Gorgeous venue! Lots of places to take pictures and move the party from room to room, inside and out. Have your ceremony outside, have cocktails in the foyer. Move to the Colonnade Dining Room for dinner, then to the Grand Ballroom for cake and dancing. There is also a lounge/bar and billiards room off the Ballroom. This is the place if you want to wow your guests. The food was delicious and the staff - LOVE THE STAFF!! They really treat everyone wonderfully. The only drawback is this place is kind of out in the middle of nowhere, about an hour and a half from downtown Oakland. Not a big deal really, if you want to feel like you are a regal or celebrity bride. You can rent out the whole place (I believe you have to for evening weddings) and stay the night and have a wonderful brunch the next morning with your guests/family. Also, there is the Ryde Hotel, about 15 minutes away from the Mansion. And there's the Delta Daze B&B and Hotel Del Rio about 20 min away in Isleton. So you're not completely at a lodging loss here!

I was in a wedding here & let me just say, this place leaves MUCH to be desired. FUTURE BRIDES - BEWARE!
Yes, the venue is beautiful, it's filled with history, the rooms are quaint & sweet & Julia Morgan was the architect. We get it. But when the staff is rude & unaccommodating, it ruins everything! Even though they were getting paid for renting out the ENTIRE venue for the WHOLE DAY, they did not try to meet any expectations or make sure the bride & the groom were kept happy throughout the day.
First issues; when a venue tells you that you have to use their in-house catering they should be accommodating in getting you samples from the menu. They should not tell you to crash another wedding to sample some of their food. And please don't charge the bride & groom to try food at someone's wedding. That is just flat out tacky.
They are not very accommodating for parking. They have a lot, but it's reserved for residents & guests of the hotel/club only. So if you're getting married, you get 1 space. Hope your family all fits in a large van! Since the BCC is very close to Cal Berkeley, take a look at their sporting event schedule because the BCC will not tell you that the wedding date you have chosen is also the same day as Cal's homecoming game so there will be no parking. Granted, it's not BCC's fault, but a little heads up would have been nice.
Keep copies of all documents & contracts with the BCC. That should go without saying, but sometimes employees of the BCC quit a few months before your wedding & take all your documents with them. The BCC has no record of you, so they're not going to call & alert you to the problem. The bride had called to check in & was asked to fax copies of her contracts. Professional!
On to Saturday, the day of the wedding. We arrived to check in to the bridal suite. No one came out from behind the desk to help us with our stuff, nor did they even have a bell cart or any cart for us to use. This is not really a hotel. It's more of a high priced, but very beautiful hostel. And that's how they treat you.
My purse was stolen while we were taking photos. The BCC has locked doors & you cannot get in unless you have been buzzed in, so I know it wasn't some hobo off the street who took it. I went to the front desk & asked the clerk if he saw anyone in the last 10 minutes go into the room where we were taking photos. He said no. I told him that my purse had just been stolen & asked if he could help me look for it. He said, "Well, I don't even know where it is, so I can't help you". Great customer service. After searching the entire downstairs floor we found nothing. As a last resort, we searched the employee lounge. I was very doubtful it was going to be in there since it's the employee lounge... but sure enough, there it was, behind the door, on a stack of chairs, open, with my wallet laid out on top! All my stuff was there, but it doesn't take much to write down credit card info. No wonder the staff didn't want to help me! I'm not accusing any one person, but doesn't that seem a little shady? I'll have to monitor my stuff from now until eternity to make sure that no one is trying to use my identity or credit card.
The ceremony site was very nice, but you would think that they would change some of the light fixtures inside the terrace on the second floor. The ceremony was taking place at night & besides the little twinkle lights intertwined with the fake ivy overhead they had three FLORESCENT bulbs to light the room (which were at the alter in the front of the room). Really, BCC? With all the fund raising & weddings you have, you couldn't have managed to cough up enough dough to find some period correct light fixtures & put in softer, more attractive lights? Wow, talk about cheap. Hope the pictures turn out OK. If someone from your staff hadn't tried to steal my purse, I would buy some for you.
Once we were done taking pictures it was finally time to enjoy the reception. But I hope you don't actually want to enjoy any of the food you just purchased. By the time we were done, so were the crab cakes, skewers, cheese & most of the food. The bride had asked the wedding party if we had seen any of those items. Sadly, everyone answered no. The bride had to ask for the food she had ordered, but they were out. They had already served it to the guests. Bummer. I guess its fruit & cold, soggy stuffed mushrooms for the family & wedding party! Thanks, BCC, for making the day special!
Future brides & grooms, really think it over before deciding on the Berkeley City Club. This may have only been a one time issue (& hopefully their last) but it just goes to show that overall, this place really has the potential for something to go wrong.
**01/04/09: mysterious charge on my credit card for $750 - wonder if it was the BCC thief?