The Clarke Estate

The Clarke Estate was the PERFECT venue for our special wedding day! My husband is a wedding photographer (www.harrisonlongphotography.com) and he shot a wedding there two years ago before we were ever engaged, but he knew then that it was a special place that I would love. I didn't think anything nice would be in Santa Fe Springs, but as soon as I walked through the classy orange gate, I was in LOVE! The beautiful, expansive green lawn, the over 30 foot bamboo forrest, the classic architecture of the estate...all of it was perfect for us. We got married on April 30th! Woohoo! And all of our guests were AMAZED when they came in and they are still talking about how beautiful and peaceful that venue was. Tamra is really organized and helped us create a perfect day. She helps preserve the Clarke Estate so that many couples can enjoy it, but she is also flexible in helping you make your individual design a reality. It is really hard to reserve because the days get booked fast (which shows how beautiful it is!) so, I'll give you some tips:-You can book one year ahead for any day of that month. so, on september 1, 2011, you can book for any day in september 2012, but you can't book sooner than the first of that month. i showed up an hour before the city office opens and there were already 4 couples in line so i didn't get a saturday in september. the first two couples got in line at 9pm the night before...so this just goes to show what you need to do!-You must wrap up by 10pm and all vendors out by 11pm-No live music, but you can have a few instruments for the ceremony-The venue comes with enough folding white chairs and round tables for 300 guests (which really saves you a lot!)Thank you Clarke Estate!

The Clarke Estate overall is an amazing venue! All the greenery, the bamboo grove, the courtyard, I just love it all!The flexibility isn't great but that's because they book so fast. At first we booked a Sunday because that's the only thing that had available in July. I wasn't particularly happy with that but if we wanted Clarke, it had to be that way so it was fine. Later we received a call that the Saturday bride canceled so we were able to jump on that date.Tamra was pretty good at responding to my emails within 2 days, she is cordial through e-mail. She is friendly sometimes, very outspoken and opinionated and she'll make it known she don't care if you agree or disagree. Overall I know she is looking for the brides best interest, but even though she's been there for a while doesn't mean she knows everything.There were plenty of times my coordinator and I were talking about my vision of where to place certain things or what to do at a certain area and Tamra would walk right in and say "That's not where most of my brides put that. I mean you can put it there if you want, I don't want to be right, I just know I'm going to be." I ignored her comments and did what I wanted where I wanted as long as I wasn't going against their guidelines and in the end I was happy with my decisions and at the end of our wedding night she went up to me and said "You win. I was wrong about X and X, etc. and hey, I told you I didn't want to be right."On one instance my 5 yr old nephew got upset and took off running. My brother went to follow him but because of the crowd, lost sight of him. My brother asked Tamra if she had seen a small boy go through that area. Mind you there were no children at the wedding aside from those actually in the wedding so there weren't kids everywhere. She responded with "Do I look like a babysitter?" We couldn't find my nephew for a few minutes, we were truly worried and that's how she responded to it. We weren't asking her to watch him we simply asked if she happened to see a small boy. Because of the factors I listed above, that is why I gave professionalism 2 and a half stars and quality of service 4 stars. Music is off at 10:00 p.m. which sucks but we just had an after party.Overall I'm pleased with Clarke. The only negative really was Tamra's attitude, but it's not enough to make a dent or make a change of venue. She was friendly but she has her moments I guess.I love, love Clarke Estate and would do it all over again. And I would recommend Clarke to any bride looking for a venue.

I just booked Clarke Estate for my wedding next June I can't wait. Me and my fiance feel in love with this place we looked all over southern Cali for a venue that fit what we were looking for and our budget. Clarke Estate is so beautiful. There are so many reasons as to why I chose Clarke Estate:
1. Set away from the street and the public, very private
2. Full of lush greenary and flowers
3. We will be the only wedding on site that day
4. We can bring all of our own vendors (except DJ but they have a list from
you can choose) not many venues let you bring your own.
5. We can start at anytime and use the whole estate if we wanted too.

My husband and I got married at the Clarke Estate in October of 2009. The whole experience from booking the venue to the wedding day was wonderful. Tamra, Genevee and their team made our wedding so special. I have been to one other wedding here several years back and it is a beautiful site with big bamboo, fig, oak , and banyan trees. They can accommodate up to 300 guests and you can choose all your own vendors, except DJ. The one drawback is that you cannot have a band, but with approval, we had drummers and flutists for our ceremony. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the Clarke Estate!

Tamra is really charming and Genoveve is a doll. They are both very professional. At no point did we feel like we were being supervised. The Clarke Estate itself is beautiful. No disappointments from either the venue or the staff. It?s a very romantic, calm, simple yet fun place to wed. All of our guests fell in love with the place.

We have just begun our wedding planning. We saw two locations for a venue (Clarke Estate and Pasadena Masonic). We end up picking the Clarke Estate since we concluded we wanted a venue that was outside and thought it would be relaxing and different as most weddings we go to are indoor. We instantly feel in love with the Clarke Estates, it was everything we wanted and with having a relative who is a city resident, we could not pass up the savings, which is a steal. We are having our ceremony and reception at the Estate, no driving from one place to another. The Estate is beautiful, so many possibilities for pictures. We also loved the fact that the Estate holds a large capacity for the ceremony and reception. The staff, Tamara and her assistant, have been patient and attentive to our many questions I have e-mailed to them (can we have candles, can we hang paper lanterns in the trees, etc. [which is a yes just in case you were wondering]). We are looking forward to our planning with the Clarke Estates. I will update as we progress further towards our wedding date.

Tamra and her staff were great to work with. We could have not had a great day without them. The venue itself is beautiful, our guests were in awe of its beauty.

I absolutely LOVED having my wedding at the Clarke Estate!

Pros:
I saved some money on the rental fee since my brother-in-law is a resident of Santa Fe Springs
Tamra was so easy to work with
They allow you to bring in your own caterer and alcohol (which was a huge selling point since it made our 200 guest list affordable)
They have a big parking lot for your guests with free parking
You can have your ceremony and reception at the venue. All outdoors location.
The venue is very secluded so the public will not bother you. No wedding crashers.
We used the courtyard for cocktail hour
Beautiful bamboo garden, fountain, red gates, courtyard, etc for pictures.

Cons:
Party must end at 10 pm since it is owned by the city. (We just had an after party at the hotel.)
Must use a DJ from a list supplied by the Clarke Estate (We booked Ray Tomlinson, who was great)
All outdoors location. We had no backup plan if it rained. (We were married on 5/24/09 and luckily had perfect weather!)
Gets a little chilly at night (We had the heaters out but some did not work. We warned our guests to bring a sweater. Most people were warm though by being out on the dance floor.)
No nice hotel near the venue for your out-of-town guests (We stayed at the Downtown Long Beach Hilton and rented a 57 passenger motor coach to shuttle our guests to and from the venue...didn't want anyone drinking and driving)

None of these cons really mattered to us. This venue has everything we were looking for in a ceremony/reception site. We booked the venue immediately after finding it on the internet. I HIGHLY recommend this venue! But hurry since it books up fast!

I had my wedding here and it was AMAZING! Everyone was SOOOO amazed at how beautiful it was! It's such a hidden gem! Everything was BYO, which is so rare! Tamara was great! She's very upfront and honest! We love that! You do have to choose a DJ from their list, which wasn't the best. But, when you can bring everything else in...INCLUDING alcohol, you really can't complain! I highly recommend this place!!

But, hurry and book! It books FAST!

Our wedding was beautiful! Highly recommend this place!

I just got married here and I loved it. All of the pictures look beautiful because of the landscaping. There are many places on site that pictures can be taken. We had our ceremony and reception here and it was perfect. Our ceremony was in the courtyard!!! I loved how the tables and chairs were included in the rental fee. Tamra was very helpful and always returned calls. What was also great was that we were able to choose our caterer, we went with someone on the list they gave but you have a choice and do not have to go with someone on the list. I also loved the D.J. we hired since they have a list of D.J.'s that we must choose from, but it made my job easier!!! I am so happy that I got married here and I highly recommend this site.

Gorgeous! My fiance and I just booked this site for our ceremony & reception. What I like about this place is that you can bring your own caterer / liquor / bartender, etc. and there are no special insurance requirements. Tamra is wonderful and very eager to help you. Highly recommended. I will write an update after my wedding.

UPDATE: 8/12/08
I have nothing but positive things to say about the Clarke Estate and their staff. Tamra ran the rehearsal dinner w/my coordinator and made sure everything was perfect. Everyone at my wedding was so impressed by how gorgeous the grounds at the Clarke Estate are.

This location has so much charm! It's in the middle of a huge city and you feel worlds away when you're there. It's pretty, peaceful and beautiful.

As soon as I pulled up to this venue, I knew it was perfect for our wedding. The well-kept grounds, the charming courtyard, the splashes of red, all the bamboo, the Modern architecture, and the expansive outdoor areas met our aesthetic criteria. On the practical side we loved the relatively reasonable rental fee (it's more of a steal if you are a city resident) that includes use of chairs and tables for up to 300 guests, 10 hour use of the estate (7 hours of which guests can be on the grounds), city-required security, a site coordinator, and ceremony sound equipment. Ample parking is provided a short walk from the main gate of the estate, only one event is held at a time, and the expansiveness and variety of the grounds allows you to hold both ceremony and reception at the same venue, a must on our list, while still varying the feel of each portion of the wedding. There are a few regulations that must be respected due to the historic designation of the estate and its residential neighborhood, but none of the stipulations were deal breakers for us. Their BYO policy for food and alcohol allowed us to save quite a bit on catering costs as well. The estate's events coordinator, Tamra Wilbur, was professional, pleasant to work with, accommodating of any special requests, and wonderfully organized in her dealings with us, our wedding coordinator, and our caterer.

My husband and I were married at the Clarke Estate on May 27, 2006. It was a beautiful venue. If I could do it all over again, I would...in a heartbeat; and wouldn't change a thing about it. Tamra was extremely helpful and patient with my large wedding party of 20 (yikes!) and 250 guests. You can't beat the price, for all it includes. It allowed us to splurge on other things, such as decor and honeymoon. Our reception is featured on the reception page of their website (the one in the backyard). I look at our pictures often and fall in love all over again not only with my husband, but with the Clarke Estate as well.

One of my favorite weddings of this year was located at the Clarke Estate. This place is gorgeous and an incredible place to have a wedding. I loved the decor of the estate. And would HIGHLY recommend checking it out. There were so many places to take photos and the place has a ton of charm!

We love the Clarke Estate - it's such a unique and beautiful reception site. We have done many weddings at this location and love the ambiance. Tamra is wonderful to work with and the staff is very organized. We highly recommend this venue as an alternative to a hotel or country club wedding.

A great wedding venue with an amazing staff. The venue's reception areas make you feel welcomed and at home.