches you and your groom's personality.

hi ladies! i'm so excited to see that so many of you are getting married at ambassador campus - i am too! (but every time someone asks where we're getting married, nobody knows what i'm talking about.)

my fiance and i booked the italian garden for both our ceremony and reception, but lately i've been thinking about having our ceremony at fowler garden instead. it's too beautiful to pass up and i can't wrap my head around how to set things up if we were to have both at the italian garden. anyone else doing their ceremony and reception in the italian garden? what about a fowler ceremony and italian garden reception?