Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate

We had a wonderful time at Pacific Oaks and would highly recommend it to couples. Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, this place is one to adore. Thanks again for making our unforgettable day a lasting memory. The view is priceless and the service is amazing! Thank you Judy for being so helpful! Allie and Nick

Pacific Oaks was a fantastic venue for our wedding. Understated and elegant, it's natural environs created the perfect setting for a beautiful day. Our guests loved it!

Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate was the perfect choice for our wedding venue. The stunning views and beautiful grounds made it a day in heaven! We had a surprise rainstorm on our wedding and the owner Judy was truly exceptionally gracious and accommodating to help us still have an incredible day. We absolutely loved working with Judy and in my experience it is very important to not only love the venue but to know the manager is someone who will be in alignment with your values for your wedding day. Thank you so much Judy and thank you Pacific Oaks for a truly magnificent day!

I can't say enough good things about Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate and how lovely Judy is. Judy is so kind and easy to work with and the grounds are peaceful with the most beautiful views you can find. Our guests could not stop talking about how picturesque it was. I am forever grateful to POVE for giving us the opportunity to make our wedding everything we hoped it would be.

We can't give enough positive feedback about our wedding experience at Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate. Judy, the owner, was so accommodating to all our needs, even to the unique request of releasing a falcon during the ceremony. The estate is magnificent, adorned with wonderful views and beautiful landscaping. Our caterer (5 Star Catering) had been utilized at Pacific Oaks many times before our wedding so they worked seamlessly with Judy to provide amazing presentation and delicious food for the event. Pacific Oaks really allows for an intimate relationship between the wedding party, the guests, and the gorgeous environment.

A Perfect Score for a Perfect Venue...My experience at Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate FAR EXCEEDED my expectations and hopes for a perfect wedding memory. I received exceptional "customer service" attention and personal care from the owner, Judy Thibodeau. The beauty of Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate easily speaks for itself, but the consideration and thought offered by Judy made my job so easy and completely worry free - a necessity for a bride who planned a California wedding while living on the East Coast. I needed to find a vendor that I could trust, and I received exactly that! My instinct proved to be true - Judy responded to every email within 24 hours and she was prepared to resolve any issue that would arise. She also recommended several wedding vendors that I could work with – and particular vendors who were already familiar with her venue. I went with all her recommendations (catering, florist, officiant, etc.) and was completely satisfied with each one. From day one, Judy exuded confidence that I would have an incredible wedding. Her energy was contagious, which in-turn helped me to feel secure in all of my decision-making. Throughout the whole process I genuinely felt that Judy wanted me to have a day to remember. Rather than being treated like a typical "client", I was embraced by someone who wanted me to have an amazing day, as much as I did. I cannot thank Judy enough!As for the venue itself, it will "WOW" you! There is a piece of Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate for everyone - gorgeous landscape, view of the mountains and Pacific ocean, a private vineyard, front deck and back lawn (plenty of space for guests to spread out and feel comfortable), a beautiful pool house, stunning front entrance, and a breathtaking home. My bridesmaids and I LOVED the bridal suite! We enjoyed our own private space to prepare for the ceremony - laughing, dancing, snacking, and toasting in this room is one of my fondness memories. I needed that space and time with my closest girlfriends and family to capture the true meaning of this day. As the bride, it was wonderful to watch my guests have such a fantastic time exploring Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate and taking in all it has to offer. My guests are still taking about it and a few of them are interested in renewing their vows at this same special place.I recommend Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate to any couple that would like to feel the intimacy and beauty of a private California home, high above the mountaintops. This venue makes for PERFECT photographs, especially at sunset. Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate is a true goldmine - simple, elegant, classy, and sweet.Sincerely,Jennifer Sullivan

My daughter's wedding at Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate was perfect in every way! Judy was a dream to work with. She responded to every email immediately and accommodated every request. The property itself is breathtaking, and once the sun went down and the lighting came on, the vision was pure magic. From the moment we met Judy just about a year before the wedding, to the day after when we collected everything we'd left behind, we could not have asked for anything more. Perfection!

After meeting Judy and seeing her BEAUTIFUL estate, my dream wedding instantly became a reality. Judy was a brides dream to work with...professional, quick to respond, incredibly sweet, and a obvious passion for weddings. Our wedding day was by far, the most amazing day of our lives and we have Judy and her estate to thank for that. From the gorgeous house, indoor pool, beautiful vineyard (accompanied by adorable chickens!), spectacular yard and breathtaking views, deciding to have your wedding at Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate will be the best decision you will make for your wedding. To say we love Judy and POVE, is a complete understatement! She is incredible and I wish I could get married (to the same man!) every year!

My wedding was absolutely beautiful and amazing! The only downfall I had with our wedding was the time we had. I reserved the space for 8 hours, 5 of which were for the entire event. My Ceremony started at 5pm and before I knew it BAM music off and lights out at 9:30. I knew this was the rule but I intended to have guests mingle once the music had stopped. By this time I was feeling rushed to end to event and I could feel my guests felt rushed to leave as well. Other than that it was absolutely perfect! Keep in mind to have the event earlier in the day or have another plan in mind to keep the event going. THANK YOU JUDY!

We wanted to get married in a vineyard and also near the ocean... not an easy thing to accomplish! At first the up front cost caused us to look elsewhere, but then after learning that it includes a TON of rental equipment and allows us to pick our own caterer and bring our own drinks it ended up being a great deal. The location is simply gorgeous. Beautiful green grass, natural flowers everywhere (no need to go crazy with your own arrangements), view of the ocean in the distance, and their very own personal vineyard (perfect for pictures). There is also a deck on one side of the house with great views of the mountains and nearby valley. This area was perfect for our cocktail hour.Judy was simply awesome, she was VERY accommodating and flexible with vendors, supplies, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better "host" for her house. We didn't even notice she was there until the very end when she helped us pack up a few things.Tips: The venue is a short drive from the freeway, but you will need to rent shuttles to take you up to the location. We had everyone stay at the local Best Western which had a great big bar area to continue the party.Also its important to have plenty of heat lamps, even in the summer the fog rolls in and it gets a bit chilly for the grandparents and dress-wearers.

My husband and I were very quick to choose Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate (POVE). We were absolutely stunned when we arrived to view the property for the first time. It had everything we wanted... A beautiful estate in the mountains with an awesome lawn and a view of the ocean! We didn't even look at any other venues. We booked it on the spot.Our first choice was actually Nestldown in Los Gatos, but when we discovered their astronomical price we were completely turned off. We stumbled upon POVE online and decided to give it a shot. Our wedding was absolutely amazing and all of our friends and family can't stop raving about how beautiful the location was. It was close to the ocean, but above the fog line, so their were no worries about it being foggy and drippy. The entire wedding was outdoors and we had full range of the property (vineyard, indoor pool and bridal room with bathroom included). We needed minimal decorations because the property itself is so perfectly landscaped. The only flowers we used were in the bouquets and boutonnieres, and that's all we really needed.There is no parking for guests on the property, so you are required to hire a shuttle. That worried me at first, but it worked out great, and our friends loved riding the shuttles up and down the mountain.The owners are so kind and genuine, we felt so at home, every time we visited the property. They don't require you to pick from a list of their vendors (though many of theirs are great). And the best part is that you can arrange your ceremony however you choose... On the deck with a mountain view, or on the lawn with a garden view or facing the other way with a view of the house (which belongs in a Martha Stewart magazine article I should add).I loved my wedding day and I loved POVE!

Pacific Oaks is a unique & beautiful site for a wedding! This private estate offers panoramic views, picturesque gardens, spacious decks & lawn area for ceremony & reception seating. The site feels both elegant and romantic, yet at the same time intimate. Judy is wonderful & genuinely cares that your day is fabulous. Being able to arrange for a private estate for your wedding is fabulous, and Pacific Oaks is a one of a kind gem.

I was just contacted by someone who was looking to use Pacific OAKS Vineyard Estate for their wedding, but was nervous about it after reading these reviews!! This is what I sent back to him...

"Everything has gone very well for us so far, although the wedding isn't for a few more months. We booked the venue 18 months in advance, as it was booking quickly. We know one other couple who has gotten married there, and everything went well. We already had a wedding planner, and Judy was fine with us using her (Lori from Alison Weddings-- they're amazing!). But you do have to have a wedding planner, and you have to rent shuttles for all your guests. I just found reviews for the vineyard-- the wedding planner everyone is commenting on isn't even one of the preferred coordinators anymore. How Judy explained it to my fiance, myself, and our planner, is that she lists planners she's used in the past and liked as a recommendation. She was fine with us bringing our own planner in-- honestly, it's more business for her if she makes more contacts, and Alison Weddings is a major planner in Aptos.

The short of it is-- the pics on the website do not do the place justice. It is gorgeous. We went to see it when it was raining and gray outside, and it was still beautiful. You have to bring in your own shuttles (and you can find decent prices on them), caterer (again, you can find decent prices-- we went with Carried Away in Aptos), florist, cake, alcohol, and some rentals (Judy provides chairs and tables for the ceremony and reception in two styles to choose from). I think alot has changed since many of those reviews were posted. My fiance and I fell in love with it the moment we went for a viewing, and have never once regretted our decision."

The website that was made for trashing Pacific Oaks was really trashing the coordinator that alot of people used-- WHO ISN'T EVEN LISTED AS A PREFERRED COORDINATOR ANYMORE!!! They are not against the venue. Judy is great-- very helpful, very accomodating, and really nice. She held our date for 3 weeks without a deposit, even though other couples were looking at the venue for our date. She provides the tables and chairs at no additional rental cost (and they are nice chairs and tables, not funky banquet room chairs). She has some lighting at the venue, and a couple heating lamps (which again, is more than alot of venues). The vast majority of complaints on Pacific Oaks are in response to the wedding planner, not to Pacific Oaks. Please do not let the judgements of some people who didn't like the wedding planner they used (with good reason to not like her) are pushing it all on to Pacific Oaks. Granted my wedding hasn't happened yet, but the experiences I've had so far have been great. We chose every vendor we are using (most have never worked at Pacific Oaks before and are new to Judy) and have not received any flack for it from anyone at the venue. I will be back to post after the wedding in July, but honestly, our experience there has been nothing but great!!

Amazing!! Our wedding was beautiful, and the owner, Judy, was great throughout the whole process. POVE is definitely a venue worth at least checking out. It's a gorgeous estate, and all of our guests were amazed with the scenery and the setup.

I would just like to take a moment to tell you how wonderful our experience was working with Pacific Oaks Vineyard. From the first time Justin and I viewed the property, to the day of our wedding, I knew there was something special about Pacific Oaks Vineyards. There is just an overwhelming feeling of calmness and tranquility on the grounds, and kindness from the owners. The day of our wedding was perfect; everything looked exactly how I had envisioned it, from the foliage, to the lighting, to the set up of everything. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect location to spend the most important day of my life. I will always keep our beautiful memories with me. Courteney & Justin

We too had a sketchy experience which we luckily cut short....... strongly recommend you take a look at this webpage to get some real insight to this location.

http://pacificridgevineyardestate.googlepages.com/

ALSO, the rave reviews posted by May, wiltandre, EDE, Jhg, Penny H, & Lewie are posted by the same person at the SAME IP-address, for-longing the sketchiness of this vendor.

This is a review that has been a long time waiting. For those of you who are skeptical of the good rating I gave, I am not related to the vendor nor do I have any financial interest in the venue. I don't know how you look for IP addresses, but I can guarantee that I am not writing from the same IP address as any of the other reviewers.

First, I want to say that I read the website that jrome put up a year before I had my wedding, but after I had already put my deposit in. I have to admit that I might not have booked the site had I read the website beforehand. Since my husband and I had already given our non-refundable deposit, we confronted the required wedding coordinator about the website (most of the complaints are really against her and not the venue itself). After speaking with her over the phone, and in person, we felt comfortable moving forward.

The wedding planning process was definitely not without obstacles. Caterers have had a hard time working with this venue in the past, but now that they have more weddings under their belt (I think they've only had weddings there for a couple of years now), things seem to be running more smoothly. However, we did have some problems finding a reasonably priced caterer because there were a lot of little hidden expenses that came along with having a wedding outdoors on a private estate that my husband and I did not anticipate. For example, vendors (usually the caterer) must bring nearly all equipment including tables, linens, dinnerware, silverware, etc. The amount of labor required to put on a wedding there was an issue that we had to consider. Also, since it's outdoors and on the coast, we had to rent both umbrellas for the day and heaters at night. Shuttle service is a must since the road to the venue is tortuous and there is a lack of parking at the venue.

One of the nicer things about having a wedding here was that we were able to bring our own alcohol, which saved us tons of money! Also, the owner was flexible about bringing supplies to the venue beforehand so that we didn't have to worry about it the day of the wedding.

Finally, the wedding day: I have to say that my wedding at Pacific Ridge Vineyard Estate (now called Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate) this summer was beautiful. Many of my guests commented that it was the most beautiful wedding that they had ever seen. We love that we got married there. The coast, the vineyard, the forest, the house, the pool, the garden, the oak grove...just gorgeous. For those of you who are considering Pacific Ridge Vineyard Estate, it is definitely one the most beautiful places to get married at. The location is very unique, and it's nice that they only have one wedding there on any given day (I think, even any given weekend). It does come with a cost (as far as average cost of a wedding, what we paid overall fit in with the average in the Bay Area - which I think is much much higher compared to the national average, and FYI, we had 135 guests). But, in the end, it was worth it!

We realized from the beginning that there are always 2 sides to a story and wanted to keep that in mind when we talked to the property owners and the wedding coordinator (Mary Lou). We personally found the property owners warm and welcoming and never had a problem with them. For the most part, we got along with our wedding coordinator. We had a few miscommunications with her during the initial planning stages but felt she did a great job on the day of the wedding and in the weeks leading up to the wedding. It was very stress free, and she was on top of everything!

Please don't let the bad reviews keep you from at least considering the property and forming your own opinion regarding whether or not you can work with the venue or its associates. This is a relatively new wedding venue and things are starting to run much more smoothly than before. Ultimately, we had a wonderful wedding there and would recommend it to others.

I have been planning my wedding for this spring at Pacific Ridge Vineyard with much joy. The venue is amazingly beautiful. I have found the owners and coordinator warm, professional, extremely ethical and helpful. I asked about the reviews on this site and feel obligated to enlighten the public; it's so easy to anonymously make hateful statements when the party to whom it is directed cannot defend themselves.
The following is an email letter written to the owner of Pacific Ridge by KRoades concerning her decision to cancel the contract: "Thank you for accepting our decision with grace and kindness."
NOW she writes the following review for public consumption: "Disorganized, unprofessional, dishonest and rude are just a few qualities of the venue owners and required wedding planner."
The mendacity displayed by this woman astounds me.
I am so excited about my wedding day and feel so lucky to have found Pacific Ridge Vineyard.
Thank you for reading this.

Pacific Ridge Vineyard was the perfet choice for our Wedding Day. The property is beautiful and very private. Our experience was Absolutely Joyful. The owners and coordinator went 'above and beyond' in making our experience everything our families dreamed of. A HUGE Thank You to Pacific Ridge for a lifetime of joyous memories.
Andrea

Pacific Ridge Vineyard was the perfect wedding setting for us. Please don't go by the one star review. We created the wedding of our dreams at this venue in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not many places where you can have views of the mountains, ocean and a vineyard! The landscape design is outstanding. The owners were a joy to work with and the coordinator, Mary Lou made our day perfect. I am giving a heartfelt recommendation.......... We feel so lucky to have found this site.

We had our wedding at Pacific Ridge Vineyard this past Fall. The venue is great; views of Santa Cruz Mts., Monterey Bay and Vineyard. The owners were so accommodating with our plans, went above and beyond to have everything we asked for. I read the one star review before our wedding, and don't understand her complaints. I hightly recommend this venue to other couples.

My finacee and I had a really bad experience with this location. We too would NOT recommend it. Disorganized, unprofessional, dishonest and rude are just a few quailities of the venue owners and required wedding planner.

If you are looking for other outdoor venues in Santa CRuz County I highly recommend Rancho Soquel.

I am thrilled to write a review for Pacific Ridge Vineyard. We live in Oregon and wanted a destination wedding. Pacific Ridge turned out to be the perfect place for our dream wedding. Our guests asked us how we ever found such a beautiful estate. The home, ceremony lawn with the perennial gardens,amazing pool and pool house, oak grove and large deck surrounded by the mountains were more than we hoped for in a wedding setting. Our photographer said he had more choices for wonderful photos - we love the pictures in the vineyard. The owners were so nice; enbracing us and our families during each visit. Mary Lou, the wedding coordinator made our day spectacular and stress-free for me.
Don't hesitate to have your wedding here.
Penny

Our wedding at Pacific Ridge Vineyard last spring was everything we wanted. Setting was natural and at the same time elegant. All I can say is that our experience was perfect. We felt welcome by the owners and organized by our coordinator. Our guests loved the ride up through the beautiful scenery on the shuttle. We had so many options at this property to make the wedding really ours. We have great memories.

We, too, had a horrible experience at Pacific Ridge. Read all about it (and other couples' experiences) here:

http://pacificridgevineyardestate.googlepages.com/

Pacific Oaks is one of our favorite venues - gorgeous day & night! This private estate with vineyard has expansive views, beautiful landscaping & flowers, and everything you need for a wonderful wedding & celebration. The owner is wonderful to work with & the site has so much to offer. From a lawn or deck ceremony, to photos in the vineyards, romantic night lighting & the elegant estate itself... you won't be disappointed!