Events by Stella Mare’s

This is an awesome venue for a wedding, especially a small, intimate one. The menu choices are far above the quality you’d find at a wedding factory. We were on a tight budget, and Stella Mare was a perfect choice between wedding factories, overpriced hotels on the beach, and bare bones sites where you’d have to rent everything AND cater on top of that. We got incredible French country cuisine, wonderful desserts, a full bar, and an events coordinator for a really reasonable price. Our wedding was in the greenhouse, and in the currently fashionable rustic trend. There was more than enough parking for our guests and for the guests using the rest of the venue that weren’t part of our party. In addition, the restaurant was so accommodating and had excellent recommendations for vendors with whom they worked. The site lent itself to some beautiful photo opps that I can’t wait to post on my FB page.

I first want to say what incredible wait staff Stella Mare’s has… They were so amazing and really went above and beyond. The management was awesome too. My only concern from the get go was the planner we worked with. While she seemed very put together and organized, she seemed to get confused and often forgot about conversations we had. Being in the wedding industry, I understand that brides can be demanding and that big parties can get stressful but being organized and on top of things is important. Because we live in Los Angeles, it was important to schedule meetings ahead of time so we could involve our wedding coordinator. More then once we arrived to sit down and discuss details only to hear that she had to leave in 15 minutes to get to another event. From the interrupted meetings, confusion with the seating chart, confusion with the meal options and then to the confusion with where we were going to stand during our ceremony, it was all so disorganized and unclear. Thank god we brought in our own personal planner to help or things would really have in a negative direction.
Three days before the wedding I called to verify that we could still use their speakers to play low key music during the reception. She said she did not remember saying we could and that she would never say we could because it was not allowed. Now, saying this to a bride three days before her wedding and offering no help to correct the situation or comfort in the fact that I was frustrated and concerned angered me greatly. Us brides stress out and worry that things will not go as planned. I understood that it was no longer possible but getting angry and frustrated with me who spent well over $ 4000 dollars there was unprofessional and rude. A few hours later we received a call from our wedding coordinator saying that Bonnie had called and was concerned by my frustration. Our coordinator calming explained that while it may have been an miscommunication on her part, she was present and heard her say that the using their sound system would not be a problem.
Come the day of the wedding, I did not see Bonnie but two times. She did not come down and check on things with us. The wait staff made sure everything was 100% and even offered to help breakdown the room after, what a incredible service. Bonnie is not someone I would recommend working with. While she was a sweet person and I am sure is nice personally, but in the event planning industry (especially pertaining to events over 20), I would recommend not using her services and perhaps ask if there is someone else who does event planning at Stella Mares.
The food was incredible, ambience was amazing and as I mentioned above, the wait staff was just awesome. I hope this review does not hurt Bonnie but perhaps helping her to her job to the best of her ability.

We had our wedding reception at Stella Mares last year in July and the food and service was stupendous! The management and wait staff were very accommodating to our wedding traditions! Stella Mares’ romantic ambiance was exactly what my husband and I were looking for and our friends and family are still talking about how wonderful the food was.

I planned my sister’s 30^th birthday dinner last month with Stella Mare’s event planner, Bonnie. Let me start by saying that the restaurant was cute and quaint, and the food was tasty and well-​timed. Thomas, our host, did an excellent job. My complaint is with the actual planning (or more the execution) of the event:
1) I booked the Ocean Room and Terrace, which was supposed to grant our party access to both the dining room and the terrace (which seems pretty obvious by the name…). Disappointingly, the terrace area was not made at all acessible during our party. Granted, it had been raining off and on that day, but by our arrival it was not raining. I know that the weather is not something that the restaurant can control, but accomodating a party that has paid to use a specific feature of the restaurant should be. Nobody contacted me during the day to inform me that the terrace would be an issue due to the rain, and when I finally had to track down our server and inquire about using the terrace, she informed me that it would probably be too cold outside and that there weren’t any heat lamps, so we would probably just be uncomfortable. Upon going outside, however, I did see at least one heat lamp sitting unused in a corner. When I brought this to the attention of the event coordinator, I was told «…it isn’t working right now.» I started planning this event with Stella Mare’s far in advance, so it’s not like it was a surprise that it would be taking place a) partially outdoors and b) during the evening, so I cannot understand why the restaurant didn’t plan ahead to have heaters that worked. I received no apologies, no other recommendations, but was still charged in full despite not even getting to use part of our booked area.
2) When I had initially started planning this event back in January, the event planner offered to set up a bar station on the terrace at no extra charge, which I thought was an awesome idea and a great service of the restaurant. However, once again, nothing of the sort had been set up for us that night. I wanted people to be able to mingle (on the terrace…) with some drinks to start things off, but instead, we were asked to remain in our seats so the server could take our drink orders and bring the drinks back to us. When I inquired about the bar set up, I was told that they are unable to have glassware on the terrace (which, if that were the case, why was a bar not set up indoors for our use? And why was it even offered in the first place?).
The disappointment I felt upon arrival could have been somewhat lessened had there been at least some communication regarding the changes to our venue, but I didn’t hear a single word about it from our coordinator. She came and met me right when we arrived (prior to my realization that things had not been set up as promised) and then promptly disappeared.
Based on this experience, I would not consider, nor could I recommend, hosting another event at Stella Mare’s, which is a shame, because the place had such potential.

We had our wedding reception here. It was absolutely perfect. The décor is already amazing so it didn’t require very many decorations. The food was perfect. Their wine and beer list was just great. The service from the event coordinators went above and beyond. I definitely recommend them for any special event.

We attended a wedding and the service and venue were amazing. The salmon felt like it was straight out of the Alaskan wilderness and the bar, photo booth, dance floor, Wild Turkey 101 shots, and chocolate tart were all first rate. Wish I would not have driven… Very well planned and orchestrated event.

The event staff at Stella Mares offers service that is absolutely impeccable. As a wedding planner, it is often tricky to go out of your comfort zone and look for venues in different regions. When I found Stella Mares and called their Catering Sales Manager, Sarah, I knew I had struck gold!
Over the past several months, Sarah continuously went out of her way to make sure that we had what we need in the planning process for the wedding; including drawing up several diagrams of the room and always providing good insight to what would work best in the space as I was planning from afar and was not able to go in for regular tours.
On the day of the wedding the staff was incredibly accomodating– Sarah, Michael, Francisco and the other staff members made everything easy from start to finish. It was such a
lovely, warm and welcoming venue– it was much like hosting a party in
my own living room– only even better because I was not reponsible for
all of the cooking and cleaning! Half the time I felt as if these professionals had read my mind– they took care of things before I could even ask. The food was wonderful, the ambience perfection and the event smooth. I would strongly recommend this venue to any bride!

As a wedding coordinator, I’m always impressed by venues that offer both amazing food and amazing atmosphere. Stella Mare’s does this and then some. Shawna, the events coordinator is absolutely fabulous, as are the whole staff there! If you’re looking for food that will knock your socks off and a location that’s reasonably priced, look no further. My clients have had nothing but great things to say about their experiences here!