Serra Plaza

My husband and I got married here and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect venue for our perfect day. I’m a wedding coordinator myself, and the first time I was here was for a client. After working a wedding here, I thought to myself, I’m going to get married here. And 2 years later I did. Katie, the onsite coordinator was a dream to work with. Extremely responsive and helpful, which is every bride and planner’s dream. In addition to that, Serra plaza collects rustic furniture pieces that they will allow you to use for your wedding free of charge. It really made all the difference and transformed the wedding. I would highly suggest anyone and everyone to get married here, the venue is beautiful if you are looking for a outdoor venue with string lights and lanterns. It was dreamlike and my husband and I couldn’t have had a more perfect wedding. Thank you Katie and thank you Serra Plaza!

Serra Plaza is a beautiful venue. It is not for those who want a glamorous wedding but those who want something rustic and quaint. They have a list of 10 caterers that you have to choose from. If you don’t go with Jay’s catering for food service you will be left with ONE choice for bar service, Cocktail Concierge. What we found through research was that Cocktail Concierge’s prices are 2x more expensive compared to what other comparable bartenders charge. But with the contract, couples have no choice if they want alcohol to be served at their wedding. It’s either Cocktail Concierge or no alcohol. We wish that the venue would have provided some alternatives to give more choices, instead of allowing CC to monopolize on bar service.
Mary Lallande, the Serra Plaza coordinator, is extremely tough to get ahold of. The reviews about her are correct. She takes awhile to answer emails as well. She recently hired an assistant named Katie Messig. Our dealings with Katie were negative. We communicated to her that we told our guests to arrive at 5pm for the wedding ceremony but doors opened at 4:30pm. It is standard procedure for Serra Plaza staff to get ready and open the door 30 minutes before the wedding ceremony start time. But for some reason, Katie was adamant about wanting to charge us $ 200 for the extra 30 minutes. This was about 4 weeks before the wedding. We emailed Katie a copy of our wedding invitation that states our wedding ceremony start time is 5pm. Coincidentally, Katie said she could not open the file, which our day time coordinator had no problem opening. She requested that we send her a hard copy of our invitation. The Serra Plaza contract does not state that you need to show a physical copy of the wedding invitation. Either way, we physically mailed her the wedding invite and she said she would follow up with management. With wedding planning, you want to work with professionals who make your planning enjoyable and stress free. We felt with Katie, the experience was not enjoyable, and definitely not stress free, instead it made us more stressed out as we got closer to our wedding date. I have to say, the ONLY person we enjoyed working with was Andrew. He showed us the venue when we were prospecting and also was the last one there on our wedding night. He even advised us on some garbage that may have been left behind, so we wouldn’t lose our security deposit. Best guy to work with!
In retrospect, if you are going to have a wedding here, make sure you negotiate everything in writing prior to signing the contract. That’s something we learned. They control the entire venue, processes and caterer/​bartender selection and things are not flexible. So once you sign the contract, you are bound by their rules. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!!

Came here for a friends wedding and I absolutely loved it. It was an outdoor wedding decorated really nicely; it was very rustic and vintage. I absolutely love the beautiful fountain that you see right when you walk in. Its decorated with nice flowers and its great for taking pictures. Above it had white round lamps all along the sky, and the lighting looked amazing when the sun was setting and it got dark.
They also have an indoor area where they decorate all the cute stuff about the couple, where you get your seat card, and sign the wedding book and what not. Outside is the bar, although they dont let you take shots –_​– well thats no fun! You can only have drinks on the rocks which watered it down. The food was… not that good. The only good thing were the potatoes. It was like thinly sliced potatoes all stacked up together. The taste, texture, and cheese was delicious, but everything else was blehhh. I wish they had hot sauce! What place doesn’t have hot sauce?!
But besides the food not being good, the venue, the decoration, and everything about this place was beautiful. They can’t have anything passed 10pm though, so if you’re looking for a wedding where you can party all night, this isnt the venue.

We had our wedding here, Sept 6, 2015. Our wedding planner Monique from A signature Wedding, brought us here as a venue option, and I knew this was the place.
At first glance, it may not seem like a «dream wedding» site, but once we surveyed pictures and talked more with the people in charge, we were excited about this venue. When things fell into place and came together, we were SO happy we booked this venue. It’s about 5 minutes from the San Juan Capistrano Mission, in a beautiful area.
Be aware, they have a sound ordinance at 10pm, so music cannot be played in the outdoor setting. We circumvented that by ushering our party to the indoor area at 930 – 10 pm, and partied in there until midnight. Also, if the wedding guest count is greater than 200 people, there is an incremental fee for security which is mandatory. You also have to get insurance for the venue. Shots of alcohol aren’t allowed due to their liquor license. But, we didn’t notice this as an issue. Shots were still served, but everyone was adult and very appropriate. Parking can accommodate big parties. Our contact at the plaza (forgot her name, but she was very sweet) was very helpful and informative.
We had a great experience, and would recommend this place to others as well.

We wanted to love this location, it was actually the top two out of the three we had shortlisted — the photos are so gorgeous but if you’re after an authentic experience, beware, this is actually a relatively new commercial property (ie the Bank of America backs onto it) and it’s got absolutely no curbside appeal (not that it would have mattered as much.)
I must say that getting ahold of the coordinator Katie was relatively easy at the beginning however the day before the viewing I called, I emailed, I called, I emailed, I called and called again trying to push back our timing to no avail. I even sent an email confirming our meeting the next day, no reply till the end of the business day.
On the day of our visit itself, I felt like we were rushed through our viewing — like she couldn’t quite wait to get rid of us, don’t get me wrong, she was nice and all but talking at top speed and blowing through everything quickly before leaving us to explore the venue had us ready to leave in under thirty minutes. No surprise there though, as we soon realized that the next appointment was already hot on our heels — it all made sense and I could see why they were so eager to see the back of us.
We won’t be booking this venue, at this price, you could pay a little bit more and have a nicer experience elsewhere. I can only imagine how much worse it could get leading up to the wedding and it’s not the kind of stress any bride should have to deal with. Next

My fiancé and I will be getting married here in August of 2016. The venue is so gorgeous! We fell in love with it at first sight. I have read a ton of reviews that Mary is hard to get ahold of, but any questions I have had for her she answers within 24 hours. The best part is that not only can you have ceremony and reception here, but Mary has a HUGE collection of decorations that you can use that is included in the price of the venue. They also provide tables and chairs which a lot of other venues make you pay for it. Another great perk is that Sundried Tomato is one of the preferred vendors and they happen to be one of my favorite restaurants. We cannot wait to get married here!

Beautiful indoor/​outdoor venue!
We attended a wedding here and had a great time.
The outdoor courtyard had a fountain and was very romantic with hanging lights. If you walk around, you can read about the story of Father Junipero Serra, one of the founders of California’s missions including the nearby San Juan Capistrano.
The buffet was served outdoors and the dessert table was inside in a smaller room with a few tables, couches, the DJ and some dancing space as well. There was a wooden bar right outside of the indoor room.
Parking was very easy. Great venue for a special event!

My husband and I were married here in October 2014. I fell in love with the venue when we had our site visit and saw the pews, chandeliers, lounge furniture and market lights. Throughout our engagement, Mary was very difficult to get a hold of and have questions answered. From a customer service perspective, I would have appreciated being responded to in a timely manner, especially considering we are paying customers. However, all that aside we loved the ambiance of the venue and received many compliments on our wedding. Be advised, you need a lot of patience through your engagement if you choose this wedding venue and need to accept that customer service will most likely not be five star. If you can deal with that, you’ll still love your venue.

I joined Unilocal specifically just to tell everyone about our experience with Serra Plaza.
When I first inquired about the venue, the head coordinator was responsive via email. I must add that her emails sometimes lacked all the information you were asking for which required multiple emails back and forth. Her emails were also short and curt unlike the other correspondence i’ve had with other coordinators.
We made our appointment to view the venue and upon arrival we were surprised to find that Serra Plaza is actually a business plaza converted into a Spanish style courtyard for your fairy tale wedding. The venue was gorgeous and we absolutely fell in love with it.
That was where our fairy tale ended with Serra Plaza.
I thought I had an appointment with the head facility coordinator on the day of our viewing. However, when we arrived, a member of her team escorted us around the property. He promptly showed us the grounds and explained what the venue included, what items were added costs (chandeliers, drapes, etc.). The team had lined up a full day of tours and before we were even finished with our questions he left the room to give another tour.
We were left there in the office while the representative was busy with other couples. Luckily, there was a caterer from jay’s catering who kept us occupied in the meantime. When we finally got the opportunity to speak with him, he deferred all our questions to the facilities coordinator. Our first impression was that we felt very rushed and unwelcome.
Regardless of this mishap, my fiancé and I were still lusting to have Serra Plaza be our wedding venue. I promptly emailed the coordinator right after our tour to express interest in booking once the calendar opened up for the next month. A few days later… no response. I called Serra Plaza and left a message for them… no response. My fiancé called also. no response. We reached out to their partner caterers and the caterer responded that the phone at Serra Plaza is on site and their team does not check voicemail until the weekend. Also, we were warned by the caterers that the venue struggles with being responsive.
My fiancé took his parents to view the venue as well on a separate occassion and saw the same representative giving tours. He did not once welcome or even acknowledge my fiancé.
Fast forward a week, no phone call or email responses. We thought about giving her some time as perhaps she was out of the office (Normally professionals will leave an out of office message, but in this case we were just naïve).
I sent a final detailed message to the coordinator noting that we would like to finalize our date as we had other venues on hold. We were still hopeful to work with Serra Plaza, but a month later, I still have not received a response from anyone.
Don’t let the beauty and potential of this venue sweep you away. There were so many RED FLAGS that we saw but didn’t realize because we liked the venue. I’m sure Mary does good work once you can get a hold of her and have her commit time to you. We spent a month waiting on Serra Plaza and were deeply disappointed with our experience. We spent a good amount of time contacting all their caterers and obtained quotes ready to sign once we finalized the date with the venue.
We decided that the hassle of dealing with them was not worth our time or money. We could only imagine coordinating final details of our wedding with her and have no response!!! I would have had a nervous breakdown before my own wedding.
I would never recommend this venue to any friends or family. There are plenty of beautiful venues in southern california with much better customer service than this.

My fiancé and I just started planning for our wedding and found Serra Plaza on a wonderful web site called womangettingmarried .com (which is a great web site that breaks down venues in the OC). We emailed the general events web site and received a generic email with attached brochure from Mary, the on site facility coordinator. Of course we wanted to walk the site and meet with Mary. Over the next week, my fiancé and I wrote Mary three follow up emails, left 2 voicemails, and called their general number over 10 times with no answer. We actually passed by the grounds to have a quick look, which is why I gave the Plaza two stars. The grounds are beautiful, and would have been a great location for our reception. But we just have no confidence in Serra Plaza’s office that coordinates these event. We eventually heard back from Mary, and for us the final straw was her inability to let us know why it took so long to get back to us or to acknowledge any of the questions in our emails. All we received was another generic email with the same brochure she sent us before. And if this is how that office goes about working with potential clients, I would rather go to a venue that actually express some genuine happiness for our engagement.
We think we have found the perfect venue some where else with great pricing. Hopefully I’ll be able to comment on that once our experience is over.
Hope this helps.

Serra Plaza is a beautiful venue to get married at. There are several chandeliers available on site to rent and sheer draping. Utilizing these items created a romantic Italian villa style feeling. This venue also has an indoor space available that can hold about 150 people. It rained a little on our wedding day and it was a great feeling to know that we had the indoor space available to use, as renting tents could have been very costly last minute. Serra plaza also has lots vintage style furniture that is included with site rental and Mary (the site coordinator) allows you to use as many pieces/​items as you. My husband and I felt we got our money’s worth.

Absolute beautiful venue. I never regretted my choice, and I’d do it again! It’s a beautiful vintage Spanish-​style courtyard with market lights hanging from above. You can choose from beautiful chandeliers and vintage-​looking furniture (no extra cost to use the furniture!) and 100 year-​old church pews. How can it get better than that?! I have nothing but good things to say about this venue.
Mary Lallande was a pleasure to work with. She’s very friendly and has a knack for weddings, obviously. She is sometimes very hard to get in touch with, and I’d say that was the only con we had to deal with. But when the day approached, she did her job and did it well. She is clearly super talented and knows what she’s doing!
One bit of advice: just find out what parts require extra fees (e.g., draping, chandeliers, etc.) and what parts do not (e.g., furniture at the venue). Also, the late night staff at Serra Plaza seemed confused at the end of the night towards cleanup time: On one hand, they said that we absolutely had to clear out everything. On the other hand, we couldn’t use the dumpsters. We were left confused, and they looked a bit frazzled and confused too.
But with that aside, I highly recommend this place. It was the most beautiful wedding and everything went smoothly and beautifully. Thanks Mary and Serra Plaza! :D

After going seeing many wedding photos at Serra Plaza, I made this my top priority to see the Venue. I emailed the venue through their website, within 48hrs the facility director emailed me back to arrange a date/​time to see the venue. However, I couldn’t make it the week of, so I emailed back to arrange time for another date. The director never emailed me back, so 4 days later I emailed back because I was still interested in the venue. Sadly, still no response till this day. What a pity! I decided to move forward and look at other venues.

I photographed a wedding here and the staff and coordinator were great at communicating the details with me. It was a beautiful location for a wedding, I would definitely recommend. Just one tip — the ceremony and food are all in the same location so it was a little tough to get photos by the fountain during their set up.

My husband and I were married at Serra Plaza in May 2014. We can’t recommend the venue enough. The space was perfect for our wedding of 120 guests — plenty of room for all of the tables without squishing guests together, plus the dance floor, photo booth, cigar lounge and children’s play area. The Grand Salon and back patio were great for the cocktail hour while the courtyard was flipped for the reception. Mary was so easy to work with, and we saved a ton of money on rentals by using the fantastic furniture and decorations Mary offers free of charge. Everything looked magical with the market lighting and all of the candles, and our guests kept saying how beautiful everything was.
We worked with some awesome vendors (LVL Events, Jay’s Catering, Pixie’s Petals, Elevated Pulse Pro, Splendid Studio Booth, Oskar Strawberry videographers, Josh Elliott photography), and with their help, we had the wedding of our dreams at Serra Plaza.

I spent hours researching venues in Orange County, when I found Serra Plaza. When I attempted to schedule a site visit, it was nearly impossible. I called. I emailed. I called. I emailed again. I even commented on their Instagram. I was so desperate to make this my wedding location, because I was so in love with the pictures.
After I finally received an email from the Director… I replied with a date. It’s been over two weeks and I still haven’t heard anything. Sad to say, I gave up after several tries. It seems the offices for this venue are far too busy or too understaffed… I will look elsewhere. This type of service is unacceptable.

I’m an Orange County wedding planner and we LOVE Serra Plaza. It is such a magical place to get married. The onsite coordinator, Mary, is an absolute delight to work with and will go out of her way to meet your every need!
Highly highly recommend!

I just got married here and honestly everyone can’t stop talking about my wedding! Th venue us absolutely breathtaking. Definitely a hidden gem in OC. The best part is that you have full access to all of Mary’s (the owner) furniture to place around the outdoor courtyard as well as the Cocktail hour room. At night with the chandeliers hanging make an amazing touch. Everyone said my wedding looked like a movie set.
Pros:
Huge outdoor space — easily fits 200 people
Access to tons of furniture
Tables and Chairs are included
Easy Parking for guests
THe FOUNTAIN in the background makes for amazing pictures
Bridal Room and Groom’s Room
Mary is great to work with– super easy going
Honestly, no con’s for me :)
Let all your DREAMS come true at Serra Plaza!

This review is based solely on the experience of my appointment today to tour the property. Serra Plaza was venue #3 so far in my location scouting process and by far #1 as far as experience goes. Such good vibes. The other two venues were fine. Very nice. Very polite. But I really got the feeling from Mary and one of the caterers I met today, Janice, that they are just good people that genuinely want you to have a lovely wedding and a great experience… and incidentally, they happen to make money from it. The other venues feel like they want your money and hopefully everything works out for ya. Don’t know if I’ll go with this venue because of the location but I really like to pass it on when I meet genuinely helpful, nice people. Good peeps.
The venue itself is huge and the possibilities are endless. She’s got lots of props and furniture to pick and choose from. Chandeliers, sofas, tables, lanterns, pews, chairs, a vintage looking suitcase for cards, etc. If you’re super creative, you could really go buck wild with this space. The photos of what people have done are just gorgeous. I’m not that creative so we’ll see what happens with whatever I end up choosing. All of it stresses me out. Eloping is still my favorite option.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS. Very cute, open outdoor space! Serra Plaza was the perfect venue for one of my best friend’s wedding. The ceremony was set up outdoors and we moved into a room for appetizers/​cocktail hour while they set up the reception outdoors as well. The room indoors remained open throughout the night. There was a beautiful fountain that served as the front piece of the ceremony as well as where they placed the bride/​groom table for the reception. The plaza is very quaint, picturesque, and intimate. I think the entire venue is such a great canvas for a wedding venue and you can really make it your own! Beyond beautiful summer evening wedding.