Gatherings

Thank you so much to Gatherings for making our wedding day amazing. We worked with Richard in all of the planning — the customer service we received was superb, and he accommodated us with all our requests, and was always available for questions via phone or email. We had difficulty finding a venue for less than 75 people. With Gatherings, we found a beautiful venue complete with antique Victorian décor, ceremony set up and take down, and ALL the food included into one great price. But not only were we pleased with the price, but we were very pleased with the quality of the food and the service and the whole experience. We highly highly recommend having your wedding or other special event here! Below I will provide more details, but in short, we loved everything!
We chose Asilomar State Beach for our ceremony — the location was beautiful, but we had a lot of problems dealing with the CA State Parks department. I will not write about that here as it has nothing to do with Gatherings but beware of the State Parks special events department if you are reserving a state beach. Gatherings provided the chairs and set up and take down and some drinking water for the ceremony. The only tiny thing that did not go as planned is that we were told they could provide a cordless speaker system for the ceremony and we could plug in our ipod with the ceremony music, since we chose not to hire a DJ to provide this service. The speaker system batteries were not charged, so we had the ceremony without music, but the sound of the waves and the beautiful location made up for it and the guests didn’t even notice we didn’t have ceremony music.
Our guests then arrived at Gatherings with free valet parking and a stationary appetizer waiting for them. Everyone loved the venue, and the space was perfect for our count of about 55 people. There is a heated outdoor patio where the bar is, and gorgeous Victorian home décor inside. In many venues you have to bring decorations to create an atmosphere, whereas here, there is already a beautiful atmosphere. No centerpieces or anything needed unless you really want to bring some. We only had to bring our guest book and party favors, and put up a few photographs around the venue. We chose the option to bring our own alcohol, and they provide the bartender at no extra cost.
For food, we chose the Crab Cakes, Phyllo cups with Brie and Fig, and Coconut shrimp (my favorite!), the Cosmo Salad, and because our family and friends are all big meat eaters, we chose the rack of lamb, and the filet mignon! They were kind to make us 4 vegetarian options for our 4 veggie friends at no extra cost as well as mac n cheese for the young children. The food was very very good and I would highly recommend them for catering for anything! The guests were so impressed with the food, and guests loved the unique reception style without having to sit at a table with strangers. My only regret is that I only got to eat one coconut shrimp — I could have eaten a dozen!
At Gatherings there is a large window that looks into the kitchen to watch them prepare your food! We chose to have live musicians play, and at times we also plugged in our ipod for the music. I could honestly go on and on but hopefully that is enough to assure you this place is a wonderful venue for a wedding or for any «gathering» occasion! The food, the décor, the amazing customer service, and the perfect price. I am so sorry I do not remember the names of the wonderful staff that worked that night, I wish I could thank them by name, so I’m sorry. THANK YOU so much to ALL the gatherings staff, especially Richard, for being such a special part of the happiest day of our life. We were just one couple of the hundreds you serve, but we will always remember how perfect that day was for the rest of our life. At the end, when all the guests left, I cried in the middle of the empty house — because the party was over, and I didn’t want it to end!
Thank You! And to people looking for awesome food and venue — please take a tour and see how great it is!

My husband and I recently had our ceremony at Berwick Park and our reception at Gatherings. Richard was amazing throughout the planning process. We loved the all inclusive nature of the venue which made organizing everything a breeze. The food was spectacular and our guests raved about it and the staff for weeks! I would highly recommend Gatherings and Classic Catering to anyone who is looking for a medium sized ceremony and venue by the ocean. Thanks again Gatherings you made our day unforgettable!

This place is wonderful! Phaedra and Liz had their wedding reception here and it was so awesome! The food was outstanding and the staff was so courteous and efficient! I highly recommend this place for any event. Loved this place!

What a great experience, the service was amazing and so was the food. I would suggest this venue to anyone planning a wedding. They made our day so special and Richard wood was great

Words cannot express our gratitude for Susan Villani and the Event’s by classic team.
Our April 19^th, 2015 Wedding was our dream come true, truly. Somehow Susan made every detail that I had envisioned come to life. The process was enjoyable from the start. My husband was SOLD on the idea of using the Gatherings after we went to a tasting that Susan had invited us to, the food is fantastic!
Within the first month of being engaged we had our whole wedding planned, it’s all inclusive! My answer to every question was «The Gatherings», who is your caterer? who is running your wedding ceremony? which florist is making your center pieces? who is your DJ… all the same, The Gatherings! We took advantage of the charm that the Gatherings Venue on 15^th street already had, their small flower arrangements and hurricane candles were more than enough decoration. The self-​playing piano was perfect as background music and we used the speaker system with an ipod to play our songs for the first dances, no DJ required. The food as I previously stated was amazing, we are still getting compliments on it daily, with the Cannery Row Package that we chose we were able to have one stationary hors d’oeuvres display and four passed hors d’oeuvres. It was more than enough food for a «meal».
Rudy took great care of getting our Ceremony site at Lover’s point PERFECT. He even brought a chair for our 90 year old grandpa to sit in during pictures. The attention to detail is impeccable. There was a nice water station with cups which was a great touch. Rudy truly went above and beyond!
I honestly don’t feel like my review is doing Event’s by Classic justice. The best part of using The Gatherings was knowing that the day of the wedding I had NOTHING to worry about. I didn’t have to set anything up, I knew I could fully trust that Susan and her team had it handled… and they did. I will forever be grateful for Susan Villani and her amazing team of servers and bar tenders and for Rudy and his setup crew. You made our Wedding Day perfect.

We have nothing but fabulous things to say about Gatherings!
The hubs and I wanted fun, intimate, and low-​key wedding and Gatherings definitely delivered. Super organized and helpful in the planning process, and their inclusive options ended up being not only convenient but very cost-​effective. They truly took the stress out of wedding planning and we were very impressed with the turnout as well! They do all the logistics for the ceremony and reception so you don’t have to, meaning you can focus on details like centerpieces/​décor/​etc if you really wanted to or go along with the essentials they provide to make it easy. Everyone at the wedding – literally, every single person – raved about the food, the staff/​service, and the atmosphere. Captain Susan and our reception captain ensured it all went smoothly and we were fed (which apparently doesn’t happen at most weddings – they make sure you eat here AND all the food is divine). And in case you’re concerned, the roaming reception is more than enough food – all were stuffed to the brim!
Our only regret was not choosing their booze option (thinking it’d save money to do it ourselves), because we would have saved ourselves the hassle as the cost came out the same anyway.
Thank you!

I can’t say enough good things about Gatherings. We had considered other options and venues but the all-​inclusive nature of Gatherings really won us over. They take care of almost everything including setting up and breaking down one of their pre-​approved wedding sites (we chose Berwick Park, only a few blocks away from the reception site), valet parking, preparing and serving amazing food and providing a ‘captain’ to keep things moving on schedule.
Although having all of this provided as part of a package deal may sound cookie-​cutter at first, everything was customized to our liking and the Gatherings staff worked closely with us to ensure that we were happy and kept updated on the process.
We decided not to have a DJ but instead opted to hook up an iPhone with our customized playlist to their sound system which pumped through all of the rooms as well as outside on the deck area.
Thanks Gatherings and Classic Catering!

My husband and I just recently had our wedding with Gatherings. Our ceremony was at Lover’s Point with reception to follow at the venue. Our main contact person was Richard and he was such a pleasure to work with. He made everything so easy for us and was able attend to all of our needs. They have a great Bridal Suite to get ready in as well in case you want to have pictures taken of you while you get ready all while sipping on some champagne. The food was AMAZING! The staff was AMAZING! Overall, everything was pretty much AMAZING and I would highly recommend this place to anyone and not just for weddings, but for any other special occasion as well. One member of their staff by the name of Corrine was just exceptional! She was very kind, genuine and very attentive to our requests. We really couldn’t have asked for anything better!

In 2012 We had an amazing daytime wedding within our budget thanks to Alicia Philips and the Gatherings staff! This place is great if you want a venue to set everything up and are willing to have a smaller event with simpler details. My husband and I definitely were, so this place was perfect. We got so many compliments on the house and the laid back style of the reception. It was intimate, warm, and absolutely enjoyable.
The only reason I withheld the 5^th star is because the food was a bit lackluster. We had the Cannery Row package which includes 3 passed appetizers. We decided to add a lunch plate of macadamia encrusted mahi mahi with rice pilaf and seared veggies. It wasn’t terrible, but the fish was oily and floppy, and overall the dish wasn’t too flavorful. We also had the venue cater our rehearsal dinner the night before and the chicken was dry and the potatoes in the potato salad were undercooked. I wasn’t too surprised because of the large quantities of food being served, but if you are looking for a 5 star meal for your reception, this may not be it. That being said, the tasting event you get to attend was tasty and really fun.
If you are looking to skip the huge, over the top wedding and instead have a smaller, elegant and more personal event, Gatherings is the place for you.

My husband and I just got married — our ceremony was at Berwick Park and our reception was at Gatherings. Richard was our contact person (Captain) — amazing! The ceremony was beautiful. Everything was set up like we had discussed so that the florist could come in and decorate. Because I had a day-​of coordinator, I didn’t really see Richard but he was there making sure everything was perfect.
The reception. Many of our guests said it was one of the best receptions they’ve been to — and I may be a tad biased, but it was fantastic! The setting itself is beautiful — no decorations needed. We had flower arrangements used in the ceremony that we used as centerpieces but it really wasn’t necessary. The centerpieces they have are great — we just didn’t know what else to do with the ones we had so we used them twice. I don’t know which staff member worked the ipod we used for music but even they did a great job. (Tip if you use your ipod — make playlist for everything: preceremony, processional, post ceremony, reception, first dance, etc.).
The food. Wow! The appetizers (filet in horseradish sauce in a pastry cup, gorgonzola and pear flatbread, crabcakes) were delicious! My favorite was the filet one. We added a small plate for everyone — filet with mash potatoes — that was also great! Several family members commented that they were full so there was plenty of food passed around. AND they made sure that my husband and I ate throughout the reception.
Thank you so much to Richard and the Gatherings staff for a wonderful and special day!!!

We just had our wedding here of about 50 people and I am so happy with how everything turned out. The entire staff was so professional and kind and took great care of us. The place is perfect for a small intimate reception and they did an amazing job setting up the ceremony and even helped my bridesmaids put up the decorations! We couldn’t have picked a better place and all of our guests agreed that is was worth the 8 hour drive! We even took the risk of booking our wedding before being able to see it in person and I am so glad that we took that risk!

Me and my husband did our wedding with Classic Catering at Gatherings, and it was absolutely flawless. Patient and knowledgeable staff, pleasant to work with, and so easy going. Our coordinator, Richard, was willing to do whatever was necessary to make sure I was stress free and made sure every detail was executed. A lot of wedding venues are strict and difficult to work with with their «cookie-​cutter» weddings, but not with Classic Catering. They allowed me and my husband to fulfill our dream of a red rose-​themed wedding and bring in over 100 vases of red roses and dozens of candles into the space. We got so many compliments about how good the food was, how clever it was served, and how much fun everyone had. The venue itself is breathtaking, and the intimacy of it helps everyone feel as if they were hand picked to be at a very special, and intimate affair. If you can keep you guest list down, I would highly recommend Gatherings with Classic Catering. We didn’t want our wonderful day to end! :)

We got married in April of 2014 at Berwick Park and went to Gatherings for our reception. Gatherings was incredible! We initially worked with Richard and then with Mary Lisa and both were exceptional! Mary Lisa was our peace of mind coordinator and she truly thought of everything. She was at the ceremony site early as our contact for the day and she even gave her number to my parents so that I wouldn’t have to stress about anything… they did all of the communicating/​coordinating while I sipped on mimosa’s and got my hair and make up done! She had the ceremony site set up beautifully with the chairs all aligned and even had the table set up for our ‘wine ceremony box’. I just had to show up and marry my husband and enjoy my day. Once we got to the reception, Mary Lisa and the staff at Gatherings took care of every detail (including making sure the bride and groom had something to eat as soon as we got there). We did the Roaming Reception and according to all of our guests, it was the best reception they’ve ever been to. I wouldn’t have had it any other way and would recommend it to any new bride who wants their guests to be comfortable (and not have to sit with people they don’t know during a formal dinner). By the end of the night, it seemed that everyone had made new friends because of the comfortable atmosphere. To this day, I still have friends/​family talking about how amazing our wedding and reception (and the food!) was and I owe it all to Gatherings and Mary Lisa.
Thank you!
J & J
4÷26÷2014

Planned my friends’ wedding with Gatherings and it was an AWESOME experience! With a guest list of 45 we were able to hold the reception at their small venue on 15^th street — perfect for a romantic and intimate celebration! They were very accommodating, detail-​oriented and extremely organized. The food is to die for! They were able to coordinate a beautiful ceremony at Lovers Point Park as part of the package — which was surprisingly affordable! Definitely check out Gatherings if you’re planning a beach wedding! They have small and large venues, catering to other venues, and can coordinate beach and park wedding ceremonies — and you can choose to utilize them for just one of these services or all together, like we did.

There is not much more that I can say about Gatherings. My wife and I were married in 2009, and we were confused about how to plan the event, and then Gatherings went and did it ALL for us. Setting up the ceremony, the reception and giving advice on photography and flowers. I still remember that day as one of the happiest days of my life and so much of it was due to their great advice, service and incredibly affordable rates. We will always be grateful. Thank you again!

My husband and I got married in January 2013. We wanted an intimate wedding with just our immediate family and closest friends. I came across The Gatherings, an elegant Victorian home. It was a perfect setting for our small wedding. We like how we can visit every person in the room and just mingle. Trust me, it will go by so fast so make sure you take time to enjoy it.
We absolutely loved working with Jana, our event coordinator. She made our wedding planning stress free and was there every step of the way. I can’t thank her enough.
The Gatherings’ food was delicious! It was great to see the chefs prepare all the food through the window from the piano room.
Our guests were very pleased about how excellent the food and service was. We received countless compliments about how perfect everything turned out.
I highly recommend The Gatherings if you’re looking for an intimate and unique wedding. Our wedding day was truly magical.

My wife and I got married last week and cannot say enough good things about Gatherings and Events by Classic Catering! We live in Florida and thus relied heavily on the staff of Gatherings and Events by Classic Catering to help us make our destination wedding in Pacific Grove, CA everything we wanted.
They came through with flying colors and our wedding weekend was perfect in every way!
To begin, their Events Managers Mary Lisa Kuhn and Hana Nishiguchi were terrific. They were warm and welcoming as well as calm and thoroughly professional. Their attention to detail for our Ceremony and Reception was outstanding. Based on the information we provided them, they gave us a detailed timeline for everything – giving us tremendous peace of mind throughout our week in Pacific Grove.
Their communication from our first meeting until the end (which included a catered farewell dinner the day after our wedding) was always prompt and made our entire week angst free!
The quality of the staff does not start or stop with Mary Lisa and Hana. Our reception captain Jennifer and the entire reception staff were awesome. Little things like providing my bride and I first plates of food (we had a roaming reception) and giving the children glasses of sparkling cider for the toasts (we never asked for them) are just a couple of examples of their thoughtful attention to detail – including ones which we had not considered.
Now to the food!
My wife and I are both foodies and the reputation of Debbie and Dean as culinary wizards played a large part in choosing Gatherings and Events by Classic Catering for our wedding events.
As stated earlier we had a roaming reception with a wide selection of hors oeuvres, small plates and a couple of entrees. The food was absolutely fantastic!!! The Prosciutto and Asparagus wrapped in phyllo was out of this world and the Scallops with Pancetta and Parmesan was prepared perfectly. So many of our friends and family praised the food throughout and one of my friends (who can be a bit of a food snob) ended up having 10 of the lamb chops. Need I say more?
The food provided for our farewell dinner was less formal but equally delicious. The Calamari and Shrimp Ceviche was devoured by our guests in about 20 minutes.
My wife and I truly appreciate the wonderful people of Gatherings and Events by Classic Catering, their ability to manage and cater any event and how much they did to make our wedding weekend absolutely perfect.

My husband and I chose to be married at Lover’s Point Beach and host our reception at Gatherings on May 11^th, 2013. We could not be any happier with our decision. Our coordinator was Jana and let me tell you-​she is wonderful! Because of Jana and the staff at Gatherings, my husband and I (and our families) were able to relax and enjoy the day. Before my wedding, many people told me that it’s such a crazy experience and there is so much going on that you don’t even get to really enjoy the party. A lot of people told me they didn’t really remember what happened at their reception after it was all over… well, I can honestly say that I savored and remember every moment.
Jana was there for me every step of the way. From hosting us at a tasting (to help decide our menu) to adding the flowers to my wedding cake after it had been delivered on the big day, Jana handled everything and made me feel so relaxed. I emailed her A LOT and never once did she make me feel like I was bothering her. In addition to the typical tasks a coordinator assists with, Jana went above and beyond! From waiting in the cold at Lover’s Point Park for our bridal party to show up for the rehearsal (we all ran late) to showing up at Lover’s Point Beach after the ceremony to bring my new husband and me a latte while our photographer snapped photos to surprising us by decorating our wedding night suite with candles and flowers… everything she did made us feel special and brought us so much joy.
I also need to add that the food at our wedding was phenomenal… I think many people are used to wedding food being a bit «blah». Not the food at Gatherings! Everything was absolutely delicious and fresh and we were told by many of our guests that the food was the best they’ve had at a wedding.
We were also thrilled that we chose the «roaming» style for our reception. Although there were plenty of seats and tables available, no one was stuck sitting at a table with people they would rather not be seated with. Instead, guests got to mingle and it really added to the festive atmosphere. In addition, the roaming style reception enabled my husband and me to visit with all of our guests and spend the evening chatting with everyone instead of just the people at our table.
I can’t say enough positive things about our experience with Jana and Gatherings. I LOVED and wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding day and if you book Gatherings (or use Events by Classic) you’ll love every moment of your wedding day too.

Best thing about Gatherings? Without a doubt it’s their food. Yes yes, I know it was my wedding day and THAT should have been my focus but seriously… One of our appetizers were these mouth watering steak bites delicately placed on a bed of grilled onions and horseradish sauce and baked in a flaky golden crust. Oh my goodness delicious!!! I could go on and on about how amazing the food was but that would just make all of us drool all over ourselves. And that’s not nice.
The venue at Gatherings is very intimate and elegant, which was perfect for my wedding. We were allowed 45 guests MAX so that’s what we did. And all 45 of us fit very nicely in the Victorian home. We did have the ceremony outside on the deck and it was set up perfectly. Patio heaters included since it was a middle of November wedding! After the ceremony we all came inside for more food and Jana (our event manager) had all the seating set up and ready.
I’ve been told that we were there for 5 hours but honestly it felt like 45 minutes to me. Jana and the owner (I believe her name is Debbie) were so attentive and made our wedding day truly magical. I never once had to ask anyone to speed up/​slow anything down so I was able to enjoy our guests (and the food!).
Most brides will tell you that you will not be able to eat on your wedding day. Here is my advise: Keep your wedding small, stop stressing about the little things, and enjoy yourself! Your wedding will be over in the blink of an eye so make sure you take time to enjoy it. With our wedding size (trust me on this one, our original list was over 200 people) we were able to visit with every person, enjoy our time together, and eat the food! Stop stressing about everything. Just do it. If you have your event at Gatherings they will take care of everything for you. So enjoy yourself! Your wedding will go by so fast you wont even know what hit you. At the end of the night all you will have is your memories so make sure you made some!
There is no parking at Gatherings but there is a large parking lot about a block from the venue, park there. And the streets are one way so heads up.
Oh! And they don’t provide the alcohol so make sure you swing by the store and grab some good beverages for your guests! This will actually save you tons of money. Most venues were quoting me $ 30+ per person just for well drinks! Noooo thank you. I will gladly get some nice bottles of wine and champagne from Costco. Plus, you get to keep the left overs :)

Getting married is a stressful situation and it was up to me (since I’m a research freakazoid) to figure out the details. I somehow stumbled across Gatherings’ website by searching for businesses that combine wedding ceremonies and receptions in a package and BOOM! their website came up! At first I thought it sounded too good to be true but we attended a complementary tasting and we were hooked from the moment we stepped foot inside Gatherings.
Samantha and Debbie were nothing but professional, friendly and helpful with all of our questions and concerns from beginning to end. As the date approached and the panic/​paranoia was setting in, the e-​mails to Samantha increased each week filled with every question known to man– I was sure she was annoyed with me and wanted to strangle me. What calmed my fears was the meeting we had with Samantha at Gatherings a couple of weeks prior to the wedding so we could synchronize a timeline with vendors as well as for the entire event it self. We even visited Lovers Point Park so we can have a visual of how our ceremony would go down. I left the meeting feeling like a boulder was lifted from my chest.
Our wedding came off without a hitch– all of our guests were blown away by the simplistic, yet elegant décor of the house, the non-​traditional roving reception, (guests loved the fact that they weren’t forced to sit next to anyone they didn’t want to sit with), THE FOOD, and the service from all of the staff. We even had guests stalking the staff for more crab cakes! A good friend of ours even mentioned that the food was way better than the food at her wedding!
Everyone working that day went above and beyond our expectations and for that we are grateful to Gatherings for making our wedding day a memorable one.
Vanessa and Rosela