From White Sage Wedding & Events:

You’re engaged! Now What?

Perhaps the glow is beginning to fade, and now you’re facing the daunting task of finding your perfect wedding venue.

We know this feeling: late nights combing the internet, wedding blogs, and Pinterest trying to find just the spot. Perhaps looking for a hidden gem that is a completely unique location with the perfect blend of atmosphere, romance, and nature.

With dates booking up fast and each venue including different amenities, requirements, and fee structures, one can easily feel overwhelmed. Thus, our venue liaison services were born. These factors and limited public venues—specifically in the Ojai area—mean we have worked hard to help solve the venue dilemma.

How, you might ask?

Venue Compilation and Budget Plans

Well, the first step was creating a comprehensive spreadsheet of all the current venues and how all their particulars affect an overall wedding budget.

We believe that no matter the budget, a wedding is a huge investment. With Brooke’s background in finance, we take budgeting for your wedding very seriously, ensuring you understand your overall bottom line budget at each venue and commit to it at the beginning. This creates an empowering feeling; no one wants to uncover additional costs further into the process.

When we say overall budget we mean it—every line item is accounted for. Reviewing each venue from an overall perspective can, for example:

Show you how a cost-per-guest vs. a flat venue fee really boils down.

Or how a venue that includes bathrooms and a catering kitchen compares to one with, say, accommodations for 16 overnight guests!

I think you are starting to catch on. It took an immense amount of time, but we have compiled all the pricing for almost every venue from Los Angeles to Santa Ynez!

Exclusive Wedding Venues in the Ojai Area

The love of our hometown Ojai, coupled with the very clear view of the lack of venues spurred our next steps. Over several years, we have strategically developed deep relationships with private estate owners to enable us to offer exclusive private venues.

These are homes, not businesses.

Several are the primary residence owners, which creates an even more special environment. All of our exclusive properties are offered on a very limited basis, most only contracting 1-3 weddings per year. Each property offers its own unique features and view of the valley. Most offer accommodations for at least the bridal party.

You may call us biased, but we see a huge value when our clients can check in on Thursday, unpack, and then effortlessly enjoy this wedding weekend, rather than having to rush in and out the same day. Of course, there are pros and cons, but that is what we are here to help evaluate. So HOW does one learn more!?

Our venue liaison services can be added to any package! We can compare private vs. public, Ojai vs. Santa Barbara—pretty much anything—side by side.

Finding the Perfect Venue with Us

Our process is simple.

First, we find a time to meet with you and your fiancé and/or family for a complimentary consultation.

The purpose of this meeting would be to get to know one another, for you to share your needs and vision, and for us to get a good understanding of the scope of work.

We exclusively do this in person, but if that doesn't work for you, we can do a video chat. We greatly value this time up front to ensure there is a strong connection and so we can build a foundation of trust.

As a summary from our meeting, we will deliver a customized written proposal including a quote for your planning needs, comparing two levels of service with venue liaison services added as needed!

If we are a match, and you would like to engage in planning services with us, BUT are hesitant to lock in without a venue, that’s okay!

Let’s sign a contract of intent. Basically, you agree to pay us for our time (hourly) if for some reason we cannot find you a venue, and we can provide venue liaison services with no money down!

No catch! Note: we have never not found The Venue.

We will curate a sneak peek email full of links and pictures to our exclusive venues that match your needs. Think of us like the venue matchmaker, haha. Generally, we can narrow down from here to about 4-6 top picks.

Then, we set a date to tour!

In preparation, we will deliver your spreadsheet, which has every budget item line by line concluding with the bottom line.

How We Budget Together & Selection

What is it really going to cost, what is the investment?

This, too, is completely tailored to you: perhaps you want to include budgeting for a rehearsal dinner, or your parents offered to buy your attire so we do not need to budget for that.

Together, we will walk through each venue and discuss logistics, flow, and pros and cons. After our tours, we grab some lunch, maybe a glass or wine or beer, and talk about everything we saw. We will review the spreadsheet together. Talk about where there is room to save, and how we are prioritizing the overall budget. At this point, we can generally narrow down our options, and send you on your way to making a final selection!

Once a venue is selected, the planning begins! All of our compensation is rolled into a flat fee for your custom package and broken out as needed.

So, for your dream wedding venue in Ojai or its surrounding areas, you won’t find a better team to work with. We know it all! Contact us to begin your search!

Learn more about destination Ojai and Santa Barbara on the White Sage Wedding & Events website!

Getting to be a part of your journey from the very beginning is so rewarding. We cannot wait to hear from you and begin the search for your perfect venue!

Photo #1: The Gathering Season Photography

Photo #2-3: Taryn Grey Photography

Photo #4-7: Burgundy Blue Photography

Photo #8-10: Jes Workman Photography